Friday, May 27, 2011

Breastfeeding, Crawling, and everything in between

10 months.  I'm so proud that we've made it this far!  I struggled so much in the beginning, as I'm sure most BF'ing mama's can relate to.  I remember one night when Bug wasn't even a week old yet.  She was hungry, and crying.  She couldn't hardly stay awake to latch (jaundice).  I was engorged and sore.  I was crying.  K looked at me and told me that it was OK if I wanted to stop.  He would understand and not think less of me if I did.  All that did?

It reinforced that I would make it through.  And we did.  Breastfeeding now for 10 months.  We have dealt with thrush (numerous times), clogged ducts (a few times), engorgement, nipple bruising, and just plain tenderness.  We have been lucky to not deal with some of the worst things that mama's deal with.  I am thankful for that.

So at this beautiful 10 month mark, only 2 months away from my third goal (first was just doing it, second was 6 months), I reflect on the beauty of this relationship.  I reflect on the love of this relationship.  And I reflect on the sometimes absurdity on this relationship.

Every night when I get Bug ready for bed, I will have her sitting up while I start to get her dressed, and she'll bury her head in my cleavage.  I think she sometimes is in there motor boating!  She will THROW her head into my chest, to the point where you can hear the THUNK.  Wow, I think she likes to breastfeed.

This morning I couldn't help but laugh.  We had already nursed for the day, and I had just finished pumping her fresh bottles for daycare.  I hadn't gotten the girls put away and she had crawled over to me (oh yeah, that's new too.... more about that later), climbed into my lap, and latched on.  Mind you, it had only been about 20 minutes since she fully nursed, and well, there wasn't anything in there.  But, she thought she'd give it the old college try. So she would stop nursing, look up at me expectantly, smile, and latch back on.  All I could do was laugh. 

Oh yes, weaning should be SO much fun!!

I have given up telling stories like these to my coworkers (yes, we are an open group), because they keep harassing me to 'get her off the boob.'  Sorry people, that may have been right for you, but it's not for me.  A-breastfeeding we shall remain.

Crawling: So, she's been taking a few crawling 'steps' over the last handful of days, but then she will stop, sit back on her butt, and look around like 'what the heck was that?'  It's quite amusing if I do say so myself.  So on Wednesday I went to DC to nurse her at lunch and they said that was what she was doing there too.  K picked her up at the end of the day and she crawled across the room to get to him!  Apparently she had been moving all over the room all afternoon.

Humph.

So, I went out to dinner with my boss that night and therefore didn't get to see it.  Yesterday when I went to nurse her at lunch she just laid there and waited for me to pick her up.  So I said to her 'what, you'll crawl for dada but not mama?'  Then when K picked her up yesterday afternoon, she crawled across the room to him again.

Humph.

This is all on the tail of her babble finally turning into 'talking,' and of course, that includes a lot of dadadadadada and absolutely NO mamamama.

I see where this is going.  Freud is at work in her head.  She's already learning to love and want to marry her dada.  I thought that was supposed to wait until she was at least a little older?!

I'm in trouble.  She's already chasing one of the boys at DC around during the day to give him open mouth kisses.  OH boy.

Tooth number 2 is SO close, and thank God, because I could really really use some sleep.  Like, a lot of it.  I get goofy when I'm really tired, and suffice it to say, K has suggested I get coffee before work on a number of occasions this week, due to my extreme level of goofiness.  He's been getting serenaded at 7 in the morning with songs like the Bear Song (come on, you know you know it... the other day, I met a bear, up in the woods, oh way up there.....)

Ha, now you can have it stuck in your head too.  You're welcome.

~Emms

3 comments:

  1. Ten months of anything is such a big deal, don't you think? But when it's something that can cause extra lost sleep, physical pain and discomfort or people to harrass you (even good naturedly), to me it's an even bigger deal. Good for you sticking with it!

    I can't believe she's crawling! I don't know why not since just about every BBC baby seems to be, haha. Last night Fynnie was sitting up, flopped over to get something. She was prone except one leg was still tucked up underneath her. That was enough for her to push herself back up when she reached the toy she wanted.

    Oh, and Mad was one of those "all about Daddy" kind of babies, but the power of the booby trumps all. It wasn't until Fynnie came along that Mad started wanting Daddy instead of me. Just remind yourself that he doesn't get motorboated or suckled, hehe.

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  2. I BF both kids for 11 1/2 months and 12 months, so I can relate. Way to go! Good for you! it is such an amazing accomplishment!

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  3. Ha Ha - It does seem like every BBC baby was crawling, except for mine LOL. I finally stopped checking my birth board because it stressed me out. She's growing in her time, and that's perfect for me. Doc is happy, Mama is happy, baby is happy!!

    Go Fynn!! Sounds like she's moving fast too!!

    The power of the boobie really does. Last night she cried when dada held her, shut right up when I did. I felt kinda bad, but it was SO sweet!!

    Thanks Joanna - good for you too!!!

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