...I'm done with my Christmas shopping. Yes, you read correctly. Done. And the ones that are at my house and not arriving my mail because I ordered them online are wrapped. Beautifully wrapped, I might add.
Also, I had a BALL decorating Ariella's room on Tuesday. I bought letters and painted them and then found these butterflies and dragonflies and painted them as well. Then I put them on the wall and hand painted in between them to make them look like they are flying around the room and create a border. I am more than ecstatic about the way it turned out! The only thing left is to get an insulated blind for the window and create some kind of art to put above the changing table.
With all the reading and research I had done prior to the class, I was already totally sold on breast-feeding. But now it’s just written in stone people. I learned even so much more. Hopefully it all comes naturally, but if not, I am 100% dedicated to getting the support I need and making it work!
Through the research I had already done, I knew that breastfeeding is proven to increase babies IQ, strengthen their immune system, and decrease their chances of obesity, diabetes and allergies. I also knew that it increased bonding and decreased mom’s risk of osteoporosis, and ovarian and breast cancer. I also knew that it decreases bleeding after delivery, helps the uterus return to it’s pre-pregnant size, helps your stomach muscles to return to pre-pregnancy status and burns a TON of calories.
But I didn’t know how bad formula was. I bought into the company’s claims that it’s just as good. Those same companies sell that line of poo to doctors who sell that to their patients and I think that’s awful! It’s nothing like breast milk and contains tons of things that are actually bad for babies!
I also bought into the idea that some people just won’t be able to breastfeed. But we learned so much about what you can do to help your baby learn to feed and to help your milk come in and we watched video after video of skilled lactation consultants help babies and moms become successful, who had been unable to breastfeed for as long as the first month and a half of life.
We also learned about how using pain medication, pitocin and epidurals during labor can significantly reduce a baby’s ability to breast-feed. We learned about studies and saw videos of babies who had been born naturally with no meds and ones who had not and the difference in their instinct and ability to breast-feed was very distinct.
We also learned a lot about the hormones. Prolactin makes the milk and it is also the hormone that causes the mother to be fiercely protective of her baby so it strongly bonds mom and baby. And Oxytocin releases the milk and is the “love” hormone. So it also builds that strong bond between mom and baby. Prolactin and Oxytocin are released each time you feed. So each time you feed you not only get a rush of these hormones that soothe and calm both mom and baby but also cause the two to bond stronger and stronger. If you don’t breastfeed those hormones decrease and fade away! Why would you ever want to miss out on that!?
Well, I know this is super long and I’m on my soapbox, but this is only the tip of the iceberg of all that I’ve learned and as you can tell, I’m very excited about it all!
Soooo, when J and I took our little chairlift ride up the mountain and the little disclaimer said, “Only those who are physically unable to walk down the mountain should ride the lift back down.” I thought: Physically unable? Me? What because I’m 7 months pregnant? NONSENSE! There shall be no riding down for this little mama. And so we hoofed it. Several people commented on my rotund belly that I was carrying down the mountain and little pride welled up inside of me as we passed them with speed.
But would I do it again? You betcha! I’m THAT stubborn! :)
It was wonderful! True to my word, the day we got there, I entered the hotel room and did not leave it for the rest of the evening. We just rested and vegged out, got our fill of cable TV for the year, and ordered take out to eat in our room.
On Monday, we slept in to our hearts content once again and then headed home on rejuvenated and reconnected!
Oh, and I'm not even kidding...As we were packing to leave, Jason bent over to zip his suitcase and when he stood up he hit his head so hard on an overhanging shelf that it knocked him backwards, he swore and it split his head open. After applying much pressure and checking it out, we decided it did not warrant stitches. But it was close people!
I don't know if I've blogged about past incidents, but my husband gets all weepy eyed if he stays away from the ER too long, so he likes create situations in which he needs to go get stitches.I work with adults with mental illnesses and I swear they touch my life more every day than I think I might ever touch theirs. So here’s a little glimpse and a little reflection. (PS: I know my grammar but I’m going to use “they” in place of a singular pronoun because I think using he/she through the whole thing will kill it!)
So that’s a glimpse in what I get to see, and what I get to experience. I think I am so fortunate and I think I have an awesome job! So next time you see that person out in public... I beg you, try to see, or at least imagine more than just the obvious that everyone else is staring at.
It is so satisfying to be getting back to normal. Sure our weekends and all my days off up until this point have been filled with unpacking and house projects. But this week we set Sunday aside. After church we went apple picking, visited with some friends and then went out on a date and came home and snuggled up to watch a movie. Oh, how I’ve missed that quality time.
And I also feel like I have the time and energy to do the little things again. I was just SO happy last night as I packed Jason a lunch for the next day and slipped in a cute little note written on his napkin. Can he make his own lunch? Sure he can. But Jason’s love language is acts of service. And the fact that he won’t have to make that lunch because I spent a measly ten minutes making sure he eats well will cause him to feel so loved and cared for that it will bring a tenfold return in our relationship. Now that’s a good investment!
Check out my doula at her website, Your Birth Connection
So we’ve hired ourselves a doula! We hired the doula that taught our hypno-birthing class to continue our care and to attend our birth. We love her. She is funny and super laid back and tells it like it is. She is just the personality I think we’ll need. Not to mention she has 23 years of experience and many stories of how she used creative ways to help moms birth naturally and prove skeptical medical doctors wrong when they came in and said things like “I’ll give you another half an hour but I don’t think you can push this baby out.”
And she’s not just there for the birth. We meet with her regularly up until the birth so that she can get to know us and take on our values and help create the birth experience that we want. Not to mention that fact that she’s going to do hypnosis sessions with me to help me to continue to prepare to hypno-birth AND she’ll be there to help me with hypno-birthing every step of the way during labor. I’m very excited for all this! Here is her website. Check it out!
The same day that I found out it’s a girl for sure I went out and bought the perfect fabric. I made this valence and I’m going to use the extra to cover that pillow in the chair.
Also, my drawers are starting to fill with clothing. I’ve gotten some and my mom has gotten us LOTS! At first it was all gender neutral stuff, which I still enjoy because if we have a boy next time I don’t want to have to buy ALL new stuff. But now she’s gotten me some super duper cute pink stuff. (Thanks mom!) Along with blankets and toys and diapers and such. At this rate I won’t even need any showers!
And these are the “Congratulations we’re having a girl!” flowers that Jason brought home the other night. What a sweetie!
