Pediatrician appt

Today Jason took the day off of work and we took the girls to the pediatrician. Their normal pediatrician is on maternity leave until January and I was nervous about how the fill in doctor would react to our homebirthing, non vaxing ways. Turns out she didn't bat an eye. In fact, she was wonderful....I like her better than the normal doctor and I will be sorry to see her go. She could not get over how alert and strong Summer is, how healthy she is and gave lots of kudos to me for having a homebirth. Brooke is also in perfect health and is growing great. Brooke now weighs 27lns and Summer weighs 10 lbs 4 oz. Another thing about this doctor that I liked was that she spent a lot of time talking with us, explaining everything that she was doing and why she was doing it. She also took the time to let Brooke get used to her before examining her, which helped calm Brooke, who really hates the doctor's office.

After our appointment we went out to lunch and then ran the errands needed to get Summer's birth on file for her birth certificate. Then we came home and just chilled for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow morning there is a LLL playgroup happening and I really really want to go to it. But taking both kids out by myself still overwhelms me, so I am not sure if I am going to go. I hope I am able to.

Well that's the update for now. Ciao!

MW appt

Yesterday was my two week checkup appointment with my Midwife. My lovely sister watched Brooke for me so it was just Summer and I. The appointment was wonderful. My midwife oohed and aahhed over Summer, took a lot of pictures, and made a lot of nice comments about how healthy and nice she looked and how nice her temperment is. We talked for about an hour, most of the time I was nursing Summer. We talked about the differences between Summer and Brooke, cord compression during labor (I had asked out of curiosity what her procedures where if cord compression occurred), my homebirth, and how good I was feeling. My mw weighed Summer and she is now up to 10lbs 4 oz, about. She didn't want to make Summer cold by stripping her down so she just subtracted a few oz for her clothes and diaper. We will know her official weight tomorrow when she has her first appointment with the pediatrician. Well it was a wonderful visit and I left feeling generally good. Can't wait for the six week checkup!

new pictures

Just thought I would post some new pics of Summer. Some of them are dark, my flash was acting funny :o/

Back in the groove

Let's face it, nursing a newborn can be very awkward. It's hard to remain discreet and modest when you are just trying to get the baby to latch on correctly. Which is why I was a little nervous about having to nurse in public, or NIP. But I found this past weekend I didn't do too bad.

Saturday night Jason and I took the kiddos to the mall....it was our first real outing as a family. Of course, Summer was wanting to nurse every 20 minutes and needed a diaper change every 15, but we managed. First we went and got a bite to eat at TGIF's. I nursed twice there, my first time NIP with Summer. Jason was a little nervous but he seemed very relieved when I managed to nurse her while remaining discreet. No one batted an eye, as far as I could tell. Then after walking around for a bit we sat down at a bench in the middle of the mall so I could nurse her again before we left. Again, I managed to be completely discreet....Summer was not completely covered, as I don't believe in making a baby eat under a blanket, but all of my skin was covered. You couldn't see anything. Yet when I happened to glance up, I noticed two older woman stop walking, and turn to look at me in disgust. I've never had a bad experience NIP, so I honestly thought for a minute I was imagining it. But no, they were clearly glaring at me b/c I dared to feed my baby in public @@.

Yesterday Jason was home due to Columbus Day, and we decided to go to Target to pick some things up. We got there and as we were walking around Summer wanted to nurse. I carried her over to a corner, stood facing the wall, latched her on, covered my skin with a burping cloth, and continued to walk around and shop. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and again, no one batted an eye. In fact, it took Jason a bit before he realized what I was doing :o)

So now that I've had those practice sessions I find that I am completely confident with NIP, and I like that feeling. :o) When Brooke was a newborn, I would pump and feed her the expressed milk in a bottle when we were out because I wasn't confident enough in my abilities to nurse discreetly. Now I am glad that I don't have to worry about pumping for that purpose :o)

cool article

I just thought I would share this article, it's a pretty interesting read. A reporter nurses her baby in various locations in NY to see how people respond.

New York Daily News - Home - The great New York breast-feeding test

birth pic

Summer is such a nursing champ but I actually have a break from nursing at the moment. My cousin took a lot of wonderful pictures at the birth and I have shared them with people although a lot of them are pretty graphic. Out of all the pictures, though, this is my favorite:

At first glance you would have to wonder why this would be my favorite. Nothing is posed pretty, heads are cut off, no one is looking at the camera. But I love this photo. In this photo, I am fully dialated and going through transition. The midwife is checking the baby's heartbeat, which is strong. I am surrounded by my husband, my sister, my daughter, my midwife, and my cousin (who is taking the picture). All eyes are focused on my belly, on the source of the strong heartbeat that fills the air through the doppler. When I look at this picture, I can't describe it, but I sense something larger than what meets the eye.....words that come to my mind are: support, community, love, friendship, welcoming, excitement, anticipation. When I look at Summer, this is what I like to think about, how when she was born she was surrounded by a peaceful and supportive environment with friends and family, how she never left my or Jason's side, how she wasn't pricked, poked at, or disturbed for the first three days of her life (on the fourth day she got her heel prick test done). That is why I love this photo.

update

Things here have been going great. Despite the fact that I haven't been out of the house in over a week, I couldn't be happier. Summer is nursing like a champ now and my nipples are just about healed. Jason is beaming with happiness, I swear I can literally see him emit it when he is home. He loves being a family of four, a father to two little girls. He thrives in his fatherhood, it's so wonderful to just sit back and relax and watch him play with Brooke and hold Summer and talk to her for hours. I swear he is a baby hog LOL.

I'm feeling much better. I feel like I never had a baby at all LOL. I just have to lose all the weight now. But I am amazed at how much faster I am healing this time around, how much less pain there is. Sometimes I have to remind myself to slow down, that I just had a baby and not to overdo it. Of course, with Summer nursing as much as she is, I am forced to sit down and relax, which is a good thing.

Well that's pretty much it. Ciao!!