Monday, November 15, 2010

Weekend recap-

This weekend was one of those weekends with highs and lows...

Saturday morning we were up early to attend our "Newborn care in a day" class at the hospital.  The Class was from 8-3 and when we arrived at 7:45 we passed by the nursery and were surprised to see more than 30 babies in one nursery.  They were all waiting for the pediatricians and for their parents to come get them.  J and I stood in awe and as he admitted to me later it was emotional.  He got emotional, I got emotional.  I couldn't believe that we would one day have a baby in that room.  It felt like we were seeing our future and seeing the vibrant light at the end of our tunnel.  It was a special moment and other classmates joined us in disbelief as well.  We all stared and made comments and oohed and awed.  We finally made it to the class room and were the first couple in and took a seat near the front of the room.  Introductions were made by the teacher and 9 other couples.  There was a set of triplets and twins being expected in our class.  God help both of them.  Babies are expensive and I heard the Dad of the twins gasp when the other lady announced she was having triplets.  When it came to the formula discussion and the price of formula I heard more noises from both couples.  The teacher/nurse was amazing.  Very funny too.  We talked about everything from what we would need for a newborn to safety to a little breastfeeding, diaper changing, bathing, etc.  We found out that we need some more clothing items.  We have done pretty well so far but there were specifics we needed to put on our registry as a reminder to get.  We also found out that babies born in the winter should have one layer more of clothes on than we do, so that gave us an idea as to how many clothes we need.  We're on the right track!  The breastfeeding part freaks the crap out of me because I want to so badly but she did say that women with Breast Reductions have more difficulty.  As J says, maybe since we had such a hard time getting pregnant this one thing may be easy for us.  There were videos on the breastfeeding and pictures of the "liquid gold" or colostrum that comes out first.  It was all very interesting but I started getting anxious and fearful.  J really wants me to breastfeed and I know formula is very expensive and not as good for the baby-there's just a lot of pressure there.

  A few breaks and a lunch break and the day was over.  One really funny thing to note...there was a couple that sat across from us.  The father took all the notes and flipped through the packets we were given, he diapered the baby, changed the clothes and participated in class while his wife sat looking pissed off the entire day with nothing in front of her.  Jamie nick-named her "the puss".  At particularly pouty moments J would turn to me and say "look at the puss".  I died laughing because she just looked pissed!  I think this was normal for her too, not just a one day thing or because she was mad at her husband.  That poor poor man!  I still laugh at "look at the puss!"

Saturday afternoon I was exhausted from the class and was just about to go upstairs for  a nap when J said he was bored so we went to the mall near our house and just strolled around looking at kids stores.  Our mall has like 8 kids stores including PB Kids which is great but expensive!  We bought more towels for Star so we wouldn't have to use the nice decorative ones we got there the week before and J really liked the toothbrush holder and soap dish so we got those as well.  Not that she will use them for years but they matched the set and we probably wouldn't be able to get them later on so it made sense.  We looked for sale items on clothes at other stores but didn't see any great bargains except for one jumper J liked for $2.25 so we bought it and we went back home.

We had a lazy night at home.  We made Chinese food and I watched J watch hockey on TV while watching college football on his laptop.  I knew I needed something to do so I started working on the bassinet we were given.  Our friends had a seamstress sew on a green ruffle.  I took the ruffle off and cleaned it and it looks great now.  I went to bed and my amazing husband who had a large cup of coffee at 8:00 went grocery shopping at 10:00!  I felt so bad not going but there was no way, I was so tired.  We went through our coupons together came up with a light list and he left.   I woke up the next morning to a stocked pantry and fridge.  He got a huge hug in the morning!  What a treat.

Sunday morning I went to see my Grandma with my brother.  I came home and met Jamie and we went to the local schools craft fair or crap fair as J calls it.  He wanted to go because he was afraid of what I would buy!  Hilarious.  I tried telling him I could be in and out of there in 15 minutes because I knew what I was looking for-one of a kind handmade items for Star's room but he didn't believe me and likes to have a say in what goes in her room.  I think that's great so I was thrilled he came.  I got to see my old high school as well.  I hadn't been to a craft fair in a good 15 years so I assumed that crafts had come along with the times and I would be able to find some items that were more modern like Etsy sells-WRONG!!!!!!!  J and I walked around in disbelief at the CRAP at this CRAP FAIR!  We kept asking "Who would buy that?"  and then glanced over at who would make that!  Over and over and over again it was stuff I think I saw at my last craft fair 15 years ago!  I came home and searched Etsy.  I vowed to never go back to a crap fair again!

Yesterday afternoon I noticed some wet colostrum in the afternoon!  I was so excited that I told Jamie and he was really happy too.  It was my first time of feeling like things might be okay in the breast feeding area after all.  I am so thrilled to just see evidence that I am working like I should and that the surgery hasn't severed everything as I feared it may have.  I am trying to tell myself that it's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen but that was a great sign and something that lifted my spirits.

Last night, J and I did a lot of laundry.  We did our laundry and then we decided to do Star's laundry with her special "free" detergent.  We didn't have anywhere to put her clothes for the longest time so her closet was full of hanging onezies and sleepers.  Now that her dresser is done we decided to wash everything and put things away.  Her closet is almost empty now except for a couple of hanging outfits and her first Halloween costume which I got on sale after this Halloween.

5 comments:

Megan said...

This is an awesome book about breastfeeding after a reduction. http://www.amazon.com/Defining-your-Own-Success-Breastfeeding/dp/0912500867 A friend of mine recommended it to me for another friend of mine who had a breast reduction and wanted to breastfeed. I gave it to that friend and she said it was super helpful.
Good luck!
Megan

Holly said...

Yeah those couples with twins and triplets...I feel for them too, as I am one of them! Babies are expensive! And be happy you're hospital has a nursery, ours doesn't, all three babies will be in our room from the time they are born, unless they have to go to the NICU. I've heard nurserys are going out of hospitals for the future.

Alex said...

The class sounds great - glad you guys enjoyed it. I was dying at J's description of the crap fair - I always call them that... So funny!

Julia Goolia said...

So much going on! All very exciting really. As a side note: isn't Etsy the most addicting thing in the entire world? Obsessed!!

Don't start stressing about breastfeeding now!! Cause if you worry about it now, that will probably carry over until Star is born and then your anxiety and stress over it will definitely CAUSE more problems than help them. Any time I stress out about how much I pump when away from Truman I see a huge drop in my supply. when I tell myself to chill the EFF out, the numbers are better.

You might surprise yourself and have a helluva supply and a great latch from baby! :) You definitely deserve that.

christia said...

I think that you already have colostrum is a good sign. I had it too. Breastfeeding is stressful... the best advice I can give is DON'T GIVE UP. It took a good 6-8 weeks to get the hang of it. And also, let the lactation nurses help you. They really helped me. But I was there for 4 days with a c-section and I really think that's why I was successful at it. Oh and 2 words saved my boobs: NIPPLE SHIELDS!