Breastfeeding....
So, I formula-fed Elijah because I knew I was going back to work after 3 months and it just seemed like the best option for me at the time. I was also kind of wierded out about breastfeeding, so it was an easy decision for me not to do it. Well, 3 years later, I felt completely different on the subject of breastfeeding. I had talked to my sister in law Emily about it a lot and some other people and I really had such a desire to breastfeed this time. I was told it might hurt at first, but that it was worth it if you stick it out.
I am 2 and a half weeks into breastfeeding my little girl and I feel like I have learned so much and am close to being a pro at it! I have to say, though, that it was not at all what I expected. Here are my thoughts on it...
~ It hurts like CRAZY at first! I had to wait til Monday to see a lactation consultant at the hospital, and Aliyah was born Sunday evening, so for that whole first day I was doing it wrong. Well, that resulted in me being VERY sore and dreading every single time that Aliyah was hungry!
~I feel like I am a machine at times, and my whole purpose in life is to provide milk for my baby any time she's hungry! (which is ALL THE TIME it seems!)
~I have been avoiding going out in public with Aliyah too much because I am afraid of having to feed her in public.
These thoughts were mostly what I had the first couple weeks, but the last few days...these are my new thoughts on breastfeeding....
~I am amazed after this easy delivery and breastfeeding my baby girl what my body is capable of. I have a new love for it and a big desire to take care of it and get back into the shape I'm meant to be in!
~I love that I am the only one who feeds Aliyah. I love that I make milk that is perfectly formulated for her little body. It's amazing and quite a miracle. I feel blessed that I get to experience this.
~It no longer hurts like crazy, so I no longer dread feeding her. She also seems to be going a little bit longer between meals and eating more during her feedings, which has enabled me to get some much needed cleaning done and do some things that I like doing by myself.
~She is such a happy baby. She only cries when she's hungry, and she doesn't seem to have tummy problems the way Elijah always did from formula feeding. He used to have the hardest time pooping, and she doesn't have those problems.
~I wish I could go back and breastfeed Elijah. I feel like I cheated him out of something really good, but I look at him and realize that he's fine, healthy, and happy, and it makes me feel like it's okay. I would do it differently if I could go back, but I can't so there's no point in regretting my decision not to breastfeed him.
~I LOVE not having to wash a lot of bottles! We don't have a dishwasher, so it's nice that I never have to wash one!
~It is so convenient to feed her at night! She is sleeping in our room with us right now, so I just have to sit up, feed her, maybe change her if she needs it, then lay down and go right back to sleep! I feel WAY LESS sleep deprived than I ever did with Elijah! It's really nice! I plan on transistioning her into her own room by 6 weeks, but I'm really enjoying this this time with her right now!
Well, these are my thoughts on breastfeeding! I am still quite new at it, so I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on it later, but I am really glad I chose to do this! It has been a great decision for us! :) And, if anyone ever wanted advice, I would say stick it out because it gets much easier and less painful the more you do it! :)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Big Brother
So things are going well here in the Maldonado household! It sure is fun being a family of 4 now! When we first got pregnant, I was worried about how Elijah would adjust to not being the only kid. I was worried that he would feel left out or resent Ali because she was getting a lot of attention. I guess this is one instance where the saying "don't borrow worries from tomorrow" applies. Man...this kid has adjusted wonderfully! He tells me ALL THE TIME how much he loves Aliyah. He always asks to give her hugs and kisses. He shows her toys and gets her blankets if she is fussy. He is always willing to get me things if I am nursing and I forgot to grab something. He loves helping out! I think the 3 year age difference is a great thing because Elijah is at the age where he always wants to help out, and he feels important when he does. He isn't jealous at all of her.
Before we had Aliyah, I read that it's good to make sure that you make time for your older child and try to make him feel just as important as he was before. So, sometimes, if Aliyah is crying at the same time that Elijah asks for help, I'll say "Aliyah, I'm helping your brother really quick and then I'll help you" just so Elijah hears that he is just as important as Aliyah. I think that's been a good thing. Elijah has such a sweet heart, though, that he really doesn't like when Aliyah cries, so he usually doesn't ask for help while she is crying or if he does, he says to help Aliyah first. He is sweet! :)
Anyway, so for those that have wondered how Elijah has adjusted, there it is! It has been a very easy adjustment for all of us! Aliyah is such a good baby. She cries when she's hungry, and that's it. She sleeps so well at night. I go to bed after I feed her around midnight, she will wake up between 4 and 430 to be fed again, then she sleeps til 8 or 9! So, I am getting plenty of sleep! I think it's amazing the difference breastfeeding makes! I formula fed Elijah and he had such tummy problems that he was fussy a lot more often. He had the hardest time pooping. Now that I'm breastfeeding Aliyah, she has absolutely no tummy problems at all! Maybe it's because she's just different than Elijah, but I really think the breastfeeding has made all the difference!
Well, I hope you are all doing great, too! :)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The Birth Story...
Well, Aliyah Jane Maldonado is here! I can hardly believe it because I have been waiting forever, but she really is here! I am so in love with her. I honestly can't get enough of her! I want to hold her or look at her all the time! :)
I want to remember the birth story this time because I really don't remember much of Elijah's. I decided that I should blog about it while it is still fresh in my memory! So here it goes...
Her official due date was October 3, 2010. At 4:30 am on October 3, Elijah woke up crying out for Daddy. I woke AJ up and asked him to go see if he needed anything because I knew that it would take me a while to make it down there. When AJ got out of bed, I rolled over and felt this gush of fluid. I thought "what?! I'm peeing my pants?!" So, I got up and went downstairs to the bathroom. I went potty and when I stood up, I was still leaking everywhere! That's when I knew...my water had broke! Luckily, Nikki (my sister) was in Nappanee at a scrapbooking retreat that weekend, so I called her and she came to get Elijah. I took a shower, got ready, packed a few last minute things, AJ showered, got ready, packed some stuff, and off we went to the hospital. I wasn't in a super huge rush because I wasn't having contractions at all. So, we stopped at McDonald's before we went for breakfast. I could hardly eat anything, though, because I was so excited, but I knew I should eat something before I went so that I would have more energy to get through the long day!
We arrived at the hospital around 7 am. We checked in, they checked to see if it was my water that broke, and it was. When I first got there, I was only 25% effaced and 1 1/2 cm dilated. We walked around for a long time to see if anything would start on it's own. At about 9:20, I was given 1/4 of a pill of cytotech in my cervix to help soften things up. I then started having pretty regular contractions. We walked and walked. AJ took a nap while I walked some more. At 1:15, they checked me and I was only dilated to 3 cm, so they gave me pitocen to help speed things up. My contractions became pretty intense. I was able to sit on the fitness ball, though, and that really helped. Well, Aliyah decided she didn't like the external heart monitor, so after trying over and over to keep her heart on the monitor, they decided I needed an internal heart monitor so they could make she she was doing okay throughout the labor. They put one in, and it didn't stick. They had to try to get it out, and that hurt so much that I involuntarily started crying. Then I was getting contractions while the nurse was trying to get the monitor out, it just was really hard. They finally cut it and then took it out without trying to untangle it. Then they tried 2 more times to get the monitor in, and they finally did on the 3rd try. The nurse said that Aliyah must have a lot of hair because the only time they have so much trouble is when the baby has a lot of hair. That was the only comforting thing about having to have them try 3 times! :) The internal heart monitor wouldn't register on the mobile monitor, so after they put it in, I was confined to my bed to deal with the contractions.
When they checked me at 4, I was still only 4 cm dilated, so because I wasn't allowed to take a shower or sit on the fitness ball, I asked for the epidural. At 4:16, I got the epidural, and as soon as it was in, I felt so much better. I layed down and took a little nap. At 6, they checked me again, and I was 5 cm dilated. She had me roll over on my side with my leg over a pillow, so I was almost laying on my tummy. She said if I felt the urge to poop to let her know because it probably means I'm ready to push. Not even kidding, at 6:30 pm, I started feeling the urge to push, and it was during contractions when I would feel that. I thought for sure that it was too early. I had only been 5 cm dilated half an hour ago! So, I waited about 15 minutes, and the feeling only got more and more intense. I called the nurse in, she checked me, and said "Yup! You are 10 cm dilated and her head is RIGHT there!" She called the doctor, who was all set up and ready to go by 6:55 pm. I was shaking so hard, which they said was a sign I was ready to push. The nurses were AMAZING at coaching me on how to push. AJ was, too. He was so encouraging throughout the whole day. I pushed through 3 or 4 contractions, and out she came at 7:06 p.m. on her due date! They put her right on my chest to clean her up and said that the next hour was mommy and Aliyah time. They said not to worry about her crying, that it wasn't quiet time and by crying she would get all the gunk out of her lungs that she needed to. So for an hour, I held her on my chest and looked at her and memorized everything about her. I fell in love as soon as I saw her! :)
They weighed her after the hour and did the bloodwork and everything for us. She weighted 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19 inches long. Perfectly tiny. She has dark hair...we think it's black, but if not, it's dark dark brown. We can't really tell what color eyes she has yet...they look dark, but they'll become more of a color in the next few weeks. We could tell Elijah's eyes were blue right away, so she might have dark eyes. I don't really know.
Anyway, that's the birth story! It was the best experience ever...I had the same nurse the whole day. She thought she wouldn't be there for the birth, but at the end of her shift, Aliyah came on out, so it was perfect! From the time my water broke til the time I had Aliyah it was only 14 1/2 hours. And from the time my active labor started, it was only a little less than 6 hours! It was really fast and perfect!
I want to remember the birth story this time because I really don't remember much of Elijah's. I decided that I should blog about it while it is still fresh in my memory! So here it goes...
Her official due date was October 3, 2010. At 4:30 am on October 3, Elijah woke up crying out for Daddy. I woke AJ up and asked him to go see if he needed anything because I knew that it would take me a while to make it down there. When AJ got out of bed, I rolled over and felt this gush of fluid. I thought "what?! I'm peeing my pants?!" So, I got up and went downstairs to the bathroom. I went potty and when I stood up, I was still leaking everywhere! That's when I knew...my water had broke! Luckily, Nikki (my sister) was in Nappanee at a scrapbooking retreat that weekend, so I called her and she came to get Elijah. I took a shower, got ready, packed a few last minute things, AJ showered, got ready, packed some stuff, and off we went to the hospital. I wasn't in a super huge rush because I wasn't having contractions at all. So, we stopped at McDonald's before we went for breakfast. I could hardly eat anything, though, because I was so excited, but I knew I should eat something before I went so that I would have more energy to get through the long day!
We arrived at the hospital around 7 am. We checked in, they checked to see if it was my water that broke, and it was. When I first got there, I was only 25% effaced and 1 1/2 cm dilated. We walked around for a long time to see if anything would start on it's own. At about 9:20, I was given 1/4 of a pill of cytotech in my cervix to help soften things up. I then started having pretty regular contractions. We walked and walked. AJ took a nap while I walked some more. At 1:15, they checked me and I was only dilated to 3 cm, so they gave me pitocen to help speed things up. My contractions became pretty intense. I was able to sit on the fitness ball, though, and that really helped. Well, Aliyah decided she didn't like the external heart monitor, so after trying over and over to keep her heart on the monitor, they decided I needed an internal heart monitor so they could make she she was doing okay throughout the labor. They put one in, and it didn't stick. They had to try to get it out, and that hurt so much that I involuntarily started crying. Then I was getting contractions while the nurse was trying to get the monitor out, it just was really hard. They finally cut it and then took it out without trying to untangle it. Then they tried 2 more times to get the monitor in, and they finally did on the 3rd try. The nurse said that Aliyah must have a lot of hair because the only time they have so much trouble is when the baby has a lot of hair. That was the only comforting thing about having to have them try 3 times! :) The internal heart monitor wouldn't register on the mobile monitor, so after they put it in, I was confined to my bed to deal with the contractions.
When they checked me at 4, I was still only 4 cm dilated, so because I wasn't allowed to take a shower or sit on the fitness ball, I asked for the epidural. At 4:16, I got the epidural, and as soon as it was in, I felt so much better. I layed down and took a little nap. At 6, they checked me again, and I was 5 cm dilated. She had me roll over on my side with my leg over a pillow, so I was almost laying on my tummy. She said if I felt the urge to poop to let her know because it probably means I'm ready to push. Not even kidding, at 6:30 pm, I started feeling the urge to push, and it was during contractions when I would feel that. I thought for sure that it was too early. I had only been 5 cm dilated half an hour ago! So, I waited about 15 minutes, and the feeling only got more and more intense. I called the nurse in, she checked me, and said "Yup! You are 10 cm dilated and her head is RIGHT there!" She called the doctor, who was all set up and ready to go by 6:55 pm. I was shaking so hard, which they said was a sign I was ready to push. The nurses were AMAZING at coaching me on how to push. AJ was, too. He was so encouraging throughout the whole day. I pushed through 3 or 4 contractions, and out she came at 7:06 p.m. on her due date! They put her right on my chest to clean her up and said that the next hour was mommy and Aliyah time. They said not to worry about her crying, that it wasn't quiet time and by crying she would get all the gunk out of her lungs that she needed to. So for an hour, I held her on my chest and looked at her and memorized everything about her. I fell in love as soon as I saw her! :)
They weighed her after the hour and did the bloodwork and everything for us. She weighted 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19 inches long. Perfectly tiny. She has dark hair...we think it's black, but if not, it's dark dark brown. We can't really tell what color eyes she has yet...they look dark, but they'll become more of a color in the next few weeks. We could tell Elijah's eyes were blue right away, so she might have dark eyes. I don't really know.
Anyway, that's the birth story! It was the best experience ever...I had the same nurse the whole day. She thought she wouldn't be there for the birth, but at the end of her shift, Aliyah came on out, so it was perfect! From the time my water broke til the time I had Aliyah it was only 14 1/2 hours. And from the time my active labor started, it was only a little less than 6 hours! It was really fast and perfect!
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