A few breastfeeding tidbits and sleeping

I wanted to post that earlier this year, Indiana passed the following bill:
The Indiana Senate has approved a bill that would create new provisions for women returning to work after a maternity leave. The legislation would require any business with 25 or more employees to make a reasonable effort to provide a private place for an employee to pump breast milk for her child. It also requires the business to provide some form of refrigeration to store the milk.

THIS IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!

Also - just recently learned of a few new interesting blogs that I wanted to share:
Moms Rising
Breastfeeding 123
The Lactivist
Breastfeeding Motherwear Blog
Kellymom
It is amazing how much is out there. I love it. Love love love love love love love it! And I love that people love to say, "You're STILL breastfeeding" and I think - of course I am, but in reality, just smile and say, yes I am and am not stopping anytime soon. My goodness, Brennan would have a breakdown if I took the boob away! So I would I!

Oh oh oh - check this out - a breastfeeding challenge - Love it! Hey all you nursing moms out there, join me!


Okay - so I just have to voice some thoughts on sleep. Sometimes I worry about what I post and that I will offend people, but then I have to remind myself - this is my blog about my son and I can write what I want and no one has to read it, so if people don't like, oh well, don't read. Okay, enough with my attitude.

On to my thoughts on sleep.
Sometimes I feel like I am the ONLY mother in the world who does not believe in the cry-it-out method (but I know I'm not and I am thankful for my kindered spirits!). And sometimes I feel like I have to defend the choice that PJ and I have made NOT to participate in what I consider a horrible method of getting your child to sleep (and let's reiterate that CIO does not = sleeping through the night - and yes, some babies are better sleeping then others, but the two are not related imo). Now I know, people who do it say it's not that bad. I am not buying it. No one can tell me that listening to your child cry and cry and cry feels okay. And if it doesn't feel okay, why in the world would someone do it!? Luckily I know there are a lot of others out there "like me" who will continue to nurse their child to sleep for god only knows how long and that prefer to do other "strange" things like delay vaccinations and advocate for breastfeeding and hope for a natural birth (even though it didn't happen and my goodness, I was in so much pain, I don't know if I could have done it, but, that's neither here nor there, just a next time). Anyway, I am not going to really get into why we don't cry it out - just leave it at the fact that we don't want to. We don't ever want to. We like what we do. And you know what, yes, my child does still get up 2-3 times a night. And yes, I wish that he slept through the night. And yes, I am VERY tired during the day, but here's the thing.....I don't care. As long as I am meeting his needs and meeting my needs, and meeting the needs for our family, that is what matters. As I have stated in other postings, parenting is such a personal choice. And this choice is ours. And you know what, I am going to stop feeling bad in front of others about our choice to not cry it out and our choice to let Brennan sleep with us some nights. It is what it is. And well, I am happy with our choices.

Okay - enough said.

introducing a bottle, hip update, and the heartbeat bear

Brennan, sans brace, on his playmat

Brennan, in his rainforest bouncer - he loves this thing!

Brennan and the heartbeat bear - his fav!

So per the lactation consultant's suggestion, we waited until Brennan was about 1 month old to introduce a bottle. I was really nervous about it - my mom had a terrible time getting me to take a bottle, and I was feeling like Brennan, breastfeeder extraordinaire, would have no part of it either. Goodness, he hardly takes a pacifier, and then only for a few seconds before spitting it out. So I prepped PJ, who was going to introduce the bottle - preparing two different bottles with different nipples, and warned him there would probably be screaming.....and then I left the house (another tip I had recieved). Took Tucker on a walk - and when I returned, I returned to a happy baby, a happy dad, and TWO empty bottles! So the next night we tried yet a third bottle, with me in the house, and he took it no problem, then proceeded to feed on me (I guess the bottle wasn't enough!). Guess I didn't need to worry! He loves the Dr. Brown's bottle best, though we also tried the Soothie bottle and the Breast Flow. The medela bottle didn't work at all - came out too fast. Yay for no nipple confusion!

Update on the hip - as many of you know, Brennan was born with hip displaysia, due primarily to his frank breech position - and since he was in the hospital, has had to wear a brace to keep his hip aligned and forming right. We have had numerous x-rays, ultrasounds, and doctor's visits to make sure things were progressing - and they are! Today the doc told us that he only has to wear the brace at night and a double diaper during the day - for the next two weeks. We go back in three weeks for a stress x-ray, and if all is good then, we are almost in the clear!

On Brennan's changing table we have the heartbeat bear, as I call it - a teddy bear that plays a soothing "in utero" heartbeat sound - he loves it! And while we change his diaper, just loves to stare at it - so cute!

Brennan is one month old - weighing in at over 9 pounds already (or so we think.....had to weigh him via me today at OrthoIndy where there was no baby scale). He can hold his head up for a few seconds, does great on his play mat with tummy time, and has the pincher grip down pat!