Playing catch-up

*waves*

Oh hai! I'm the bad blogger who disappeared into mommydom. I continue to mentally write blog posts--witty, informative posts filled with all of my newfound, bountiful wisdom... and then promptly forget them.

So here I am with a few minutes to myself, so I'm going to try to throw together a halfway coherent post to let you know how things are going.

First, the behbeh... She is magical. She eats and sleeps like a champ. We go 3 1/2 hour stretches at night, eat/change dipe, and we're right back to bed. LOVE LOVE LOVE that! And hello? She's hella cute!



However, the one thing I was NOT prepared for was how challenging breastfeeding would be. I took a class before I gave birth that came highly recommended, so I felt pretty prepared and determined... And then my LO arrived with a voracious hunger and vampire-like sucking ability.

The lactation consultants in the hospital were less than helpful (one was downright condescending) so the day after we got home from the hospital, I marched myself (okay, technically DH drove) to the local breastfeeding center where I took my class for some assistance. That plus some YouTube'ing of BF'ing videos and we were back in business--greatly improved, but still painful.

Tonight a friend suggested that I look into a nipple shield to help me out while things are healing up and after seeking further advice from some very helpful friends, I was on my merry little way to Target and returned home with the shield in hand and proceeded to finally have a pain-free feeding. WOOT!

Anyway, let's round out the Mah Belleh Fridays with a final Mah Belleh report...



How far along? Lilly is 2 weeks, 5 days old. By the time I left the hospital, I was down about 14 lbs and probably looked like I did when I was 25-28 weeks pregnant. Within a few days (wearing my beloved Bella Bands and doing the abdomen massage my sister suggested) it has continued to flatten out. I'm actually very pleased with how everything's going back to normal. I'm down about 23 lbs now, with about 10 to go.

Stretch marks? OMG, you guys--none! I'm still waiting for something to appear but so far, so good. Still giving mad props to my Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Balm--and I'm still using it. My skin is actually snapping back nicely.

Sleep: 3 1/2 hour stretches, usually from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. Whoohoo!

Best moment this week: Coming home from Target with my nipple shield and having a pain-free nursing... You have no idea!

Movement: I thought I would miss being pregnant, but having her on the outside immediately erased those thoughts. I don't even think about it because I still feel very much connected to her.

Food commentary: Pardon my voracious breastfeeding hunger. It is so out of control, it's sort of embarrassing, but I'm still losing weight so whatever! I will enjoy this while it lasts.

Labor Signs: I actually didn't have many labor signs. I had Braxton Hicks every night (they'd be 5 minutes apart) and then one night BAM--Water broke!

Belly Button in or out? Mine never really popped out much, it just had a little lip that jutted forward. It's back in, but shall we say... sort of "cavernous"? It's shrinking up, though.

What I miss: Nothing actually. My heart's never been so full.

What I am looking forward to: Every day that I get to stay home with this little bugger. Did I mention that she's magical.

Weekly Wisdom: Make good friends with a wonderful, supportive, smart mommy community. I cannot say THANK YOU loud enough or often enough for all of the insight, support, and love we've been given.

Weekly WTF: WTF breastfeeding? Why do you have to be so painful!? Isn't this supposed to be some beautiful, natural experience? I'm sticking with it, but dang! Can't a girl catch a break?

Nesting madness: We are all nestled in and happy as clams.

Milestones: My baby is up over her birth weight again! We went to the pediatrician's on Monday and she was 9 lbs and measuring in the 90th percentile for height, weight and head circumference. Go Lilly!!