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This feels like a confessional diary entry: Dear Diary, I lost it with my toddler today. Here’s to hoping tomorrow’s better! My little SuperBoy is as perfect as they come: he’s patient, sweet, listens well, plays well, and has never been nasty to his 8 week old baby sister. But even the perfect do fail, right? Or rather, behave like normal 23 month olds. I am far from a perfect mother. And having two children seems to have exacerbated my imperfections. Whereas with one child you can kind of always keep your cool, and respond to their needs in a calm and rational fashion, even when the needs involve irrational behavior, with two this task becomes impossible on occasion and difficult on a regular basis. 1) Case study. I’ve just gotten the babe to sleep happily in the sling while doing housework, and SuperBoy awakens from his nap full-bore and letting the world (and neighborhood) know that he’s AWAKE and wants out of his bedroom NOW. I traipse upstairs with SweetPea on my chest and approach SuperBoy’s room. I let him know I hear him, but that I need to put his sister down before getting him up and changing his diaper. He doesn’t like this and cries even harder. So I take her out of the wrap, lay her on the floor bed we have in his room, and go to his crib (yes, he’s still imprisoned in a crib) and talk to him. Reasoning doesn’t abate the tears,…
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This is part 15 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here, part 10 (Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents) is here, part 11 (Followup on Little V’s Traumatic Birth) is here, part 12 (Beautiful Little Girl Passes Away After Long Battle) is here, part 13 (Our Daughter’s Birth Story) is here, and part 14 (Mama Handles 24 Hours Post Water Breaking and Avoids C-Section) is here. This first time parent couple moved to Alaska while expecting their first child, but happily had each of their sisters come up to help out. Despite the terribly difficult news of the husband’s father passing away, the couple persisted with unmedicated labor. The ending of how the baby girl came before the doctors is a crazy surprise, so keep reading and admire this strong mama’s trust in her body! — I had a doctor’s appointment on a Wednesday, and they wanted to “check” me because my next appointment would be past my due date. I didn’t want her to because I didn’t want to…
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Mostly when people pull out their wedding photos, it’s to display the work of their fabulous photographer, and it’s a dramatic, well-lit, glorious photographic snatch of their special day. I love this photo. I can’t remember who took it–probably a guest with her little digi cam–but it’s emblematic of what we’ve experienced in the last three years. Yes, this is us dancing in the street at our at-home reception to our dear friends’ band, Scythian, who played in the front yard. I’ve learned a lot in three years of marriage, but here are three things in particular that are share-worthy. 1) Play is essential to love. AA is playful and not afraid to be goofy. That playfulness has kept our love robust and young. We still joke around, poke fun at one another, and every now and again, just play. Whether it’s actually playing with our children (imaginary stories, baseball indoors, tickle bug attackers, etc) or chasing each other around with the insistence of sunblock (me to him over Memorial Day weekend), where there’s no ability to let go and be silly, love is stuffy and suited only for the parlor. When I take myself and my opinions too seriously, and have no room for humor, I am rigid. When I can see that mine is not the only way, and certainly not always the best one to impose on my husband, I can be playfilled in my suggestions, and let them go when they’re not applied immediately to whatever…
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This is part 14 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here, part 10 (Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents) is here, part 11 (Followup on Little V’s Traumatic Birth) is here, part 12 (Beautiful Little Girl Passes Away After Long Battle) is here, and part 13 (Our Daughter’s Birth Story) is here. This first time mama, Katie, planned for an unmedicated labor, and after 25 hours of labor, even though her son was turned, she avoided a C-section with a very attentive and talented health care team. Her husband and mother were fantastic supports and they all held out for the most natural birth possible considering their son’s position. It’s inspiring and amazing that women are so tough, and that a support team can make such a big difference! —– Nell: Tell me a little bit about your beautiful child. Katie: At this point we only have one child. He is wonderful! Vinton is almost 7 months old and is growing like a weed. I enjoy watching him soak…
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I’m not a diet person. I have poor self-control when it comes to food, especially when my mom’s chocolate chip cookies or caramels are around. But I’ve never been so motivated in my life (not even during Lent, sorry, Jesus, as we Catholics give up sweets usually) than I am now. It’s every mama’s nightmare. My baby’s beautiful skin has turned into a scaley, puss-laced, acne-ridden, and bright red mess. At first I thought SweetPea was simply having normal baby acne. But after a few days, I realized this had to be worse. Her skin looked abraised, and her acne opened into yellow crusty scabs. What on earth was going on here? This photo barely shows her poor little cheeks, but you can kinda see it. It started on her face and moved to her neck, chest, and back. She’s so sad looking! Fortunately, our doctor is a family practice doc who practices in an integrative medical model. She took a look and suggested we initially tackle it as a food allergy as that is what it looked like to her. Her suggested elimination diet was something I was totally unfamiliar with, but now know all too well. She told me I could do it a little at a time, like just dairy and gluten, or tackle all seven food products at once. I definitely opted for the most extreme version of the diet, basically because I want to just get. it. DONE. 1) It’s been a week since I’ve…
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Emily Rumsey Photography Nursing is a challenge, and there are lots of little tips along the way that help ease that challenge. Personally, I’ve found that meeting with a lactation consultant somewhere along the way, preferably in the beginning of your first attempt, gives you a great tool set to continue. I wrote about my amazing lactation consultant and midwife friend, Aszani, here {3 Postpartum Health Tips}. Three tips I’ve picked up along the way: 1) Try different positions. Every baby is different. SuperBoy liked to nurse in a different position initially than SweetPea does. Shake it up. Change it up. Don’t be afraid to flaunt the conventional cradle hold. Right now, SweetPea only loves it when she’s nursing along the maternal contour, meaning her body curled from my breast to my belly button. That’s not conventional, but it works for her and me. Check out my post on nursing positions here {What Are the Good Nursing Positions}. 2) Compress your non-nursing breast to stop the flow of milk. When your milk has come in, and you feel the tingle of it letting down after your child has latched and sucked for a short while, remember that our milk floweth from both breasts, as though we all have twins. (Massive kuddos to mamas who nurse twins. Wowzer.) When you don’t want to either wash a million nursing pads, or throw away the bleached cotton disposable ones, simple compress the non-nursing breast with your free arm. Like when you are in…
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