I wish I'd been better prepared for breastfeeding drama

You'd think, breastfeeding being the natural option, that it would be easy, right? Yeah, not so much. We had some latching problems (ouch), then, when we got past that, we had a milk-flow issue. My son's doctor told me to eat more protein (I already eat a ton) and drink WAY more water (so I have to pee ALL THE TIME). We finally got back into a groove and then I went back to work and now I'm pumping 3 times a day and feeling rather cow-like. Here are a few things that helped:

• Soothies - a little pricey, but very nice when you are really sore.
• Protein water - I get tired of regular water, and this helped me get extra water AND protein - bonus! Also comes in powders that you can add to your own water.
• Protein shake powder - I made a shake most mornings with this, a cup of milk, some fruit and ice. 25 grams of protein - woohoo!
• Medela Pump in Style dual breast pump - a friend told me that I could NOT get a single pump, and now that I'm using this regularly I am so glad I followed her advice. Expensive, but totally worth it. (Watch for the 20% off coupon from Babies R Us, and you can save a bit).

I never knew this sentence could bring me so much comfort

"Let me wash my hands before I touch the baby"

I know that eventually, as moms, there will come a point when we will just shrug when we see our kids eat things like dirt or glue but when you first bring that little spud home you automatically become the "germ warrior". Luckily the paranoia that everything and everyone in life exists just to make your baby sick wears off just as you begin to develop new ones. There is only so many paranoid delusions one woman can handle.

I wish I understood what lack of sleep meant...

Everyone always tells you that you will not get sleep when you bring your newborn home. You know that this will be true but until you have a newborn under your roof you don't understand what that means. As a parent-to-be you read books and they say that newborns sleep 8 hours at night and 8 hour during the day. That only leaves 8 hour, right? Wrong. To all of you women who have/had sleepers - I am jealous. My little guy still will not sleep much during the day. He also had jaundice at birth so that meant nursing every 2 hours.
So to all you future new mom's out there. Here is how my first month went.
Feed - 45 minutes (YES, 45!) - Burp 10 minutes - Diaper 5 minutes
Then choose 1 activity - eat, shower, or play with baby.
Repeat 12x a day. My guy only had 12 possible hours of sleeping, not 16 and of course he did not always go to sleep after he ate. - V

Welcome to our new blog!

There have been many stories that we have shared as new mom's. We have learned some things along the way too that we want to share. We hope you like this new blog.

- V & G