nursing in public - 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day

There's been a lot of talk and controversy over nursing in public..

While I try to be discreet, and try to find semi-private areas if I find myself with a hungry babe when we're out, sometimes it just doesn't happen. Sometimes it's best to just sacrifice your own modesty for the happiness of your child. Cole doesn't really like to be covered up, and never has. Maybe that's because he was born in the summer, and it gets really toasty under a cover.

One memory that I will have forever is when I went to the mall with my best friend, when Cole was just over a month old. He got hungry, so I went to the little sofa outside of the bathrooms in Macy's, and sat and nursed. People came by, both men and women, and they saw and knew what was going on, but I looked at them, unashamed, and they were all fine. One little elderly woman came over, and patted Cole on his head and told me what a sweet little boy he was. While he was still nursing. She really seemed to have no problem with it! I think a big part of nursing in public is to do so as discreetly and modestly as you can, but without being ashamed. If you feel ashamed, then people pick up on it.

As to the "indecency" argument - I don't know... maybe you can see a tiny strip of my tummy in the picture below... and that's in a normal shirt, not even a nursing shirt.. oops, so indecent of me..

4 month update - 3 months, 4 weeks

4 month doctor's appointment today, Cole is 13 pounds 13.6 ounces, and 24 3/4 inches tall! Between 25-50% for weight, 50% for height. Since he's been very very hungry and up every 3 hours for the past few weeks, and since he holds himself up so well, Dr. Karen said that Cole can start eating some solid food! Just some rice cereal mixed with breastmilk to start, in the hopes that having a little something more substantial will help him to sleep a little longer at night. While I'm excited for this new milestone, and excited about the prospects of more sleep(!), I'm just a teensy bit sad that he won't be 100% "mine" anymore... Just the start of eventually weaning, and that's a tiny bit sad.

We'll be waiting until Saturday to try giving him a little food, when his Daddy gets home from his business trip - can't let him miss out on Cole's first food!

Of course, the 4 month visit also includes some shots... mostly he's just been a little more tired, and a little more cranky, but bedtime was pretty bad. Usually he'll nurse, get a new diaper, maybe nurse a little more, go into his crib, find his thumb, and fall asleep without crying.. 

But not tonight. He nursed, cried, got a new dipe, cried, nursed, screamed, went in the crib, screamed bloody hell, nursed, screamed, nursed while walking up and down stairs and bouncing slowly to keep him calm, went in the crib, screamed, walked downstairs, bounced, rocked, fell asleep on my shoulder, went in the crib, started to cry, found his thumb, stopped crying, and fell asleep. 

oh boy, I really hope he sleeps a bit tonight...

mama's sick... - 3 months, 3 weeks, 4 days...

I hate being sick.. I have an awful cold, and don't want to take anything that could tank my supply or get in my milk and affect my boy.. You never fully appreciate something until you can't have it. I miss my Dayquil! Luckily, so far Cole seems pretty unaffected because of the antibodies in the milk, I would HATE for him to feel like this.

I've found a pretty good cure for the raw sore nose, though! my Angel Baby Bottom Balm, from Earth Mama Angel Baby, is GREAT! I'd read that it's good for scrapes and burns, and pretty much any first aid situation, but this is really the first time I've had cause to use it myself, and my nose is SO much happier!

baby sign - 3 months, 3 weeks, 1 day

Well, I think Cole has gotten the "potty" sign pretty well.. he doesn't shake his fist, and sometimes his hand is more in a fist than with his thumb between his index and middle fingers, but he gets the point across! Sometimes he signs before he's done peeing, so I really think we may be able to try to potty train him early, and try ECing (elimination communication).

Our next sign is going to be "milk", hoping he won't confuse that with people waving bye-bye to him..

my cloth diapering experience - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days...

and we have our first blow-out! for the first time, Cole poo'ed up the back of the diaper, and I had to change his clothes.. I guess that's a pretty long time, but I was kinda hoping it'd never happen. I think it may be because of his growth spurt and his gDiapers not fitting exactly right - you need to be able to get in the creases for them to work, and he just has so many creases!

So, for the most part, I love his gDiapers. They're super cute, nice and trim fit, not sitting in a landfill, and I'm not out buying disposables all the time! We use cloth inserts, and I have one extra medium sized load of laundry every 3 days or so. I use cloth wipes, too, so it's really quite easy! I have my old kitchen trash can sitting next to the changing area, and used wipes and gCloth just go right in! My cloth wipes are in the little basket of the changing area on the Pack-n-Play. The gPants are all around the side, I just sort of hang them there to air out. The liners are all attached, and when I have a few minutes I load gCloth into all of them to have them ready. A change is just like any other cloth or disposable, with one extra step - the creases! Push the liner into that main crease between the pelvic area and the leg, and it basically "seals" all of the pee and the poo in. The pee will all get absorbed into the gCloth, and the poo mostly sits on the cloth, but some will get in the liner. It (USUALLY!) doesn't get out, so for the 1 or 2 poopy diapers a day, you just snap out the liner, toss it in a lingerie bag, and snap in a new liner!

Cole doesn't get rashes because the gDiapers have no plastic, no chemicals, and are breatheable, but I still like to use Angel Baby Bottom Balm, which is cloth-dipe safe, especially at night when he'll be in a dipe for longer than a couple of hours.. instead of keeping the wipes wet, which can grow bacteria, I keep a bottle of Honeychunks solution next to the wipes and spray him before I wipe. It smells and works great, is all natural, and cheap!

I haven't tried any other brands of dipes because I bought the package of g's and really haven't had problems with them. I know lots of others do have problems with them, and have to switch to another, but if it isn't broke I'm not trying to fix it, so I'm sticking with our gDiapers!

growing boy - 3 months, 2 weeks, 5 days...

Cole must be in his 3 month growth spurt... he's been up every 2-3 hours to nurse for the past 5 days or so, and so fussy and sleepy, poor little guy :( ... Poor me, too, I'm as exhausted as I was when he was a newborn! Oh well, it'll pass..

On amazing notes - my 3 and a half month old son ROLLED from his belly to his back on October 30th and again the next day! And then he rolled from his back to his belly on Friday, November 5th! I don't quite think he meant to, and can't figure out how to free his arms once he's there, but WOW...

He has really strong legs, loves to stand, assisted, and even loves tummy time! I can put him on his tummy and put him in the middle of the room on a blanket while I fold laundry for 20 minutes and he'll just look back and forth across the room, watch me, and babble!

3 Months, 2 Weeks, and 1 Day since trading in my labcoat...

I'm officially a Stay-at-home-Mama (SAHM) now, and I guess I'll try blogging, as a hobby mostly!

3 Months, 2 Weeks, and 1 Day ago, my son, Cole, was born, and my life changed. Up until then, I was a Scientist, a Microbiologist with a Master's degree. It didn't make sense financially for me to go back to work and to put Cole in daycare, and I didn't want to! So now my days are filled with grins and giggles, and fussing and playing. I use cloth diapers, breastfeed, occasionnaly wear, and in general, LOVE my baby!