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Birth stuff

January 15, 2005, 9:38 PM

The girls are watching ice skating and commenting on the outfits the women are wearing.

"Oh my god, that is totally going up her butt!"

"That is awful, I can't look!"

Yup. They're girls.

Caution: You're about to enter the Breast Feeding Zone. Female talk ahead.

I haven't held Baby Kenobi much since we got home because the 3 girls are too busy mothering him. I get him when it's time to feed him. Gia has him right now and he's konked out. Boo got the boppy all set up and held him earlier and he put her to sleep. AND I DON'T HAVE A CAMERA RIGHT NOW! It was a great picture opportunity! Of course we're right there with her when she's holding him, but she's really very good about it. Takes the baby holding very seriously.

I have so much breast feeding Paraphernalia right now because apparently I'm determined. I'm tired of my boobs. I feel sorry for Ben because my boobs are 3 times the size of his head. How's a baby supposed to latch on? I have the nipple shields, breast shells a breast pump, lanolin, and these things called Breast Nurse, which are thermal breast packs for nursing mothers. Who thinks of these product names? We had Ben's and my appointment today and those were at the shop for $14.95. I LOVE THEM. Milk gets trapped in ducts and makes for painful, lumpy breasts. The warm heat makes everything ease up. I'm sure a warm wet towel does the trick too, but these things stay warm longer and they're thin and fit in the bra.

Oh yeah baby. It's all about the boobage.

Breastfeeding is really painful. For me anyway. It's an ordeal right now. I've got the breast shield, then get Ben up there and then I have a syringe filled with a little formula. This little feeding tube goes in the side of his mouth and I squirt formula in his mouth, which gets him to start his vacuum suck, which then gets him to latch on and nurse. I'll probably do that for another week until we both get the hang of it. He's got no problems sucking, it's all to do with the inverted nipple thing. When I use the breastpump, I get to see what nipples actually are.

The c section was a good experience. I was scared, but once the spinal block went in, I was more relaxed. Took 15 minutes of poking and prodding to get the spinal in. At that time, Lee got really faint and had to leave the room. I thought that might happen. He hadn't eaten, the room smelled strongly of antiseptic and then the anesthesiologist is coming at me with a large needle the size of my leg. Once they got me all numb, they brought him back in. The nurses had shoved food and juice down him and he was totally fine. They took about 10 minutes cutting into me and getting past the old scar tissue, then out came Ben. Lee got the view of his little backside, the first thing he saw when they pulled him out.

The interesting thing was the entire surgery team were women. Yes, men are fine too, but all women made for a really different atmosphere. I really liked that. Lee liked it too. He said it was way different than Danielle's birth.

There was a whole setup in there for the nurse and Lee to do his shots, bath and get him all ready.

The nurses weren't as militant about breastfeeding that they used to be. They were all really cool, really. I had a lactation specialist come in about once a day to help me and the nurse I had for the day would help as well. The only part where I got frustrated was the first day being in pain and having them push the breastfeeding at that time.

I had Ben in the nursery the first night, which was pointless because I didn't sleep but an hour. The second night, Lee wasn't there and I there was no way I could do what Ben needed, so I had him in there, but then could hear him crying so when they brought him to me to nurse, I just kept him in bed with me with everything within reach. 3rd night Lee was there and we just took turns and fed some him some soy formula. I got asked a lot of questions about why I chose soy. I have no idea why.

When we were about to leave, one of the lactation nurses said let her know when we were leaving so she could observe Ben latching on and make sure everything was ok. I said ok, but then realized there was no point. He's eating, gaining weight and this is my 4th child and really, I just didn't want to.

So now the drugs are kicking in and I have to go.


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