Wednesday, July 16

My Moments

Last night I was feeding Charlotte before she went to bed. We were sitting in the glider in her room, all you could hear was the fan spinning above us and the cars buzzing by outside. She was so sweet and peaceful cuddled up next to me. I looked at her and realized how big she is getting. She is longer than the width of the glider, her feet push against the arms. She used to be so small that she fit on top of a boppy pillow.

5 months ago, we would have had to have a pillow and a boppy on my lap so that she would be in the correct position to feed. Her feedings used to be an event. I would get into the rocker, place the pillow just so, then align the boppy so that her head would be high enough. After that, I would position her so that her latch would be as painless as possible and then she would latch. I would hold my breath and clench my jaws until the pain of her latch subsided. She would eat and fall asleep. After she drained one side, I would need to wake her up, so I would change her diaper. After changing her diaper we would repeat the process for the other side. The whole scenario would take 45 minutes.

Now, she can eat anywhere or anytime. I have fed her in the airport, in Babies R Us, in the car in parking lots, even on the beach. There isn't a boppy or pillow, just my lap. It is so effortless and painless now and takes about 10-15 minutes. If you would have told me 5 months ago that I was considering breastfeeding longer than 6 months, I would have told you that you were crazy. Now I can't think about not sharing those special moments with her. It forces us to have a quiet moment together during the day. I have come to cherish those quiet moments with her - just us. There aren't many of those moments left, if I'm lucky, 6 more months of them. I plan to savor every one.



5 comments:

Meredith said...

Thank you for sharing such sweet moments with us. I'm looking forward to having that special bond whenever I have a baby. :) Charlotte is too precious for words!

Sara said...

Enjoy the moments. It is what being a mom is all about. She is absolutely the most beautiful baby. I am looking forward to spending time with her next week. Have a great time at the beach. Charlotte will have so much fun with the Davis clan!

Love,
Me

amanda said...

That is definitely a special bonding time for mommy and baby. I knew I would miss it with Owen when he got bigger. It's amazing to see how much they grow and change that first year. Charlotte is beautiful!

Drena said...

Good photos. Wow, your story of breastfeeding scares me a little but good to know it has been worth it in the long run. I've heard if you can make it 6 weeks you can make the year.

Mollypants said...

Very good story. I know I'm like the only single non-momma on here, and I'm totally going to sound like it when I say this, and I know that it's like the most natural thing we've got going in all of the animal kingdom, but I'm seriously befuddled by the following:
a) a whole human being could like instinctually latch itself onto my boob.
b) food would come out.
c) enough food would come out for that human being to gain twice their body weight in 5 months.

I do have a question though, and I've always been afraid to ask it. I know breastfeeding mothers aren't supposed to eat, drink, or take anything they don't want passed on
to the baby, but out of curiosity, does what you eat affect how it tastes to the baby? Don't go sampling it or anything, and I don't know how anyone would know it, but I would imagine it does since we all know what happens to pee when people eat asparagus, so I'm going on that logic.