Great ultrasound pictures!! She is just precious. I also love the name you picked out.
Yeah unfortunately sometimes our bodies and babies have other plans. You really just have to make up your mind to go with the flow. Otherwise it's very stressful. I was never dead set on BFing so when it wasn't working out it wasn't too huge of a loss but I was still sad/depressed about it and the fact that my body was failing me and my baby. The c-section thing is what depressed me (and still does) the most. Ugh!
It really is. But they'll give you perkoset after giving birth even if you're BFing. Go figure! I'll post my ADR list as soon as I get a chance. It will probably have to wait until after Alex's birthday party and Christmas though unless I get some time to do it while I'm at work one day.
Oh thanks but it's actually on Saturday. My ticker is messed up for some reason
I'll definitely do a post about his party and put pictures up. I'm really anxious to see his cake! I hope it turns out just how we want it.
LOL! Sorry - hope alex had a fantastic birthday on saturday! How did the cake turn out? I can't wait to see pictures!
Thanks! We like the name too, though I go back and forth on the middle name. DH wanted it to be meaningful, while I have barely any family (literally my mom and grandmom - that's it) so it's hard for me to really care. But Marie worked out when we found out it's both of our grandmother's middle names!
Sorry you're still upset about the c-section!! I think you need to take your own advice and let that go
it's not your fault and not anything you could have prevented. OTOH my friend is getting an elective c-section next week at 39 weeks preggo bc she thinks she is too "small". Now that, IMO, is just silly...
I ilke the name! I'm a big Pretty Little Liars fan so I immediately thought of Aria from the show.
I'm such a nerd.
LOL I love that show too! And besides the whole dating a teacher thing, Aria is my favorite character hahaha.
What a beautiful name & a beautiful baby girl! I know you just can't wait to meet her.
I don't blame you not wanting to tell people the name until she is here. People can be so rude and pushy when it comes to all things baby, especially the name! My mom really hated one of the names we were considering for Paxton, but she was nice enough not to tell me so until we had decided on his name being Paxton for sure. Although, she might be disappointed to find out it's still on our list for future babies!
As for the BF/formula thing, don't stress about it now. I did find the breastfeeding class to be VERY helpful, but if the hospital where you are delivering has a good lactation nurse that is willing to spend the time to help you, you can make it just fine without taking the class. The one I went to was 2 hours long, and I was soooo tired by the end! I want to say it was from 6-8 pm and I had been going to bed early through most of my pregnancy, so it was rough to be out that late! I was pregnant and due within a month of 2 other girls at work, with 2 more due about 4 or 5 months after the group of us, and we ALL were going to breastfeed until our babies turned 1. The two that had their babies before me switched to formula before their babies were 6 weeks, I made it to just before Paxton's 1st birthday, and the two that had their babies after me, one is exclusively pumping & feeding, and the other is still breastfeeding at 8 months old. So you really just never know. You will quickly figure out what is best for you and your family. Any breastmilk is good for the baby, even if you are only able to do it for the time you are on maternity leave, or for the first week, or just the first day. As long as you can say you did what was best for you and baby and your sanity, that is all that matters. I think some women feel like they are failures if they can't breastfeed for whatever reason, and they stress themselves out to the point of exhaustion trying to BF or pump, and they end up not doing themselves or their baby any good. You will quickly figure out what's right for y'all once little Aria is here.
Wow thanks for all the great advice!! Thanks for the compliment on her name & pictures, too!
Sorry to hear your mom doesn't like a potential future name LOL, but I'm impressed she kept it to herself! The thing is, every time I would state "ooh I really like ____" she would make a face and comment about someone she know/her thoughts on the name. Such as Reagan which I keep hearing for a little girl. Now, at my age, I don't remember the president, so don't even think of him when thinking about that name, but my mom immediately was like "why would you ever want to name a child after such a horrible person...etc etc". No matter what she would come up with something. I kept telling her to stop, but she can't keep her mouth shut. We'll see what she says/does when we tell her the name AFTER it's been written on the birth certificate LOL.
As for BF'ing - congrats for doing it for so long. That's kinda funny how you all planned to go to 1 year and so far only you have made it and 1 is close. I spent way too much on my pump to put it to waste LOL (I've already sanitized it) so I'm really hoping to do that at least. Plus it'd be nice not to buy formula on top of everything else.
Breastfeeding is not for everyone but I am an advocate for it as a nurse. I sometimes work on the Mother-Baby unit of my hospital and help with breastfeeding quite often while there.
Things to remember:
The first 24 hours baby is usually sleepy and it can be hard to wake baby to even try to breastfeed. We tell our moms that all we ask is that you TRY every 3 hours. If baby doesn't wake up it is OK! Right around 24 hours babies tend to wake up and they are HUNGRY! Take advantage of the first 24 hours of sleepiness and get SLEEP yourself. The next 2-3 days are going to be rough!
Relax! Babies can sense if you are not relaxed and that will cause them to fight the LATCH. If you are relaxed you can have a more relaxed hold on the baby and this will help.
Babies do not get a lot the first few days but what they do get is like liquid GOLD. Because they do not get a lot you may need to feed them more often than every 3 hours.
Make sure if they are feeding often that they do have a proper latch so as not to make your nipples sore. Our hospital provides Lanolin to our pts but I'm not sure if they all do. This is a natural product that you apply after breastfeeding to help sooth.
Woot some professional help! Thanks!!
thanks for the tip on the first 24 hours. I was told we had to feed every 2 hours for the first 2 weeks? Is that not the case? It sure sounds like an awful lot! I plan to bring lanolin to the hospital just in case, I don't think mine provides it. The latch is what I'm really worried about, I guess (well, and milk supply). I'll try to stay relaxed about it though! Hopefully we will have a sort of routine by the time we leave the hospital (or maybe that's just wishful thinking...
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How can I not join in after seeing the adorable ultrasound pictures? She is absolutely precious and I love her name. I agree with "the best laid plans" approach. We attended all the childbirthing classes only to end up with a c-section (for both of my kids). We attended breastfeeding classes, only to have to really work at getting them to latch on. They eventually learned but it was such a headache. The best advice I can give is to live your life the way you did before kids when you have kids. Kids will adapt. Do what you and your DH think is best for YOUR kids. Let your family tell their ideas or what you are doing wrong(trust me they will. And it never stops
) Then smile, say thank you even though it hurts, and then do what You think is best. We had our kids on the go from day 1. We didn't worry about keeping it quiet around them when they were babies. They learned to sleep through anything without waking up. Something that you will want while at Disney. Take her to restaurants. Get her used to how your way of life really is at an early age. It will be easier in the long run. I am a preschool teacher and it drives me nuts to see how many parents let their kids make the rules. The kids need to adapt to your way of life not the other way around. Sorry for the rant on my first post on you PTR.
LOL Thanks for making me laugh first thing on this lovely Monday morning! Hahaha. That's exactly how we plan to live - we still plan to travel, go out to eat, etc. All of our friends seem to have fallen off the earth in terms of doing adult things (esp WITH baby) and I just don't understand it. I mean, we will enjoy evenings without her I'm sure, but I also want her to feel comfortable no matter what we're doing. Well...maybe not when the last Twilight movie comes out, she can stay with her Grammy then haha. Anyway thanks for your advice and comments on her name/pictures! So sweet!
So it was just great all around. Almost made me want to go all-natural though, we'll see how I feel after hours of contractions though. 
My next "goal" is to get to 36 weeks, then I'm going to start on the countown big-time. I'll start some red raspberry leaf tea and evening primrose oil too, just to hopefully help things along a little bit hehe.
