Ahem. The pro's and con's of breast feeding.


You have to stop what you're doing right then and feed baby. Can't prepare a bottle in advance.


You have ot remove clothing, and be prepared ot change clothing when he spits up on your.


You have ot find a comfortable spot and make sure you take enough time for baby to fill up.


Let's not going into putting lansinoh on your nipples afterward, dealing with nipple shields if you're chafed, nursing pads in case you leak and really don't want all that greasey stuff on your bra or soaking through your shirt. And don't forget you need to do both sides. And burp baby. And then top him off.


I could go on. I love breast feeding but with my second I started supplimenting with formula. With an active two year old, a nice 20 minute break ever few hours just isn't possible.

 

-----signature-----

Tunes, did you take the pak n play and the stroller? I'm curious. Those are two things I wouldn't live without.

 

-----signature-----

Well getting the hang of breastfeeding is very time consuming to begin with. All I was doing all day long was breast feeding. Baby drinks his bottle alot faster than he drank from the breast. I also had a c-section to recover from. Trust me take away ALL your support and tell me how easy it is to start breastfeeding and maintain it while living an Army life with a fresh c-section. I have no spouse, no family and no in laws here to help me. I'm new to this unit so it's not like I have close friends either. My boy is doing just fine and developing well. I wish I could have breastfeed but after 3 weeks of trying and either feeding or pumping round the clock I was done. I can also have me a beer now


Pally: I did end up flying to Arizona to visit my husband and I did bring the pack and play and the stroller. I think the stroller was not really needed. Most of the time I had him in the snugli. The pack and play was usefull, I would definitely bring that.

 

-----signature-----

Ah didn't think about the snugli. Baby packs or slings are wonderful imo. I forgot the stroller once when we went on a trip and had not snugli, got tired of carrying the car seat around... /shudder Bought a new stroller.

 

-----signature-----

Haha.

I didn't mind bringing the stroller too much especially since the airline didn't charge me for my 5 checked items. It was nice to have but not really needed. There was tons of conseignment shops there too, I could have just bought one too. It was a lot of stuff but meh, was nice to have what I needed.

I love the snugli. He likes it too.

 

-----signature-----

Sometimes I forget how crappy it can be to be a mother in less progressive countries.

- My wife has 1 year maternity leave in Ontario (all mom's do regardless of job) It often costs mother's more to go back to work and pay for daycare/formula/extra car gas than it does to stay off for a year with baby.
- Midwives are covered and encouraged as part of our health care system. They drop in every few days after the baby is born to make sure everything is going well and answer any questions, help new mom's breast feed.
- Due to the overwhelming research backing the benefits of breast feeding, breast feeding consultants come in the day after the baby is born to discuss breast feeding and show the mom how to obtain a proper latch, how to avoid chaffing(improper latches are usually the cause).

There are also an abundance of mom's groups which you can find online. My wife goes out a few times a week walking or out for lunch with other mom's in the area, all met through mom's groups.

I've offered to help out more with my little guy, but she handles everything. She won't even wake me up in the night to put the little guy to bed when he's being fussy... inspite of the fact that I've told her to because it's not fair that she does it all of the time. She also stopped pumping so that I could put him to bed every other night... because it was easier to just breast feed than prepare a bottle of it.

 

-----signature-----

The sad part is that i'm from Canada. Thats where my family is at, Ottawa and Montreal. I moved here to the US 3 years ago. Everyone was telling me to go home to have the baby. lol I was already enlisted though and love my job. So I got all of 6 weeks off. Daycare is costing me 900$ a month (untill i can get a spot on base daycare). These are all things I would have loved to avoid but everything happens for a reason i suppose. My husband just Enlisted and has been in training since January until October. Then he comes home yay! Untill he deploys boo. Sometime you gotta make lemonade outta these lemons.

 

-----signature-----

I certainly don't envy you the position you were put in. If someone told me I was only allowed 6 weeks off after a c-section, I would tell them exactly where they can shove it, and get a lawyer or otherwise find a way to be "allowed" to take a more appropriate amount of maternity leave.

Obviously not everyone has the same choices. We have chosen to live for free with my dad, and all the sacrifices that entails so that I can stay at home and teach my girls proper Spanish before they start school. I might conceivably end up clinically depressed if I was only allowed to see my newborn baby for a couple hours a day because I'm working all the time. *shudder*

Again... glad things are working out for you, especially because you mentioned your son is doing great, and that you have a job that you like. Those 2 things are pretty damn important in the grand scheme of things!!

 

-----signature-----

TOS Trolling