Thankful for....

I am thankful for being able to nurse openly in my house and at Steve's parents house. I have never realized how nice and convenient it is to be able to just whip a boob out and nurse Simon whenever I want to without having to worry about covering up or anyone seeing me. Not being able to nurse whenever I want really makes me wish that I lived in a place where it was more socially and culturally acceptable to nurse openly in public without needing to cover or hide what I am doing. I wish I lived in South America where it is perfectly normal and acceptable to just whip it out and start nursing whenever you want.
I am also thankful for the "HooterHider" my mom made for me. It makes it so I can still be around people while nursing. Places I have enjoyed the convenience of nursing while still getting things done: Charity dessert social last Sunday, the grocery store, Target, Arby's, Steve's grandparents house. On Thanksgiving I was very grateful for the HooterHider because it made it possible for me to hang out with people and play Risk while still taking care of Simon's eating needs, which was very nice because he wanted to eat all the time on Thanksgiving Day, I don't know what his deal was but it felt like he was wanting to eat every 5 minutes. One downfall to the hider I discovered that day, it's really hot!! or maybe Steve's grandparents house was hot, I don't know but me and Simon were both all sweaty after feeding and it got to a point where I was trying to get him to wait just a little longer to eat because it was so hot under that thing he came out bright red and burning hot everytime he ate.
One last thing I am grateful for: changing rooms and the nursing mother's room at BabiesR'Us. Yesterday while doing some black Friday shopping I was able to just sit in a clothes changing room and nurse Simon for a few minutes, it was very nice and convenient, and much better than trying to figure out how the heck I can do it in a bathroom or get him latched on somewhere and then use the HooterHider. The nursing mother's room at BabiesR'Us is also wonderful. I can time my shopping trips out so I will end up at that store when Simon will be needing to eat next, and then I can go sit in there and relax while he eats, so nice!!

Cloth vs. Disposable

So one of the shower gifts I got that I am really grateful for is diaper service for a week. Yesterday the lady from Poops-A-Daisies came by to drop off the diapers. So far, I am unimpressed by cloth diapers. If Simon pees more than one time in them he will soak through the diaper and the plastic liner and onto his clothes. Yesterday he went through either 3 or 4 outfits. THe diaper lady left us 4 of the waterproof liners, and we went through three of them yesterday and had them out of commission while we waited for them to dry because we had to wash them. The service costs $80 month if you sign up for 6 months, or $100 month if you do a month-to-month contract. Not too bad to have someone drop off diapers at your house and then pick them up. We don't even have to rinse the poop off them or anything, just toss them in the diaper pail and put them out every Thursday night and Monday night. Last night, we put Simon in a disposable diaper while he slept or we probably would have had to get up about 4 times to change him during the night either that or have a very irritated cold baby sleeping in his pee. So as far as cost, it isn't really that expensive, until you add in the cost of having to buy the plastic pants and stuff. I think this is more one of those things where I would rather pay for the convenience of using disposable diapers that lock in the wetness than use the cloth ones. My mom changed Simon half an hour ago and just now had to change him again because he was very fussy, and had peed, and it almost leaked through. So yeah, its more a matter of convenience vs. feeling good because you aren't using disposable diapers that clog up landfills. I personally am fine with filling up the landfills, because it means my baby isn't crying as much and going through a bunch of outfits a day.
* I am very grateful for the diaper service though, because if Steve and I had a washer and dryer at our house, I was going to consider going with the cloth diapers, and now I know what works best for me. And it is kinda cool to be using cloth diapers and being environmentally friendly and all that stuff.
Do any of you use cloth diapers? If so, do you have any little tricks for making them work better? I tried putting a second diaper folded up inside the first one, and the first time Simon peed it soaked right through and half an hour later Steve was changing it.

Leaking

One of the joys of being a mom is being able to breastfeed. It is going really well for me, not too painful for me or anything like that, but it does come with its wonders. The bonding thing is great like everyone says it is. I think since the baby spends so much time attached to his moms boob, its pretty much impossible not to be bonding. But one sucky thing about breastfeeding is the leaking!!! (no pun intended)
My first leaking experience I had just gotten out of the shower and I was drying off and everything and something kept dripping and hitting the bath mat and my foot, so I just assumed water was dripping off of my hair so I put it up in a towel and the dripping continued, thats when I realized it was me, I was leaking and dripping all over the place!
The other day I was feeding Simon on the right side and I realized the left side of my shirt was soaking wet!! I was like what the heck is going on. I soaked through a cotton undershirt, a nursing pad thing to prevent leaks, a bra, and shirt!! My outer shirt had a huge wet patch about 3 inches wide and 9 inches long, I couldn't believe it!! Then I realized my shirt sleeve had another wet patch about 3 inches by 3 inches! Where does it all come from? It took me a minute to realize what it was, but when I figured it out I just couldn't believe I leaked that much.
Then there is the moderate leaking that occurs everytime I get ready to feed him and am trying to get him to ltach on. I swear by the time I get Simon latched on my hand and boob are all slimyand wet and it's really gross, I have to put a cloth under my boob just so it doesn't get all over everything. My boob needs its own burp cloth!!!
Oh, Simon is waking now, gotta go get him fed. The only time he cries really is when he is getting changed and is freezing and naked (but as soon as you snap the onesie shut he is silent again) and when he is hungry and I don't get him on the booby fast enough.

On Being a Mom

Welcome to my new blog!! In this blog I am going to talk about discoveries I make and experiences I have as a new mom. And just a little warning, I'm not really going to censor what I say, so you may or may not want to be an active reader of this page. I will be pretty blunt and open about things I am experiencing.