To nurse in public today or not...

All of the big kids are with someone else today. Dad wanted to go out for breakfast for pancakes so that is what we did. If you knew him you would know it is rare that he requests outings. Evan, Eliot, Ben, dad and I headed for IHOP. I was prepared  to feed Ben if needed during breakfast. Ben got a lot of attention form the waitresses. He is pretty cute if I say so myself. He started to get fussy and everyone was about done at that time. I was about to feed him there in the restaurant but I decided to wait. I felt like I should make a stand and nurse in public to support the 'cause" but I did not feel totally comfortable in that setting. I left Dad with the other kids and paid the check on my way out to feed Ben in the car. All of the waitresses came running to say bye to the cutest baby in the room. I had mentioned to the hostess that took my money that I was going out to feed the baby she spoke up to the other staff and said good naturedly, "let her go, she is going to feed the baby." In the end I did not feed Ben in public but I didn't  hide the fact that I was a nursing mom. In the end everyone was happy. I got to eat, Ben got to eat and all the ladies that work at IHOP got to fawn all over Ben!

Got milk?

I actually had to stop pumping because one of my bottles was overflowing. I knew I should have packed the big bottles today! Ben has been snacking off and on all the time. My supply is showing that! I had to pump 3 hours early today just to keep from spilling out of my shirt.

What are you feeding him?

Ben visited today at work. I love these opportunities to be able to nurse him in the middle of the day during the week. It is not throwing my supply all out of whack as it used to do. My supply doesn't seem to be going anywhere so I don't stress over having to take a day or two to readjust the supply and demand mechanism. As I was showing him off a little bit I was asked, "What are you feeding him?" I answered with a smile, "Just mama milk". The response I got in return was, "Well, I guess that is enough.". This was said as Ben was having his chunky thighs squeezed by a well meaning "grandmother". He is a prime example that most babies do just fine on breastmilk alone.

Ben's WIC appointment

Well, Ben had his WIC appointment today. He weighs 16 pounds and 5 ounces. Milk does a body good! There were a lot of new moms there with little babies. All of them were bottle feeding what i presumed was formula to their babies. One of the moms even got up to smoke twice while she was waiting. When I got to see the nutritionist she asked me if Ben was eating food yet. I said no he doesn't seem ready yet. She gave me the new vouchers for 6 month old infants to start next month. For Ben he is allowed to get 64 jars of vegetables or fruit, 31 jars of meat (yuck), and 3 boxes of infant cereal. I may offer him some of the fruit later when he is ready but the rest can wait or never be bought. I am sure when he is ready to eat food he will pull it off of my plate. On another note the nutritionist wanted me to start him on a sippy cup so that he would be off of the bottle by a year old. I told her that I was hoping that he would nurse till he was done and then just transition to an open cup. She looked at me like I was crazy. To me a sippy cup with a valve and a soft spout is still just a bottle. Most children are older than one when they no longer need to satisfy a sucking need and can turn up a cup to drink. If we all were meant to drink without sucking there would not be any sports bottles or straws!!

La Leche League meeting

Today's meeting went great! There were two leaders there, me, and a new mom with a 3 week old baby boy. One of the leaders had to leave early so the other leader and I talked with the new mom. I really think I will like being a leader of a group one day. I am going to try better to get all my ducks in a row so I can get going with all the requirements needed to be a leader. Now I need to see about which area I want to lead in.

Good to see

I attended a Birmingham Birth Stories meeting today. It was great to see so many mothers nursing their babies. I need to put myself in more settings where it is acceptable to nurse in public even though a mothering group of like minded people is scarcely  the typical "public" arena in Alabama. Still, I had fun. I met a lot of moms who feel the same way I do on a lot of issues. I am sure I will go back. Since the meeting took place at my regular pumping time I had to pump a little early so I would not get too uncomfortable during the meeting.

Another day..

I have no concerns with my nursing adventure right now. I really couldn't ask for anything better. Ben nurses well. He is growing well. I still haven't gotten a period yet. All is good! I do have a WIC appointment coming up soon for Ben this month. I know they will try to get me to add solid foods to his diet but I plan on waiting a while longer. He is almost 5 months old. He is not showing any signs on needing more than "mama's milk" so we are just going to keep it that way for a while longer. I am going to wait at least 6 months till I even try to introduce some fruits.

Ben's first cold

Ben is not nursing as much as usual. He won't hardly take a bottle of "mama milk" for Dad during the day. I was afraid he may have croup. Eliot had RSV when she was about his age so I was afraid of that too. It was neither. We went to the doctor today and it was just a cold. His appetite should perk up in a few days. He is still nursing it just isn't very much. He does weigh 15.2 pounds as of today.