Learning as We Go....: March 2011

Friday, March 11, 2011

Bye Bye Nursies!

It's time. Time to reclaim my "girls" (remember that post?!) for at least a few more months. It's time to wear a bra that doesn't in some weird way resemble a jock strap. (At least that's what Wes has referred to my nursing bras in the past. I've actually never seen a jock strap in place and have no idea how they work. Nor do I really want to for that matter.) It's time to nudge Daddy when Tucker cries out "MA!" at 5:00 am. It's time.

Sorry, Bubby, but it's time to say, "Bye Bye" to your "nursies."

I've decided to wean Tucker. And even though my OB assured me she sees no problem in continuing to breastfeed while pregnant since I'm not considered at risk for pre-term labor, I have several reasons for doing so.

At the very top of my list is an innate need to have my girls back before going through the whole process all over again with Tucker's brother/sister. Right now, the thought of hooking myself up to my pump is enough to send me into tears. Not that pumping was painful or problematic, it just SUCKED (literally and figuratively)! And, it's an inevitable process in the beginning stages of breastfeeding and pretty much throughout the first SEVERAL months unless you're able to be with your little one 24/7.

I think I will need a few months off in order to muster up the get-up that it will take in order to breastfeed Baby Keene #2 for as long as I did Tucker (or for at least a year, we don't necessarily have to go 17+ months, Baby Keene #2!).

Another huge reason for this decision is that I have NO desire to tandem nurse. (Read: I WILL NOT TANDEM NURSE MY CHILDREN!) I want Tucker to have forgotten all about his "nursies" by the time his brother/sister makes his/her debut. I already have all kinds of guilt about the time that this baby will inevitably take away from Tucker. I don't want him to also feel like he is giving up something else that he loves, or that the baby is allowed to nurse but he is not.

I have read that pregnancy can really change the taste of your milk. As picky as Tucker is about milk (remember it took forever before he would really drink cow's milk?!), I thought for sure that alone might be enough for him to make the decision to wean on his own. Oh, but not my lil' boob man! He obviously didn't let a little change in taste come in between him and his Mama's milk!

While Tucker can definitely go all day without nursing, and has when I'm not around, he prefers to nurse several times a day. When I'm home with him, he nurses morning and night, and about 50% of the time he also nurses a couple times throughout the day. BUT, he asks for it ALL DAY LONG. It really requires a lot of redirection to distract him during the day, especially before naps.

When I'm not home in the evenings and Wes puts Tucker to bed, he has no problems. A bath, a book, a song or two, and in his crib he goes. No problem. He cuddles up with his silky, blows Daddy a kiss, and is off to dreamland. BUT, when I'm home he demands to nurse first. He will throw a fit if Daddy tries to put him to bed if he knows I'm in the house. However, for the first time last night, he nursed for literally 5 seconds then wanted his paci. So, a quick song of Jesus Loves Me and I laid him in his crib, told him I loved him and walked out. I thought, "He's gonna change his mind and wanna nurse," but nope, he was out for the night. Maybe he's thinking it's about time too....

Funny thing, he only nurses for a few minutes per session. It's not a hunger thing. It's not a nutritional thing. It's a comfort thing for Tucker. Seriously, he can stub his toe and will be in tears, holding his toe with one hand and signing "milk" with the other hand. It just makes him feel good. And, I'll admit, it makes Mommy feel good too. I love the closeness that breastfeeding has given Tucker and I. One of Tucker's top love languages is very much physical touch and nursing fulfills a large part of that. It's time with his Mommy. And, for me, it's time with my Bubbas! Weaning will be just as hard on me as it will be on him. But, we are ready.

Tucker will be 17 months next week. I plan to start only nursing him at night. Ugghhh! It's gonna be hard taking away that morning "nursey time"! Hopefully we can do that for a month and then work on fading out the night time session. I still plan to embed plenty of 'Tucker and Mommy' time in our daily routine so he's not missing out on that. The hardest part is going to be those mornings when he wakes up at 6:00 am, wanting to nurse and then returns to sleep for another couple hours. I guess I'll try giving him a glass of cow's milk or water to see if that works. Or worse case scenario, we'll eat breakfast and be up that early for the day...

Does anyone have any advice on the weaning process??? Before getting pregnant, I said I would nurse Tucker as long as he wanted, hoping he would just wean himself and I wouldn't have to do it. Now, things have changed and I need some advice on tried and true methods!

My lil' Boob Man!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

A Few Random Things...

Right now, as I type, Wes is making some of his awesomely delicious guacamole! Then, he's putting a pork roast in the crock pot for lunch tomorrow, along with home made potato salad! Can you tell how excited I am about this??? Like the excite-o-meter is WAY up there! I'm not sure what has gotten into my hubby as of late, but he has been cooking some amazing, feel good meals for Sunday after church! Two weeks ago he made a whole turkey breast with dressing, greens, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and rolls! Then, last Sunday he baked a whole chicken with all the fixings! Yummy!!! I'm definitely looking forward to coming home tomorrow from church to some pork followed by a good nap!

Aside from bragging about all the good food we've been eating around these parts, this post is partially to vent about a pet peeve of mine. Smoking. If you know me even a little bit, you know that I HATE cigarettes. (And I don't use the "H-word" lightly.) I have never been able to tolerate smoke. Even when I was little, I hated it! If I was riding in a car with an adult who was smoking, I would pull my shirt over my mouth and nose and chant, "I hate smoke! I hate smoke!" I have never even tried a cigarette. I think they are DISGUSTING!

What really gets me is that smokers feel they have "rights"! Are you kidding me!? Seriously! Rights for what? Sorry, but I completely feel that my right to breath in clean, smoke-free air and NOT pollute my lungs with that filth definitely out weighs any right to your freedom to smoke. I hate when smokers choose to smoke right by the exit/entrance to a building. In order to get out or in, you have to breath in their smoke. Then they actually hold the door open for you! What I want to say is, "If you wanna do me a favor, MOVE 50 feet away!" I hate when smokers smoke in a public place, like the bleachers of a football game, walking in front of me down the side walk, anything that causes me to have to smell or breath it in because of the bad decisions that they are making in regards to their health. Let me tell you, I will mean mug a smoker who is smoking near me in a minute! I think I've probably embarrassed Wes a few times doing so. The whole idea of a "smoking section" in a restaurant is ridiculous. Sorry, but smoke doesn't read and always wonders into the non-smoking section. The smoke-free decision in cities like Louisville and Lexington was one of the best things ever. I wish Shelbyville would go smoke-free.

That brings me to the motivation behind this need to vent. Today, we went to our nephew's birthday party at the Pizza Hut in our good ol' hometown of Springfield. Now, I don't know, maybe only in the little town of Springfield would this happen, but the Pizza Hut is a smoking restaurant. No, there's not a smoking "section," the whole restaurant (read: the whole one small room of the restaurant) is open to smokers. There are ashtrays on every table. So, there we are, with Tucker and surrounded by about 8 other kiddos, celebrating Xavien's 3rd birthday and people are smoking! I was so mad. We would have left on the spot if we thought we could have. I felt like such a bad mother for subjecting my son and my unborn child to that for the entire 40 minutes we were there. I felt like such a bad aunt for wanting to leave my nephew's birthday party. Where were our rights? It was worse than being in a house of someone who smokes because at least in a house there are windows that can be opened and the place can be aired out. (Not that it helps much.) We were trapped in that place.

Afterwards, we went to my sisters where I changed Tucker's clothes and Wes and I changed our shirts. It helped us tolerate the trip home where we could get baths!

So, the last random thing? While at my sister's Tucker picked up Tatum's piggy bank and literally threw it on the floor, breaking it and scattering all the pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters everywhere! It was like he knew there was money in it and was trying to get to it. He did it so quickly that none of us had time to react even though Wes, Holli, and myself were all within arms reach of him. I felt awful! Holli was just telling me this morning on the phone how much Tatum liked putting the money in and out of it. On our "To Do List" is get big cousin Tatum a new piggy bank....

Here's to hoping y'all have had a belly-filled, smoke-free, no mishap Saturday :)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Pregnancy 2.0

So, yup Baby Keene #2 (or "Baby Bug" as one of our friends has already coined him/her) is warm and cozy in Mommy's tummy.

Here's the not-so-skinny skinny on him/her....

1. I'm a few days shy of 10 weeks.

2. This time around, we were a bit surprised, but it's a welcomed surprise ;)

3. Due date is Oct 2nd, though my 8 week ultrasound put me at Sept 29th. Considering I know the date of conception, I'm keeping the Oct 2nd due date, not that it's a huge difference or anything.

4. My sister is only days ahead of me. Based on her 8 week ultrasound, her due date is Sept 27th! How awesome is that! Tucker is 8 months younger than her little girl, so both of our kiddos will be super close!

5. I have been SO sick, which is a complete 180 from when I was pregnant with Tucker. When I was pregnant with Tucker, I had no pregnancy symptoms. No nausea, no smell aversions, no taste aversions, no cravings, nothing. This time around, I have "morning" sickness that lasts all day long and is worse at night. Luckily, I have started to feel better about a week or so ago. I still get nauseous at night.

6. I have been EXHAUSTED! I remember being really tired during my first trimester with Tucker too, but it's definitely different this time around. I can't come home from work and take an evening nap. I can't go to bed at 7:00 pm. I can't take a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day. I'm chasing a 16 1/2 month old who is constantly on the go. I'm nursing. My body is worn out.

7. I almost fell asleep at the dinner table tonight. Actually, I think I did for a few minutes. (See #6)

8. I paid $200 for a boot camp to help get my body in shape before getting pregnant with Baby #2.

9. Did I mention that #8 happened only 2 days before getting pregnant? That gave me a lot of time to get in shape, uh?

10. Tonight was the last night of that boot camp. Over the past 60 days, I've gained 11 pounds. Yup, we weighed in tonight. Can you believe it?! 11 pounds!!! I didn't gain anything with Tucker in the whole first trimester and now I'm 11 pounds up?!

11. To celebrate my 11 pound gain, I stopped by the Homemade Pie and Icecream Kitchen and got a double scoop of Reese's icecream.

12. Did I mention that I've been craving Reese's Cups? No? Well, I have.

13. I'm hungry ALL the time. Seriously, I won't be surprised if at my 20 week ultrasound the tech says, "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Keene, you're having a.........(drum roll!)...........middle school boy!" Yup, I'm that hungry.

14. Tonight, after finding out I had gained 11 pounds, a 17-year-old, all of 83 pounds, girl told me if I was having a girl I was gonna get REALLY big because that's what happens when you get pregnant with a girl.

15. When #14 happened, I smiled but inside I was hoping that when that girl goes to college she doesn't gain the freshman 15, but a freshman 50!!! Yup, I felt a little better then.

16. Did I mention that I have pregnancy hormones surging through my body right now?

17. I'm already showing. We didn't even tell people we were pregnant with Tucker until I was 11 weeks. This time around, we starting telling people at 6 weeks. I started showing not that long after that, so I really had no choice but to go "Facebook Public" with it because it's getting obvious.

18. I wore a pair of pants to work today that I wore last week. Last week, I was able to button them up. Today I wasn't. So, I did what any pregnant girl who is in absolute denial that at 9 1/2 weeks pregnant she might be ready for maternity clothes, I hooked the bottom clasp and wore a longer shirt.

19. I think 2 years is the perfect age difference between siblings. Just remind me of that when I'm chasing around my 24 month old with a newborn on my boob.

20. It's amazing how I have fallen even more in love with my absolutely wonderful husband.

21. Did y'all know that corn on the cob is even better when it has spaghetti and meat sauce on top of it? Just ask Tucker. Could this be some kind of pregnancy craving by proxy?