I'm back, and it looks like I have alot to catch up on! We actually came back from our trip late Saturday night. I just haven't had a chance to get on here and post until now. Hubby's home alot more this summer, so he can help out with the baby.

We had a great time last week with my family. Baby girl did great overall on the trip! I was worried about the long road trip mostly, but it went better than I could've expected! She is a roadtrip champ! She did fuss more than the road trip we took to Buffalo a few months ago, but I found mostly that when she was fussy she was tired, and didn't want to fall asleep in her carseat since she saw me sitting right there next to her...since she saw me, she wanted to nurse and cuddle mommy to fall asleep, and she couldn't, so she'd cry herself to sleep. Hubby & I comforted her as much as we could at those times, and she'd fall asleep after a few minutes. We did stop for ourselves to use the restroom and eat, and I nursed her then and changed her diaper, and she was good to go! We didn't have to make any extra stops either this time. I brought my pump, and was able to plug it in and pump fresh milk to give to her in the car, which she did OK with too. She definitely did not go hungry on the trip. I've become very good at nursing her in the car too. haha. It also helped that my parents rented a small SUV for our trip, so we had a little more room to work with and more storage which was nice! Baby girl's sleep schedule got so thrown off this past week, but she still managed to sleep very well!

I am noticing that she's sleeping like a big girl now...changing positions during her sleep, and able to roll over without waking up too much...when she does wake up during the night, it's really not to eat, but it's because she woke herself up changing positions...she'll cry out for a few seconds or a minute, and go right back to sleep. I'm not really having to get up myself, though I do if she cries for longer than a minute to check on her... Sometimes I'll go and nurse her back to sleep, but even that is only a matter of minutes. It's a nice change from waking up with her a few times a night for a feeding like a couple of months ago!

She definitely nurses more efficiently now that she's older. Every feeding usually lasts no longer than 10-15 minutes total, which is nice! Still haven't started solids yet, but now that she's almost 6 months old, we'll be starting any day now. Haven't decided which day to start yet. But Hubby definitely wants to be there for it, so it won't be today. She definitely seems to be ready for them for the most part. She can sit up all by herself for alot longer than before...she does well sitting in her highchair. She loves to play with her sippy cup and can drink water from it. She grabs for everything in sight, including eating utensils and straws. Her favorite is to chew on a cold spoon! She'll take water from a spoon too. And she'll cry if you take it away from her, haha! Today she showed me she can now get up on her hands & knees and rock once before giving out. I only saw her do it once, so I don't know if she knows she can do it, but that's the next step before crawling! Yikes! Better break out the mop and vaccuum! She's just so strong. She's amazing and growing soo fast! I didn't mean to turn this post into a Baby update, but she just amazes me everyday with something new that she can do.

Anyway, back to the trip...We arrived in Hattiesburg, Mississipi late Monday night and got a hotel room. We visited with my Gramps and his girlfriend on Tuesday. My sister, and BIL came from Hammond (they flew in on Monday) to meet up with us and see Gramps and his girlfriend. She made the most amazing southern homecooked meal for us! We had it for lunch and dinner that day. Baby girl enjoyed meeting her only great-grandfather! And his girlfriend cuddled her lots. We took lots of pics, which I will share with you later. That evening, we drove from Hattiesburg into Hammond to stay at my Aunt and Uncle's house the next few days.

We had a great time overall in Hammond. My Aunt and Uncles and Cousin loved seeing Baby girl and getting to know her.

On Thursday, Hubby& I and my sister & BIL all headed over to Global Wildlife, mainly for the guys to see since my sister and I had been there before. It's like a safari/petting zoo type place with all kinds of sweet animals from all over the world. There are no agressive or meat eating animals there, so all the animals there can just roam all over the place and you can even feed and pet them as you ride in a tram car all around the park. You can buy food to feed them too. It was alot of fun. I was in heaven as I got to feed the giraffes, which are my favorite animal. They are just so beautiful. Of course we got pics and videos while we were there. I didn't bring Baby girl with us because it was so hot and humid, and it would've been hard to handle her on the tram car while feeding animals, so she stayed with her Grammy that day.

We certainly filled up on good food while we were there. We always make sure to get the type of food that we don't have up here to enjoy it while we can. I think we all gained a couple of pounds while we were down there. Thursday night, we went out for my sister's birthday, which was on Friday. She hit the big 3-0 this year! So hard to believe! She really doesn't look her age. Gosh, I can't believe how old my siblings and I are getting. I'm the only one left in my 20's. Yikes!

On Friday, for my sister's birthday, we headed down to New Orleans for a little sightseeing. I got very used to feeding Baby girl in public that day, lol. We first went to the WWII D-Day Museum. It was very interesting, and informative...it meant alot to learn more about what our Gramps did on D-Day during WWII. Pretty special. Fortunately, the museum was nice & cool inside, and there were a bunch of little dark movie theater type rooms that I could feed baby girl in, so it wasn't too hard to find a place to nurse her there. And she managed to nap in her stroller while there too. After that, we headed over to the French Quarter to eat at Margaritaville. I think we go there just about everytime we are in New Orleans. Baby girl experienced a diaper change out on the balcony there! There was no changing table in the bathroom there, and since no one was out on the balcony, and nice & warm compared to the freezing cold bathroom, that's where my aunt chose to change her! lol! We did walk around a bit and did some shopping, and hungout on the Riverwalk. I got my first experience of nursing baby girl in public without using a cover (it was just too hot to!) on a bench on the riverwalk, and of course two perverts rode by on their bikes and stopped there to try and get a view. How rude!! I have to admit, I have learned to be very discreet when not using a cover, so I know they didn't see anything, but ewww...I felt so violated after that. Once Hubby realized what they were doing, he stepped in front of me directly blocking their view. Thank goodness! If they want to see boobs, they should just go down a few blocks to Bourbon Street! Yuck!

Our day ended by eating yummy beignets at Cafe Du Monde! A New Orleans tradition!

I couldn't quite get used to the weather down there. I mean, I knew it would be hot & humid, but a thunderstorm everyday made it so weird! Some days the rain took awhile to stop. I like my NJ summer weather better when it's not always hot & humid like that with daily thunderstorms!

Saturday, our flight wasn't until 5:45 pm, so we had time to do some things in town that day. We headed over to the Southern Maid donut shop one last time to have our last taste of SM donuts for awhile (we were there everyday we were down there), and to say goodbye to my uncle (who co-owns the shop with my dad, and currently runs it). We did a little more shopping and had one last big meal before we left for the airport. Baby girl didn't seem to be feeling well that day, and when we were at the airport, it seemed like she had a slight fever. I didn't have a thermometer on me, so I don't know what her temp was, but I gave her a dose of tylenol before we checked our luggage. She was extremely fussy and didn't want anyone holding her except me (aww I felt so needed!). I checked her carseat, and took her around the airport in our sling (I figured out a few weeks ago how to carry her around sitting on my hip in it). She loves it, and does really well. It's a nice alternative to a stroller, and I didn't have to worry about a stroller to check (my parents are taking that back with them and a few other of baby girl's things in the car). We got through security and everything with no problems at all! The nice thing about travelling with a baby is you get early boarding! Thankfully, we booked our seats on the plane so we could sit next to my sister and BIL so it made it easy to pass her around and such. As soon as I got settled in my seat, she wanted to nurse...I could tell she was tired. I was just hoping she'd nurse long enough to last through take off. She did! She nursed for a good 30 mins or so...almost up until the flight attendants were handing out drinks. She prettymuch slept after that for a good 45 mins or so too. It was overall a pretty easy flight with her. After she woke up, she had pooped, and Hubby was sitting on the aisle, so he got the lovely experience of changing her diaper in the bathroom of the plane! That must've been fun! haha. She nursed and slept more after that. It was supposed to only be a 2.5 hr flight, but it turned out to be more than 3 hours because as we approached NYC, we got stuck in 2 holding patterns because of congestion at the airport. Figures. I started to nurse her as we were starting our descent, but she didn't want to nurse for very long. Hubby took her for a bit, and then I felt the pressure change in my ears, but baby girl didn't fuss one bit with that! She did great! In fact, she was acting normally again after seemingly not feeling well before. So as we were landing, I had her in my lap again, and she did so well! We were on Jetblue, so I had the little tv on the seat in front of me to watch, so I think that kind of kept her entertained. I put her in the sling again as we got off the plane which made it easier to get our luggage and to get around the airport and eventually to my sister's car in long-term parking (which involves a train ride...that's how big this airport is). Baby girl was so good and quiet because she was so tired. She prettymuch slept the whole hour ride home from the airport. She's an expert traveller!

Her whole sleeping schedule was completely thrown off this week, but she has coped well, and has been sleeping great this whole week.

I'll have to recap you on this past weekend, and yesterday later as Baby girl had more "firsts" on Monday. This entry is already way too long. I have to go catch up on you girls now! Hope everyone is doing well, and I'll talk to ya soon!

So today, my husband and I were out shopping with the baby today, and after we finished our "linner" we went to my favorite store, Babies R Us. We were there for only a few minutes (I was looking for some Medela nipples to use with the Medela bottles I have for my breastpump for our roadtrip next Sunday, so I can pump & feed in the car if I need to) when I see a familiar face further down the aisle. It was none other than my high school ex-boyfriend! How weird is that! Now, we had only dated for 5 weeks...I would barely even call him a boyfriend since we never really got that serious when we dated. But when we broke up (mutually), it was kinda awkward, and we said we'd be just friends afterwards. Well most people know, 90% of the time that doesn't happen. After he graduated (he was 2 years older than me), I never saw him again except for one time at an outing with my sister & mom in which he totally ignored me and only said hi to my sister who had graduated with him. Anyway, so as soon as I saw him I was thinking to myself, "Should I say hi? Is it going to be awkward with him still?" I was so thankful my husband and baby girl were with me! But then my hubby had to go use the restroom so he left me with the baby...so I got brave and went over and said hey. It actually turned out to be not so awkward. He was with his wife and 16 month old son. We actually had something in common to make small talk about! lol. We talked a little bit about the babies and how long we've been married, he asked about my sister, etc. It turned out to be a not so weird meeting, but it just kinda took me by surprise to see him there in the first place. Turns out he lives not that far away from where I live. We're not going to be setting up any playdates though! lol! Eventually hubby came back from the restroom so I could introduce him to him...we never mentioned the fact that we had dated, because that would've turned it into a really awkward moment! But of course I had mentioned it to my hubby later. lol! Has anything like this ever happened to anyone else?

First off, I don't mean to offend any formula-feeding moms. I never want to offend anyone on this blog, but I want to be free to express my thoughts, viewpoints, and even be able to vent about baby feeding woes. So with that in mind, here we go.

I'm tired of mothers telling me breastfeeding didn't work for them because their baby was too hungry and they couldn't supply enough milk for them. I can't tell you how many moms tell me this after I tell them that I exclusively breastfeed my daughter. They're like "How do you do it?" or "Doesn't she get hungry?" Now, the second question is just plain silly. I was just asked this on Friday. She doesn't get hungry, because I FEED her! Just like any other mom feeds their baby. I'm tired of mothers thinking they can't breastfeed anymore because they can't supply enough milk for their baby. ANY mother (Unless she's had some sort of breast-surgery messing with her milk glands, or has some condition where her milk glands just don't work) can supply more than enough milk for her baby, and can even supply enough milk for twins or even triplets!! No one tells mothers this though! The lack of breastfeeding education out there is very disappointing. Mothers just figure, oh my baby needs more than I can make, so I'll just start giving the baby formula. Which is a fine decision, AFTER you've been fully informed about breastfeeding and formula feeding. But what mothers don't seem to realize is that once you start "supplementing" the breastfed baby with formula, your milk supply decreases because baby is filling up on formula, and wanting less breastmilk. So your body gets the hint to stop making as much. And then mothers complain that they can't make enough breastmilk for their baby. Well, it's your own fault because you gave your baby formula!!

I have not given my daughter one drop of formula, and I'm darn proud of it! But you know what? I worked HARD to build up my milk supply. And I can see alot of moms are just not willing to work that hard, so of course your milk supply isn't going to be great if you're not willing to work hard to build it up. Moms always tell me, "My baby was just too hungry all the time". I'm sorry, but that's just not an excuse! Breastmilk is digested much quicker in a baby's tummy, and therefore makes for a hungry baby more often. That DOES NOT mean they aren't getting enough to eat! It's perfectly normal for a breastfed baby to eat every waking hour during the day. Not many people tell you that though.

When my daughter was about 6 weeks old, she went through a major growth spurt, and wanted to eat about every 45 minutes-1 hour when she was awake. I was going through some major emotional turmoil about this because my nipples were still trying to get used to nursing, and I didn't understand why she wanted to eat so often...I, too, didn't think she had to be getting enough to eat. BUT, I had the wise advice of my mother, and La Leche League to comfort me and tell me that this is normal. I read in "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" that in other cultures, it is normal for a baby to nurse for about 5 minutes at a time, several times an hour. That blew my mind. I was comforted after reading that. It was not only beneficial to my daughter to be eating that often, but to my milk supply. So I worked hard, nursing her all the time it seems like, and enduring painful nipples. And then, the growth spurt was over! We made it over the hump! All of a sudden, breastfeeding my daughter was so much more enjoyable after she spread out her feedings a little more again, and didn't hurt anymore! Now, I was able to enjoy the incomparable bonding that everyone talks about while breastfeeding. It was so easy to stick to it, and would be extremely silly to give it up after working so hard like that. If only moms would realize that it gets better, and easier! Babies get more efficient at it too after the get the hang of it. I just think too many moms that originally want to breastfeed, and end up giving it up, give up WAY too early, and I think they should really stick it out till the 3 month mark and then decide if they still want to give it up. There are just SOOOO many benefits to breastfeeding...it's SOO much more worth it than formula feeding, not to mention FREE! Who can pass up feeding their kid for free?

So to sum everything up, let me share my tips on how to succeed at exclusively breastfeed:
*Once your baby is born, start nursing your baby within the first hour of life, if possible. If you had a C-Section, ask to nurse your baby while you are in recovery. If you have a preemie, pump as much colostrum/breastmilk as you can. All of the wonderful antibodies in your milk will help your preemie thrive and fight off infection! Try nursing your preemie as soon as possible. Ask the nurses and lactation consultants to help you. The skin-to-skin contact will help them thrive as well! Studies show that the earlier breastfeeding is established, the more success you will have with maintaining the breastfeeding relationship.
*Have an experienced mom/support person to help you as well as a nurse and lactation consultant, and share their wonderful breastfeeding wisdom and advice. It's hard starting when you and the baby don't quite know what to do. It's a learning process for both mom and baby.
*Don't let the baby have any formula, artificial nipples or pacifiers until breastfeeding is well established. It is normal for a newborn to lose 10% of their body weight. If your baby loses more weight, nurse them more often. They will soon, and quickly gain it back. Visit a certified lactation consultant for feeding problems. I was fortunate because I found a pediatrician for my daughter that is a certified LC. A rare, but precious find! Most pediatricians are too quick to jump to formula because they don't know enough about breastfeeding.
*Nurse the baby ON DEMAND. Scheduling feedings can decrease your milk supply, and make for one unhappy, undernourished baby.
*Don't let the baby go any longer than 3 hours without feeding during the day. You can nurse as often as you and your baby would like though. Like I said, my daughter would sometimes nurse every 45 minutes to 1 hour during that week long growth spurt, and that is perfectly acceptible.
*Try not to leave your baby for too long too early. Wait until breastfeeding is well-established, and the baby will take a breast-like bottle of your pumped milk. Nurse the baby or pump as soon as you return.
*The key to establishing a good milk supply is feeding your baby often! As often as the baby wants! If your baby's hungry all the time, feed him all the time.

That is how you know you will have enough milk for your baby. Unfortunately, the early months of breastfeeding are the hardest, which is why so many moms give it up. I personally dreaded feedings in the early months. But once you can get past that, everything sort of just gets regulated, and it gets SOOO much easier, and painless after that. You just have to be determined and stick to it. I think for me, I just wanted what was best for my daughter, as I'm sure every mom does. And my idea of best for her is my milk, and not formula. I decided I didn't want her to have any formula at all, and I was going to make breastfeeding work, so after working hard at it, I succeeded and I'm so glad I stuck to it because I absolutely love it now! I want to keep nursing her for at least a year, and let her decide when she wants to wean.

If nothing else, I hope this helps answer some breastfeeding questions. Thank you for reading!