7 Quick Takes Friday: Babies, Babywearing, Breastmilk woes, and Books

--1--

Can you believe it is already May?!? How did that happen. I'm still sometimes writing 2013. But May is a great month. It signals that Spring is truly here. We may still have some cool days here and there, but the grass has finally greened up, the tulips are out, trees are flowering, you can feel the humidity in the air when it rains rather than that dank chill, and neighbors start emerging from their homes and everyone catches up on life since winter set in. May is also when we remember our daughter Brigit, we celebrate Hubby's birthday and the twin's birthday, and we recognize all mothers. And speaking of mothers, May is also Mary's month. Our beautiful, heavenly mother. The Mother of God. In honor of Mary's month, I put together a 7 Quick Takes post on Catholic Sistas on Lesser Known Marian Titles. I found some interesting ones. You may know some or most of the ones on my list, but I hope there will be at least one that is new to you. Come on over and check it out (but don't forget to come back here, too).

--2--

Baby Silas has decided that Mommy has had it too easy lately, so he's mixed up his schedule for me. Ah, the joy! Don't you just love the ever changing schedules of babies? Just when you think you know what's coming next they change things up. Way to keep mom on her toes! Lately, Silas has decided he doesn't need to eat as much during the day and instead eats for five hours straight (sort of) when we get home. It makes for a long evening. I either get nothing done at all or I stay up until 2 in the morning in order to make sure we have clean clothes for everyone. At the moment, I have one side of the couch piled with folded laundry that's been there since Wednesday night and a load of clean clothes sitting in the drier, also since Wednesday. I told Hubby that if he needed anything he should check the drier. Ha!! It's amazing how such a little person can have complete control over a household!

--3--

Wraps, ring slings, and mei tais, oh my! Are you into Babywearing? We didn't try with the twins (well, we had a Baby Bjorn at one point, but we never really liked it and I've since heard that's it's not a very good carrier for babies). With Silas i wanted to be able to wear him some so I could have my hands free for the other two little people I often have to keep up with. I borrowed a wrap before he was born from the local babywearing group but I didn't really care for it. I don't think Silas liked it either. When putting him into it I felt like I was wrapping a furnace around myself. So I returned that. I bought an Infantino Mei Tai and that has actually worked some, though mostly when he's sound asleep. I still like it and want to use it more, I really feel lie he could like it if he gives it a chance. The only issue I have with it is the long tails (which are needed). There's no way I could use it in the parking lot of the grocery store, the tails would be all over the ground while I was getting it on.

So on Sunday I went to a meeting this local babywearing group was having. I got some tips with the mei tai which was really helpful and I learned that people who love their mei tais tend to use something different when they are out (like at the grocery store). Although I was resistant to the idea of a ring sling, I agreed to at least try it. Wouldn't you know, I actually liked it. Silas didn't seem to at first, but then he calmed down and almost fell asleep.

At the babywearing meeting

So I decided to go looking for a used ring sling. I really liked the one I have on in the picture above, so I went searching for that brand specifically. After one failed attempt to acquire one, a friend in Alaska offered me hers as a gift. It's in route now and I can't wait to get it!! I have the most awesome friends!

Peter among all the wraps, slings, and other carriers

--4--

The twins LOVE the library! The meeting we went to on Sunday was held in one of the large meeting rooms at our local public library. It happens to be the library that is closest to our house and we've been there many times. When we left the meeting, the boys were holding on to the stroller. The exit was to our left, the entrance to the library was to our right. Peter was on my right and he pointed to the library and said, "That way." I checked the hours quickly and the library was still open for another 30 minutes so we went in. We checked out 4 books and these have been the only books the boys want to read all week. I love that they love books! It's so precious to see them sitting in their car seats in the back of the van, each with a book in his lap, looking like they are reading as we are driving along. It's seriously the cutest thing ever!

--5--

And speaking of books, I won a book! The radio show I listen to every evening on my way home from work (on our local Catholic radio station) always has a trivia question and a prize during the hour-long show. I don't usually bother calling in if I know the answer because I'm in and out of the car with day care pick ups and then have children in the back who aren't always quiet. The other day I heard the question, knew the answer, but no one else was calling in. So with just 10 minutes to spare in the show, I finally called and gave them the correct answer. And I won a book!! I got Saint Francis, Pope Francis: A Common Vision. Looking forward to reading it.

The question, by the way: What is the Cathedral parish in Rome? [The answer at the end of this post]

--6--

Have I mentioned before how stressful breastfeeding is? Okay, okay, I know, I've mentioned it numerous times. Here's a new stress though: a baby that doesn't want to eat the milk you've pumped, the milk has already been warmed up, and you end up throwing it away. So sad!!! I had been bringing two 4-ounce bottles to day care each day. Now I'm back to four 2-ounce bottles because I was tired of throwing so much away. He's only eating 2-3 ounces while at day care. Thus why he eats so much in the evening (see #2 above). I had read that some babies will do this and that's fine, I just need to plan for it (until he changes again). On top of that I get stressed out when I have a day in which I only pump 7 ounces all day. I feel like I need to be pumping 8 ounces. But now he's not even drinking 8 ounces during the day (he was, just not any longer). I stress about it and then suddenly I have a day where I pump 9 or 10 ounces. I know I shouldn't stress about it, it's all working out so far and we're getting closer and closer to the 6 month mark, but I can't help it. As stressful as this is and as much as I hate pumping and don't necessarily enjoy breastfeeding, I know this is good for him (and for me) and I want him to get as much out of it as he can. Plus I know we're lucky to be able to continue doing this.

So when Hubby poo-poos my stress at throwing milk away and tells me I can "just pump more," I get a little angry. Not proud of it and it's hard for a man to understand the emotions tied up in all that breast milk. But i managed to take a deep breathe and let it go ... eventually. We'll make it through this.

--7--

What are your weekend plans? Here in KY the Derby is all important. Hubby had run out of bourbon so he bought a fresh bottle and he might be making some mint juleps this weekend. I may be spending my weekend packing up the maternity clothes and unpacking the boxes of clothes that are still taking up space in my closet from our move last August. I think it's time to finally go through everything and figure out what I have, what I can donate, and what I can pack up for now. It's got to get done before we've been in the house a year. Has to!!!

Have a wonderful weekend. Go check out Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes posts and while you're there congratulate Jen on her book which just came out on Tuesday. I pre-ordered my copy and can't wait for it to arrive. Any day now!