Dad on Duty.....

I can honestly say that my husband is a great dad. Brad has a love for our kids that is greater than life itself. Now, as a mom of 3, I have really started to appreciate every little thing that Brad does around here. Here are a few things that Brad does that make my life easier: he gets Georgia ready for bed every night, changes the boys diapers during the night, gets me several glasses of water throughout the day, makes me coffee every morning, watches the kids so I can workout, does all the laundry, unloads the dishwasher, takes the garbage out, vacuums, cleans the cars, and the picture I have here shows him in rare form- cooking!!! And not only is he cooking, he is wearing a baby!!! I love this man! The point is, I never really thought about how much he contributes until now, and all I can say is that I am lucky. There are a lot of people out there raising their kids as a single parent and I am glad that I have someone that is "on duty" with me through this journey :o)

A day away.......

Well I went to work for 1 week before summer started (I work in the schools here), so I have pumped prior to today BUT I did want to put a quick post up about my milk supply. I have heard from several people about how I "will HAVE to supplement" in order to keep up with my babies demands....which really annoys me for some reason. I have bottle fed my twins with my own breast milk and also formula a couple times (only when I don't have any breast milk in the fridge), not because of a low milk supply, but rather to give myself a break from nursing. I am constantly nursing one of the babies and have had some issues with my nipples getting dry/cracked and they were bleeding at one point. Now when I do "take a break" from nursing the twins, I don't go crazy bottle feeding them because I am still making milk and it has to come out somehow. I don't give them a bottle every day....or even every other day....it's more like a couple times a week. Anyways, I went to the beach today and took an entire day off from breastfeeding and it really was great. When I got back from the beach I pumped and got 15 ounces from just pumping one time. So for every person out there that doubts their ability to breastfeed multiples....right here is proof that you CAN do it!! I have to admit, that when I pump I am honestly surprised by how much milk comes out.....and in a really strange way I am proud of myself.

Choices, Choices

Well I was at the doctor today with my 3 kids and we were discussing vaccines......and on my way home I started thinking about my way of doing things. As a parent it is so hard to know if you are making the "right" choices for your kids. I really kind of feel like our society is a little brainwashed into thinking that they don't have choices with a lot of things that they actually do have a choice with. Society is so good at training us into believing everything that we hear. The most effective way to get people to buy into an idea is the use of fear. Which I have to admit, works on me too, especially when it comes to vaccines. That whole H1N1 thing was crazy! And when I was pregnant with the twins, was questioned by my obstetrician as to why I didn't get the vaccine. But the OB that delivered the twins was really cool with me doing my own thing and did not make an issue of it like some people did. I know that for the time being, what I am doing with my kids is what I "think" is best. I am not saying that it is the best, I said that I "think" its best. For instance, I breastfed G until she was a year old but some people (like my mother) told me that it was gross to nurse a baby that old. I am breastfeeding the twins now and will continue to breastfeed them until they are a year as well, we share our bed with our kids (not my favorite way to sleep but again....I "think" its best for them), we do not vaccinate and after today don't ever plan on it, we had planned home births with both pregnancies (neither worked out for reasons out of my control), and I am all about baby wearing, which to some "old fashioned" people think is dangerous. These are things that I really think are best for MY kids. There are some things that I would like to add to this list, like growing my own organic fruits and vegetables, but neither myself of my husband have that kind of time. I really love that I have choices with how I am raising my kids and am married to someone with similar beliefs. I never thought I would have 3 kids, and I seriously can not believe I am actually parenting children on some days because at heart I feel like a kid myself still. I wonder how many people think that too when they wake up in the morning. Well with all the choices that I have to make now and in the future, I just hope that my kids all know that I did the best I could and it is all out of my love for them.

Pumping ~ It's Supply and Demand

So I was at Georgia's swim lessons talking to a mom who said she wasn't able to breastfeed her daughter because her daughter was "tongue tied," and I asked her if she pumped and gave her the milk in a bottle. She said NO and that pumping makes your milk supply dry up. I thought that was really interesting and wanted to mention it because that is actually incorrect and am wondering how many people out there think that way. Now with that being said, a pump does not replace the latch that you will get from your baby on the breast, nor does it get all the milk out like your baby can, BUT is a great tool to use if your baby "won't" latch or is tongue tied (which by the way there is a small procedure that can fix this offered by some doctors), OR if you have to be away from your baby for an extended period of time. I know of one mother, who has twins, who pumped until her twins were a year old and never had a problem with supply. Every woman is different and low supply can become an issue, but there are signs to look for that will warn you that your supply is dwindling. You always want to make sure that your baby's nutritional needs are being met either through breastfeeding or "supplementing" no matter what. When I say "supplementing" you probably assume I mean formula, but there are actually donors that pump and will give you their breast milk for your baby....so don't assume that if you are a mom with a low supply, that you HAVE to use formula, because you don't. There are even little kits that can be purchased to put the "supplement" in that allows the baby to latch on to your breast and get the donor milk (or formula) while still getting that one on one mommy time that is so special. The fact is, pumping does not decrease your supply and is a great tool for the working mom BUT if you start supplementing a lot with others milk or formula, this may cause a drop in your supply. Basically, it's a matter of supply and demand......

Conquering today....

Well this morning sure started out awesome....Georgia woke up at 6am and decided to make a huge mess in the living room before Brad or myself even knew she was up. Then while we are trying to get her ready for school, her brothers are of course hungry so I have to sit down and commit at least 30 minutes to nursing them. So my poor husband has to get Georgia ready for school (shower her and pack her lunch), which doesn't seem like it should be a big deal but it is because she loves being naked and runs away every time you try and catch her to put her clothes on. So Brad finally gets Georgia in the car, lunch is packed, he thinks he is getting an early start to his busy day and what do I hear from inside the house......a loud bang! Well he forgot that he parked his truck outside the garage last night, and apparently forgot to look in the mirror this morning as well, and he backed our van into his truck. This was all before 8am. So after Brad leaves for work, I pick up the huge mess that G made this morning and remind myself that it is only one day and that I will make it through this day. At least once every day I think to myself "I am not cut out for this...I am not going to make it," then Brad comes home and tells me how patient I am and how he couldn't do this without me and then I don't feel so bad! At least I know that I am not the only one who thinks this whole 3 kid thing is hard!