Celebrating MY breastfeeding success

So if you spend any amount of time on Facebook you would have noticed by now that it was National Breastfeeding Week last week and if you didn't, well then you must have been hiding under a rock.

But anyway, it's made me look back on my breastfeeding journey so far and take a second to celebrate the fact that my breastfeeding journey with Darcy has been my most successful to date.

With Caden I only made it to about 8 weeks when the pain of my letdown and cracked nipples got the better of me and we switched to formula and pumping. I think I managed to pump until he was 3 months old and then we switched to formula full time.

Fast forward 15 months and my journey with Mahli started, this one lasted a lot longer and she was breastfed until 8.5 months when she started to refuse breastfeeds. I had started work when she was 4 months old so I think we both did well to get to that point.

And well my journey with Ethan was a completely different story. He was breastfed until 6 weeks of age when I was diagnosed with postnatal depression. I was put on medication that wasn't compatible with breastfeeding and that was that.

So this time round I was determined to give it a red hot go and Darcy seemed to be on the same page from the get go.

He had a pretty perfect attachment right from the very beginning and I had enough confidence in what I was doing to correct it when it wasn't 100% right. The only issues we have had in our breastfeeding journey was unbelievable painful letdowns until he was 12 weeks old.

Yep, you read that right! Even with perfect attachment there was pain. So many times you hear that breastfeeding SHOULDN'T hurt if you are doing it right. But I want to say that it can and does, it is something that both you and your baby have to learn and get used to.

After speaking with a few lactation consultants and lots of support from B I managed to overcome the painful letdown when he was around 12 weeks old and it been pretty much smooth sailing from then on.

I'm not sure how long this journey will last, but right now we are both happy doing what we are doing.

Be Still And Know

• Nothing bad will happen because the clothes aren't folded or the dishwasher isn't unloaded...
• Nothing bad will happen because there are toys spread all over the loungeroom
• Nothing bad will happen if you simply pack the kids up, walk out the door and head to the park instead of folding said clothes or unloading said dishwasher, infact only good can come of it.

It is true the saying 'the days are short but the years and long'. But even the years aren't very long and before you know it they will be flying the coup and you'll be left wondering why you worried about the dishes or the clothes or the toys so much.

I don't know about you but I need to stop worrying about the mess the kids make when they are having fun and just simply bask in the glory of them having fun AND making mess.

I need to get the paints out more often, let them go wild with the glitter... oh the glitter. Not worry about the playdough ending up in weird places about the house because nothing bad will come of it.

That's right, nothing bad will come of it. I need to say that to myself more often and focus on creating memories instead of worrying about mess. It'll be there for me to clean after our hearts are full from simply spending time with each other. And sometimes just being still and relaxing together is enough too.

And when you have had enough of the noise and you simply want to be still ALL BY YOURSELF, well nothing bad will come of that either.

Am I a Prude?

Photo has no relevance, just though it was cute...

Whilst driving in the car we are usually tuned into the local FM radio station. This week I was sitting in the car with Caden whilst B ran into the shops. The radio was on. A song started playing, I hadn't heard it before so and was listening to it when the words kind of hit me in the face.

All of a sudden I was being told to 'get on my genitals'... Right then I decided we were done with mainstream radio. It has been getting bad for a long time. The words Bitch, Sex, Shit etc have all been allowed to be played on the radio for the past few years. Radio edits these days only gloss over the F-bomb and the horrid C word. Every things else seems to be fair game.

But really is switching the radio off going to do any good? Plus I would go crazy if it meant we were doomed to be listening to Justine Clark and the Wiggles all bloody day!

It is a hard choice. My kids love music. We have music on in the house most days streaming from our iPods. Currently Caden and Mahli's favorite bands are the Far East Movement and Black Eyed Peas. The enjoy singing along to the songs and making up dances so in turn they like listening to the radio in the car. But when we are faced with  Avril being a crazy bitch,  Rhianna loving the smell of it, Wynter Gordon dirty talking for 3 minutes, plus a whole lot more I really don't know what to do. I know I am not the first parent faced with this question and won't be that last. But really what did happen to the good old radio edit that got rid of all the 'inapproriate' words?

Am I just a prude or has radio gone to far with what is acceptable?

image from weheartit

being me... but who am I?

Bare with me here guys. OK? I have been thinking a lot lately about whether I want to return to work full time or not and this has made me question who I am, what I want in life, what I want for my kids... You know all those types of questions! Needless to sat mind is in overdrive and I just keep going round and round in circles. It's getting kind of tiring. I am pretty sure I am not the only one facing these kind if questions, right?

I want to be the one who drops the kids off at school on the morning and to be there to pick them up in the afternoon. I want to be able to tuck them in at night and be there when they wake up in the morning BUT I also want to take them on at least one holiday a year, I want to be able to upgrade our house in a few years as our family grows and needs more space, I want to be able to spoil them on there birthdays and dammit I don't want to have to budget every single day! So if I am to stay at home we won't be going on any holidays, upgrading our house won't happen for at least 10 years and I can't live in this one for that long! It seemed big enough when we built in 2006 but I was only pregnant with Caden then so had no idea just how much space we would actually need! Well the house isn't the bad, but the I would love a bigger backyard! I want to have a decent vegie garden, I want chooks, hell I would LOVE room for a pool! I guess I am sounding like a spoilt brat right now! That kid in a candy store the NEEDS that big pretty lollipop like 5 minutes ago Mum! sigh

B would love to upgrade his car. His is still driving around in his first ever car that his parents bought him back in 2002. It was 5 years old then (yep he was a spoilt kid, got a $15,000 car off his olds when he got his license!) We just can't afford him getting a new (second hand) car whilst I am not working. Argh I am so torn. I want to be a stay at home mum, but I want to be earning to help provide for our family!

I warned you that this would be all over the shop!

I only got half way through this post last week and am just coming off working two full days at work with early starts. Lets just say I DON'T want to work anymore. I am so buggered when I get home which means my patience are shortened and I just don't have the energy to be the mum I want to be! Plus work is oh so sucky at the moment, but I am not going there on this blog!

Would it be really bad if I was 'just' a stay at home mum for the next 5-10 years? Ethan would be in primary school by then...  I don't know why I wrote 'just' then. I guess that is what a lot of society thinks of stay at home... I despise the term 'homeduties'. I mean what is that really?

I am just going to his publish no or this is going to sound even more disjointed as I go! See I told you my head is all over the place about this!