A girlfriend told me she stopped breastfeeding her second child after one month because her first child would not stop crying whenever he saw her feeding his younger brother. Apparently, Nr.1 thought Nr.2 was eating Mummy up!
I thought that was the funniest thing I've heard about breastfeeding... until when I started to feel pretty much like I'm being eaten up myself these days.
Since Julien started downing 4oz of milk like nobody's business, I have given up noting the times of his feeds or how much he feeds. It seems pretty pointless anyway, since I've decided to feed on demand now (otherwise, nobody gets any sleep) and there's no reliable way to tell how much he feeds, given that we are breastfeeding. All I know is that he seems to feed quite consistently every 2 hours and sometimes, shockingly, even in one-hour intervals.
And soon after he feeds, I am ravenous.
Luckily, with Mum and Dad here, all I am expected to do is eat, feed, bathe and sleep. And that is what I have been doing. And I reckon I am eating even more than during pregnancy. It is normal for me to eat bread, cereal, milk, eggs plus bananas for breakfast. And for lunch or dinner, I easily gobble up a serving of noodle soup, a bowl (and sometimes 2) of rice plus meat and vegetables. And of course, fruits after that...
Little wonder that when I look at myself in the mirror, all I see is a very mumsy figure. Very depressing when you are trying on pre-pregnancy clothes. And there is only one question in my mind: Will I ever be able to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes and shoes? Or am I now condemned to at least half a year of nursing clothes? Horror of horrors! (though, luckily, there are, at least, nice designs out there these days...)
And all the eating on both of our parts is tiring me out. Because as soon as I put it into my system, Julien draws it out of me. At one point, I felt like I was in an endless eat-feed cycle, since he can feed for as short as half an hour to as long as an hour plus. Then, he fusses and either it is time to change nappy or you have to soothe him before he would sleep again... which doesn't leave much time before the next round starts...
It becomes rather hard to follow a movie from start to finish, or the day's newspapers for that matter. And some days, I just fall into despair, wondering what is happening to my life now, where this is going to lead... Will I ever have time to enjoy some sane, adult pleasures anymore without nervously checking for signs of hunger whenever he starts to wake and cry in his crib?
Happily for me, I found the silver lining in my grey cloud today. As I was looking at Julien just now, I realize that he is really filling out his bouncy chair. And that he is looking rather much bigger. And I thought to myself, "Well, all this feeding should be going somewhere..." So, we decided to measure him.
And what a shock we had. In three weeks, Julien has grown from 50cm to 58cm!
Now, that's impressive. Even I have to admit that. And when the midwife came to weigh him, we have confirmation - he now weighs 3.87kg, a very respectable gain of 0.53kg since birth.
Well, if this maniacal feeding is going to bring on such growth spurts, I am certainly going to do my part and help it along. Hopefully, Julien will achieve heights that Daddy and Mummy Low never did, both physically and metaphorically.
Well, if this maniacal feeding is going to bring on such growth spurts, I am certainly going to do my part and help it along. Hopefully, Julien will achieve heights that Daddy and Mummy Low never did, both physically and metaphorically.
You go, boy! :)
Go Julien, Go Julien :-)
ReplyDeleteHey Kelly .. I completely understand where you are. When I started breastfeeding Kavya I often wondered how so many other women did it till such an advance age. Even we tried keeping logs of how long she fed, when she fed and filled sheet after sheet for a whole month. But after the first 2 months or so it just becomes second nature to both mum and baby. You will be able to feed watching a movie (though still not finish it), eating, blogging and sometimes even cooking ;-)
ReplyDeleteNow after 11 months of successful breastfeeding I feel it's the best thing I ever did for Kavya and with Kavya. It's the special bond that only we share and a forced break from the manic of the day when you can just admire your baby up close. It's beautiful really !!
Also all the ravenous eating is completely normal. I didn't lose much weight till 6 months but as soon as Kavya started crawling I dropped like crazy. Even now I eat like a bottomless pit and still lose weight. Most moms are way below their pre-pregnancy weight before the babies complete a year.
Swati
PS - One little thing that really helped us was feeding in the lying down position. It can help you get some rest along with Julien and if he falls asleep no business of transferring from arms to bed.
Hi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Swati 100%, if you keep eating and feeding your baby the weight will take care of itself, I think it was about 4 months for me, and I was eating all the time. IMD lunches were great at this time :-) Enjoy this time of guilt free deserts and extra helpings... Well done Julien for growing so big, isn't it sad when you realise they've already grown out of their first sets of clothes? I remember buying some bodies that were too small after only 2 weeks!
Hey Kelly
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean - I felt like a cow (both physical size and in terms of providing milk) both times I nursed my kids - but the effort is worth it :) Think boys are generally more demanding...your boy's feeding habits sound like mine...haha....Anyway...it will become easier and more comfortable - and I do agree that the clothes available for nursing mums look a lot better than during my time! Haha! Do you have a sarong sling to carry Baby around? I found it really useful when I needed to run errands on my own (as i was hands free even though I was carrying the little one) and my friend even mastered the act of nursing while the baby was in the sling and she went about shopping and doing whatever she wanted! :) Check it out and practice at home over the bed first! :)
as for getting into shape - that should not be your first priority now - get the rest you need, and listen to your body. as long as you are eating good healthy food, that's ok...some 'naughty' food but not too much of those! :)
Cheers! (enjoying reading your posts!)
Hihi, not really that worried over the weight actually, cos I have lost some significant weight after delivery, but just an observation about the mumsy figure :) Plus, there are indeed the nice designs out there that tempt me!
ReplyDeleteAm really determined to eat well really and se more growth in Julien. He is already looking like he is filling out his Moses basket!
Nikki, haven't got the sarong sling, but you've got me all excited to check it out now! :)