As some of you may remember... Austin has been in Texas for the past month taking a prep class for Law School. Brady & I have been in Omaha living with my brother & sister in law during that time... without Austin.
Austin was scheduled to get in Friday night and Brady & I were SO EXCITED! Then... we got a phone call that he wasn't going to get in until Saturday morning due to bad weather during his layover. Nothing is worse than waiting 4 weeks to see your husband & then be told it is going to be even longer... Well... it all turned out okay because he made it here safe... and I got to see him with Brady for the first time in 4 weeks!! Let me tell you... it was the most adorable thing I have ever experienced. They were both so happy to see each other!! Seriously, does it get more adorable than that?!?
There are many things that I expected of breastfeeding... and many things that I did NOT expect, that I have learned. For all you moms & moms to be, here are a few things I have learned about breastfeeding....
1.) It HURTS. I mean, HURTS. They told me in my breastfeeding class that it hurt, but that it would only last about 5 days. Even on my "breastfeeding log" that the hospital gave me, one of the goals was "Pain-free by day 3!". Are you KIDDING ME?? I remember after a week & calling my friend Sherry (who's baby is just 3 months older than Brady) and asking her how long it was going to hurt.... she told me a good 3-4 weeks. 3-4 WEEKS?!?!? Seriously? I am not talking about a little bit of pain here people, I am talking about toe-curling, tears in the eyes PAIN. It was awful!! I have honestly learned 1st hand why so many people try to breast-feed & then switch to formula. It is awful. Fortunately, I do not have this problem anymore. However, I just visited my friend (Echo) and her baby that turns a week a Friday & she was dealing with this awful bit of breastfeeding. All what I could do was thank God that I was past that point. But... for all you expectant moms... don't let them fool you... it is PAINFUL... but it DOES get much, MUCH better. :)
2.) When I first started breast-feeding I felt weird. Really weird. Even though people talk about how great breastfeeding is and how it is the "most natural thing a mother can do" and all that other blah blah blah stuff.... I could not help but feel like Brady and I should be in a zoo somewhere. Seriously.... I felt like a gorilla & her baby just sitting there hanging out. Weird. Weird. Weird.
3.) It takes a SERIOUS commitment. When Brady was first born he was eating every 2-3 hours. I am a very active person... and HATE just sitting around.... so it really put a stopper on my daily routine. I would (and still do) plan all activities around Brady's eating schedule. In the beginning it was even tougher because I didn't know Brady as well, and could not predict when he would need to eat. By the time I fed him, changed him, and left the house I would only have about 45 minutes before I needed to be home to feed him again. It took a lot of getting used to before I could plan my day... and realize I was not going shopping without knowing EXACTLY what I wanted......
4.) Beer. Wine. Any sort of alcoholic beverage. One per night with breast-feeding. Luckily, I am not a huge drinker anymore(thank God again that my college days are over), so this hasn't been a huge thing to get used to. However, sometimes it is nice to sit & have a couple drinks with friends... now I milk my "one" glass for so long that it is not just room-temp, but WARM before I am done with it.
5.) Pumping. Pumping is the weirdest & strangest thing I have ever done. I really feel like I am a dairy cow connected to one of those milk machines. I started pumping at 2 weeks. My little sister had been pumping before me so I was asking my mother how she did it right after I had "connected myself up" for the 1st time. I remember my mom saying, "Well I think she does it just like that but she doesn't sit there and stare at herself the whole time!" haha! I guess I was just so fascinated by what my body was actually producing!! Once again, thought I belonged in a zoo.
6.) I was convinced that at 3 months I would stop breastfeeding & do exclusive pumped milk. Brady is now 3 1/2 months and I cannot imagine stopping anytime soon. He just is so little still... and still doesn't have teeth... which really do scare me quite a bit.
7.) At 4 weeks we gave Brady his first bottle. You would think by reading #1-6 I would be THRILLED that I could FINALLY start giving him a bottle. I could FINALLY sleep through the night and Austin could give the bottles! Well... that kinda happened. I was so happy that we finally had other options than just me... and then immediately felt guilty for thinking that. I was so happy that Austin got to have that bonding time with Brady, but then felt awful that I wasn't having that bonding time with Brady. It was such a time of mixed emotions.... and I am sure they will resurface once I do stop breastfeeding.
8.) Speaking of bottles.... Brady will not take a bottle from me. Yep, that's right. There has been less than a handful of times that Brady has taken a bottle from me. Usually he completely refuses it, and just stays really upset with me until I give him the tit.
9.) Luckily.... I have been blessed with a baby that sleeps through the night... Unfortunately... my boobs do not know how to quit producing during the wee hours of the night. Do you have any IDEA what this means?!? My BABY doesn't wake me up... MY BOOBS do!! This is NUTS to me... I have to wake up in the early morning hours to pump.... while my baby SLEEPs. (Usually for another 4-5 hours!)
10.) When I was pregnant, there were many foods that I could not eat because they gave me SUCH bad heartburn... I was SO EXCITED to pop this kid out & never have to think twice about devouring a huge plate of chips and salsa again! But... I quickly learned that Brady does not like Salsa, red pasta/pizza sauce, carbonation, or anything spicy. Sigh.
So... now that I am typing this all out it makes it sound like I really hate breastfeeding... that is not it at all. I love the time I have with Brady... and it can get me out of just about any awkward situation I could be in ("Oh, sorry... gotta go, Brady's hungry").... but there are some major adjustments that nobody warned me about... I have been blessed with the gift to breastfeed, and I am very thankful about that... because I know there are some people out there that really want to but cannot for one reason or another.... I know I am blessed but I want to also tell the other side to it all that most people don't tell you about.
Besides the time I have with Brady when I am nursing... my favorite thing about it is sending my little sister pictures of Brady eating.... it is awesome to freak her out. :)
You may remember from one of our first blogs... we have 2 cats... Vincent & Boat-Rider. I originally got Vincent when Austin moved to France after college. Austin lived in a little town in France called St. Vincent... hence, his name. Then we got Boat-Rider. Boat-Rider got his name from Austin. Who knows?
Well... Vincent & Boat-Rider have been a part of our family for 6 years now. Wow... 6 years? Really? Well... with the move we had come into some sticky situations with the cats... and had no place to keep them while Austin was living with my parents in Texas, and I am in Nebraska at my brother's place... we could not very well ask either of them (plus we knew the answer would be "no".)... since they we already providing us with shelter for a month...
We were in a bind... and two of our good friends stepped up & offered to take them in for a month. Brett & Nicole! For the past 3 weeks they have been "visiting" with Brett & Nicole, and their two cats... Jinx & Miles.... Well Brett & Nicole invited Brady & me over for dinner last week so we could see how our family members are doing---- they are great by the way--- and they couldn't care LESS that I can to visit! Oh well... that is why I have dogs to show me the love! :) Well... it was great seeing them anyway... and seeing Brett & Nicole... AND them even FEEDING me! (Like cat-sitting for a month isn't enough?!?)
Well... I never got to meet Miles... Apparently a 3 month old baby is terrifying for a cat... Who knew? Could this be Brett & Nicole's family picture in a year? :) Boat-Rider. He still may be bigger then Brady... Crazy cat. At least he would take a picture with me... Vincent wouldn't let me!
When we were kids we never really had a family pet. We had dogs, but they never really stuck around.
We had Tippy, a black lab mix that would run away literally EVERY DAY... My mom finally "sent her to a farm" where she could "run"... (Just last year I found out that she really had been picked up by the Humane Society, again, and mom could not pack all 5 of us kids in the car, again, to pick her up during a thunderstorm).
Then we got Hattie... a Cocker Spaniel. I loved Hattie so much... but she was NOT housebroken in the slightest... nor was she ever going to be... she had much too many urinary problems for my parents to deal with, when they were already dealing with 5 kids, and 2 in diapers. We really did give her to a farm after a couple years... and she was super happy there.
Then we had numerous gerbils, Guinea pigs, parakeets, rabbits, and such. It wasn't until we moved to Bellevue (I was in 7th grade) that we finally convinced my parents to get us a real family dog. That is when we got Boo. Her name was actually Pooh, but we though that was pretty stupid, and it was Halloween when we got her.
Boo was such a great dog for us. She loved all of us so much. She was small, but she could run faster and jump higher than any other dog. It was crazy. When I lived with my parents Boo would sleep with me every night... she really was a man's (or in my case, kids) best friend.
Over the years she has gotten much, much older. The last time I was in Texas she was blind, deaf, and hurting. She could hardly walk up stairs anymore. However, she was still happy as can be. The past few weeks she has quit playing, has quit walking up & down stairs, and has stopped acting like the happy dog we have all known.
Last night she got into a fight with one of our other dogs, Buddy. Buddy was not so friendly towards Boo, despite his name, and Boo had to go to the vet to get stitches. Long story short, Boo was not going to make it through surgery... and if she would have... she would have had limited days left anyway... my sister & mom made the hard decision to put her down.
Our very first pet that we have seen from the beginning to the end, the only real family pet that we had. Boo.... you'll be missed. Thank God that All Dogs go to Heaven.
So being a single parent is tough... especially on the days that I work. Poor Brady has to be in daycare for 13 hours! We wake up, I feed him, pump, get ready, drop him off.... go to work, pick him up at 7:30pm, feed him, bath, play a bit, and then bedtime.... oh yeah, then I wash bottles & get everything ready for the NEXT day... and THEN I get some time for myself. Not that I am complaining, it just gets tough...
My husband on the other hand... I know he is working hard in school... and he has a lot of homework that he does... but it sure doesn't seem like it when I get texts from him like this: "Unemployment has its perks"
Well the past two weeks have been big ones for the King Family... Let's look back on what all has happened....
1) I went back to work. Maternity leave it officially over and I have come to accept the fact that I can not stay home with my baby boy anymore. Well... until Austin becomes a lawyer and makes big dollars... then maybe I can stay home. :) It is good being around adults, I must say, but really hard to leave the little guy.
2) Moved out of our house! Yep... we sold our first home. We closed on Friday, and moved out completely on Saturday. We have been working our tails off getting the house packed and cleaned. I never knew that I would get so attached to a house... especially because when we bought this house we KNEW we would only be in it for a few years. Our plan was to always move to Texas... the plan just really crept up on us! I think another reason why has been so tough for us is because we have (had) such great neighbors. We've recently become good friends with the neighbors across the street, Chanel & Scottie... and they have a little babe, Cameron, that is just 4 weeks younger than Brady. I think we could sit & talk about the babes forever!! :) Our other neighbors, Jeff & Nicole, have been our friends since Day 1 of living in our house. They have the most ADORABLE girl too, Kennedy, that I love soooo much! She was just 2 when we moved in, and I have really gotten to see her grow up a lot. I think moving REALLY hit me when I saw Kennedy outside with her Dad, (wearing her new glasses), and Jeff was teaching her how to ride a bike. I lost it. Good thing nobody could see me in my mess. Haha.
3) Austin moved to Texas. Yep, on Saturday morning he loaded up a moving truck & towed his car behind it. He is now a Texan. I have a new-found respect for all the Military wives out there. I knew y'all worked hard being single moms... but I had no idea the emotional tow it has on you. It was so hard to say goodbye to Austin, and know that he would not be with Brady & me for a month. Thank goodness I know there is light at the end of the tunnel though.... Austin did get a Skype camera & Skype account, so we can still chat & he can see Brady. It really makes things much better.
4) Our cats moved to Brett & Nicole's house. Brett was one of my neighbor's when I lived in Bellevue but I suppose I didn't really become friends with him until after Austin & I started dating. He married just the sweetest girl in the world less than a year ago, Nicole. Thank goodness they came to our rescue when we needed a temporary home for our cats until we both move to Texas. (Austin is staying at my parents house where "no cats are allowed", (and I will respect that rule for a place to stay for the next 3 years!!) and Molly & John are still living in the guest house, where we will be living.. and very allergic to cats... and we already pawned our dogs off on them, so we figure we should give them a break!).... so we had no option but to board or get rid of them... and boarding is anywhere from $12-35 PER CAT!! It is ridiculous! So... we are forever grateful to these WONDERFUL peeps! And they are SUCH cat lovers I know our little guys are in good hands this month!
5) Austin started his summer Law School class! :) This is VERY EXCITING! Probably more for me than for him... because he has been spending MUCH of his time studying & doing homework already! This class helps prepare him for law school in August & gives him a heads up in all that is to come! Austin did send me this picture today, with the caption "This is my life for the next 3 years." However, he didn't say if this was a good thing or a bad thing....
6) Being homeless & without my husband, Brady & I moved into my brother's house. My brother, Willy, and wife, Erin, have the sweetest boy in the world (besides Brady). He is 9 months and almost walking!! I hope that he starts walking in the next month so I can see it! They are sooo wonderful for putting us up for a month that I don't know how I will ever repay them! We've got a great set-up in the basement that works great for Brady & me. I will really be missing all of my family & friends when I move... but Liam I may miss the most. Watching kids grow up is so amazing... and not being able to watch Liam on a regular basis will be sad. AND... they are expecting ANOTHER kid in November!! I can't even BEGIN to imagine how hard that will be! This is them with Brady in the hospital. I guess they saw how wonderful he is and then decided it was time for another!
Anyway... as you can see, it has been a couple weeks full of emotion. A few people have said that my facebook status' have been super depressing... so I do apologize for that... Things really are not that bad & Brady & I will make it through the month just fine. :)
