SMACK!

Sometimes life just smacks you in the face.  After years of adjusting to the fact that I may not even be able to have one child, I am now suddenly proud mother to two. Two daughters in fact. Precious, perfect, precocious, pink ribbon wearing girls. Each conceived a little differently, each birthed a little differently and each having their own little different personalities.

With my first daughter, "Cub One," she was a surprise pregnancy. I was in the midst of a 2 year Crohns flare when she suddenly arrived in the pictures. With my second one, "Cub Two," she was planned and although we expected it to take a few months to conceive, Cub Two was a "one monther" and WHAM! SMACK! We were expecting again! 

Flash forward nearly 10 months later and here I sit now making this post.  I used to write avidly in my youth but life and circumstance drew me away from writing. What better opportunity than now to begin anew and attempt to document our lives as we grow as a new family of four. 

So I'll just jump to it...hang on! 

Breastfeeding or as we like to call it in our household; breasting. 

With Cub One it was an utter failure. I had an emergency c-section after 26 hours of hard labor and the nurses suggested that it would be easier to give her some formula that first night. What a mistake! That pretty much put the first nail in that coffin. I struggled for the next 4 months to breastfeed her but between supplementing that never stopped and the fact that I never really got a supply no matter how much Feneugreek I consumed (I smelled like a maple tree!) things never worked out for me.  

Now with Cub Two things are so much more different. I did end up having another "emergency" c-section when it was discovered she was boarder line IUGR but being that this c-section was scheduled, the entire experience was better planned and prepared. This time I wasn't "tricked" into supplementing with formula, she was given to me moments after the surgery and I was able to pop her right onto the breast.  She was a champion nurser from the get go, unlike her sister who never really mastered a good latch or wanted to, Cub Two was a pro!  This made a tremendous surge of good feelings flow through my body! I felt super human! 

Today is day 22 of breasting my new little squish cub and things are still going great. We are however battling with her weight gain as it does seem to be a tad bit on the slower side but from what I've learned, that is not too uncommon with IUGR babies.

We have our moments but it looks like this time breastfeeding is going to be a success!

Speaking of, I have to go nurse her now so I have to cut this short but tomorrow I will be back and talk more about IUGR, Baby Blues and adjusting life to a new baby in the house.