It’s been a long time since I last posted something. Well, that’s because I’ve been busy. And, well, maybe I used the “having a baby thing” as an excuse…. just a little.
I’ve also lacked motivation and inspiration for blogging and have been annoyed with the pressure I put on myself. You know that knawing feeling you have when you know you “should” be doing something, but you aren’t doing it? Well, I’m sick of feeling that way – so… the point of this post is to tell you that I will post only when I have the time AND the inspiration. Thanks to my friend Rebecca for the tip and reminder. Check out her blog – Home & Hoareticulture.
So, here’s a recap of what I’ve been doing and thinking about over the last few months:
December 1st, 2011, I gave birth to our daughter Aven Mae Bagelman at home at 4:00am. What a wonderful experience! Yes, the home birth was wonderful, but I must say, the biggest motivation for having her at home was to avoid the epidural. The thought of that big needle turned me off way more than I could picture the pain of labour to be and I didn’t want to be tempted by being in the hospital!
The labour was long and I was tired, but it was obviously so worth it in the end. The moment they put her on my chest was such an exhilarating feeling. I was so pumped with excitement that I felt as high as a kite! We ended up having to go to the hospital after because she swallowed meconium and was having a little trouble breathing. All was well at Sunnybrook hospital so after two nights, we were able to take our sweet pea home.
I know a P.S. doesn’t go here, but P.S. the midwives I had, Bianca, Kristen and Jen (back up – Sarah and Andrea) of the Community midwives of Toronto were so great and caring.
The next few weeks with little Aven were amazing, but tough! As many of you know, the hardest thing about babies is when they are screaming their heads off and you have no idea why and feel so helpless. Other than that, we’ve been enjoying our little bundle and Jesse has proven to be such a wicked dad. I love watching him with her.
Since the beginning, Aven has been very sensitive. She had very bad gas and then experienced reflux after every meal. I’ve had to be VERY careful about what I eat because if I eat crap – the baby eats crap, and believe me, she doesn’t hesitate to remind me. If she eats processed food ridden breast milk, she will be so off kilter. Way more whiny than normal, way more upset and all around harder to deal with.
For example, after I ate a lot of cow’s cheese (very processed, usually containing growth hormones and antibiotics) over a weekend, Aven could not be settled. She woke up from naps pissy, was pissy after meals, and was pissy during and after a diaper change. I decided to do a 3 day detox including as many fruit and veg as I wanted along with one meal with good meat/fish protein and whole grains for dinner.
After one day of the detox, Aven was a different person – a charm to be around and at one point lasted 45 minutes playing on her own in the exersaucer. It is common that a baby will react to foods that make the mother gassy and since cow’s dairy is a common allergen in general, it is best to stay away from it while breastfeeding. This is why you will notice everything I’ve been posting lately on FB includes sheep or goat cheese because it is easier to digest than cow’s dairy and doesn’t cause similar reactions in people.
That’s all I have to report on for now. Stay tuned. Since I haven’t been blogging lately, my brain has been buzzing with tons of ideas to write about and now that I’ve gotten into a better groove with the “mom” thing, I should be able to balance things a little better. No promises though.
Remember, eat more veg.