Birth Centers

I played with the idea of a midwife when I first got pregnant, but didn't really look into it too much. 1 - we don't have a ton of money to spend, 2 -the pain.

I found that the average cost of midwife + birth center here is about $3,000. Not as much as doctors cost, but then again insurance helps with the doctors. Not to mention when you are lucky enough to get medicaid, you don't pay squat. Sadly, since there are no licensed birth centers in Utah, Medicaid won't cover a delivery at a birth center.

The birth center is what really appealed to me.

Being in control of my birth
Not being tied down to a bed
Eating, drinking, or showering during labor
Going home 4 to 8 hours after birth

It's just my luck that the one freakin licensed place like this would close down the year I get pregnant again. *harrumph* Of course there are still other birth centers around, but nothing insurance will cover.


I first fell in love with BetterBirth. Who wouldn't want to have a baby here? It is like going to a nice hotel to have a baby. Props to the ladies to just skip this step and have the baby at home, it just isn't something I'm comfortable with. A birth center seemed like a nice half way point.

Once I realized it would cost $2,600 ($1,400 if I went the cheap way) I was slightly depressed. Being poor isn't fun, and curse anyone who just has that much money lying around. If I really wanted to go there, we'd have to take out a loan. :( Being the responsible adult I am Feeling guilty about making Denny find that much money, I didn't even bother contacting the place.

I started looking at other centers/midwives and all the prices were pretty close to the same. Denny said the next child we could plan to have in a birth center, but I don't plan to have another until I at least get Sophie and/or the 2nd in school.

So I get to grumble and just fine a midwife who will deliver at McKay Dee. Damn you Utah, and your lack of licensed birthing centers!

Special Bonds

Welcome to The Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival!

This post was written as part of The Breastfeeding Cafe's Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on The Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today's post is about Importance of Breastfeeding. Please read the other blogs in today's carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th through the 31st!

When I was pregnant, I knew I would nurse. Sure I could formula feed if I felt like it, but that wasn't the "norm" for me. I grew up with my mom's family, who were both Hispanic and always had babies. Everyone nursed, it just made sense. Why waste the time filling a bottle with warm water, measuring the formula, and shaking it up? It takes 2 seconds to plop out a boob.

As a pregnant mom, I did a lot of reading. Of course I knew that "breast was best." Sure, formulas could put all kinds of things in their cans, but they would never reach the awesomeness of mommy milk. I collected the free sample cans for two reasons, one the cheap in me wouldn't let me throw them out, and two just in case.

After our pain in the butt introduction to nursing, it was easy for us. It was better than easy, it was wonderful. There was a special something there, that only her and I would share. We had time to just connect.

She ate like a piranha most of the time, but bed/nap time nursing was my favorite. There was no rush, and no one to bother us. We would snuggle together, she'd play with my fingers, my hair, my face, whatever was in reach. Eventually the "milk drunk" effect would take over, and her mouth would pop off leaving that little O.

We nursed for 18 months, and that 18 months was delightful. I "tried" to wean once at 6 months, then at a year, but it was mostly from pressure. Pressure of what the world wanted, once I finally decided "screw the world," I pretty much let her wean on her own.

18 months was good for us, and it was important to me that I not take it from her too early. She was always a mommy's girl, and she needed that special bond. That time where I was hers and hers alone. Even at the very end, when we only nursed once a night to put her to bed - it was still our time. I miss that. :(

I plan to nurse just as long as the 2nd baby needs as well. Not only does it help out financially, but have you tasted that formula stuff? I did just out of curiosity, because I'm weird like that, and BOY is that stuff nasty. We did try a few bottles at the beginning of her life, with both formula and pumped milk (she quickly found out that boob was better and refused the bottles), and it just wasn't the same. There wasn't that special click. Anyone could feed her a bottle, it wasn't something special that only I could do for her.

Sure it can be harder for some women, but I believe in will power. If you want to do something, really WANT to, you will be able to. I wanted to nurse my baby, and we did it. I wanted to rise above stereotypes and be a good "teen mom", and I did it. My husband and I want to give our daughter the world, and even though we aren't blessed in the money department, we find a way to give her everything she needs and more.

That bond is important, even if it only lasts 3 months or so. Props to women who actually give it an honest try. I wouldn't give up those special moments for anything. Breastfeeding was one of the best decisions I ever made.

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Here are more posts by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.

• Sylko @ Chaotic Mama—Breastfeeding Carnival: Importance of Breastfeeding


• Sara @ The Covered Wagon—Nursing a Food Allergic Child


• Shelly @ Lousy Mom—Importance of breastfeeding


• Timbra @ Bosoms & Babes—The best non-decision I ever made


• Shary @ Mama Fish—Why Breast Milk is Best


• Claire @ The Adventures of Lactating Girl—I Breastfeed For Me


• Lauren @ Hobo Mama—Why breastfeeding is important


• Kate @ KateIsFun—The Importance of Breastfeeding


• Kaitlin Rose @ Bring Birth Home—Breastfeeding Came Naturally


• Brooke @ Milk Maid Mamma—Why I Chose to Breastfeed


• Lexi @ Life as a Mommy—Special Bonds


• Whitney @ According to Waddlebug:The (Un)Balancing act of Motherhood—Importance of Breastfeeding


• Natasha @ naturalurbanmama—Importance of Breastfeeding:X-men and Faberge Shampoo


• Shelly @ Lousy Mom—Wheat allergies and working


• And of course the guest poster on the Breastfeeding Cafe’s Blog today is Jen Karsbaek—Breastfeeding Helps Me Love My Son

Birth and Breast

Welcome to The Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival!

This post was written as part of The Breastfeeding Cafe's Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on The Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today's post is about Birth Experiences and Breastfeeding. Please read the other blogs in today's carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th through the 31st!

For my birth experience, I didn't really know what I wanted. I was 17 for crying out loud. Thanks to the "Bringing Home Baby" show, I was horrified that something would go wrong.

Our birth ended up going along just fine (for the most part). I was in labor for a little under 10 hrs, and didn't have to push very long at all. Once they cleaned all the ick off Sophie, the nurse dove right in my shirt to latch on my baby. I was horrified that it would hurt, everyone said it hurt for the first month or two. Lies, all of it.

No body told me that when you nurse the right way, it isn't supposed to hurt. There I sat, with bleeding nipples, and a baby that wanted to nurse constantly, because she just couldn't latch. I had no idea. I just knew I was in pain.

Eventually the a nurse came in to tell me that Sophie had dropped too much weight, and she needed to get formula in her. I was given the option of just putting a little tube up to my boob, and letting her "pretend nurse." The idea of giving the girls a break was too much to resist. I ended up just bottle feeding her until we got home from the hospital the next day.

On the way home, I had Denny stop at target and buy me a pump. If I couldn't nurse, I was going to be sure that she still got mommy milk. Turns out it wasn't really necessary. Once we got home, she was pro. I don't know if it was drinking from the bottles, using her binky, or what, but she could now latch perfectly and ate like there was no tomorrow.

I didn't feel informed when I had my baby. I didn't really know any better. If Sophie hadn't mastered nursing magically, I may have just been too defeated to keep going. Luckily this time around I know what to expect. I know how it should feel and what to do.

That is how my birth experience affected our breastfeeding.

 

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 Here are more posts by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.

• Sylko @ Chaotic Mama—Breastfeeding Carnival: Birth Experience


• Emily @ Baby Dickey—How Ryan's birth affected breastfeeding


• Kimberly @ Monkey Tales Mama Thoughts—Birth and Boobs


• Timbra @ Bosoms and Babes—Birth Experience


• Shelley @ Lousy Mom—Birth Experience


• Kimberly @ Fertility Flower—Transformative Power of Birth


• Claire @ Geeky Gaming Mama—How did my births affect breastfeeding?


• Natasha @ naturallurbanmama—My birth experiences, also known as Night and Day!


• Kaitlin Rose @ Bring Birth Home—Giving Birth at Home Positively Affected Breastfeeding


• Claire @ The Adventures of Lactating Girl—Dealing With the Opposition


• Whitney @ According to Waddlebug: The (Un)balancing Act of Motherhood—My Birth and How It Affected Breastfeeding


• Lexi @ Life As A Mommy—Birth and Breast


• And of course the guest poster on the Breastfeeding Cafe’s Blog today is Laurel Miller-Jones—Laurel's Birth Experience and Breastfeeding

Picking a Game Plan

The moment I saw that little pink line, I started stressing about the birth. Would we get medicaid? How would we pay for the hospital stay? Who would watch Sophie? What if something went wrong? Blah blah blah.

I like to be prepared, I like to know what is going to happen, and when it will happen. This makes it impossible for me to be friends with those kind of people that just randomly expect you to drop your plans for them. It also drives me insane to try to plan family outings, because family likes to do their own thing. So I plan what I can, and adjust when things ruin my plans.

Here is my "everything goes perfect" plan -

I go into labor at night/early in the morning. We get to the hospital and set everything up, while a family member bunks down here at the apartment while Sophie sleeps. Denny goes back to get Sophie (or the person watching her brings her up). Assuming I'm not in labor all freakin day, Sophie can stay and play in the room. If not, we'll have someone take her out to have a fun day.

I'll have the nurses block the entrance to my room. I explained to Denny that it is my vagina, and I want an intimate birth this time around. Granted everyone on the floor saw my vajay last time (thanks to my hemorrhage), I'd like it to be us as a team. He can't disagree, because I'd just have the nurses kick him out too. :P

Once the baby is born, the very first person in the room will be Sophie. No ifs ands or buts. Then grandparents, family, and whoever else might be there. (I also don't want a circus there.) After that I'm kicking everyone out so we can spend time together as a family. Don't like it, tough nuts. Count your blessings because I first planned on not calling anyone until baby was born, but I figured if people want to wait in the waiting room, so be it.

Visitors can come in the evening, and Denny can take Sophie home for the night. 1 those fold out beds are too small for him, and 2 I want Sophie to have a parent with her. Hopefully I only have to spend 24 hrs in the hospital, if not - Denny will spend the day with Sophie.


You've all been forewarned, I love visitors and babies as much as the next person, but I will have our time as a family first.

So says the mean pregnant lady.

Boob Love

Welcome to The Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival!

This post was written as part of The Breastfeeding Cafe's Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on the Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today's post is Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding Photos! Please read the other blogs in today's carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th through the 31st!

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(Thanks to my friend, Claire, I was introduced to the Breastfeeding Cafe last year. I'm super excited to get involved with it this year. I'm volunteering as the host for the Expectant Moms Circle. Breastfeeding should be the norm, and even though we aren't nursing anymore, I'm still an advocate for boob.)

I find it completely depressing that during the entire 18 months that Sophie nursed, I got pretty much zero pictures. Since this is the Wordless Wednesday post, I am supposed to put on pictures of our beautiful nursing experience. I had to DIG to find any.

This one I got from my mom's camera a year or so ago. Notice the poor baby, having your face covered just can't be comfortable. I had horrified my cousins earlier that day by whipping out my boob at the table, so I figured I wouldn't torture them more than necessary.... then I showed them my birth video. >:) They needed a good dose of "don't get pregnant in your teens."

This one I pulled from a video. Denny was trying to figure out how to record with our video camera, and accidentally recorded some bewb.

These last 3, I love. I pulled these from Sophie's birth video. Yep, we are THOSE kind of people. The people that record birth. I didn't really want video of my vajay, but I sure wanted the experience documented.

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Here are more posts by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.

• Emily @ Baby Dickey—Wordless Wednesday: breastfeeding


• Timbra @ Bosoms and Babes—Firsts Wordless Wednesday: Carnival Day


• Kimberly @ Monkey Tales Mama Thoughts—Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding Photos


• Melodie @ Breastfeeding Moms Unite!—Breastfeeding a Toddler: It Doesn't Matter How Big They Get


• Sara @ The Covered Wagon—Wordless Wednesday


• Renee @ Just the 5 of us!—Favorite Breastfeeding Photos


• BoobiesNBabies @ Num In Mind—Wordless Wednesday: DD2 Breastfeeding Photos


• Lauren @ Hobo Mama—Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding by the waterfall


• Whitney @ According To Waddlebug: The (Un)Balancing Act of Motherhood—Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding Goober Pie


• Shary @ Mama Fish—Wordless Wednesday: Favorite Breastfeeding Photos


• Anne @ Dou-la-la—Wordless Wednesday: Breastfeeding Cafe


• Lexi @ Life As A Mommy—Boob Love


• Claire @ The Adventures of Lactating Girl—Not Really Wordless Wednesday: First Breastfeeding Photo
  


• Natasha @ Natural Urban Mama—Wordless Wednesday: My Fave Breastfeeding Pics


• Kaitlin Rose @ Bring Birth Home—Wordless Wednesday - Family Nursing


• Becca @ Mama B—Nursies and Night Nights


• Kate @ KateIsFun—Snack Time


• And of course Breastfeeding Cafe’s Blog today is a slide show of 122 breastfeeding photos!—Breastfeeding Slideshow