Nursing

Nursing is my favorite activity, hands down! Speaking of hands, the fact that mommy only has one presents certain challenges during breastfeeding. Mommy would encourage others who are able and interested to breastfeed - it sure beats fixing a bottle in the middle of the night! We've been using several products to assist us. First, we use the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper (mini). This makes it so mommy can reach me easily at night, but not share her bed with me (although, many times I have managed to weasel my way into the big bed)! Generally this has been a good product, but we've had trouble finding sheets for it, and it doesn't fold/unfold as easily as we'd like, so we've mostly just left it set up in the bedroom.

Another big help for feeding has been nursing pillows! That's right - plural. We use two different types of pillows. Mainly at home, we use the ever-popular Boppy. It's great on the couch or in an armchair. It works in the wheelchair only if there is a table in front of us. We need an additional pillow to put under which ever side we're on, though, because it's meant to go on a lap, and well, technically, we don't have a lap! We keep other pillow in the car - it's called My Brest Friend (I know, right?). This is a much firmer pillow that actually straps around mommy's back and has back support. The one we have has a buckle, and I wonder if the one pictured here with velcro would be simpler... uh, faster (when I'm hungry, I'm hungry)! Anyway, it's great for nursing in the back seat of the car (which happens more than mommy cares to admit). And it's ideal to use from a wheelchair. These pillows are essential to prevent mommy's one arm from getting very tired and numb from holding a heavy baby.

Finally, there's breast pumping. Mommy pumps milk every day at work so I have bottles ready for the next day. We use the Medela Pump in Style (thanks, Aunt Bridget!). The pump and supplies are pretty standard, but mommy found the need for a hands-free mechanism to be essential! Soooo, she has to wear the silliest contraption EVER! Makes her look like a dairy cow/clown. But it gets the job done. Now, if that janitor at the hospital would just figure out that "session in progress" could mean a breast pumping session!!!

Probably the toughest thing has been working on mommy's coordination to stay covered up in public. Personally, I prefer to nurse without a cover in all locations across America, so whenever possible I squirm and thrash to try to reveal those beautiful fountains to the entire world!