I know it isn’t easy for everyone and I speak from painful experience. There is no way I would have made it to six week’s with Charlotte, my first child, if it hadn’t been for my midwife, my husband and an amazing lactation consultant. I ran the gauntlet with cracked, bleeding nipples and was in tears of agony every time she latched on. She lost weight and didn’t regain her birth weight till she was one month old – but there were plenty of wet and dirty nappies and she was a good birth weight, so I was encouraged to persevere. By six week’s everything turned around for the better and I fed her till she was 2 year’s of age, at which time she was only feeding once a day if that. She sweetly kissed me one day and said, ‘Bye, bye Bah Boo,’ (her made up word for Mummy’s milk).

December 2005 – Charlotte kissing Sophie’s head whilst she feeds after watching Charlotte swimming at the local pool:

Here in New Zealand nearly 90 percent of babies are being exclusively breastfed on discharge from a Baby Friendly accredited facility. However this soon falls to 65% of all babies at six weeks, 54% at three months, and 26% at six months (Ministry of Health, 2007 data).

Breastfeeding hit the headlines this week for more than just World Breastfeeding Week. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen called for a worldwide law requiring mothers to breastfeed their babies for the first six months of their lives in an interview with the UK edition of Harper’s Bazaar. Of course this comment was blown entirely out of perspective and sparked plenty of controversy, but at least it brought the subject of breastfeeding into the main-stream media.

I am just so grateful for the support I received with my first born and wish all new Mums the very best.

I am still on my breastfeeding journey, with Alice having been exclusively breastfed till five months. She’s now starting on solids, but breast-milk is still her primary source of nutrition. I have no ‘end time’ to breastfeeding in mind, but I kind of hope she doesn’t match up to Sophie’s marathon breastfeeding till 4 year’s old! She was only feeding once a day – just before bed, but I really didn’t think it was ever going to end. Thankfully, with a little bit of gentle encouragement she stopped – just months before Alice arrived!

Links
Blog post on extended breastfeeding and general posts on breastfeeding.

Quotes on breastfeeding

There are three reasons for breast-feeding: the milk is always at the right temperature; it comes in attractive containers; and the cat can’t get it.
– Irena Chalmers –

A newborn baby has only three demands. They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breasts, and security in the knowledge of her presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all three.
– Grantly Dick-Read —

Breast Feeding should not be attempted by fathers with hairy chests, since they can make the baby sneeze and give it wind.
– Mike Harding, The Armchair Anarchist’s Almanac, 1981 –

Breastfeeding is nature’s health plan.
– Author Unknown –

Mother’s milk, time-tested for millions of years, is the best nutrient for babies because it is nature’s perfect food.
– Robert S. Mendelsohn –

Breastfeeding is a mother’s gift to herself, her baby and the earth.
– Pamela K. Wiggins –

O, thou beautiful damsel, may the four oceans
Of the earth contribute the secretion of milk
In thy breasts for the purpose for improving
The bodily strength of the child
O, thou with the beautiful face, may the child
Reared on your milk, attain a long life, like
The gods made immortal with drinks of nectar
– Sushruta, translated –

This food is great, messy stuff! So many colours, textures, smells and tastes. Here I am in my high chair enjoying a marmite covered crisp bread… yummy!

I really like to feed myself, which is fabulous fun for me, but a lot of extra work for Mummy! The kitchen floor is needing lots of wiping and I practically need a bath after each meal.

I love drinking water and it’s hard for anyone to have a drink and hold me at the same time – as I reach out and try to grab it. Mummy gave me my first sips of water from a little egg cup – the perfect size for me. Now I’m drinking merrily out of a sip-a-cup, guzzle, guzzle.

So far I have shown a few definite ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’…

Like – Marmite (as does Charlotte, but Sophie very much dislikes), Carrot (like both my sisters)

Dislike – Cucumber and Banana (as does Charlotte, but they are Sophie’s favourite)

I’m going to be eating full meals soon if I carry at the pace I’ve started!

And Mummy has had to say good-bye to her small hand-bags and give in to a huge ‘Mummy bag’. Life has just got a little bit busier for Mummy and Daddy…

There is no clock in Alice’s world, only the difference in light between night and day.
She feeds when she’s hungry.
She sleeps when she needs to.
And spends her wakeful time drinking in every sight, sound and texture.
The only taste to cross her lips is that of her mother’s milk from the breast.

She delights her sisters with coos and chuckles.
She has a way of making everyone feel like a top class comedian.
The sounds of music and singing make her eyes light up with wonder.

She is the third born and follows no set routines.
Happy to go along with everyone else, to observe and learn.
No pile of parenting books in sight; they have long gathered dust on the shelves since the first born.
Her parents are relaxed and practiced in following their instincts.
It took them time to trust and believe.

It is she who really trusts.
She with a pure heart and quick smile.
Arms of love surround her in sleep and when awake.
Her cries are met with caring compassion.

Her parents know this time will not last.
She will, in time, push them away with an independent thirst.
At times she will bounce back to those arms, but she’ll need their embrace less and less.
For now they are her whole world,
And she shows them how to see again through new eyes.

________________________________________________

Alice turned 4 months today and is thriving. A glorious day greeted us and we bounded out the door. Dan rode off to work on his bike, cycling round the bays. Charlotte headed off to school with a bounce in her step. Sophie stayed off Kindi with a cold, but still full of energy. Alice had an appointment with the district health nurse (Plunket) at 9.30 am and was ready for her first nap of the day at 8.30 am. I strapped her to my chest in the front pack, grabbed the buggy out the garage for Sophie, and set off for a beautiful walk along past Houghton Bay to Island Bay.

We made the appointment right on time and, as we expected, Alice performed in her true charming style. She woke just before we arrived and greeted the nurse with coos.

She’s really thriving and it was lovely to hear the Plunket nurse say that they are all for and supporting attachment parenting now. So she didn’t blink an eye when I said I had Alice in bed with me – on a futon. And I can’t say how many feeds she as, since I don’t keep count and pretty much sleep through most of them. We sure have one very happy lass and I’m proud to say she’s tres content on her Mamma’s milk… here she is at her Plunket ‘weigh in’…

Everyone else in the family has managed to escape a drenching. Charlotte thinks this is all very hilarious and very befitting of the Andy Griffiths books she is currently addicted to (with titles such as ‘Just Disgusting’, ‘Just Stupid’ and ‘Just Ridiculous’).

Alice is not giving Mummy a whole lot of sleep between feeds, but Mummy’s going to bed early and with her trusty iPhone by the bed she can at least catch up on the news and blogs in the depths of the night. Such wizardry certainly makes for a much more entertaining night.

Alice is sharing Mummy’s bed at the moment as it’s just too tiring for Mummy to get up and down to put her in the cot – plus she’s such a guzzler that as soon as she’s laid flat she icks it back up or is uncomfortable with wind As a consequence she spends much of the night propped up on Mummy’s chest. Alice is developing incredibly strong neck muscles with all the tummy time she’s getting on Mummy!

Taken on Mummy’s iPhone in the midst of the night:

Daddy is sleeping in the spare bed (as he gets no sleep or room in bed with Mummy and Alice – though he slips in for a cuddle for a few hours some nights). Charlotte has taken to sharing with Daddy (Mummy jokingly says, ‘Excuse me, you’re sleeping with my husband!’). Sophie is wanting lots of extra love too and Mummy or Daddy lie with her most nights as she drifts off to sleep. So the love is being shared all around.

Tonight, Charli and Sophie tried to sleep together, but after half an hour or so of giggles and laughter (which was so beautiful to listen in on) Charli decided she wasn’t going to be able to sleep with Sophie’s singing of lullabies (she doesn’t stop talking all day and the only way she can get to sleep is to sing herself off). Goodness knows how we’d get on trying to sleep together in a tent for the night!

This week and next Alice is blessed with the non-stop company of her big sisters as they are off school and kindi for two week’s. Hugs, coos, lots of love and sharing of the milk spews!

Tuesday morning coffee with Daddy before he starts work (Alice had just rewarded Mummy with the third badge of the day):

2.30am
And so my all night milk party continues; still rocking!

Having a blast on the dance floor. Alice is necking back the drinks.

4.30am

She’s on the heavy duty cocktails this time! She’s lucky I’m here to hold her hand as she’s needed some assistance in the ladies a couple of times! Getting on for 5am and she’s collapsed into a catatonic state on my chest. Going to curl up in a booth for a while.

5.00am

Michael Jackson’s Thriller is playing on the dance floor and Charli has woken screaming. She was on the hard stuff early in the evening (mixing lemonade and Pamol) after the doctor told her she had a virus and to keep her fluids up.

6.00am

Alice stirring the mix again and Charli sounds like she may have had a visit from the tooth fairy!

7.20am

And so the day begins with a nice warm one from Alice that requires a change of clothes! Phew, what an all nighter!

Whoopee the tooth fairy has been! I’m swinging from the rafters with happiness and Alice is cooing at the sunrise. Sophie and Charli are joining her on a morning seranade. Someone, please get me a double shot coffee!!!!

This was Alice before her all nighter, getting some party tips from her ‘medium’ sister, as Sophie calls herself!

She’s getting stronger and more alert by the day, but still not awake for very long between naps, feeds and nappy changes. We have seen our first couple of smiles, which the girls are naturally loving. So far she’s a very mellow personality, drifting off to sleep staring at the trees or being enchanted by lights and shadows from the warmth of our arms. She will even sleep through ten school children cooing over her and touching her teeny ears, hands and twinkle toes. I very much doubt her ability to sleep through anything will last for much longer; but there’s no harm in wishful thinking.

I feel physically great (apart from a foggy head at times!) and the post-birth yucky bits have all gone (still haven’t got round to writing up the birth story – but it’s a goodie). It feels so great to walk, sit and lie down without having to consider a large belly out front. I’m so lucky to have lost all the baby weight and am back into my size 10 jeans (albeit with a little Mummy roll!).

It’s fab to have so much choice in my wardrobe again; though I hardly have the time to ponder on outfits and accessories at the moment. My choices mostly revolve around what tops will provide for discreet breastfeeding and coverage of my Mummy tummy. And clothes are lucky to stay clean all day… just this morning I was completely drenched within an hour of getting dressed (and I was really digging my outfit). On Monday, whilst in the post office, I was busy multi-tasking – feeding Alice and writing a Birthday card – when she ever so sweetly brought up her entire feed over the both of us (I’m hoping her instinct to share continues to when she’s got a box of chocolates in hand). I had to line up to get my postage stamps, whilst literally wet to the skin. No one blinked an eye or said a thing.

Dan is being a super Dad, as always. He takes the girls into school and kindy every morning, before cycling into work (on fine weather days). He figured it was the only way he was going to fit in any exercise. He has a great choice of routes into the city, including some very scenic ones. There’s the option to take a flatter route, or one of the more challenging routes with steeper gradients to really get the legs and heart pumping. He’s just discovered he’ll be playing in the ‘old mens’ football league this season, so he’ll be in need of some fitness training to be prepared!

Charli and Sophie are adjusting brilliantly and with only two week’s till the end of term they are looking forward to more ‘Alice time’ over the Easter hols.

I am, of course, always on the look out for an opportunity to nap, but they are very elusive. And the first thought on waking each morning (or not waking, as is often the case, since I never fell asleep) is coffeeeeeeeee! Dan has been keeping me happy and sane with either making me a special latte or bringing me one back from the school/kindi run. The new Queen Sally’s Diamond Deli in Lyall Bay produces a real Havana hit (check out this rave review from the inspirational Domestic Scene blog).

So at four week’s we’re doing okay and I’m still smiling – in an insanely, over-tired kind of a way.

Wellington is a newborn parent’s heaven – there is a coffee shop on every corner selling primo, high quality caffeine kicks!

This week I’m thankful to Parade Cafe at Oriental Parade (great time on Monday morning with a couple of coffee drinking friends), Cafe L’Affare in the city for a chilled coffee with hubbie on Wednesday morning, Diamond Deli in Lyall Bay for a Havana take-away hit on Tuesday morning and Mint Cafe in Island Bay for a ‘Mojo‘ hit this morning

It’s been a tiring week of night feeds and I’ve felt a little weepy at times, just out of sheer exhaustion. The other night, when I was crying tired tears, little Alice looked at me with her deep eyes and held my gaze with such calmness that I felt instantly better. Afterwards I found the poem above and all the tiredness is worth it when I look into my baby’s eyes. Alice must be on a growth spurt and at her ‘weigh in’ with my midwife on Friday it was heartening to find out my hard work was producing good results. Alice has put on around 300g a week and now weighs nearly 4.3kg, which Sophie didn’t weigh till 5 week’s and Charli till 7 week’s! I’m not surprised as she’s guzzling every couple of hours around the clock!

Alice, like all newborns, really is the best kind of time waster. Stuff the baby sleep books telling me to put my baby to bed in her cot – whilst I can hold her in my arms and watch her sleep, I will!

But how do I get anything done? Well, my Natures Sway sling gives me two hand’s free and I’m the master of multi-tasking with a baby in arms… as the photograph below, taken by my midwife, demonstrates (Sophie asked for my assistance in creating a musical shaker with an old toilet roll, paper and some coins she’d gathered together).

And I’m not the only person in the house that can’t resist keeping Alice close. Charli and Sophie are frequently asking to hold her and Dan even insisted on putting the hoover round with Alice in his arms today!

Alice really is such a chilled lass – but we aren’t even at 3 week’s old yet, so naturally she’s busy sleeping, eating and fattening up still. I had to take her for a newborn hearing screening on Friday morning (results were all good) and I’d been told that a ’sleeping baby’ would be best for the test – well no problems on that front!

At night she’s beginning to settle earlier each night. Initially she wasn’t really ready to settle till around midnight and that’s slowly been getting earlier. For the past few night’s she’s slept for nearly four hour’s straight, from 10pm ish till 2am. Unfortunately, she then feeds every hour to two hour’s after that – and by the time I’ve winded her and changed a couple of nappies the morning has arrived. But I’m feeling surprisingly good on it – so long as I fuel up with a large latte each morning!

She’s been asleep on my lap for nearly an hour now (it’s not yet 10pm) so I really should ditch the computer and head to bed whilst I can – but it feels good to have a little ‘adult’ time with Dan (we’re watching ‘The Great British Curry Trail’, with Ravinder Bhogal, which Dan’s down-loaded).

Okay, blog post finito, curry trail finished (I’m going to be dreaming of curry – if I actually get any ‘dream time’) and it’s time to take my little time waster to bed

Unfortunately, we’ve had a few unsettled evenings, with Alice producing green, instead of nice yellow, poo poos in her nappy. A quick ‘Google’ (thank goodness for the Internet!) and we discovered our little lass was filling up fast on the fore-milk and not getting to the calorie rich hind-milk. My boobs have been feeling like rocks and over-producing so the poor wee lass was gulping down the sugary, lactose rich stuff so fast that she had no room left in her tummy for the real McCoy. So, I fed off only one side for a whole night (spending a while in the bathroom relieving the overly full side with a session expressing milk over the sink) and then switched to the other side the next day. And the result? Yah! Yellow poos! Such is my life as a walking milk machine!

The nurse was very nice, but very traditional – in a Victorian sort of way! Our old Plunket nurse in Brooklyn was awesome – all ‘pro-extended breastfeeding’ and very encouraging. This nurse was, ‘Well, as long as it suits your lifestyle…’. For goodness sake! I’m happy, my children are happy, I know she only has my best interests at heart, but really, she made me feel like a total hippy! Then she asked, ‘Does she eat meat?’ – well, yes, but the way she asked was in an accusatory tone of, ‘Are you an extreme vege and don’t you know your child should get some real meat!’. Not that there’s anything wrong with vegetarianism, it’s just this Plunket nurse seemed to have an angle on it! I had to explain that Sophie must have been a T-Rex in another life, as she’s an utter carnivore.

When she asked about sleep I rambled on in my response (as I have a terrible disposition to do!) and said, ‘Fantastic – two hours nap and twelve hour’s all up at night – though I spend half of the night with her on the double futon in her room.’. Well, then there were questions… ‘Just a question with regard the night feed, does she remain latched on?’ – Reply: ‘No, I know about the risk of tooth decay, she doesn’t go to sleep latched on and she drinks nothing but either milk or water during the day.’ I failed to mention Sophie’s penchant for chocolate; but she makes up for her vices with a strong appetite for broccoli, peas, cucumber, carrots etc.

And her other question, ‘How does your husband feel about this?’ – my word, how personal! What does this really have to do with the health of my child!

Anyway, my response: ‘I share the love! I go to bed with my husband and when Sophie stirs around 1am (ish) I spend the rest of the night with her, my husband raves about the positive benefits of extended breastfeeding to his colleagues (frightening what men will talk about after a few beers on a Friday night!) and couldn’t be happier.’ Well, that seemed to satisfy her. For a moment I thought she was going to ask how our sex life is!

Enough already!

In short, Sophie is thriving. She is extremely bright, happy and healthy. She is stringing together sentences, knows all her colours, is counting to five, has an amazing memory, talks in past tense and uses tons of pronouns. Sophie rocks and we all love her!

After the check-up we celebrated with story-time at the local library and lunch at ‘The Cross‘. Charlotte came along for the whole ride as she’d had a tough night with the incredible storm that hit Wellington on Tuesday, with lightning striking more than 10 times in less than an hour, and winds which continued through Wednesday (at 130kmph!).