Thanksgiving

It was Paleigh's first Thanksgiving today. I have a lot to be thankful for. We had a sorta low key Thanksgiving with just my parents and brother-in-law over for dinner. My brother and nephew joined us after dinner and watched the Tree Lighting at Lenox on TV. Last year, my parents, husband, son, and I all went there in person. It was really neat in person. I hope to take Paleigh there too one day. I have a lot to be thankful for - especially a healthy new baby. My heart was also heavy this Thanksgiving because I found out some really sad news about a friend's baby girl. My friend's youngest daughter was diagnosed with a very rare tumor about 10 months ago that caused her to have a lot of horrible treatment with ill side effects and then eventually a liver transplant followed by additional chemo. They thought everything would be good then. There was a celebration party recently for her recovery. Well, the cancer has returned. Yesterday, she had surgery and the smallest of 4 tumors was removed. Her oncologist has basically said that there is very little, if anything, that he can do for her (my friend's facebook post said that her daughter's chances of living was like 0%). The family is considering going to a speciality cancer center out of state and possibly trying some clinical trials. My thoughts and prayers have constantly been about my friend. I can't imagine what she is thinking and feeling and the decisions they will have to try and make. The little girl was less than a year old when she was first diagnosed 10 months ago. Something so horrible shouldn't ever happen to anyone, let alone someone so young. And you should never have to see your child so sick or face the possibility of burying your own child. So, I was especially thankful for my family this year, and especially thankful for the health of my family. I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. And, please say a prayer for my friend and her family. I hope and pray that at some time later I can post good news about the situation. Until then...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

Nursing

A lot of things are different with this second baby. (See below post - Sleepless in Canton). One of them is Nursing. I know that nursing is a much talked about subject on certain sites but you wouldn't necessary expect it on a ordinary blog and you might not want to read about it either! This is certainly how I felt with my first baby - though I nursed for 13 months and I know it was the best for my child - I felt reluctant to discuss it, shy to let people know I was nursing, and certainly afraid almost that something embarrassing would happen because of it. I never nursed in public with my first baby. The closest I came to anything in public regarding nursing with my son was pumping in a closed, locked office at work and pumping in my closed, locked bedroom of the house I shared with co-workers during a conference. I was brave enough, though, to let people know there that I was nursing in order to prevent people from drinking the milk in the blue water bottle I stored the pumped milk in! I am not really sure why I was so reluctant and afraid to discuss it or do it in public. I guess it is because when I started nursing, I knew no one that had done it successfully and no one that continued to do it when they returned to work. None of this is the case with this baby. I know I can do it successfully, and I made it work once I returned to work with my first baby AND once I changed jobs to one requiring me to be in court 4 days a week and leaving me no opportunity to pump during the day. And to date, I have already nursed my child in public this time around! Perhaps it helps that this child has no weight gain issues with nursing that my first child had (she's risen in percentiles on 100% nursing). Perhaps it helps that I am more relaxed. Perhaps she is just a better nurser. It certainly doesn't hurt that I know I have a supportive Boss (his wife loaned me the pump I'll be using at work). Whatever the reason - I want to say that nursing is NOT something I will be embarrassed about this time or afraid to discuss. It is what is best for my child and for me and I will do it for as long as that continues to be the case. Do you know that there is even a Georgia law on breastfeeding??? It basically says that a mother can nurse her child anywhere that the child and mother can otherwise be! Why am I posting this you wonder? Well, it is something I feel strongly about. And I was reminded about that when I took my son, mother, and nephew to the Georgia Aquarium on Friday. There outside the main women's restroom was a sign that said Changing/Nursing station inside! Now, the nursing station was nothing more than a simple room of seating along 2 walls but still it was something! And the advertising made it no secret at all. More places ought to do this! Not even Babies-R-Us, which does have a Mother's room that mothers can use to change or nurse their child in, advertises it as such. With the American Academy of Pediatrics advising to nurse for the first 12 months of a child's life and then for as long as it mutually beneficial to mother and child, there should be more locations in public like this. There should be more resources, more benefits, more incentives, and definitely more support for women who chose to nurse. One local county - Fulton - provides rent-free a hospital grade pump to employees and their spouses (if the employee is male) to use as long as they need it. More government entities should do this. Fulton County also has a room in the government center where employees and members of the public (e.g. people on jury duty) can pump in private cubicles. There should be more of this. More insurance companies should cover the cost of pump and nursing accessories. (I spent $40 a piece recently on 2 nursing bras). Yes, I know that nursing is not for everyone and I don't look down on anyone that chose not to nurse their child. But, the health benefits to both mother and child have been proven scientifically. Society should recognize this and provide support to those that choose to nurse their children. Anyway, that's my position. This time around I am not afraid to let people know that I am a nursing mother. I am not afraid or embarrassed if someone finds out I nurse my child. And I won't be when I return to work. And if you work with me and can't find me for 15 minutes or so during the day (and possibly several times a day), please know that I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, I'll return shortly and I'll have small containers of a white substance to put in the fridge. And the next time you are out and about and see a women with a blanket draped over one shoulder and half her body (or like I was with her head underneath the blanket for a few seconds), don't wonder what she's doing - she's feeding her child. I didn't mean to be on soap box. It's just an issue I feel strongly about and don't want any other mother to feel embarrassed or afraid about it anymore. Now, off to other hopefully beneficial things...like sleep. Until then...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

Sleepless in Canton

Sleep less in Canton is the story of our lives right now. Yes, new baby Paleigh does sleep but not always at night and not for any reasonable amount of time. So we are getting less sleep that we would like! With our first baby, everyone said to sleep when the baby sleeps. Great advice! But it doesn't work with the second baby! 'Cause if you sleep when the second baby sleeps it means that the first baby has a chance to get into something! I was really tired on Thursday afternoon when the Nanny left and hubby was working upstairs. I dozed off on the sofa with new baby besides me. The first baby was playing and I kept hearing, Mommy open your eyes! Needless to say I kept opening my eyes to make sure that there wasn't a reason I needed to be opening my eyes! Until then...
- Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night

One Month Old!

I haven't posted since I had my little one - it's been busy around here! I had a girl on October 6th at 1:37 pm - just one day after my due date! Paleigh Anne weighed 8 lbs and 8.5 ounces and she was 21 1/2 inches long. Her head was 36.5 centimeters. She was about 2 ounces heavier than her older brother was, 2 1/2 inches longer, and had a slightly larger head. I can't believe that I didn't have to be induced. Though I had contractions off and on all day on my due date, nothing became of then as they were somewhat irregular and never closer than 10 minutes apart. I fell asleep on the sofa and when I got up it was about 3 am on the 6th. I checked my e-mail and did a couple of things and then I realized between 3:30 and 4:00 am that my contractions had suddenly started again and that they were coming every 5 minutes. I finally called the doctor at almost 5:30 am. We got our things together, dropped our son off with a co-worker, and arrived at the hospital at 7:30. They started pictocin to help my contractions along and broke my water. I ordered an epidural shortly after 1 pm when I was finally 4 cm (I was 3 cm when I arrived). I went to the bathroom while the epidural was set up and then I felt a lot of pressure. Right before they started the epidural, they checked me again and I was 10 cm! 4 to 10 in about 10 minutes! My parents, who were there for the birth, had been set to eat lunch but my husband called them back! The doctor arrived and said he had planned to say hi and then eat lunch but instead he'd deliver the baby! 7 minutes of pushing and she was out! I did get an epidural right before I started pushing - it was put in low and just gave me a shot and not a drip since I was already involuntarily pushing while the epidural was being put in. It was an amazing delivery experience. The doctor was great and explained everything he was doing. I was so happy that she was a girl! She was put on my belly immediately. She had a full head of dark hair. I recovered easily but she had jaundice due to blood incompatability and had to be in NICU until the 10th (I was discharged on the 8th). But she has done fine every since we got home. She doesn't sleep a lot at night, though, so we are pretty tired over here! But we are happy to be home and together and I enjoy seeing her grow everyday! We have her one month check-up later today. I am betting that she will be almost 11 pounds! She doesn't seem much longer, though, so I don't know if she has gotten any taller. Our son Riley is doing well with her - he doesn't like to hear her cry at all! Anyway, that is about all for now. Until then...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night