World Breastfeeding Week

The World Breastfeeding Week is coming to an end and I want to make a post about it but my thoughts on the subject are all over the place so I'm afraid it would be a rather messy read. I'll start with a few links and see where I end up. :-)

About World Breastfeeding Week at Dr Momma, peaceful parenting.

Why African babies don't cry. Also from peaceful parenting.

More from peaceful parenting. About the effect of the language used when talking about how to feed the baby.

Breastfeeding in Mongolia.

Paper (in Swedish) on mothers' attitudes towards long term breastfeeding.

And last but not least Amningsbloggen. Blog for the Swedish Breastfeeding Help. (Directly translated, apologies if there is a proper English name already in use for this organisation.) Always open in a tab in my browser.


I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to breastfeed. I'm rather lazy and I love how practical breastfeeding is. You get used to dealing with bottles, breast pumps and formula if that is what you have to do, but I'm very pleased that this is not the case for us. I wish that every mother is able to choose what she feels is best for her family and even if I do believe the health benefits to be superior with breastmilk I understand that there are situations where it simply isn't to be. Whatever the mother chooses should be supported to achieve the very best outcome possible.

Since the birth of Sinje I have read lots of interesting stuff about attachment parenting, breastfeeding, co-sleeping and so on and I am amazed at how well it resonates with me. Beforehand I didn't really have a strategy for parenting and I don't see myself outlining one even now, but I take bits and pieces I like to heart and hope that the best I can do will be good enough. I will most likely feel guilty about not being perfect in one sense or another but I hope I'll be able to trust that my child grows up to be a well adjusted human being anyway.

It took most of the day to write this post. Playing with the little one, cooking, eating, coffee/tea with relatives, putting baby to sleep (twice for naps and once for the night, though that proved unsuccessful and she's now sleeping on me in the wrap instead) and other everyday events got in the way of me sitting down and focusing on the blog. Not to mention the breastfeeding. :-) I'm thrilled that she's become so communicative now and can show me that she wants some mummy-milk and/or -cuddle. \o/ Just a few months ago I was still guessing and quite often offering when she had no interest at all to feed. I suppose some of it was the phase in her development when she was simply too distracted by her surroundings to eat. I guess it doesn't help that her mother takes out the camera and tries to get a nice feeding picture. *grins*



She's such a cutie, and I'm not the least bit biased. ;-)

keah

She's here!

Knytet has arrived and it's a girl. After a rather lengthy delivery she was born on 19 September. She was breathing a bit too fast and had to spend her first day and a half at the neonatal unit. Then we got to bring her over to where we were staying at the materinty ward. We just got home today and are eager to start figuring things out for ourselves, to start this new phase of our lives. Parenting.






I'm the mother of this beautiful creature! :-)

keah

Friday the 13th and 13 workdays to go

YES! I'm really counting down to when I leave work. Even though EDD is 23 September (and since first time mothers often go a little longer it might even go until October before this baby decides to show up) I'm really really happy that I decided to not work any longer than until the end of August. I'm really tired and sore and as usual my job is insanely stressful in the summer. It never lets up even though most other parts of the company get a bit of down time during summer.

I'm actually more sore than I anticipated and with the summer heat I turn into this whining monster (well, monster-ish, and mostly rather friendly still) who would rather be somewhere a bit more winterish right now.

I try to stay in good spirits and focus on preparing for meeting our child in the not too distant future, but it's hard. It still feels somewhat unreal to look at my big belly in the mirror and realise that is my own reflection I'm seeing.

*looking forward to meeting Knytet*

keah

The one about being pregnant, week 22

Time is slowly ticking along, belly is really growing now and I'm enjoying it more than I could ever imagine. Knytet (the Bundle) is moving lots and I can both see and feel it. It looks really funny when you see something poking around under your skin. *alien* ;-)

I'm feeling fine, mostly, and sometimes get a little fed up with people constantly asking me how I'm doing. I do realise that it's out of concern (and a bit of curiosity I'm sure), but when you get the question every single day it's a little tiring and I don't really know what to say. I don't feel like talking about my health and the state of my body that much more just because I'm pregnant, but how do you tell people that without being rude?

Another thing I've noticed is that people keep telling me how I'm now eating for two and in that implying that it's ok to have an extra serving while pregnant. Seeing as I've never really had any problems with either food, my weight or body image I'm a little surprised that I react at all, but I get annoyed about this for some reason. My comeback to this comment is that I eat when I'm hungry and I don't care how many people it's for. Period.

At the moment we've started refurbishing part of the kitchen. We're getting a new freezer and fridge and building new cabinets to go on top of them and also a new broom cabinet. It's a lot of work, but I'm so happy we finally got it rolling. I'm really positive about it taking much less time than when we did the spare room. *grins* That shouldn't be too hard I think. That said, when we moved in almost three years ago we had visions for a lot more change than what we have now achieved. Now however we're most likely looking at moving within the next 18 months given that we think we'll need more space with a toddler and also because we want to be on the ground floor rather than three flights of stairs up. We like our flat, but our needs are clearly changing so we have to accommodate for that.

Interesting times... Life changing even.

:-)

keah

The blanket

I identify a lot with being a crafty person. In the crochet and knitting projects I feel very creative even when following a pattern someone else wrote. Most of the time I don't really manage to do exactly as the pattern calls for anyway, I have my own way of doing things and often like to add or subtract a little to put more of myself into the project. The crocheted blanket shown on the picture below is one of those really easy things that stay with me for many months as it is the perfect project for when you are really focusing on something else, like the tv or a conversation.


The pattern is Soft waves from the book
200 ripple stitch patterns by Jan Eaton.
I've made two baby blankets from this pattern before but this time the recipient isn't a friend or relative like previous times.
Let me introduce the future owner of this blanket.




Life is gradually changing for yours truly and in September this little bundle will join the family and make the transition from wild and crazy (:-D as if I ever was...) to settled and maternal complete.

Mother-to-be... Strange thought.

keah

2010

This year has had a fairly good start. It's still winter in Stockholm, I've continued the exercise I started in 2009, I've knitted baby clothes for friends who welcomed their second child just a few days ago. The coming weeks will be just as busy with choir concert, bird sitting, seeing friends, attending a wedding, getting started on more baby clothes for two sets of friends whose little ones are expected to arrive early April.

I have a strong feeling this month will fly past even faster than January did and I don't mind that the slightest. A big part of why is that I'm not exactly happy with work. Too much to do on too few people under normal circumstances and in addition to that one colleague is on sick leave... Not that the situation is likely to get better in March, but we'll at least be one month closer to Easter and some time off. Trying to focus on the positive here. *grins*

Easter is for going north and seeing the families. Most of all of course the latest addition, my niece, born in November. I get frequent updates from my sister and of course pictures galore, but that doesn't even come close to the real thing. We got to see her over Christmas, but at that point she was mostly about eating, sleeping, crying and not that communicative being just one month old. I'm thrilled about being able to follow her grow and evolve into a little person.

Here's to evolving!
Cheers!

keah