Bye Bye Booby

Lil Z-Bear turns 6 months old in just 5 days.  Wow!  Half a year…how is that even possible, he was just a couple of days old like a second ago.  With this milestone comes another one: I will stop breastfeeding in 3 weeks.  Rather, I should say I will stop pumping, because it’s been over a month since I nursed Lil Z.  Once I went back to work which meant spending a good part of the day away from Z-Bear, it got harder and harder to get him to latch on.  He has been drinking expressed breastmilk since then.  And now, he will be exclusively formula fed.  I feel comfortable with the formula we feed him (check out this earlier post), and he is doing great with eating solids. But I can’t stop feeling guilty about depriving him of my milk.  I wish I could continue the breastmilk, but two reasons why I am choosing to stop: I am spending so much time attached to the pump, and my supply has gone down so only 2 of his bottles are mama’s milk.  The rest is formula.

This post isn’t about making me feel less guilty about stopping the breastmilk.   I have read so much stuff that tells you not to feel guilty about giving your baby formula, because those babies do just fine and blah blah blah.   Deep inside as a mom, I know I should continue with breastmilk.  And I am ok with feeling guilty about stopping, it’s an informed decision I have made.  This post is simply mourning the impending loss of my body’s ability to provide nourishment for my baby.  And it’s to tell myself to enjoy these last 3 weeks where I can watch Lil Z guzzle food I produced for him.

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Boppin’ with the Boppy

A few weeks ago my sister and her friend were over for dinner.  The conversation inevitably kept coming back to babies, when my sister’s friend asked “What is the Boppy, anyway?”  She is so cute, I thought.  But wait, I had no clue either not so long ago.  Who knew motherhood would entail the use of so many different pillows?  So today I want to take you on the journey of soft, cuddly, and odd shaped pillows.

When you are pregnant, your expanding girth makes it necessary to get some kind of pillow that will provide support.  The options include full body pillows, some which looked taller than me, or the likes of this very unassuming Boppy Pregnancy Wedge.  Much as I liked the idea of being engulfed in softness and support with a full body pillow, I knew it would take up too much room on our modest full size bed. (What can I say; we are cuddlers and didn’t see a need for a bigger bed.)   All I can say is this little pillow packs a lot of punch, it was all I ever needed throughout my pregnancy (and let me tell you, the belly was ginormous!)  It felt good because it supported my stomach and back.  And on the occasional days when my feet were swollen, I simply propped them on a pillow in conjunction with using the wedge.  Bonus: I continue to use it after baby, now under the breasts.  Sounds odd, but it totally works to provide some much needed relief while nursing.

Once baby comes, you graduate to the Boppy.  This guy comes in all kinds of fun covers that can match the rest of your nursery decor.  It’s perfect for propping up Lil Z, and great for tummy time.  However, as far as using it as a nursing pillow, I give it a thumbs down.  I am sure if you have a small waist, it could work well.  But for those of us with lots of curves, it is an awkward fit around the hips and waist.  And the softness can work against you when trying to keep the baby in a good position for latching.  Bonus:  Makes a great neck pillow while relaxing on the couch watching TV (that is, on the rare occasion when you do).

Then you graduate to My Brest Friend (yeah, I giggled at the name when I first saw it too).  But this pillow is nothing to laugh at!  It is made of firm foam, with padding in the back which feels oh so good while feeding.  The strap is completely adjustable; there is a pocket to hold bottles, wipes, etc.  And there is even a little mound for elevating the baby’s head slightly to help with latching.  The pillow is great for wiggly newborns, even when bottle feeding.  It doesn’t have the snazzy covers the Boppy does, but it comes in very nice shades of green, brown, blue, and pink.  Bonus: Nope…no creative uses for it…yet…

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