Celebrating Breastfeeding with 5 Top Tips

"I'm like Jesus, amn't I Mammy?" my eldest son once said to me.  He must have been about four at the time. Puzzled as to what he could mean, I asked him where he got the idea. "I'm the firstborn son" he announced proudly. I had to try my best not to laugh. 

This year he is taking part in the local nativity play (not as Jesus). The play has been rewritten to appeal to the children of today. A couple of girls are checking their e-mail on Christmas Eve and get a message that Jesus has been born. They click on the link to see the photos of the baby and his parents and follow the events of the night on social media.

As we read the script for the play the "I'm like Jesus" quote popped back into my mind. Now, I'm taking an educated guess on this, but I would say that one thing that Jesus and my Number One certainly have in common is that they were breastfed. I mean no disrespect here, but what else could you do, in a stable, surrounded by animals, with no way to sterilise anything? Breastfeeding would have been Mary's only option. Now that I think of it, the sheep would have come in quite handy. For warmth of course but also as an abundant supply of healing wool and lanolin for Mary's nipples. 

As a fellow mother, I am very grateful that my firstborn was born into more pleasant surroundings and that I had a choice when it came to how to feed my baby. During my pregnancy, I knew I wanted to try to breastfeed. I hoped that things would go well and they did. I fed Number one for nine months, Number Two for ten and Number Three for thirteen months. We had our ups and downs throughout and as a result, I have learned a lot.

Here are my top five breastfeeding tips. I hope they help you as much as they did me:

1. Get informed - if the real estate mantra is location, location, location then the breastfeeding equivalent has to be information, information, information. One of the best bits of advice I got in my first pregnancy was from my mother. "Inform yourself about everything" she said, so I did. At the time I didn't have any friends with babies to talk to about it. So I read up on breastfeeding, I talked to my ante-natal midwife, I spoke to my aunts (one a midwife, the other a former breastfeeding consultant) and found out as much as I could about what to expect. I know that actually breastfeeding and reading about it are two different things, but having a reasonable idea of what to expect is a great start.  
2. Buy the basics - while you are still pregnant, invest in some breastfeeding basics. I recommend you buy
 - at least one breastfeeding bra. For the right size, talk to an assistant in a maternity shop.
 - nipple shields. Not everyone needs them but they are not expensive and they do take some of the pain out of the first week. Pack them into your hospital bag.
 - a breastfeeding cushion. These U-shaped cushions are a lifesaver, especially with your first child. They support your arms and your back and help you sit in a more relaxed position while feeding.
 - a hand pump. These are also not too pricey and may come in useful if you are overflowing with milk and your baby won't drink it all. If you get through the first three weeks, you may decide to upgrade to an electric pump. To be honest though, I breastfed three children and only needed to use the pump with the first. With my younger two boys, I only breastfed and never pumped. 
 - ointment for sore nipples. Another pretty cheap item but a total lifesaver in the first few weeks at least. Just buy it and pack it into your hospital bag. If you don't need it, great. But you don't want to leave yourself in a porition where you need it and don't have it. Believe me. 
3. Eat and drink a lot and often. I cannot stress this enough. When my first son was 5 or 6 days old I was suddenly having trouble feeding after the first few days going really well. The midwife visited and tore strips off my husband for not feeding me properly! She told him I needed a hot dinner twice a day as well as morning and afternoon snacks, a good breakfast and lots of water, juice and herbal tea. From then on I stuck to that regime and was never short of milk again.
4. Rest - Again, I cannot stress this enough. You may think that you can get your old life back and be out and about when your baby is four days old. I know that I thought so. I went to do the groceries with my husband and my newborn, thinking to myself "I've only had a baby, I'm not ill". I came home an hour later with back pain and and headache and thought I'd caught a cold. I hadn't. I was in the early stages of an inflammation that could have proceeded to become mastitis. Luckily my midwife called around and sorted me out. Cold compresses, feeding the baby every last drop of milk despite the pain and LOTS OF REST, preferably bed rest, were the tips she gave me. Don't think you can do everything. It is not good for you. Rest as much as you possibly can. Listen to me on this one. Please.
5. Set yourself up with a comfortable breastfeeding spot - My faveoutite place to feed my three newborns was in a straight-backed armchair in the living room with a low footstool under my feet, the coffee table and a shelf were both in easy reach, so I could put my drink down. I left a book there so I could read if the baby took a long time to feed and / or fell asleep after the feed. I was comfortable. Baby was comfortable. It worked for us. I may well work for you too. 

The code word for the Celebrating Breastfeeding Christmas Extravaganza is reindeer. 

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Time To Toughen Up

If there is one thing I have learnt as a parent it is that, once your child starts to speak, you need to toughen up. Children have no fear when it comes to telling it like it is, so if you are easily insulted, you're going to have a hard time of it.

I have been blessed with very nice, polite children (mostly) but in the past three days alone I've had to put up with the following comments.

Number One, when I mentioned that my hair needs colouring: "No, your hair is not grey" Aw, how sweet. "It is white, Mammy". Yes, well, thank you for pointing that out love. 

Number Two, on a separate occasion: "Mammy, you are like Anna" Aw, he thinks I'm a princess. "Your hair is white too". Oh, right, that's what you meant. Nice.  

Number Two: "Mammy, you are not one bit like Mary Poppins. You are whole [completely] like her". I was puzzled at this till I realised we were out for a walk with the buggy and I had a hat on and an umbrella up.

Number Two: "You have a very wobbly bum, don't you?" Hmm, do I indeed? How kind of you to say.

Needless to say I am quite content with Number Three only being able to say "Mammy", "shoes", "kissies" and nothing else for now. 

My Son The Rugby Commentator

This afternoon we took the children with us to the local Irish pub to watch Ireland play Argentina in the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup. They knew my dad was at the match, so I thought we could interest them by keeping an eye out for him. 

We got there, found seats with a good view and ordred our drinks. Fairly quickly Number One was bored and sulky. Number Three was mesmerised by the flickering of the screen. Number Two, however, was a bundle of excitement and gave us a running commentary. The. Whole. Way. Through. The. Match.

"The Argentina one hurt his nose".

"Do you see that fat one with the fat face? He has camouflage trousers".

"Did you see the leprechaun?" 

"I can't see Grandad".

"The blue one pushed the green one because he thought he had the ball".

"Why is there grass growing inside a house? A stadium is a house".

In response to my pointing out the president of Ireland: "Who? The one with hair growing out his ears?"

"I think I am up for Argentina".

At bedtime, four hours after the match ended: "Did Ireland lose?"

How To Get Rush Sick

"Mammy, I think you shouldn't go to the parents' meeting. You should take a break. You are always rushing here and there. You'll get rush sick". This was the lecture I was given last week by Number Two. 

          "...You'll            

      get rush sick"     

             - Number Two 

Two days later I am struggling through the day with a bad headache, barely able to summon the energy to make a cup of tea, when I have to rush to school to collect Number One at 12 o' clock, knowing I have to rush from there to Kindergarten to collect Number Two at 12.15. I pick up Number one just as the headache gets worse. I feel like throwing up. But I have to keep going. Number Two still needs collecting. All three children need lunch. We have an appointment in the afternoon that we need to keep. 

I throw up. I phone The Bavarian and he comes home and takes over. Is this "rush sick"?* The wisdom of a five year old. Who knew?

So today is a day of closing doors on untidy rooms. A day of turning a blind eye to laundry baskets and hoovers. A day of heating up last night's leftovers for dinner. A day to chill out with the boys in the garden after school. A day to buy new jeans and dye my hair. Because sometimes it is not such a good thing when all your jeans are suddenly too loose. 

I don't intend to get rush sick again.

*I am fairly sure it was migraine, but for the sake of an excuse to take a break I'll accept the diagnosis of rush sick.

Number Three Turns One

He "is not the baby he used to be, Mammy". Number One spoke the words that had been on my mind for the last few days as he watched his baby brother toddle towards the front door, point at the garden and plead "Way?", his word for "Bring me out there now". 

Toddling with his trolley

Number Three is leaving his baby days behind him and waddling off into toddlerhood faster than either of his brothers did. He began walking at ten months and astounded the doctor last week at his 12 month check up by greatly surpassing every milestone on the checklist. Now, at just barely a year old, his vocabulary has progressed from "Mama" to "Mammy", "dis" [this], "da" [as in German for "there", not Russian for "yes"], "brrr" [the noise of a car], "pff, pff" [I assume this to be a shooting noise since he uses it when he gets his hands on his brothers' Lego figures] and "boo-eee" [I have no idea what this is supposed to mean but he says it often and with great conviction]. He already has favourite foods (banana bread, nectarines, cherry tomatoes, scones, raspberries, strawberries, carrots and cake), is the only one of our three children to eat eggs and loves being outdoors.

Playing Horsey with his brother

With huge blue eyes and an adorable gap between his front teeth, he attracts attention where ever he goes and he is beginning to learn how to use it. Waitresses and supermarket staff get extra wide, toothy grins from him lately. His brothers are at his beck and call.

In back-to-school mode

Two years ago this month we decided we'd left it too late to have a third child. A four year age gap would be too much, we thought. One year ago today Number Three arrived into our lives, appearing so quickly that The Bavarian just caught the last few moments of the labour.  He is our wonder child, his brothers' pride and joy, the final piece in our family jig-saw. We didn't know he was missing till he joined us. 

Happy birthday Number Three! 

Number One baking the birthday cake

Everything Was Awsome - A Lego Movie Birthday Party

"Mammy, why are you so good at art?". After spending three hours working on the decoration of Number One's birthday cake, I was over the moon to be asked this. Number One had very definite ideas about how he wanted his Lego Movie themed birthday party to be and I was sure he would be disappointed with the very basic Emmet that I had fashioned for the top of the birthday cake. 

Before I go any further, let me say that I was inspired to give fondant icing a go because the oh so talented Emily from The Nest posted a fantastic tutorial recently, detailing how she decorated a birthday cake for her daughter. In letting myself be inspired, I neglected to take into account two things. Namely:

1. Emily is an actual artist who exhibits her beautiful works and I am not.

2. It was 37°C when I was trying to get this cake decorated and that is possibly not the optimum temperature at which to try to mould sugar paste. 

The planning stage was a doddle and I was feeling very confident, two days ahead of the party. The night before the party, one hour into the nitty gritty I was ready to throw in the towel. It was 10pm, still around 30°C and very humid. Then I remembered that good old Irish mantra "Sure, it'll be grand". I set it all aside and decided to continue in the cool of the morning since the cool of the night didn't seem to be approaching any time soon.

I will admit there was a niggling little voice at the back of my mind asking "What'll you do it if the plan doesn't work out?". I did my best to ignore it and moved on to decorating the fairy cakes I had baked earlier in the evening. They were done in no time, thanks to my dunk-dunk-jab technique. That entails dunking a fairy cake into melted chocolate then into dessicated coconut or coloured sprinkles and then jabbing two half cocktail sticks into it. Once they were all dunked and jabbed, each one was topped with a Lego figure, secured in place by cocktail sticks up his legs.

 

The following morning, in the relative cool of the morning, I set to work again on the fondant Emmet. I was a little more clear-headed and worked a lot faster and with a better technique than the previous evening. Things started to take shape and everything finally came together before the midday heat set in (39°C!).

It may sound a bit vain, but I was so pleased and relieved when I brought the birthday cake to the table and all Number One's friends recognised Emmet from the Lego Movie. They even knew that that red thing behind him is the piece of resistence! 

Number Two has already put in his order with me for a Batman cake for his birthday at the end of the month. Let's hope the weather plays along.

If anyone is interested in the cake recipe or the tutorial for the picture, let me know in the comments.