To Tell OR Not To Tell

So, when I got pregnant, the moment I found out, I wanted to be on the phone to everyone I knew. And, mostly I did do that, but, my third pregnancy ended in miscarriage at around 7 weeks. Even though thankfully I miscarried early I still had gotten attached to that little one and I did suffer through some difficult time of getting through the experience, making the phone calls to let people know there actually would be no baby was hard. Even harder were the calls I forgot to make or people that had heard through the grapevine of the baby but not of the miscarriage that I ended up having to explain to when they asked about the pregnancy.
Another sister recently announced the arrival of her second child. When she called, I heard my own voice, "I know it's early, but I just can't wait to tell and even if something happens, I would rather have the support."
I had said almost the exact same words! However, after miscarrying, when I got pregnant a fourth time, I held off telling anyone besides parents. I only held out to about 1o weeks, but for me that was a lifetime!! This time all was well, and things went perfect. So when I got pregnant this last time, I was hot on the phone again, I just couldn't contain it (that might have had to do more with the fact that I had 4 month old at the time and I was flabbergasted, more than I was excited!).
Anyway, I was just curious as to what others out there thought about when is a good time to let people know the good news? Are more people conservative with their announcements or do you call the minute you see that little plus sign on the stick??
Let us know!

Congratulations!

The winner of our $10 Target card is AMY!!

Amy email us at mybloominbelly@gmail.com with your address and we will mail out your Target card. Congratulations!!

Breast Feeding Woes

There is no question medically that for babies breastfeeding is the best nutrition they can get. However, I want to tell all you women out there that are struggling with it, you ARE NOT A BAD MOTHER!! Everyone is all about the breast and how you have to breast feed, and that is great because really from all I have read breast milk is the best for your baby in a lot of ways. BUT, I am here to say that your baby won't die if you give them formula and your baby won't hate you when they get older because you never bonded over being breast fed.

This is what happened for me:
I really wanted to breast feed my children. I thought that was part of the definition of being a good mom. When my first child was born, I gave it all I had. It DID NOT come naturally for me though. I couldn't get him to latch on easily, he had colic and screamed like crazy which just made it harder. I did not make a lot of milk. Some women have said milk would just drip from them with no effort and could squirt milk into their baby's mouth but that did not happen for me. I had to strip down to feed my baby, it hurt, and I hated it. When I went back to work I tried to pump but soon, I just wasn't making enough milk for it to be worth it. So my first child got about 4 months worth.
Next, I was gung ho about having things go better this time around. I was going to eat, drink tons of water, be stress free and it was going to work this time. Then Viv was born with Downs and was not able to nurse due to her low muscle tone. I pumped for about 4 months and that was about all I could handle.
With my third I was again ready to make this the time I really proved I could nurse my baby!! Instead I got raw nipples and mastitis. I litterally cried every time I nursed it hurt so bad. I only made it to three months this time.
Finally, it was my last chance. I really wanted to nurse at least one of my babies to at least 6 months. This time things did go better, but my sweet baby cried for the first 3 months of her life and it wore me down. I couldn't do it. She too only got about 3 or 4 months worth.

If nursing would have been easier for me I would have done it. Disappoingly, it just didn't happen. It was just extrememly difficult and with my circumstances I gave up. Some might judge me for that, but for those of you who have been in similar situations, you probably get it.
All my kids are healthy and strong. They have grown and developed along a normal course and I feel very bonded to each of them. For a long time I felt like not nursing counted against me as a mother, but I have learned that in the big picture, I did my best and I loved my children and they are happy and healthy.

My advice:
Nurse if you can, but if you can't don't beat yourself up, it has no bearing on you as a mother!

What is that?

Those first few hours are generally pretty blissful once baby is born.  You sit there and hold your new baby, hugging and kissing her, smelling her head, calling her by her name, and beaming like every Mother should.

Most babies are so tired that they sleep and sleep, making for a peaceful first few hours.  It seems that you are going to be able to do this Motherhood thing after all, and in no time you feel like a pro.

Once your baby wakes up you make that first attempt at feeding her, and wether successful or not you are still on that new Mom high.  As the first day passes things seem to be going pretty much the way you thought they would.  Even when she cries, you melt and point out "how cute her cry is!"

That was me.  Happy as a clam.  Things were going just the way I had planned them.  I was loving life.  Then... I walked over to change her diaper and what was inside was more than shocking.

A giant pile of TAR.  Was it tar?  It looked like tar!  I knew that my baby was defective!

To say that this was unexpected is a huge understatement.  I yelled for a nurse, who chuckled at me and let me know that this was normal bowel for a newborn.  Meconium.  That is what they call it.  But no-one ever told me about it.  Basically it is made up of Amniotic fluid, bile, and shed skin cells that collect in your babies intestines during pregnancy.  YUMMY!  I was told that after about 12 hours my baby would have more normal looking poop.  And, she did.  But not until she was done passing TONS of this sticky black stuff, that I still say could have been used to tar a road.  Expect the unexpected.  The lesson for the day.

Motherhood is full of surprises, just like pregnancy, and the more you know the less shocked you will be.  My advise would be to keep an open mind.  While Motherhood can be quite blissful, it is also full of tar.  Everyday you will kiss your baby and talk to her, and then the next thing you know she will send a little tar your way.  If you know it's going to happen you are more likely to laugh about it.

Some of my favorite memories are the ones where I was shocked by reality and realized how little I really knew!

Freeeebie Friday Strikes Again!

We have a really good give away this week.
We are giving away a $10 target card.
At Bloomin Belly, shopping is always a very good thing, so we want you to have some extra spending money!

To earn entries you can do one, two or all of the following:

1) Write a review of our blog or My Bloomin Belly ebook on your site or blog.
2) Comment on one of our blog posts.
3) Put our button on your blog or site.
4) Refer us to a friend. They have to visit our site and comment that they visited because of your referral.


Be sure to tell us what you did and where to look!
You can do this by posting a comment on the blog. Just leave a comment for each one (THESE ARE YOUR ENTRIES). So if you do all 5 you need to have posted 5 comments on to this blog post.

The winner will be randomly selected by random.com. GOOD LUCK!!

New posts are below this one.

This give-a-way will expire on March 19th.

Induction Introduction

This week we celebrated my youngest's first birthday!!! So of course I started reminiscing about the day she was born. All my children were on time (my first was 2 hours shy of his due date), or early (4 days, 1 week respectively). So when my fourth came around I naturally assumed she would be on time or early like the rest. To my surprise, the little girl did not want to budge. Normally I would have freaked, but because she had not been planned and I had a one year old at the time, I figured the longer she wanted to hang with me the better. Still, when she hadn't been born a week after her due date my doctor went ahead and scheduled an inducement for me. I thought for sure she would come before the induction rolled around, but still no baby!!

I didn't like the idea of being induced so I started trying all the natural ways of getting a baby out! The doctor stripped my membranes, I went for miles of walks, I ate spicy food, I ate pineapple by the pound, I even resorted to sex and the ever popular nipple stimulation technique (whoever thinks sex is sexy while 9+ months pregnant, I take my hat off to you!). Despite all my efforts, my little one was comfy cozy and did not make any effort of her own to find a way out.

(Other ways to induce labor include massage, pressure points, caster oil and acupressure. There are also other weird and unexpected foods that can work too. Make sure you check with your doctor or midwife before you try anything. Your medical professional may also have some good ideas for you to try.)

Finally inducement morning arrived. It was really strange driving to the hospital and not being in labor. With all my other deliveries, my husband was racing to the hospital with me in full on labor. I walked in without having to stop through any contractions, I chatted easily with nurses as we got ready and finally it was time to start the process.
The first step was to insert a Foley Bulb into my cervix. OK, seriously, you might have to stop reading. . .
A foley bulb is like a rubber balloon that is deflated when they insert it, they fill it was water and it applies pressure to the cervix to thin it and dilate it. Now my cervix just happens to be tilted back and so it was not easily inserted. I felt like I was on a Saturday Night Live sketch or something as the doctor pretty much had to get onto the bed and I swear had their entire arm up inside me. I thought to myself, "Hey, lets save some time and just yank the baby out while you're up there!"
Finally when that was in, I had to wait until I was dialated to 3cm, that is when the foley bulb would supposedly come out. My husband and I watched tv, talked with nurses and just hung out. While waiting I had to use the restroom and all of a suddent this big water balloon plopped out. (Very glamerous) The thing was, that part of it was taped to my leg and so I had this thing just hanging there. Luckily the nurse came in at about the same time and said that it was a good thing it had come out on its own. I was relieved I wouldn't be doing another sketch for SNL! I then was given more pitocin to really get the contractions going and before long I was in full labor. The labor went well and I had no complications. My baby however, was pissed off we forced her out and literally cried or should I say screamed for the first 3 months of her life!

Now this is my take on inducing labor. If you can avoid it, don't do it. I have heard of women scheduling their deliveries for no other reason than they want to know when and how the baby will arrive. I have also heard lots of stories of first time deliveries gone very wrong because they were medically induced. I believe more in the natural way and letting your baby and body be ready. Even though things went fine with my induction, it was my fourth baby and she was a week and a half late. I would never have done it otherwise.
After I had been induced I read spoke with a midwife concerning inductions and over due babies. She said she normally let babies go and advised to wait until body and baby were ready even if mom was over due. She only recommended inducement if something major was going on like not enough amniotic fluid or other distress. She said that some women genetically go over due especially women with nordic heritage. I don't know how true that is, but there is a strong nordic line in my family and I was 2 weeks late as a baby myself. Several of my aunts, cousins and grandmas also delivered late so . . . who knows. I sometimes wonder if my little Cadence would have been a happier infant if I had been more patient and let her come on her own time?

Have any of you been induced, are planning on being induced or have tried any of the natural ways to induce labor? What have been your experiences?