Milk Machine

Feeling a bit used.

I am a milk machine.

If I am not feeding him, I am pumping (then cleaning from pumping )

Places I have breastfed:

In bed

In the nursing chair

Panera

Sitting on the nursery floor

In the living room (on the couch and on the floor)

At the birth center (lobby and back room)

At his pediatrician's office

In the hallway of a "medical plaza"

At infant massage class

In SO many parking lots

In the school nurse's office triage room (I think that is what it was)

At his grandparents, great aunts, and great grandparent's house

Garage saling (literally, while walking around with my mother in law)

Walking through a property (we are looking to buy a house back home)

In Starbucks…lots of times in Starbucks (The irony of this one- I don't drink coffee, and I am pretty sure Eli is anti-caffeine based on his reactions to me binging on chocolate. Don't get me started on my feelings about this)

And then- there was RibCrib. We only eat at casual/loud places where a crying baby might not be that big of a deal. Well, he DEMANDED to eat (even though I had just fed him for 20 minutes in the car before hand while they ordered for me). So, I admitted defeat and thought I might have to give up and finally feed him in a bathroom.

Gross.

I went in , got him latched on and after a half second of considering sitting on a toilet, I leaned against the sink and let him go for it

Then a lady came in to pee.

That's just awkward for everyone.

So I went in the hall outside the bathroom and asked a man if he could bring me a chair.

A waitress overheard this and BLESS HER HEART came over and told me that they were closing down the section of booths by the bathroom and that I was more than welcome to sit there. She told me about her sister (or sister in Law?) who was a champion for breastfeeding.

Thank you sister (or sister in law )

I had a little breakdown this past weekend over it.

He had eaten and then gone to  sleep. We got food, I set the table, and then as soon as I was ready to sit down to eat, he woke up to eat. 

I just started crying. 

I wanted to be included.

While breastfeeding can be amazing for bonding with your baby, it can also be very isolating.

Always excusing yourself to feed the baby.

I'm even pretty public about it, so you would think I would have a better experience.
It's been a challenge for me.
Just being real.

Lest you think I'm all negative Nelly over here, let me show you some cute pictures from our trip home this weekend:
The car ride home…it went better than expected given his recent HATRED for the car. We are pretty sure we were squishing him, because we moved the shoulder straps up and he was pretty darn good the whole drive.
I felt so bad for not fixing it earlier. Poor guy.

 It was our hometown's city-wide garage sale day. Grandma Jaye had already taken FULL advantage over her lunch breaks and got this FREAKING AWESOME dinosaur book for the grandkids.
There are pop-ups on every page.
Rico was SO excited about this book.
You can see how Eli felt- he'll get it later.

We buy anything dinosaur for our friend Maggie- she's a geologist (I use "she's a geologist like you would use a last name because I think it is hilarious and awesome that my friend is a geologist. She lived abroad and studied a volcano- so, yeah, she's legit)

Maggie, I know you are reading this, I had an idea on my walk (and if I stand up to get my phone to text you, Eli will wake up)
Whenever you come visit we should say that you bring a PET DINOSAUR.
We can even leave tracks in the dirt when the boys get older.
Whenever you leave, we can say it is because you have to feed your dinosaur.
The kids can't see him though- that would be WAAAY to dangerous.

Here he is in one of his new favorite ways to be held: over the shoulder, with Nana (my mom)

So. Stinking. Cute.