Blog From A Broad

hooray for boobies

Mia turned 6 weeks old on Tuesday and has been on the booby since her birth. Well, not literally - that would make things like driving and baking muffins rather awkward - I mean that I have managed to breastfeed her exclusively, and for that, I am proud. It doesn't hurt anymore but more importantly, our little girl is piling on the pounds (just like her mama, bless her.) She's now almost 9 lbs, up from 6 1/2 lbs at birth. She feeds brilliantly; she stays on long enough to get a bellyful and goes roughly 3 hours between feeds. She slept from 11pm until 5am on Wednesday, and went without a feed from 8pm last night to 4am this morning, the little cherub. Of course both times I woke up feeling like I was going to explode, but I'll trade that for extra sleep any day.

I am not saying any of this to make formula feeding mums feel bad - been there, done that, still have the little formula dispensers to show for it. I am boasting because I was so determined to breastfeed Mia but at the same time, had a huge sense of dread because my experience feeding Jack was so negative. The fact that it went much better this time makes me very, very happy. Besides, I can't get too smug because I don't plan on breastfeeding Mia beyond 6 months so she'll get formula eventually anyway. No lectures about this point, please. I am comfortable about weaning Mia once she's established on solids. I'm selfish. I want my boobs back for Christmas.

So here we are at that important milestone everyone talks about when having a baby: six weeks postpartum. This is when your c-section recovery magically ends at midnight, the day on which Gina Ford claims your baby should be sleeping through the night, and the time for your uterus to shrink back to normal size. (One of the former points are true - can you spot which one?) I can honestly say that I feel completely normal, just a bit more tired than usual. Nothing aches that didn't before I got pregnant, my rings went back on ages ago, and thankfully I was out of maternity wear after two weeks (as opposed to three months postpartum with Jack.) I've got weight to lose, but most of it are pounds that slowly crept up on me over the past two years. The "baby weight" is gone; all that remains of my pregnancy-related gain is around 4 lbs of "cake weight." Ah, good times.

Just waiting for all my hair to fall out and my boobs to shrink back to something less than size Jordan With Water Retention. Shall keep you posted.