New Words...Mahalia continues to pick up on more and more language each day. Jeremy and I are constantly looking at each other in amazement with each new word that Mahalia says. When we were visiting the Schaefers a couple of weeks ago, Mahalia copied Jackie when she called Bryant "Bubba". It was pretty cute! =) She now (pretty consistently) says "thank you" whenever someone gives her something. She will even say it when she gives something to someone...I think she's trying to tell us that's what we're supposed to say. =) We have been naming parts of the face (eyes, nose, and mouth) with Mahalia for several months now. Last weekend, when we were laying in bed, she pointed to my eye and said "Eye!" Mahalia has also been taking a great interest in counting lately (again, I owe her interest to Yo Gabba Gabba...although we also count with her when the show is not on). A few days ago, when we were counting, Mahalia chimed in with 2 and 6. It was so cute!
A New Tooth...Mahalia's 7th tooth cut through her gums after weeks of making its way up. I'm sure she's glad that the pain of having it work its way through is over.
No More Milk from Mommy...Although we were (kind of) working on weaning Mahalia from breastmilk for a while (starting right around her 1st birthday), we had gotten stuck once we were down to three feedings a day(in the morning when she woke up, at naptime, and at bedtime). I didn't know which feeding to get rid of next because Mahalia was pretty insistent about all three of them. I was actually going to go to a breastfeeding support group to get some advice. But then I found out that I had to get my wisdom teeth removed NOW (my wisdom teeth were a pretty nasty situation that now requires 2 months of not chewing anything harder than the consistency of scrambled eggs or mashed potatoes)...which meant general anesthesia...which meant I would have to pump and dump 2 times before I could breastfeed Mahalia. Since Mahalia has never taken to a bottle, I have pumped maybe a total of 5 or 6 times the entire time that she was breastfeeding. So, I knew that this would probably be the end of our time of breastfeeding (and sure enough, the afternoon after my surgery, I tried pumping and literally only got ONE DROP out). In the days between my consultation with the oral surgeon (Thurs. Jan. 14th) and my surgery (Mon. Jan. 18th), I tried to do fast-track weaning with Mahalia. On Friday and Saturday, she only nursed twice each day (and she was a NIGHTMARE on Saturday!) and on Sunday and Monday, she only nursed once each day. Monday afternoon's naptime was the first time that Mahalia went down without a feeding at all...and she went right to sleep while I rocked her in the rocking chair! She didn't fight at all and was perfectly content to just suck on her pacifier while I held her. Jeremy and I think that she sensed that something was wrong with me (which is why she was okay with not being held by me when we first got back home) and was just happy to have me hold her. She continued to be okay without the breastmilk at bedtime and each day following the surgery. She NEVER complained about it! There were a couple of times that she looked in my shirt like "hey!" but she never asked for my milk again. Although prior to my surgery I was SO READY to be done with breastfeeding and frustrated by how Mahalia was still insisting on nursing three times a day, it was a VERY emotional night for me that first night that I put her to bed without nursing her (I'm tearing up just thinking about it). I'm sure some people think it's gross that I nursed her for as long as I did (14 months is a pretty long time), but for those of you who have breastfed your babies and know what that bond is like, you can understand why it was hard for me, knowing that I would never do that again with Mahalia. It's kind of like the
official end of her babyhood.
Anyway. So, the point of that story is that Jeremy and I feel like everything happened the way it was supposed to happen. It was meant to be that I would have to get my wisdom teeth taken out at a time when I needed to stop breastfeeding Mahalia because it gave me a reason (that was out of my control) to stop and I knew that I couldn't say "well, maybe just one more time". There was no way that I was going to risk having her drink my drug-tainted milk.
**-->Side note about breastfeeding...I have since found out on the La Leche League website that babies still get nutrients and benefits from breastfeeding after 1 year. Even if you are only nursing one time a day, all the "good stuff" gets concentrated into that once-a-day feeding. I never would have been the type to nurse Mahalia into 2+ years or anything, but it's nice to know that I wasn't a weirdo or whatever for doing it until she was 14-months-old. Just wanted to give that info to any mommies who are nursing and think you HAVE TO stop at 1 year. Also, if you are nursing and have to take medication (or have surgery), and want to know about the safety of that medication while breastfeeding, there is a breastfeeding hotline that you can call (I can give you the number if you need it). They will let you know how long you have to wait for the drug(s) to metabolize out of your body. You don't
have to be able to pump and dump. AND if you are planning to stop breastfeeding, DO NOT USE WARM COMPRESSES OR TAKE A HOT SHOWER to "relieve some of the pressure" when your boobs are EXTREMELY/PAINFULLY full!! This will make you produce MORE milk...the opposite of what you want to do!! I had to learn that the hard way and thought I was going to go insane! After speaking to the lady at the breastfeeding hotline, I learned that COLD COMPRESSES and cabbage leaves are the way to go when you want your milk to stop. Also, a very dear friend (who breastfed her 3 children) said that sage leaves (cooked in water, then chilled) is a great way to dry up your milk. (Jeremy made me some tea with powdered sage--we didn't have sage leaves--and that worked well too.) I also found out from my doctor's office (that's where I got the number to the breastfeeding hotline) that you should NEVER stop breastfeeding "cold turkey" because it can lead to a breast infection! Luckily, I kind of did it gradually and was on antibiotics from my surgery anyway.
Mahalia and Daddy Bonding Time...While I was drugging myself (with Vicodin and Ibuprofen) to deal with the pain during that first week after my surgery, Jeremy took time off of work so he could help me take care of Mahalia. He did an AMAZING job (just like I knew he would...even though he wasn't so sure)! One of the biggest things he did was give Mahalia a bath (almost) every night that first week. And...he actually had fun doing it! I could hear them in the bathroom playing and laughing. For those of you that don't know, he had only bathed Mahalia ONCE and that was when she was like a month old. Well, to give him some credit, it was a bit scary giving a floppy one-month-old a bath, so I guess I understand why he was scared off! =) Besides baths, they also ate together, played together, and just spent a lot of quality time together. As I said before, Mahalia seemed to be aware of the fact that I couldn't take care of her, so she was perfectly happy to go to Jeremy whenever she needed or wanting something. Although I was sad that I couldn't take care of her for those few days, it made me so happy and proud (of both of them) to see them bonding! =)
After I was feeling (relatively) better, Mahalia went right back to wanting me most of the time...even when Jeremy and I both wanted her to go to daddy. Oh well. She definitely knows how to make her wants known. =) Oh. And since she stopped nursing, she has become even MORE attached to her pacifier and my hair! I'm glad that they bring her comfort. I just don't know if my head can take all of her "loving" hair caresses...they often turn into painful caresses. Ouch!
Well, I think that's all the big news for the month of January. =)
