A Week of Firsts

This past week was a week of firsts for Lilly, Geoff and me.

My First Pumping Experience - After much encouragement from Geoff, and talking to some friends, I broke the seal on my breast pump and got everything ready to pump. I'll admit it, I was nervous to pump at first. Not because I thought it would hurt, but because I didn't want to mess up my milk supply. At the same time I was also curious. I wanted to see how much milk I could pump in the amount of time Lilly normally nurses for so I could get an idea of how many ounces she eats at each feeding. After some research I felt more comfortable and gave it a go. Well, there's definitely no shortage of milk on my part - I pumped 5 oz. in less than 10 minutes! I don't always get that much now that I've pumped a few times, but it's always more than 2.5 oz. I must say, pumping is a blessing for two reasons - 1) it gives me some freedom and allows Geoff to feed her too. 2) it provides much needed relief when Lilly sleeps for longer than usual and misses a feeding!

Lilly's First Bottle - I wanted to get a picture of this, but I was too stressed/sad to think of taking a picture at the time. Geoff gave Lilly her first bottle and it took a little adjusting to. We were using NUK nipples and Lilly had a hard time sucking on the bottle. It took her an hour to eat 2.5 oz which is not normal - she usually nurses in 10 minutes or less. I'll admit, I was a little jealous that someone else could feed Lilly. Until then I was the only one who could feed her and it was "our time" together. It was something I knew only I could provide for her as her mother. It didn't make it any easier when I saw what a hard time she was having. When she finally finished she had this look on her face like, "What was that all about? I've never had to work that hard for anything in my life!" It made me want to cry! I felt a little guilty because the whole reason we gave her a bottle was so I could leave her and she still be able to eat. All in all we got it figured out. We changed bottle nipples and Lilly was able to eat from the bottle much easier and faster. And, I'm happy that Geoff can share that experience with her too.

Three in One - On Friday Lilly and I ventured out on our own! We met my friend Veronica and her son Victor at a breastfeeding group. I was nervous at first and wasn't going to go, but decided I needed to bite the bullet and go. I've got to get used to going out on my own, right? We did good. I was able to get us both ready and to the group...we were actually 5 minutes early! After the meeting we decided to grab lunch. This also made me nervous because I was afraid Lilly would get fussy and disturb others who were trying to enjoy their lunch. She did really well overall. Of course, as soon as our food came she got fussy because she needed to eat. That leads to our first time nursing in public. I was REALLY nervous about this. Until then I had only nursed Lilly at home or in the car. Thankfully I had remembered to pack my "Hooter Hider" nursing cover so I was able to nurse her in the restaurant. It went pretty well - Lilly got fed and I stayed covered up!

Time Away from Lilly - This Saturday was my best friend Jenn's baby shower. I really wanted to go and Geoff was going to be home, so I decided to go. I didn't want to take Lilly since she's just getting over her cold and I knew everyone would want to fuss over her and look at her. Overall, I'm really glad I got to go. It was nice to get out and to be there for my friend. I even took the opportunity to run to Target to grab a few items we needed. I'll admit, it was nice to not have to lug in a carseat! I realized it's all about balance and it's ok to leave Lilly for a few hours...though I did miss her like crazy and had to hold her as soon as I got home!