When Breastfeeding Doesn't Go As Planned

Breastfeeding seems like such a natural part of motherhood, however, it does not come easy for every mother.

When I was pregnant, I was so determined to breastfeed my son exclusively. I couldn't wait to provide milk for him, and I fully planned on trying to nurse for two years like the experts recommend now. At the very least, my minimum goal was to make it to one year.

Unfortunately, that isn't what happened. My milk dried up shortly before my son turned 9 months old.

Breastfeeding was a struggle from the very beginning. My delivery was difficult, 13 hours of labor ending in emergency c-section. Then, my son had some problems that required immediate attention - he had jaundice and dangerously low blood sugar. 

The doctor and nurses gave me two days while in the hospital to attempt to breastfeed. It was very difficult, and even with additional pumping, nothing was coming out yet. I knew that it could take almost a week for milk to come, but in my son's situation, we couldn't wait a week. His levels weren't improving with the few drops of colostrum I was providing.

I was told we needed to supplement with formula because my milk hadn't "come in" yet, because he needed nourishment right away to bring his levels back up to a healthy number. I won't lie, when I was pregnant I bought into the whole "formula shaming" bandwagon that's going on these days, so when I was told formula was necessary, I hung my head in shame and cried right there in front of the doctor and nurses.

His levels did get better after having formula, his jaundice improved, and they allowed us to go home on day 4. On day 5, my milk started to come. However, the struggle didn't go away.

Review: Wet N Wild Fergie Lipstick - D'Vinely Chilled

Long time, no post!

Wow! I haven't posted in months. Pregnancy and being a new mom really zapped most of my free time. It's been a huge life change and my son has brought me a lot of joy (and sleeplessness).



My days mainly consist of diaper changing, sitting on the couch nursing, trying to find some sleep, and occasionally doing some dishes or something. Hmm.



While sitting on the couch nursing I also binge watch Netflix to help pass the time. My husband and I have been watching Breaking Bad. What an amazing show. It is totally not something I would normally like, but we've been drawn in and have been racing to finish the series. I haven't been this into a show since LOST.

I've really been missing blogging lately and decided I would post something. I actually meant to post this a long time ago - I've had these swatch pictures ready to go but never posted them.

So, today I'm going to talk about a Wet n Wild lipstick in the Fergie range. The shade is called D'Vinely Chilled. I loved the way the color looked in the tube - a warm shimmering wine shade.

D'Vinely Chilled

Oooh. Sparkly.

I'm not going to front. This is frosty. Frost has a bit of a bad reputation these days as being too dated or cheap looking. Well, call me cheap (it wouldn't be the first time), but I like a bit of frost sometimes - in the right amount, I think frost can be pretty and feminine. In astronomical amounts, you're veering into powdered donut lips territory. Not cute.



It definitely swatches frosty as well. It's got good pigmentation and you can layer the color if desired. I like the way it looks as a swatch. On me, though...



I don't like the way it looks on me. I don't know, it feels matronly or something. It feels very dry as well. I feel like it ages me in an unflattering manner. I bet it would look great on someone with a deeper skin tone, I can see it reading as a gorgeous shimmering berry. On me...I'll pass.

I haven't even touched it since swatching the product for this post. Now that I think about it, I bet it would look and feel much nicer with some lip gloss on top. I'll give it a shot.

Bun in the Oven

I have definitely let this poor blog grow cold in the last few months. For that, I am really sorry! But... I promise, I actually have a reason.

Some exciting news...

My husband and I are expecting our first baby!

That's right! We are so excited!!!!!

We had been trying to conceive for a while and it was a very trying, emotional time whenever Aunt Flow would show her ugly face. I am currently in my 4th month, or 17 weeks pregnant. My husband and I are beyond excited and so happy.  I'm due in mid December! :) We will be finding out the gender in a few weeks. I'm counting down the days!

So, yes... that is why I haven't been posting very much. I had some pretty nasty nausea for the first trimester - morning sickness? Yeah, no. More like all day sickness. Also, unbelievable fatigue and exhaustion hit me like a train and my energy plummeted to below zero. I could barely muster up energy to shower and cook a meal, and even though I thought about blogging, I just didn't have motivation. My little nugget was zapping all of mama's energy!

Thankfully, the nausea is mainly gone. I'm still fairly tired and low energy most of the time, but I have occasional bits of energy that appear now and again. In those bits of energy, I plan to come up with a blog post here and there. :)