Let Me Never Forget...

I'm a mix of emotions as I end my maternity leave, and get ready to head back to work. The last 11 weeks have been some of the best and hardest of my life. I find myself amazed at how quickly the time has gone, and how much Linnea is already changing. There are times I catch myself saying "let me never forget..." I want to document these thoughts, in hopes of preserving them a bit...

Let Me Never Forget...

• Your smell. You smell like baby lotion and sweet milk. It's wonderful. I love to squish my nose up to your cheek/chin and just breathe you in.
• The sleepy faces you make when you nurse. My favorite is when your eyes are barely shut, and you raise your eyebrows high. So. Stinkin'. Cute.
• The way you shoot your little arms up when we unswaddle you each morning. You love to stretch, and can hardly wait to get your little arms up above you.
• The way your hand moves along my chest when you are snuggled close. It's as if you just like knowing that I'm there.
• Your soft skin. Seriously. There's a reason there's the phrase "baby soft skin" and man, do you have it. I feels like silk. I love running my hand up and down your back.
• Your busy busy eyes. You are so alert and attentive to the world around you. Sometimes you sit and stare and something for a really long time, and sometimes your eyes and head dart around like there's so much to take in, and so little time to do it.
• Your smiles. We've had a little more than a month of your sweet smiles. They are getting more frequent and bigger, and daddy and I just eat them up! And now, they are often followed by little coos or chuckles.
  
• The feeling of you falling asleep on my shoulder...in my arms...at my side. The weight of you. The movement of you. The sound of your breathing. I take it every chance I can get.

These things and so many more...let me never forget. We look forward to watching Linnea grow and change, but want to enjoy every second of her, and remember all of these things forever.

I love my little girl. More than I can ever explain.

You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do...

I have been blessed with a circle of mom friends that I made in my New Mamas class at Amma Maternity. Our class is over now, but we've continued to get together. Today we gathered at one of the mom's houses to watch the documentary Babies. I had seen it before, but it was interesting to watch now that I am a mom.

It's been so nice to have moms with babies about the same age. We are able to share our stories, compare our struggles, help one another, and celebrate successes.

Today the topic of bizarre breastfeeding locations came up. One of the moms joked that she was going to make a blog that chronicled her weird locations. That made me think, and I decided to create a blog post for it (thanks for the idea, Alissa!).

I have been lucky to have breastfeeding go pretty smoothly. With the exception of the start (before it was discovered that Linnea was born tongue-tied), things have gone well. Linnea has become a pretty good breastfeeder, and I seem to have a good supply to feed her with. :-)

Until just a couple weeks ago, Linnea was exclusively breastfed (as in no bottles)...which is wonderful, but definitely creates for some interesting breastfeeding locations...

So obviously there's the normal locations...our house, our parents' houses, our friends' houses... and then it expands from there...

The next level is the places that are out of the ordinary, but a pretty supportive environment... New Mamas class at Amma, church (both in the lobby and the bathroom), the Women's Lounge of Nordstroms (which is SUPER nice...moms, take note), a bathroom at a restaurant...

Then we get to the bizarre "you do what you gotta do" places... the parking lot of Wal-Mart, the parking lot of Cub Foods, the dining area of a McDonald's, the dining area of Tavern on France (this was with the Amma Mamas, so it wasn't all that bizarre), the community room of our local library, in the car along the shore of Lake Superior (while Jeromy geocached...), an industrial farm equipment parking lot, and my personal favorite...a picnic table outside the Eco Building at the State Fair.

It makes me oddly proud to be comfortable and confident enough (or sometimes simply desperate enough) to have fed Linnea in all of these places. Breastfeeding and pumping for Linnea helps me to continually be amazed by my body and its abilities...it does what it has to do to feed my beautiful baby. And for that, no matter where and no matter when, I am grateful.