Joyful Vegan Family

Vegan Goodness:

Today we ate:

• Breakfast: Smoothies and cereal for dad and LP and cream of wheat with lots of raisins for Mom.  Mom has also been enjoying green tea again!  It was one of the hardest things for me to give up during my pregnancy!
• Lunch: LP had leftover quinoa and chickpeas, topped with lots of cherry tomatoes from our garden.  The G-man and I had tofurky sandwiches and peaches for dessert!
• Mom at WAY too many chocolate covered almonds for a snack, and LP had crackers with almond butter.  All three of us munched on more cherry tomatoes as well.
• Dinner: The G-man made some Callaloo (from our CSA) with garlic, ginger and tomoatoes, which we enjoyed with some grilled polenta that the G-man had frozen a while ago.  It was really delicious!  LP had a banana for dessert – Mom and Dad had some toasted chocolate bread for dessert.  We are feeling very lucky – all the friends that have visted us so far have showered us in chocolate – how well they know us!!!

Money Matters:

Today we only went out to music class, and then Mom went on a walk with IP and a good friend.  It’s easy to not spend money when you don’t leave the house for more than an hour at a time, lest the baby need to eat!

Mom Musings:

I feel very lucky that breastfeeding with IP is going really, really well (and I hope I’m not jinxing myself by saying this!)  IP was able to have skin-to-skin time with me for her first hour of life, and she latched on and nursed for 25 minutes on each side right off the bat.  Even with a stressful second hospital stay my milk came in and she continued to eat well.  I know I am lucky – not everyone has it so easy.  But I also am enjoying the fact that I’ve done this before.  Breastfeeding is less stressful for me this time around because I know what I’m doing a bit more after lots and lots of trial and error with LP.

One of the major things that is different for me this second time around is my willingness to breastfeed in public.  With LP I totally fed him in out in the world, either at friends’ houses or in coffee shops, restaurants, etc.  But it was quite an ordeal.  First I would get him settled, then put the blanket over him so I could be more discreet, and then I would focus on getting him to nurse while simultaneously trying to keep up my end of the conversation of whoever I was hanging out with.  I got better at it over time, but I also started to feel less shy about it.  When I’m not breastfeeding a child I would never consider just baring my chest.  But when I’m breastfeeding, I’m starting to feel like it is a differed thing.  My breasts have a really important purpose, and if that makes other people uncomfortable, right now I really couldn’t care less.

Twice now we have been out in the world when IP needed to nurse.  Both times I knew that was going to happen, and I was wearing the Moby wrap.  I am able to put IP in the wrap in a nursing position, and she can go at it.  This is really exciting because it means I can not only nurse easily in public, but that I’m able to nurse and be mobile!  It is funny to me when people don’t realize that is what I’m doing at first.  They come up to look at the baby (which I’m totally cool with!) and then I mention that she is nursing, but they are still welcome to come see her.  To their credit, most people do still check her out, even if the don’t linger.  But I must say, I feel a bit like a super hero who is walking along in their “alter-ego” clothes and suddenly rips them off to revel their superhero outfit.  “Yes!” I want to declare to the world.  “I grew this child, birthed her, and now I’m feeding her while I’m standing up RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!”  In reality, nothing makes me feel more powerful that knowing I gave birth and I’m providing sustenance for my child.  It is both a natural process of evolution, and truly the coolest thing I’ve ever done.

Now I have to run because little IP is ready for her next round of eating.  Since I’m home, this time I’ll be feeding her in a chair, and finishing up Game of Thrones while she eats.  The only thing cooler than nursing out in the world is nursing comfortably at home with a good book and a baby who falls asleep in your lap after noshing!