August 12, 2009

17 Weeks Later...

Yikes! I know that it's been a ridiculously long time since I last posted -- I wonder if I should just admit defeat and acknowledge that I'm not the blogger I imagine myself to be? Consistent, insightful and witty -- post after post -- week after week...

I also dream of being one of those people that frequently takes (and posts) photos and seems to flawlessly manage her own online social networks/profiles while keeping up with everyone else's ((like Mojan!)

A brief recap of the past 17 weeks...I am now 34 weeks along so I'm into the 6 week countdown (yikes!) I feel the *yikes!* when I realize that I/Kiave will be full-term in 3 weeks. Kiave is incredibly active in utero and I feel him much more distinctly than I remember feeling Kapono (in the womb) -- one of my midwives from the Tucson Birth Center confirmed that most women feel movements/sensations much more distinctly in subsequent pregnancies.

Kapono is still nursing and as far as I know, I am still lactating. I haven't actually seen my milk in weeks, but Kapono assures me that there is still milk and he still swallows while nursing. Generally, each nursing session is fairly uncomfortable b/c I have such heightened breast sensitivity, bordering on pain at times. In addition, I often feel a contraction(s) after 5 mins or so into a nursing session. That's usually around the time I give Kapono the "one more minute" warning. It may be in response to the "life in transition" or the newly placed limitations on the lengths of our nursing sessions, but Kapono now requests to nurse more frequently and for longer periods of time -- the exact opposite of what I'm wanting! He may go a full day and nurse only once or he may nurse up to 4-6 times/day.

I intuitively sense that Kapono may be ready to fully wean although I've made the decision to not force the weaning at this time simply because of the many life changes we've experienced these past 8 weeks -- move from Illinois to Arizona, going back and forth between two homes (Arivaca and Phoenix), potty-training, starting the homebuying/househunting process, and, of course, Kiave's arrival. My main reason for re-starting this blog was to chronicle my adventures in tandem nursing...so far, no regrets about continuing to nurse during pregnancy despite the challenges, mainly the discomfort while actually nursing. I may be singing a different tune in about 6 weeks -- Kapono and I have talked about how Kiave will nurse with mommy when he arrives and will need to nurse A LOT because he is a baby and babies need to nurse more than big boys. I am very curious to see how the actual tandem nursing goes....no promises on when to expect my next post and like I said, I may need to just "throw in the towel" and accept that I am just not a blogger, at least not yet :P

1 comment:

Eriko said...

Hi Kim! I read your last couple of posts and felt wonderful that I could hear your voice again. I wish that we could see you guys! Masumi has a little dinosaur of Kapono's and wants to send it to him. :) We will be sending you the bouncy seat soon (sorry it is taking me forever) and will try to remember to put the dino with it.

Go, tandem nursing!