thanks for the emails & comments on that last post!! they all mean so much to me. here's an attempt at responding to some:CNH - hi Chantel! I've been watching your blog w/rapt interest!! I can't believe your LOs are scooting around already. That prayer is excerpted from a prayer here... I'm sure quoting it is fine - I forgot to source it when I posted. I'd love to read your take on it, given the differences in our situations. Thanks to Jennie for posting the link.
MKW emailed me w/ this empathetic thought: As for full-time nursing and cloth diapers... I hope you not setting the bar too high that failure, of some sort, is immanent. And you're left feeling depressed, and frazzled to the bone and defeated. I fully believe in nursing and did both boys for about 7 mos., but I also knew I was a better mom for being able to bottle/formula supplement and leave them and regroup with time out with J or friends and come back to them anew. Full-time nursing is a draining anchor. And yes, it's great for the babies, but you need to watch yourself along the way and protect your sanity, because THAT'S what will be best for the babies and you. You will be close and loved by them because of who you are, how much you wanted them in your life and how much you love them everyday, they'll never measure your love by whether or not you used disposable diapers, bottles, or breastfed them every meal. Choose your battles... and in this case how much you're weighing down an already very demanding daily job of love.
I wanted to share this with you all because this is something I think and talk about often. And I agree with what you wrote, M.
I am using cloth diapers part time - mostly during the day. I think w/ the next size of diapers, I'll be able to use them at night, too, but really, I don't push myself on this subject. Right now, K is doing virtually all of our laundry, and I just don't know how it will be when I'm doing it myself. I plan to do it as I can and won't worry about it when I can't. I'll be using prefolds during the day only, and fuzzybuns as much as possible, for those who are interested in knowing. ;o)
As far as breastfeeding goes, I persevere because I can, and because I simply want to. I want that relationship with them both. I want that nutrition and all those benefits for them... but don't think that I am going to play hardball w/this either. Anyone who knows me will know that I'm just not an all-or-nothing person, sometimes to a fault. In this case it just means that I'm going to continue to perservere and see how close to exclusive I can get in nursing. I'd like to know that my supply is sufficient to feed them both, but given the demands of twins, I'm pretty sure that I'll always be ok with offering the occasional bottle. And if I get to a point where I feel like my supply is good enough without being 100%, I'm ok with that too. I just feel like, for now, I'm on the path, and I'm ok with this being a process.
A while ago, Megan asked me in comments about the amount of supplement I am giving the boys. I responded there, but I wonder if she checked in. I just wanted to make sure that you know your question wasn't ignored. This week, I think I'm down to about 22oz a day, combined. Still a long way to go.
Finally, thx to Maylily for the email & all you others who send love & encouragement... Your words make this easier.
Here, some new pix - all by Amy - & a video of Shoghi finally having some happy time:
Sorry, just want to be clear about the prayer. It's not actually authenticated, but that doesn't change how lovely the sentiment is:
ReplyDelete"In response to a similar query in the past, the Research Department has advised that the first portion of the text, "O God! Make me a hollow reed from which the pith of self hath been blown, that I may become a clear channel through which Thy love may flow to others", has often been attributed to `Abdu'l-Baha; however, the Research Department has not yet located any original text and is therefore unable to verify its authenticity. As a result, the prayer may be recited or sung by the believers, but it should not be attributed to the Master nor appear under His name in books and other publications.
You cite a reference which states that this prayer was in fact written by the Hand of the Cause of God George Townshend. Because this prayer has often been incorrectly quoted as the opening sentence from the following passage on page 124 of Mr. Townshend's book The Mission of Baha'u'llah (London: George Ronald, 1965), it would give the impression that he has written the words. However, the prayer in question does not appear in his book and cannot be attributed to him."
http://cnhblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/hollow-reed-prayer.html
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know that all that milk I sent lasted a day! I've got a pretty good supply just not a lot of time to pump.
ReplyDeleteI doubt you have time to read my blog but my oldest was recently diagnosed as gluten intolerant so convenience foods are now out of the question (this of course includes things so common in kitchens as to not even be seen as convenience like bread, ketchup, etc). This has been a huge time sucker but my daughter's health is worth the effort.
love it! thanks for taking the time to update us all!
ReplyDeleteI'm really loving all your updates. Man, those are some cute boys you have :) I have the photo of them in my livingroom and I love telling people about these two precious boys (don't worry, not a lot of weirdos in my livingroom.... well, I take that back ;) ). Anyway... VERY precious pics :D
ReplyDeleteGreat update and pics!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you aren't giving yourself too much pressure. You know about my bfing issues and I can tell you that my relationship with the girls improved so much better once I gave up on the idea of bfing them and just enjoyed the time we spent together.
As for ppd, it sounds like you have a wonderful support system in place and with all those people looking out for you and knowing the signs it should be easier to catch should (G-d forbid) it happens.
They are so adorable! I love Max's cheeks! Go Shoghi, go Shoghi!
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