Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Breastfeeding Bridesmaid with the Baby

I never realized how difficult it is to have a baby that is breastfed and be in a wedding party until now.  I am in one of my very oldest and dearest friends wedding in October who is truly being super accommodating, but I have still concluded that until you have a baby you never really understand what it is like.  For example, I was looking forward to going out of town to go to the bachelorette party and was about to start pumping again to prepare.  I like to keep a small stash  handy for when I have to play gigs for recitals and teach lessons and what not, but it's not enough for me to be away for over 12 hrs. (I have never been away from Audrey for more than 3 hrs)  In any case, I just received the invite and it is for THIS coming weekend! :-(  That means I can't go!!  I have also made plans that include getting my bridesmaid dress altered this same weekend.  Before Audrey I would have just picked up and headed on over to Houston no problem and dealt with the dress altering another time but no can do anymore.

Another thing is that I will be bringing Audrey to the wedding and will be breastfeeding, not bottle feeding.  The bride mentioned she will have a babysitter in the room next door during the reception which is a great idea, but it just won't work for us. (I am bringing my sling and have okay-ed it with the bride)  You see, I have never left Audrey with someone who isn't family, plus she will only be almost 9 months...  The bride was also surprised that I was still breastfeeding and that I didn't bottle feed her.  I think it is WAY more convenient to just "whip em out" so to speak than to pack our 2 glass bottles, our small to-go ice chest for the milk, and of course a breast pump because, well... I may just pop the dress open with my milk filled ta ta's if I don't pump.  Speaking of pumping, that brings up another question/problem:

What am I going to do the day of the wedding while getting ready with the bridal party???

  I am planning on bringing some frozen milk for that day which will mean I have to take pumping breaks.  Of course, I may also just let Audrey breastfeed because that's always easier.  I feel bad because Carlo will have Audrey and she will need to nap...now here's where we run into another little problem.  Audrey nurses to sleep for naps and night time.  She has also been known to NOT take a bottle from anyone except me. Weird I know, but it's true.  Of course, she hasn't taken a bottle since July and even then it was a fight.  She even went to bed one night, while I was playing a gig, without eating because she refused the bottle!!  So, we'll see how this goes.  I am nervous to say the least and while I am looking forward to the wedding I need to balance my job of being a mom with my job for that one day of being a best friend to the bride.


*This post is nothing against the bride or other members of the bridal party, I admit I was the same way before having Audrey.  I do wish I could pick up and go as easily as I used to, but of course, then I wouldn't have Audrey, and I wouldn't want to change! :-)





UPDATE:

                The Keekaroo High Chair is AMAZING!   I can't say enough good things about it! It looks good, is easy to clean, Audrey loves it, etc...  Here's the proof that she LOVES it! :-)






Another UPDATE:   The diaper rash JUST cleared up today! Well, whatever it was whether caused by food or a yeast infection it just wouldn't go away and NONE of my choices worked!  So, I went another route.  I stopped by my local cloth diaper store, Elemeno-Pee, and picked up some cloth wipes and made my own anti fungal wipe spray.  Between the wipe spray and putting Caldendula Cream on it consistently it is all cleared up! YEA!

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