Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Blog Challenge Day 6: My Favourite Quote (and a few other ramblings)

Greetings from the chilly flatland, Humble Readers!

Yesterday my dyslexia kicked in and I skipped ahead one day on the list.  So now I'm going back and catching the assignment that I missed.

A favourite quote is another tough one. 

There's that 'Fool's Hope' quote over in the right hand column from Return of the King that I adore.  It and the quote from Scripture below it sum up my journey through life, and particularly through IF. 

I have a whole journal somewhere full of quotes that I collected when I was in my 20s. 

But the quote that I have become attached to recently is something I try to live out every day. 
"Be the change you wish to see in the world" - Ghandi 
Simple and straight-forward.  If we want to make a change in the world around us, we need to change ourselves first. 

*****
Our Prenatal classes were interesting.  It was particularly useful for my Beloved to hear and learn all the stuff I've been reading about for the last few months.  It certainly boosted his confidence in terms of being able to do the things I will need from him.  We opted to do our classes on two Saturdays, rather than over 5 weeks.  I wanted to make sure we were through them before November rolled around. 

Our classes were lead by one of the L&D nurses from our hospital, so it was good to be able to get information on current practices on the L&D and Postpartum wards.  She is also an IBCLC, so we got lots of good info about breastfeeding (more on that further down).  In the childbirth portion of the class, we focussed a lot on coping techniques (positions, activities, etc).  I'm really hoping that I will be able to stay mobile for at least the first part of my labour, and be able to take advantage of some of the things I learned.  I also learned that my Beloved has no idea how to put a diaper on a child... lol! 

The most interesting for me was the segment on breastfeeding.  I have been doing a lot of reading about bf-ing and I have long been committed to nursing for as long as I can.  My primary concern is that I have heard a lot of plus size women have issues with it, and that there isn't a lot of support, particularly in the hospital setting.  She was able to put my mind at ease, and I now have a lot of contact numbers for support after the Halfling arrives.

The funniest aspect of the whole class was one of the fathers-to-be.  It was very VERY apparent that he hadn't done any reading, and really has no clue about delivery, breastfeeding, or babies in general.  He asked the most awkward questions.  I actually felt badly for his wife.  But it was when he started spouting his opinions about bf-ing in public... well let's just say I was chomping on the inside of my cheek to keep from getting into an arguement.  (He actually compared women bf-ing in public to men who pee on the street outside bars!)  I'm not going to be whipping out the 'girls' just any old time and place, but neither am I going to nurse my child in a public bathroom just to keep people like him happy!  You could tell that there were many others in the group that were struggling not to get into it with him. 

*****
A couple of you asked the other day what my opinion is of ereaders.  As I stated in my favourite book post, I adore books.  I love the feel of them in my hand, the smell of them, the print on the page.  All that said, I own an ereader (a Kobo - the ereader that my company put out earlier this year).  I like it for traveling, and for trying new authors, and for the numerous mass market romance novels I normally read and then recycle.  I don't think I will ever go 100% to an ereader, but I do see the place for it. 

9 comments :

  1. if you ever need support about bfing please contact me...i bf'ed 2 kids as a plus sized pcos woman and know some of the challenges. it is natural but doesn't always happen naturally. and just for the record i bf anywhere and everywhere and there is no comparison between providing nourishment and public urination, i too feel badly for his wife and anyone he may have influenced in your class, that is so infuriating and sad!

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  2. Oh my gosh, someone should have whopped that guy on the back of the head for comparing breastfeeding to public urination! I can't believe people really think like that. It's a baby eating from it's mother for Pete's sake!

    I hope breastfeeding goes smoothly for you! I think about that more than I do about the labor and delivery.

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  3. You're almost there! And always I love a good quote! Happy ICLW! (#72 & 106)

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  4. I would have had to bite my tongue damn near off with that guy. What did his wife do??? Glad the classes are going well :)

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  5. I successfully breastfed 3 children as a plus sized woman so feel free to call on me if you have any questions.

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  6. My best advice on breastfeeding (from someone who did it for 12 months with twins, but it took a long time to be good at it!) is to get a good support system in place, find a lactation consultant to help you, and if it's important to you - don't give up!! It took my son 6 weeks to figure it out and my daughter 4 months. Stubborn girl :-)

    Happy ICLW, and good luck with the end of your pregnancy!

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  7. I love that quote!

    Hey, have the boxes arrived yet?

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  8. Wow. I would have been mortified if I were that guys wife. Did he not realize what setting he was in and that he might be really offending someone? That being said I laughed my ass off at the comparison. What an idiot!

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  9. I'm not quite plus size, but I'm not skinny, and I have ginormous boobs. One tip for bf-ing with boobs MUCH bigger than my newborn's head, is the football hold. I've never been able to comfortably nurse with a cradle hold. Now that she's so big, her legs curl around to my back while she nurses, but the position still works for us.

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