Coach Kirstin

I'm happy to report that I think I have lost all feeling in my nipples and breast feeding is a lot less painful. I say that until she starts teething. I started pumping this week, purely for relief. The days she doesn't sleep well, she eats more often because she is awake more often. Then the following day my supply is a bit overwhelming and it's pretty painful.  We are struggling a lot with sleep. She will sleep for 10-15 minutes and then wake herself up.  I am trying the 5's from Happiest Baby on the Block but really she just wants to be held while she sleeps.   The good thing is my parents have been here since Sunday and they are more than willing to hold her non-stop. I am working on my swaddle technique, I will never be nurse level but it's improving. Wednesday was really tough and I think she got over tired, along with being a little constipated, because she slept like a champ almost all day Thursday. We had been having periods of awake time but Thursday ...

I knew going from my job to being home all the time would be the hardest thing I had done yet. I like working. For the most part I like my job, I actually really just like the team I work with which makes all the other bs tolerable. I was working longer days so I could have a day off every other week but it was wearing me out towards the end of the pregnancy so I switched to a regular 8 hour day. Most days. I still had to make myself leave and I was still responding to emails after I left.  Fast forward a few months and not much has changed about that behavior. I kind of worry about work but not really. The hardest change is being home all day. It's the most wonderful and amazing thing I have ever done. But I also can't be stuck in the house all day. So we have had a few "I have to get out" moments. We went out for sushi on Friday, we went to the the grocery store (even though we went the day before), we went to Dads office and we went out to lunch today . Miss M...

Today I felt invincible. I managed to take a shower, then go to the Dr for my allergy shot and then a quick stop at Target for a few things.  Mostly for panties, as two trips to Target by the husband have mostly resulted in panties he would like to see me in, as opposed to ones that don't interfere with my scar. Timing is of course everything but McKenna was a super star. She had a few fusses but soothed herself and stayed asleep. We did have a feeding and diaper change at the allergy at Dr but that's it. Speaking of, why don't all public bathrooms have changing tables? Things I was oblivious to until now.  This week has been a roller coaster.  The husband went back to work for the week and his parents came to help. They are incredibly sweet and well intentioned but it was a tough change.  It was hard to be away from Chris for a long duration for the first time since going into labor, something that didn't cross my mind until we had spent the day apart. ...

I am starting to write this at 4 am. One week ago, my adorably sweet girl was not quite here yet, we were still at home waiting out contractions. The contractions started the day before very mildly. I had 2 or 3 throughout the day but nothing of note. The first one I distinctly remember was sitting in traffic on the way home about 5. I let the husband and the doula know. I got home and went about my evening. The dogs knew though. They were very calm and patient with me. Chris and I had dinner and I decided to take a bath, which quickly escalated my contractions but they were very inconsistent in their timing. We spoke with the Doula and she said to go to bed, we needed the sleep as we could have labor ahead of us very soon. I tried to sleep but with every contraction I either vomited or pooped, or both. It was tons of fun.... At 2 Chris became nervous that it was still going on so we spoke with the Doula, who agreed it was early labor but the timing was still inconsistent. She had us...