Baked Potatoes & Red Grapefruit

- by Janelle (IM)

Now that we are officially into the second trimester I feel as though the dust has settled. The long preparation checklist is complete, the "will this work? will the embryo take?" anticipation is gone, Kim is not tied to her massivo pill box and the clock, and she is feeling much better! So here we are and I'm still feeling like this is all so surreal.

I must admit that it's strange for me to think that in 6 months we are going to have a baby in our arms. Since I have experienced pregnancy, it seems that there's this part of my brain that's saying "uh, where's the belly?" I can understand why some men let their beards grow as a way to connect with their wives through a pregnancy. I'm definitely feeling the need to connect with the growth of my child in some way. Here is how I'm going about it:

1. Downloaded the Baby Centre App so that I get weekly notices about my baby's development - so cool to read that right now he/she is the size of half a banana and her/his fingerprints are noticeable.
2. Wrote down the weeks of pregnancy on my calendar at work so at a glance I know where we're at.
3. Made an appointment with a breastfeeding physician to discuss how to get my boobs to produce milk.
4. Thinking of getting this shirt (my friend found this photo on pinterest):

For those of you equally interested on how to go about inducing lactation, please check out this link and above all, consult with a physician:

The Protocols for Induced Lactation — A Guide for Maximising Breastmilk Production
By Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC and Lenore Goldfarb, Ph.D., CCC, IBCLC

The idea of getting this process going really excites  me! For one, when I read over the general protocol I realized that I've been on the medications before and my body responded well. This was after the birth of my son Asher. I had extreme blood loss but my midwife did not give up hope that I'd be able to breastfeed so based on Dr. Newman's expertise, she had me on a high dose of domperidome and also had the ICU nurses pumping my breasts while I was in recovery. This may sound crazy to some, but I am ever so grateful that she went to such great lengths to give me the chance to breastfeed my son, and I did so very successfully – never needing to supplement once I was out of the hospital! So with this in mind, I'm feeling good that once again I can breastfeed this little one.

The other reason why I'm excited to try and induce lactation, is that I feel like it gives me a strong connection to the pregnancy. I will have something to work towards for the next six months and my body will be preparing for the magical day that our baby is born. I hope all goes well with my appointment next week! I'll be sure to keep you informed of any progress I have on the lactation front.

To wrap things up I want to explain the title of this post. The other day my cell beeped and the following text came through:

Your baby's favourite foods are baked potatoes and red grapefruit.
She makes me eat them everyday :)

Love it! I went out and bought some red grapefruit to eat :)

On a final note I want to say thank you to Skype and FaceTime. I'm not sure what I'd do without this technology. It means so much to be a part of Kim's appointments here and there. To see ultrasounds and to stay in touch with Kim and see her smiling face!