The Little Things

It amazes me how little things can boost my confidence a TON. Like yesterday when we headed to downtown Chicago to have dinner with the Hetrick family, and all my anxiety about breastfeeding in public was completely put to rest.

Most of you reading this know I am a pretty modest person (understatement), so nursing in public was something I was highly anxious about and kind of dreaded. We were waiting for a table at Giordano's for at least an hour, and it had taken over an hour to drive to downtown, so regardless of the fact that we had fed Keaton right before we left the house, it was his dinner time right about the time our pizza got to the table. (*I would like to mention that we brought a bottle with us, just in case, but I was in a bit of pain at this point and wanted to at least try to feed him this way.) With the help of pretty much the entire Hetrick family, who strategically placed Keaton and I right by a wall and generally out of sight, and who also held up menus as I adjusted my nursing cover, Keaton successfully latched on BOTH sides. It was the easiest, most quiet feeding he's had in a very very long time. We attribute the success of the feeding to the fact that all the noise of the restaurant had him distracted so he didn't start wailing. Or squirming. Or crying. It was AWESOME.

Afterward, I pretty much wanted to bounce off the walls. I mean, my kid ate, I wasn't in pain, and no one outside of our table (and maybe our waiter) was any wiser to the situation. It was really one of those moments where you sit back and think, "Look at how far we've come!" Thank You God. Seriously... what comes so naturally for some women has been a struggle for me, so I will take as many of these moments as I can.

After the little guy was content, we passed him around the table, which normally makes him fussy- instead he decided to open his eyes and look around at everyone. He ended up staying awake for probably 4 hours (with a small nap in between on the way home to Plainfield). He was wide awake last night when we came home, and played with his aunts until almost midnight! He slept well, and at some point Casey got up with him and fed him while I slept. Then he woke up around 6:45 and we just got done with another feeding session. Now he's passed out in my lap.

I know it would not have been nearly as easy if not for all the amazing help from the family... I also know that now that I've done so many of the things I was nervous about doing, my confidence level is higher than it's ever been during this process. It's been a pretty awesome week, over all. Where Monday felt hopeless, the rest of the week redeemed it all. SO thankful. :-D

-Ashley