Just a little update

  Lots of first this past week. Matix went to his first movie, our whole family went to see the Jungle Book and last minute, we decided to brave the outside world with our 2 week old. Naturally, Matix did great in the movie, he's tiny, so he just slept but here's the real victory. I fed him...in public. Which i can honestly say is a first for me. Another first, back to church! Another first, I made apricot jam...this is silly but honestly, one of my favorite things to do...canning. It's like painting, or vacuuming, it easy, takes a long time but the process is mindless and relaxing and the end product is satisfying. We went over to my parents and picked buckets full of apricots and peaches and Liam is an expert at fining and disposing of the bad ones Another first, took both boys to the store. Three weeks out doesn't seem like much of a victory but its about 2 months earlier than with Liam and I only had one kid then. I think other than feeding the only real struggle is just getting back into the groove of cleaning, cooking, shopping and doing with an extra body and routine to consider. My house is much harder to keep up on but I'm sure in a few more weeks, I'll be back up to speed with everything. Recovery has been amazing and I'm loving each step towards normalcy.
  While feeding with Matix has been a much better experience than it was with Liam, it's still been the most challenging part of the entire birth experience. Contractions are still happening with each feeding, his latch is still very poor, I'm curling my toes with pain at every feeding, for the whole feeding and I still cannot for the life of me figure out how mamas use covers when they're feeding but on the bright side, my milk is in, my supply is up and Matix is gaining weight (11 oz in 8 days!) and getting VERY strong (in fact that's been the most consistent comment we've received about him from everyone, how strong he is....that and how awesome his crazy hair is)! I've been doing some research and I'm pretty sure both of my boys have lip tie. If you don't know what that is, its a genetic mutation that effects 40% of the population but only really manifests itself as a problem in a few cases. It's when the thin fleshy connection between the upper lip and the gums on the top front of your mouth are too tight/thick. Chad and I both have it but ours have stretched out and are not an issue. However, in some cases it can increase the chance of cavities, inhibit poor speech development and cause a gap in the front two teeth. In infants, because the tie is so new and strong, and in Matixs case, his upper lip is so small too, it can limit the mobility of his upper lip, making it impossible to get a good latch as his upper lip curls under instead of latching around. Some symptoms of a lip tie are obviously, a visible indication of the skin between the gums and lip(check), a poor latch (check), blisters on the lips after breastfeeding (check) and there are  more as the child gets older. SO I'm 95% positive that he has it. I took him in to get it diagnose and was referred to a specialist to make sure there are no other factors to consider before going forward with a removal procedure. The procedure is minimally invasive, either clipping the tie with medical scissors, or lasering the flesh. Both would require anesthetics (which makes me a little nervous) but everything I've read says that the younger its taken care of, the quicker the recover, less painful, and easier the procedure is, there's even a possibility that I wouldnt need to have them us anesthetics,m just some childrens Motrin before the procedure. While I naturally tend to worry about things like this, I'm honestly relieved! Finally, this could be the answer to why I've had so many issues with breastfeeding. Many testimonials say that once the procedure was done, their infants were eating and latching successfully later that day, with little to no pain! This could be the answer, so I'm thrilled!
  Liam is loving his brother more each day. He used to be excited about showing people his big boy bed, or his buzz lightyear, or his latest trick but now all he wants to do is show off his little brother and how good he is at taking care of him.

Funny Story

   SO I was able to go to the Broadway show, "Annie" with my family at Gammage a few days ago  but they don't allow infants in the theater (even if you're breastfeeding! They make you pay full admission, roughly $80, for you're infant if you bring them! Crazy) So I pumped and left the two boys with my brave husband. When I came back, Chad told me about how Liam helped feed Matix and how excited he was to be able to help with the bottle.
  The next morning I was breastfeeding Matix and since it was just us at home, I didn't even attempt to cover up. Liam saw me feeding so he ran over and looked at Matix, then he confidently and innocently grabbed my breast, like it was a bottle and said "Mom, I can help feed brother!" I died laughing. I then explained the dilemma we faced without a bottle and he agreed that I'd feed with my "belly" and he'd feed with the bottle. (Liam thinks that Matix is "kissing my belly" when we feed.. hilarious little minds!)