Ow, my everything!

WELL! I certainly had a day of man-handling. Or ... person-handling, anyhow.

It started off with a visit to the OBGYN for the six-week followup visit. I had a wait of at least an hour and a half, an hour of which was spent half-naked and trying not to fall asleep on the examining table. No kidding; an hour. Maaaan. But when my doctor got in there he was his usual charming self. He looked at my incision and admired it, which is what every medical professional does when they look at it. All, "Oooooh, very nice. It's hardly going to be noticeable!" This is wasted on my non-bikini-wearing self, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

After he got done looking at it he proceeded to PROD MY INNARDS INTO A PULP while checking my uterus and ovaries. Seriously, I was ready to crawl off the table it was so uncomfortable. I'm not talking about the hand in my privates, I'm talking about the one feeling around on the outside. Ow! My incision is pretty (so they say) but it's still a healing wound, people!

Then it was all, "Put on your pants and scram," so I did. I went to the hospital that houses my daughter and spent the afternoon with her. I was intent on this visit because I was supposed to spend some time with the lactation consultant trying to figure out a comfortable position to nurse Shaughnessy in since what I'd been doing hadn't been working for me.

She recommended the football hold, which is where you tuck your baby under your arm like you're a quarterback and nurse her that way instead of having her lay across your lap in front. It was actually really good and comfy right from the start and I was very happy, but then we moved on to trying to get Shaughnessy to latch, which is something she hasn't done yet. The LC watched me for a minute and then said, "May I?" I said yes, of course.

So she grabbed my boob and the back of my daughter's head, squishing my boob into what she referred to as a 'sandwich', and anytime Shaughnessy opened her mouth she jammed the two together. All I could do was laugh because it kind of showed that there isn't a lot of science involved in the nursing concept. Shaughnessy didn't mind at all, although she still wasn't getting the latching concept very well. Baby+boob=eventual nursing if you're persistent, it seems, so I do think it was a valuable lesson. I don't think I was really doing enough to introduce S-Girl to the concept of nipple going in mouth.

We also tried a nipple shield, which is a thin silicone thingie that goes over your nipple. It's closer to the shape of the soother she's been using, so she actually did latch onto it and do the right thing for a while, but she was super-tired and kept falling asleep. All in all, however, it was a success and things are looking good for future breastfeeding, woot woot! I also have a newfound respect and admiration for the lactation consultant, so won't have heart palpitations from now on when I see her. ;)

I had a bad headache by evening so came home to recuperate from that and all the bodily indignities I'd suffered for the day. Becoming a mother really has stripped away a lot of my extraneous dignity, I must say.