Doing it differently: an update

About three months ago I posted about my intention to do things differently with my second baby. We're now eight weeks in to his little life; how have my intentions fared?

First off, my independent midwife has now discharged me from her care. You know, I can't stress enough how fantastic it was to have one on one care for my entire pregnancy, labour and postnatal recovery. She was wonderful throughout: super-informed, unhurried, reliable and unflappable. Any questions I had, she could give me an instant evidence-based answer. Like when I asked what if my waters broke with meconium in, like first time round - she explained the different types of meconium and that it didn't need to lead to an induction, and what my options would be. And she also casually mentioned that she's never had a client be induced, which was music to my ears (especially considering the proportion of people I know who've been induced!). My IM was worth twice the money she charged. It's a travesty that IMs are under threat of not being able to practise legally (sign the petition to get the government to find a workable solution!).

My home birth... well, it was everything I could have hoped for. Peaceful, private, almost magical. Husband and son in the pool with me; no painful mid-labour drive over a million speed bumps to hospital. Tucked up in our bed ten minutes after getting out of the pool. And no bloody Bounty rep forcing a pack of tat on me (most importantly!).

Breastfeeding is going swimmingly this time round. I don't know if it's because I've been feeding Fred all the way through pregnancy, but all the plumbing seems to be perfectly in order - so much so that Arthur has snacked his way from 7lb13 at birth to a whopping 12lb3 at 6 weeks (from 50th centile to 75th) without dropping any weight. I am pretty proud of my bountiful bosom.  It did hurt at first, as it did first time round, but I was pain free by about week 3, and have been feeding on demand all the way through.

Saying that, I did discover the downside of choosing not to wean Fred, soon after Arthur's birth. He had a bit of a "regression", manifesting itself in a few minor potty accidents, no big deal, and an absolutely rabid obsession with my boobs, very big deal. I hated tandem nursing. I hated the constant feeling that my body wasn't my own, the pawing at my chest, the i.n.c.e.s.s.a.n.t whining. I hated that it made me feel more protective towards my innocent little newborn and more like I wanted to swat Fred away.  No amount of explanation, distraction, attempt to reason or limit worked, not even bribery - Fred was possessed by his right to have boob, 24 hours a day. It was awful. In the end I had to night wean him (again!) purely so I could continue to breastfeed him during the day without resentment. Night weaning was actually pretty painless (I explained it as no booby when it's dark outside and he took it OK) and I think it was night 4 of the process that he started sleeping through again.

My mum tries her hand at EC

Mixed results on the nappying front. We cloth nappied for the first two weeks before we moved back into our washing machine-less building site of a house from the neighbours, and are using disposables now. (We'll move back to cloth once our laundry facility is installed in a couple of weeks). ECing is a success though: even by week 2 it was well under way. Arthur (helpfully) hates the sensation of needing a wee, so it's been easy to pop his nappy off and stick him on a potty if he's fussy but not hungry or tired. Probably eight times out of 10 he'll oblige with a wee, although we do have our fair share of wet and dirty nappies too. It's been actually quite amazing to see such clear communication from him and to be able to help him. One time, we were out and about when he started fussing, so I told him we'd have to wait till we got home in about ten minutes - and he did! But my greatest moment to date was the night I put him in a new nappy at 9pm, caught wees at midnight and 2am, and he was still dry at 5am. Woo!