Birthday Giveaway!!!

Today is the big 3-0!!! Happy Birthday to me!

30 on the 30th deserves something special so let's celebrate with my first ever GIVEAWAY...and a bribe for you to help me get more followers. =)

I've put together a TTC survival kit. These are just a few items I found helpful when I was TTC and now that I have a baby, I don't want you to think I've forgotten about all of those that are still on the journey to baby.

In the "kit"...we have 40 ovulation sticks, 10 pregnancy tests, a Thats 2 Darn Cute Chance Bracelet, "lucky" fertility socks to wear while you're in the stirrups, miscellaneous treats to get you through the hormonal munchies, an ice pack for those enduring injections, and The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy to help keep you positive (and it is just a hilarious book.)

Here's how to enter: (up to 5 entries can be made. Must have 1 comment per entry)

• EASIEST ENTRY: Leave a comment to this post with your email address. That's it...just your email address. (1 entry)

• Follow me!!! Leave a comment telling me you're a new follower so I can return the favor. If you're already a follower, leave me a comment telling me so (then I can make sure I'm following you as well.) (1 entry)

• Tweet:   I entered @misdconception 's "Birthday Giveaway" at http://tinyurl.com/3hzlzje . Let's get her 100 followers and more!   Leave me a comment that you tweeted for 1 more entry.

• Finally, receive additional entries by posting about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook. Please leave a comment for each social networking platform you share this post on. (up to 2 entries)

• Deadline to enter is Midnight PT on Monday, June 6th.

• Winner will be notified via email so if you don't leave your email address, I can't notify you.

All items were paid for by me --This is my gift to you! =)

100!!!

Today marks 20 days until my 30th birthday. This year is my "golden" birthday...I'll be 30 on the 30th!!! I guess that's supposed to be the silver lining to turning 30. LOL I'm really not that bummed about turning 30. It's huge milestone. My "goal" was to be a mom by the time I turned 30, and thankfully, I accomplished it...by just three months. Heck, I'll take it!!!

In other news, I've decided that I need 100 followers. I'm working on a TTC giveaway as we speak to bribe people to follow and pimp me out. So work with me to get me 100 followers by the 30th and for my birthday, I will do a giveaway. This will be my first giveaway and I'm super excited.

Here's a picture of my miracle on my first Mother's Day.

Decked out in his Mom onesie

Me and my little man right before bedtime

White Flag

I give up! I surrender! I'm done... No more pumping for me.

I can't believe I'm finally giving in. If someone would've told me breastfeeding/pumping would be as hard as it is and that I would still have such a difficult time stopping, I'd tell them they were crazy. Who would go through all I have and still want to continue!?!

In my last post, I had rented the fancy schmancy hospital grade pump and was giving it two weeks. Those two weeks ended last Friday. My supply had increased but not by much and I wasn't pumping enough to keep up with Gavin's needs. I was still supplementing at least half with formula. In addition, during those two weeks, he had a growth spurt and went from eating four ounces each bottle, to six ounces. I couldn't even keep up with the four ounces!

I finally decided I was done fighting. I was sick of trying to make this work. My child is thriving, he is at a healthy weight (12lb 13.5oz at two months) and meeting all the milestones for his age. There's no reason I should feel guilty. HA! Apparently guilt is just a part of parenthood. I prayed for it to be easier for me, I hoped that this amazing breast pump would be the answer and I wished for this to work...but it didn't.

Because I've stopped pumping, I now have some more clogged ducts. And guess what? I have mastitis AGAIN!!! It not as bad as last time, thank God! I haven't had a fever and the pain has been bearable. It only gets worse when I pump, go figure.

***Update: I went to the doctor today to get antibiotics for the mastitis before it turns into the hell it was the first time. Turns out, I don't have mastitis after all. My only symptom is puss coming out of my nipple when I pump (tmi?) I had this when I had mastitis back in March so I assumed it was the same thing even though I wasn't having the miserable fever and pain. The doctor I saw is really concerned about the puss. Apparently, puss is an early sign of breast cancer. Whoa!!! I don't actually think I have breast cancer but they're taking it very serious. I have a referral in with the surgeon. He'll probably do an ultrasound to see if he can find the culprit of the infection. Crazy that I'm finally done with the whole pumping thing and the drama continues.***

So after my initial goal of six weeks of breastfeeding/pumping, I've made it nine weeks, used two different pumps, four different sized flanges, lost at least two hours of sleep each night to pump, endured multiple clogged ducts, two rounds of mastitis (one requiring four days of IV antibiotics!), an allergic reaction to lanolin, a mild case of thrush, guilt beyond belief, 180 Fenugreek capsules, six ounces of liquid Motherlove More Milk Plus along with 80 capsules, 80 capsules of Goat's Rue, and 80 bags of Mother's Milk tea. I think I've given it my all.

I can close this chapter of motherhood, right? I shouldn't feel guilty, right?

I'll leave you with G's two month pics that I took this week... These were taken the day after his two month shots. I think he's quite a trooper.

Happy boy!

Cracks me up!!!

See one month pics at the bottom of this post.