6: The number of weeks old Celia is now.
3: The number of dinners out I’ve eaten since Celia was born, the furthest away of which was less than a mile from my house, in Clerkenwell (Bistro Bruno Loubet, if you must know, and yes, the boudin blanc is still delish and the time limit on tables seems to have disappeared).
Jon and I are lucky to have babysitting right now. Unfortunately, it turns out that even with babysitting readily available, it takes a lot of effort to go out to dinner because (a) we’re pretty tired; and (b) it seems that feeding the baby isn’t easily done without yours truly if you’re following all the medical and social “recommendations” to breastfeed.
You’d think that, being well educated and generally confident, I’d find it easy to do what I want to do. But like most new mothers, I’ve been tying my sanity and quality of life to the “goal” of breastfeeding Celia. Although the food scene is the last thing on my mind right now, I’m still constantly thinking about food — Celia’s.
Here are several now-obvious things about feeding Celia that I hadn’t realized before bringing her home from the hospital:
- She eats little but often. Whether you’re giving her the boob or the bottle, someone’s got to be up and feeding her, say, every three hours around the clock. Subtract out the feeding time from this 3-hour period, and you’re looking at maybe 1.5 hours to yourself, max. During this 1.5 -hour period, you’re supposed to do things like sleep and feed yourself. Good luck.
- Giving her the boob is incredibly tedious. Is there such a thing as hands-free Internet? Because watching TV or listening to audiobooks or radio isn’t my thing.
- Giving her the boob hurts. As another new mum said to me this week, babies are practically feral when they’re eating. Now picture this ravenous little animal on your boob for 30 minutes at a time, 8 times a day. (It sucks. Ha ha).
I’ve got Celia on a mix of boob and formula now. The formula gives me a lot more freedom to get out of the house, mostly because I couldn’t get the hang of busting out a boob when out and about. (Even at “baby-friendly” places like John Lewis, which have a dedicated space for nursing mums, the nursing room is depressing and unpleasant).
I hear that breastfeeding works great for a lot of women, but for me, not so much. Don’t ask me why I haven’t given up the breastfeeding altogether, though. I guess all the medical and social pressure to breastfeed worked me over more thoroughly than I suspected.
I take Celia out with me for lunches these days, but not for dinners, and lunch tends to be within a 1/2-mile radius of home and at places you wouldn’t consider a destination. I’m trending towards creating a lunch-only restaurant blog, but wondering if that’s worth the time and energy, both of which are in desperately short supply these days.
I do love my blog and hate to see it go, hence the dilemma. The traveling-with-baby blog idea sounds fun except that even the most ambitious travel-loving parents I know will travel only every two or three months. I’d be short on content, I reckon.
Long story short: I’m still figuring out what to do with this blog. It’s just one of the many parts of my life I’m trying to adjust post-baby. Thanks to everyone who’s still with me.
As a new mother, your little one should come first and you shouldn’t feel any pressure to write. I look forward to seeing your articles pop up every now and then in my RSS feeds!
Don’t feel stressed over your blog. Will still be happily waiting to read about your happennings even if it is infrequent. Sleep and your well being and Celia and Jon’s are the most important. =)
It will be a sad day if you stop blogging, as I always look forward to reading them, but I can appreciate how hard it must be with Celia (so many of my friends are struggling to balance their infants and their lives!). There is nothing wrong with going on hiatus, but ruling out something you do so well completely would genuinely make me sad.
Ditto, don’t put pressure on yourself and don’t think about your blog as something you need to revisit regularly! Keep it for you, and your blogosphere fans will follow!
Hello, I had a blog too, then along came our son, and as he grows, my blog withers. It takes a lot of time and energy to maintain a blog let alone having the material to write about. I just found, that like you I was too tired and that the opportunities to eat out were becoming fewer and fewer. I also think that your priorities change, and I found that I just didn’t have the words to describe meals that I had. We now mainly have lunches and tend to find most of our opportunities occur on holiday, but as you might already know, eating out with a little one can be quite stressful and not as much fun as it used to be. You are not alone. It is sad but maybe your blog might evolve into something else that reflects any new passions.
take your time. your blog is for you, not for us. it would be lovely if you could pop up every so often to tell us where you’re eating, but don’t even worry about us otherwise!
Why not get a nursing cover? I used it while breastfeeding my son as I’m not comfortable with the breast exposure either. I have the Bebe au Lait nursing cover, and it’s *amazing*. I’ve traveled all over Europe with it, and always got asked and complimented by other moms 🙂 http://shop.bebeaulait.com/originals Looks like they are stores in London that sell them.
Hello! I’ve been a reader of your blog for a long time, but have never commented. Just wanted to say a) Congratulations! and b) from a complete stranger in South Africa, that it would indeed be very sad if you stopped writing. I agree with some of the earlier comments – take a hiatus, but please don’t stop!
It must be really difficult – the best thing to do is relax and see what happens I would think. But then, I don’t really know, just second hand info from friends. Once that first year is gone, it seems things get easier.
I only just came across this post so my comments are coming a little late…. I have a 9 month old and started a blog a few months ago. I don’t post as often as I’d like to, and I don’t eat out as much as I’d like to, but I have a whole lot more time than I did 6 months ago. So just to reassure you, it does get easier and you will find time to blog again soon! My blog has a lot of lunches/baby friendly places, though increasingly we have the energy to get a babysitter and head out for dinner. Hope feeding has got faster!
Hello there from across the pond! My husband and I are thinking of moving to London (from NYC) and in my searches I stumbled upon your lovely blog. We have a 16 month old and I still struggle for time to myself. That said it is a whole world of difference from the era of 3-hour feedings and life seems to be getting back to normal. I sincerely hope you resume your blog in some form when life allows. It was a pleasure to discover it…