LiannesGuide
I hate cooking, I hate cleaning, I hate Dutch weather, I hate being cold, I hate the mess around the house, I hate living so far away from family, I hate being tired all the time.
That’s me in a nutshell. Also I’m an entrepreneur, have worked too many jobs to list but mostly as a consultant, mostly in digital photography and new media and quite a lot of teaching. I am a mother of 4 little kids (7,6,4,3). I live in a small village 20 min outside of Amsterdam and am Canadian. I am happy to be working again after 3 years at home with the kids. Personal balance is my challenge.
I breastfed my kids. I didn’t know if it would work, if I would like it, how long I would try etc. Then there I was, minutes after birth, with a newborn that seemed to know a lot more about it than I did. It was a strange feeling that over time became almost unnoticeable (except for the copious amounts of water I had to drink) but it sure took some time before I really got the hang of it.
Here is the answers found in my book Babies 0-6 months.
This is pure animal instinct but it does take some time and energy for both you and your baby to find a rhythm… Babies are born with the instinct to latch on and suckle. In fact the only natural reflexes they are born with is crying and sucking. When placed close to your nipple, she will know exactly what to do. You will have to guide your baby’s mouth a bit and make sure that she is latched on properly and abracadabra, out comes a drink. The first days something called colostrum (for some thick and yellow, for others thin and watery) comes out of your nipples which is followed by actual breast milk. The sucking kicks in your hormones and sends a message to produce breast milk. But also know that most images you see in books and on TV make it look like a magical and easy experience but it’s not for many mom’s at first… Magical yes, easy, not always…
Last week our 8 year old son received an invitation to a “real” party given by 3 about to be 10 year old girls in his class. He is in a “combi-class” which means grade 3 and 4 together. It said “formal attire” and was being held on Saturday from 7-10pm.
A late night for our son is 8:30pm.
My friend had texted me about the invite before I saw it - I mean seriously, our 8 year olds going to a real party? I was not impressed. My son didn’t mention anything about it until a couple of days ago. He slapped the invite on the table and said “I want to go”. Oh…
He didn’t mention it again so I figured he’d changed his mind. Then on Saturday morning he brought it up again. I’m going with my friend. Oh…
So I called the friend’s mom and she has agreed to let her almost 8 year old attend as well. The whole class would be there after all. We agreed that 9pm was more than late enough for our kids and she would pick them up. At this point I realized that my husband was not in the know about this. So I called and updated him, confirmed that it was OK.
Fast forward to 18:30. We’ve just eaten. Adam has ketchup all over his face. We suggest he get ready, wash his face, brush his teeth and put something nice on. Formal attire. Right. So I dig out a new super colorful t-shirt which he loves, he finds a nice pair of pants and his best running shoes. Then this happens…
He brushes his hair. Not only that, he used the de-tangling spray that I have to sneak on him in the mornings, never mind brushing it out. He combs it with our new “Knot Genie” ( I will talk about this great thing another time). My husband offers to give him a bit of scent ( I said, really???) which he surprised us by using. A very very little bit.
He and I walked to the party which was just 5 minutes away. We walked passed a house that had lit a fire in the backyard. Adam was not liking that his smell might be replaced by smoke. I had no idea that this could matter to him. He was also concerned that his hair might be messed up by his helmut which is why we walked instead of biked. I also had no idea this mattered to him. I’d given him a phone to call us if he wasn’t having fun. We arrived, music was fantastic (I thought about staying myself), he was offered some kid-champagne, balloons everywhere and off he went. Dancing, hanging out with the guys, playing with the fun straws. I left (after a glass of wine!) feeling somehow proud of my little guy.
My husband and I were going out for drinks and I wanted him to get a peak of this “first” party. Just as he put his head in the door, Adam came out with the phone on his ear, attempting to call us. Oh, we said. Do you want to come home. And he said: I just wanted to call you to tell you how much fun I’m having. Wow, I thought. We are doing something right…
For my husband and I, it was a big moment. For Adam - when we asked him this morning how his “first” party was. He looked at us and said, I go to parties all the time. Meaning, this was just another birthday party.
Lucky for us…
We still have a bit more time…
Imagine this: steam rooms, dry saunas, baths, a huge indoor/outdoor pool, jacuzzis, warm temperatures, water beds for relaxing, color rooms, silent rooms, salt rooms, massages, scrubs, perfect showers and no kids… bliss.
Now imagine this 100% naked with men and women. A lot of them. Still feel relaxing?
Read the rest of this blog post at amotherworld.com http://bit.ly/yVtFWF
Hi folks,
My website is being renewed which is why there is a “broken” picture link on the top of my blog at the moment. It links to my website which is off-line for 24 hours. I decided to change the dynamic of the site. Well actually, to make it more dynamic: with reviews, live blog posts etc. For the sales area, we have changed our back-end to Shopify which should make the purchase area smoother and give more options for affiliates, special offers etc.
So stay tuned!
I consider myself lucky to not have needed a C-Section. I can honestly not imagine what it must be like to not only be overwhelmed by your birthing experience and newborn but to all of sudden not be able to do regular things. So in this case, my answer is from research and not from experience…
Here is the answer from my book Babies 0-6 months
Once you’ve left the hospital you should arrange to have as much help around the house as possible. Move slowly and take it very easy. Have a pillow around to put against your stomach when sneezing or coughing to help with the pain, use one behind your back when sitting. Don’t lift anything heavier than your baby. (Your doctor/midwife will let you know if that is even ok during the first week). You will experience all of the other things that women do with a vaginal birth (such as Lochia, cramping etc.). Some women recover within a few weeks, most take 6-8 weeks for full recovery. Some tips: When you stand up, stretch your arms above your head to un-cramp your stomach muscles. Check your stitches every day to rule out infections. Drink lots of water to help flush out potential infections.
Yesterday my kids all wanted to walk to school – it’s only a five minute walk from our house but we usually bike because as you know, every extra morning minute is like gold – at least in our house. Those actual three minutes saved by biking ensure that all of the kids teeth get brushed or that I get everyone’s hair done, not just the first person I happen to start with.
So off they went, out the back door and towards the path that leads to school. As I finished packing my bag for the day and getting my bike key (which I needed to get to the bus stop after the school drop off), I noticed that they had all left their backpacks on the floor. So I changed my plan of taking the “normal” bike and threw everything into my Bicycle Built for six and sped off after them.
Read the rest of this blog post @ohbabymagazine
Two of my kids had jaundice. My firstborn was diagnosed while we were in the hospital and he wasn’t “too” yellow. The doctors put a light blanket under his sleeper and a couple of days later he was “pink” again. I wasn’t worried, as no one else seemed to be.
My third was a different story…
Read the rest of this post @ohbabymagazine.com
I have just arrived home from two hours of ice-skating. The whole country is frozen which means every waterway is skate-able – and I would dare say that there are more waterways than roads here. Sounds pretty decadent doesn’t it? Drop off the kids, put on my skates, then come home and get some work done. But let me tell you, I wasn’t alone on the ice…
The Dutch don’t think twice about not going to work because there is ice to skate on or it’s a hot sunny day.
Is it decadent? Or is it part of the reason that the Dutch, in general, are more balanced – and therefore happier -than North Americans?
Read the rest of this blog @amotherworld.com
One of the first great advantages of having all of my kids at school occurred during this last week: Skating.
The tiny country of Holland froze completely, every water way, canal, pond, creek, lake – totally and completely frozen, which meant – skating, skating and more skating. And when I say skating – I mean on those long skates that you can speed with. There is more water than road here so hundreds of kilometers of skate-able ice. Bliss. I love to skate.
To see the rest of the blog have a look at OhBabyMagazine.com
Despite the amount of reading I did about being pregnant and what to expect - I neglected to spend time reading about how I would feel those first few weeks.
The after-pains were one of those things…
Here is the answer from my book. It’s part of the chapter called Mom: The First Weeks.
You thought you were done with contractions once they baby was delivered. Well…. These after-pains, which to me, felt like contractions, are in fact very important. It’s your womb that is contracting, shrinking back to its normal size. Breastfeeding can stimulate this process due to the oxytocin that is produced when breastfeeding. They also say that the faster the delivery and the more kids you have, the stronger these after pains will be. This was true for me… They usually go away within a week and are not constant.
