So, with a heavy heart (and chest!) I have started to wean pops off breastfeeding because I return to work at gurgle in two weeks. Although I am looking forward to returning to work, the thought of leaving my lovely smiley, delightful baby and cheeky toddler is breaking my heart. i'm sure you'll see more blog entries about how i'm coping soon enough...
All my books suggest weaning off the breast slowly and cutting out one feed per day over several weeks. Well, because of Pops being ill and me taking the girls away to see my two friends with kids, I kept on breastfeeding. On long car journeys or staying at other people's houses breastfeeding is definitely easier. This means with only a couple of weeks to go I am cutting out daytime feeds and feeding Pops in the morning and in the evening. This is by far the most painful method for me as my breasts are completely engorged and I almost cried earlier when Pops accidentally punched my chest. It's also probably the most traumatic method for Pops as she can't understand where her beloved 'champagne' has gone all of a sudden. I have pumped and dumped to take the edge of the pain and have stopped sleeping on my stomach, but tonight, after a day of non-feeding and after sitting through a committee meeting at my daughter's nursery in pain, I gave in and fed Pops. Ahhhh the relief! I can now type without fearing that the vibrations of my elbows will knock my chest! I've had mastitis once before when I was breastfeeding The Bean, so i'm obviously reluctant to revisit that painful episode again. When I gave up breastfeeding before it was after a year or so, and I was only feeding The Bean twice a day. This is different, I was feeding Pops pretty regularly so it's so much harder.
The upshot is that if I manage to wean her off breastfeeding before Christmas, it will mean I can have a drink (or two). It's been so long since i've had a Christmas where I haven't been either pregnant or breastfeeding that i'm excited just looking at bottle of Baileys. D is actually silently sighing as he reads this over my shoulder, as he knows he'll have to deal with a wife who has the alcohol tolerance of a sixteen year-old. (All those years building up an ability to drink my husband under the table have been quashed by three years of sobriety!) D has just informed me that he is disappointed to be losing his taxi too!
So, I survived a long haul flight with a toddler and a six month old baby! It was actually much better than I thought it would be. The Bean was so excited to be allowed to watch limitless TV and Pops was exhausted so she slept. I managed to watch the Sex And The City movie which I hadn't seen yet, so that was a huge bonus. We flew on BA and had the seats at the front. I thought it was great that they brought us what looks like a car seat (but you can have a bassinet for younger babies) which attaches to a table that folds down in front of us (we were in economy). Pops was very happy in it and it enabled me to have my hands free and eat some food. The Bean is now pretty much potty trained (I say this with my fingers crossed) and did the flight without pull-ups on, just grown up pants! I was also really worried about what I could take on the plane in terms of baby milk, baby food and liquids - well the answer is nothing! They took all my baby food etc from me at passport control, but I was able to buy it in Boots once we got through check-in and passport control. For anyone worrying about this, Boots at Heathrow Terminal 5 stocks loads of baby milk and food for you to take on board your flight.
We hired a car and took the kids baby seats with us. In retrospect this was a great idea, it saved loads of money not hiring American baby seats and we knew ours were safe and new! Hiring a car was a good idea too as we stayed in Brooklyn and drove into Manhattan most days. How refreshing to drive into a city without congestion charges and where it is pretty reasonably priced to park. We found somewhere that was ten dollars a day!
We travelled to New York, and once we were there I was really worried about how jet lag would affect the kids, but they were both fine. They slept in the car from the airport to Brooklyn so were able to stay up longer usual. New York was great with kids, lots of child-friendly cafes and restaurants. I've previously been to New York for work, or with D on a weekend break, so seeing New York though the eyes of my kids was great. We visited an amazing park within Central Park for kids and went to a Brooklyn toddler's music group with The Bean. We stayed in Brooklyn with friends which was lovely, very family-orientated and the Brooklyn Children's Museum was well worth a visit - they have a mini New York Deli with tiny trolleys and fake (but very realistic food) for kids to put in their trolleys. We saw 'The lady with her hand up called Liberty', as The Bean described her, and 'the buildings that touch the sky'. It has made me realise that is is possible to fly long haul flights with two children and feel fairly relaxed! I felt really proud of my kids for behaving well and dealing with things like jet lag, staying in strange bedrooms and letting me have a few glasses of wine in the evenings!