Dear Plan-Making Mama,
Before we became mamas, we had these things called 'plans.' I've learned through the years that the Lord usually gets a good chuckle when He hears them and that plans rarely go as planned. For some reason in my naiveté, I thought my plans would suddenly start working perfectly since I planned them for my child.
I bet you've made some plans of your own. If you're like me, the minute you insisted on seeing the baby's gender at 20 weeks (or for some of you, sooner), you've been making plans. You already had established a plan for what you would and wouldn't eat while growing a human. You began researching and putting together your "birthing plan," and you more than likely planned how cute your baby's nursery would be and added a few coats of paint to the walls.
In addition to those plans, I also decided to throw in two more:
Breastfeeding and cloth diapering (cloth diapering is pretty ok).
Breastfeeding was going decent, though I was aware my child wasn't gaining weight as rapidly as his buddies. But still, I continued on with my plan--after all, my plan was to BF for six months and then add solid food and continue BFing for a year, and by-golly, I was sticking to it!
Plan-Making Mama, be careful. You might think your plan is awesome, but be careful. With my plan-blinders on, I continued nursing exclusively. When my son's weight was below average at his four month check up, I plowed on, vowing to add in some pumping and nurse more frequently in order to help pack on some pounds and ounces.
Unfortunately, my plan didn't work. My boy became increasingly more irritable which I thought was just teething pain and tummy pain--as it turns out, he wasn't getting enough calories in the day. The recent night-waking I attributed to teething, was actually cries for calories.
Plan-Making Mama, my heart hurts. I thought my plans were the best, but they were not. My sweet boy has been getting supplemental formula for a week now and has gotten so much happier. While this wasn't the way I had planned things, I am confident it IS what is best for my baby.
Plan-Making Mama, don't be afraid (or too stubborn) to change your plan. After all, plans rarely go as planned. Remember that two hour nap you had planned for your baby to take this afternoon? See what I mean?
Have you had any failed plans, Plan-Making Mama?
Love,
Mary
