I thought the whole point of a lactation consultant was to help new moms be more confident by giving them knowlege and reassurance?

Well, yeah. That's what I thought too. I'm sure mine was trying to help but it was the definite low point of my entire new mom experience. I went in sounding exactly like Cash - things are going great, but I'll just see if there's anything I'm missing. I ended up sitting in a really uncomfortable chair for over an hour with one boob hooked up to a pump and the LC "massaging" my other boob while Joe tried to keep Ellie awake while I held her to get her to nurse on the other side. When that didn't work, out came the nipple shield and when that didn't work, the LC got out this syringe with a little tube to squirt milk in Ellie's mouth. I just left feeling like if I didn't get her to nurse on that one side soon, she would be in trouble. I was took exhausted to think clearly and too new as a mom to have much confidence in myself or my judgment/opinions. I thought we had been doing fine but the LC scared me. It was by far the most overwhelmed I felt.

Of course, then I got home and talked to my mom and my doula, both of whom said I was doing great and the baby is doing great. And Ellie did fine - within 24 hours she was nursing like a champ although we never did get that right boob to work right.

My mother and sisters didn't breast feed so I went to the local La Leche League meetings when I was preggers. They were a great group of women that took away all my concerns. I am the lazy mother. I never owned bottles. The boys went from breast to sippy cup. They grew just fine.

I just got a call from the Customs & Border Patrol General Counsel's Office and they want to interview me tomorrow.

I am freaking out just a little bit. I would love to do more with my law degree than just critique Veronica Mars but I am a little scared about the whole having a real job and being a real lawyer thing. And I haven't even thought about Ellie.

Cashmere, I am glad you and Olivia are doing well. I hope the jaundice goes away soon. How is Owen reacting to his new baby sister?

The boys went from breast to sippy cup. They grew just fine.

No doubt about that, wee scrawny things that they are.

Stephanie, for a lawyer, working for the government is a lifestyle choice. You wouldn't be making private sector money. I've been with the government 17 years -- and some of the big private sector firms in DC pay their associates more than the government pays me. OTOH, you also wouldn't be working private sector hours. (Note: The previous sentence may not always apply if you're a litigator.)

Many attorneys around here (of both genders) take substantial time off for child care duties. Several work fewer than five days a week to devote more attention to their kids. A close friend of mine reworked her schedule so she could run a geography bee for her son's class.

Being law enforcement, CBP may have a very different culture. But my experience has been that government attorneys give up pay for free time.

Stephanie, good luck with the CBP. Getting a real job as a lawyer does not mean you have to stop the Veronica Mars critique at all -- never stopped me!

We have someone coming in today to interview with us. Poor sucker! We have another candidate tomorrow. No one gave them any directions of how to get here from the hotel. I guess it's the first test of how smart they are.

Stephanie, your LC sounds like a bad penny. They shouldn't leave you scared and nervous! Bad LC! No biscuit!

The one at the hospital was pretty soothing-but-no-nonsense. She gave me latch tips, some shields as a last resort in case the flat nip refused to play nice, and the caution that there'd be some discomfort on that side until it was nursed on enough to no longer be flat.

The pede and the home visit nurse (the county offers them as a public health service) both assured me that as long as the yellow was confined to her face, there was no need to worry about her jaundice, but we did take her out in the sun for a couple of minutes each day until it cleared completely.

Stephanie, good luck with whatever you decide to do.

My lactation consultant was teh AWESOME. I was really lucky. The NICU nurse told me that the reason Em was sick was becaus I wasn't producing enough milk and not nursing properly. Terry (my LC) heard that, came into my room, dropped my gown, grabbed my boob and squirted the wall 6 feet away from me. Then did the same with my other boob.

"Dehydrated my ass. They use that word so much, it's lost all meaning. I'll go tell them a thing or two."

She made me feel so much better. Nothing worse (to me, at the time) than someone telling me my baby was hooked up to all that equipment and sick because of ME.