A Case of the Runs

***The title of this post says it all, so feel free to move along if you don't care to read about this topic... As I mentioned in my previous " Top Gear " post, if there was anything about being a new mom that I was not prepared for, it was breastfeeding.  I mean, I had read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Le Leche League and bits and pieces from other books.  I also went through Medela's online " course " (which isn't free but I had a free code come through my e-mail) and watched videos on YouTube. Still, once the baby got here, nothing went as planned.  Without going into too many details, all the drugs from the birth interfered with things, and we had to rush Baby Tuesday to the pediatrician only to get sent to the lactation consultant.  I always wondered why in the heck you'd need consultants for something that seemed so easy, but now I know.  Otherwise, there is the Internet, and I found Kellymom.com to be a wonderful resource. Anywa

I thought I should follow up my Top Gear: Pregnancy Edition with some of my postpartum recommendations. I'll try not to turn this into a "everything is going to be horrible and you'll have stuff coming out from everywhere" post, though inevitably, some of that kind of stuff will be mentioned.  Postpartum (the first three months or so, in my mind) is such a sensitive time, and as someone who is still there, I think any useful tips from someone who has "been there" are helpful.  Thinking back to that time period definitely brings back some... feelings.  I was in pain, exhausted, and in teary awe that there had been such a delightful little guy in me all those months.  But mostly, I felt (and still feel) like I was way in over my head in thinking that I could be someone's mother and that I have no idea how to take good care of another human being.   For the items below, note that I had a Cesarean section, so this list might be different for those who d

EVENT: Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5K DATE: Sunday, March 1, 2015 LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA RACE BEGAN: 08:00 am FINISH TIME: 1:03:50 This was nearly a DNS/DNF (did not start/did not finish) for me, which would have been a first! As I've mentioned in a previous post, I am trying to collect all 12 of the Chinese zodiac medals from this race.  So far, I have: - the horse (2013) - the snake (2012) - the dragon (2011) And now... ... the ram (the medal doubled in size this year, but darn my photography for not capturing that well)! So that means "only" 8 more. I registered for this race a couple of months before Baby Tuesday was born, planning to either wear him in a carrier or use a stroller.  Well, we haven't quite gotten the hang out babywearing, so the stroller it was.  The decision to actually show up to this race was a last-minute one.  It was predicted to be a rainy weekend, and I had been running a low-grade fever