No Crawling and Boobing!

An oft repeated refrain in our household these days is "No crawling and boobing!" Mia, no longer content to just lie in my arms or lie on the bed as we nurse, is constantly churning her arms and legs. She will try to roll over while the boob is in her mouth. She will try to stand up while the boob is in her mouth. She will turn her head and try to look at something behind her - while the boob is still in her mouth and she is holding on to it with teeth! Gone are the long, leisurely boob sessions as she gazed lovingly into my eyes. The urge to move is too strong.

She has recently taken a renewed interest in the boob. She doesn't nurse for long, but she wants a quick sip more frequently. At the grocery store yesterday she insisted on being nursed as I walked around. I was carrying her in the Ergo. I've never been able to nurse her in the Ergo the way that they suggest, but I have a sideways method that I use. Of course she didn't just latch on and stay there concealing my breast with her head. She would latch on, take a few gulps, yank her head back, look around then go back to the boob. So, a lot of H.E.B customers got to see my nipple.

A few months ago I was eating brunch with Tom and a couple of his friends at Enoteca. I was explaining that I had stopped using the hooter hider because half of Austin had seen my boobs anyway. I was referring to incidents like the one above but apparently the guy thought that I had previously been a stripper and raised his eyebrow at Tom. I have become so inured to boob talk that I hardly think twice about discussing my boobs with anyone. I have to remind myself that not everyone is as comfortable with my boobs as I am.

And speaking of body parts...

About a week after my period I started bleeding a little bit. I didn't think much of it since my periods have been weird since I got the Mirena IUD. After a couple of days of this I decided that I should investigate. I discovered that instead of the usual threads sticking out of my cervix I felt what I thought was the hard tip of my Mirena. I told Tom and he didn't believe me. He's been complaining since the beginning that the strings did not soften as promised and felt like fishing wire. What would have been a sexy game of doctor became decidedly not sexy when he too felt more than just strings. I then rushed to the Internet to read story after story about perforated uteri.

The next day I went in to see my nurse practitioner. She immediately confirmed it was indeed sticking out of my cervix and would have to come out. "Can't you just push it back in?" I wailed.

No, she could not.

I declined to have another one inserted.

I wanted to tell this story for the benefit of anyone considering getting the Mirena. On one hand, never having to think about birth control was awesome. And had it lasted longer, I wouldn't have minded shelling out $600 for it. As it was, I had it in for less than six months before it started to fall out. It would be an understatement to say that I am irritated about that. I might consider getting it again if insurance paid for it but there's no way I'm shelling out another $600 for one. If anyone has any questions about my experience with it, I'd be happy to answer them.