Bonjour Montreal!

Inspired by my sister-in-law, Jennifer, who goes away two weeks a year without my brother or their four children, I decided to celebrate Zoe weaning herself by going to Montreal with my friend Amanda. Anyone who knows what a challenge it was (for me and Zoe) to breastfeed will agree that I definitely deserved this trip. (If there is a 1P mom reading this and you want tips on breastfeeding your child, please feel free to ask. I did not find any helpful literature and I had only met one other mom who was able to breastfeed her 1P36 child and she reported that her child nursed much like her other children and therefore did not have the issues that Zoe did with feeding).

This was the first time I was ever away from Zoe for more than ten hours. I wasn't sure if I was going to break down crying, but I have to say I ended up having an awesome time. It was so nice to walk around the city with just a tiny purse and be able to do whatever I wanted. Amanda (being the great friend that she is) was up for anything so we just did a lot of walking around since it was such a gorgeous weekend. I did think of Zoe a lot during the weekend (especially when we got completely lost in the woods and I wondered if we would ever find our way out so I could see my baby again!), but I was able to enjoy my time away. Although I felt just as tired physically when I returned, I felt renewed mentally. I think in a lot of ways, Gavin and I are both so fatigued emotionally/mentally more than physically. (Although we are pretty tired physically too these days!) Our trip to Boston for the 1P36 conference was wonderful, but there is an emotional piece to seeing the other kids too. It is wonderful to see how well some of the kids are doing but it can be tough to be reminded about how far we have to go and what Zoe's future may be like. It was great to see everyone though, and as soon as we finish going through the pictures, we are going to post of few on the blog. 1P36 families are sharing pictures on the listserve as well.