We get to church around 8:30 or 9 because husband has taken on the role of children's pastor. Sometimes Will has fallen asleep in the car on the way so I sit in the car with him. If he hasn't fallen asleep, I either go in and try to get him to sleep or sit in the car and try to get him to sleep; we usually have better luck in the car. He and I might sit in the car for an hour or we might sit in the car for 2 hours.
When Will wakes up, it's usually time to nurse him. I then have two choices, nurse him in the car, or go inside to nurse him in a vacant office with the lights out because someone took down the paper that was taped on the window, in a chair that's only a step up from metal-folding, while I pray that no one walks in on us. Either way I'm usually missing the service by now. I then change his diaper on a desk.
After that's taken care of, most of the time service has been going on for at least 30 minutes. I can now go into the service late (not really a big deal), and if Will had a good nap we might be able to stay till the end. That doesn't typically happen. Instead of going in late and leaving early I often opt to stay outside the sanctuary where there are comfortable chairs and I can sometimes get Will to take another nap. However, sitting in a comfortable chair means not being able to watch the service on the screens at the other end of the building. I can sometimes (rarely) hear little snippets of the service while sitting there, that is if there's not too many people wandering around, talking loudly, and commenting on how cute my baby is. Really, what are all these people doing wandering the halls during service?
When the service is over, Will is often asleep in my arms which have now fallen asleep themselves, so we sit and wait for Shawn to complete his duties so we can leave.
So bascially, instead of being able to enjoy church like I should, my Sunday is filled with waiting, uncomfortable waiting. I guess that's more exemplative of a Christian's time on earth than an organized church service. I kid, I kid. But no, really.
Is a room with a comfortable chair, where I can watch or hear the service too much to ask? Does your church have a nursing mothers' room?
(we have now been in the car for 1 hour, 20 minutes)
I so understand your fustration, I went through this with mine when they were little. The nursery was not an option for me when they were small either. I have noticed that at our church many moms have their little ones with them in service, awake or not, and I actually like this, mom and dad take turns holding him or they bring there stroller in. I did use the stroller a lot in church with Colby and then he could sleep in his carrier and I did not have to wake him, the feeding part is a hard one though, also another way to maybe approach it is not attending church right now, could you attend the kids church with Shawn and little man being awake would not be as big of a deal, then you guys are still together and amazing how much you can learn and grow even in that service. Our kids church leader had a baby 8 months ago and she has never left her side, she keeps her asleep in side office during her nap and when she is awake she is with us and not a distraction at all. Just maybe thinking out of the box for awhile, as a mama it seems we have to constanly do that in many situations.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to say that our church is working on getting a room for nursing moms :)
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