Cuteness!

Tonight's Dinner

D worked late tonight so I was on my own for dinner.  L has been really great the last two days.  Great as in cute and amazing as always, but also great as in I can calm his fussing--its been pretty limited to hungry, dirty diaper, hold me.  When I sat down to eat L began to cry in his bouncer--hold me!  So he sat on my lap instead.  I'm not very good at eating one handed while bouncing a baby, though I've gotten increasingly better at doing many things one handed (like typing blog posts!).  Inevitably I dropped food during the meal, but I didn't have to pick up my little food droppings....thank you puppies!

Rude Comments

While out running errands we stopped at Lowes to get some rat traps...yes rat, not mouse.  I was wearing L in the babyhawk, he had been such a great little guy and was napping at the time.  One of the workers came up and ogled over his cuteness saying "he's such a doll baby!" in the universal high pitched I'm admiring a baby tone.  Without a change in her tone she followed that with, "and you're bringing him into this germ infested place, shame on you!"  Then she continued with saying he was cute and walked away, all the while smiling.

This was the first rude comment I had received in regards to L.  I knew it would come, but I didn't expect to be so shocked that I couldn't respond in the way I wanted to.  What I don't get is why she "shamed" me in that tone and while smiling!  Very strange.

Well I'm proud that I feel comfortable and am able to take L out, especially while wearing him....and a big middle finger to those with their judgements!

BTW we did catch a rat in the garage, so the trip to Lowes was worth it.  D handled this project and I never had to see it (those traps are so barbaric), though while writing this post I think I heard another one scurrying around, time to reset the trap...

Love...

This song reminds me of our wedding....the original was our first dance song.

Got Milk?

Officially started my milk stash and am super proud of the over 2 oz sitting in my freezer!  My goal is to continue to exclusively breastfeed once returning to work.  This means I will be pumping to build up a supply for daycare.  The hope is that the freezer stash is for emergencies and that each day at work I will be able to pump enough for the next day.....really wishing we got 1 year maternity leave like some other countries.  We are not very supportive of nursing here, and so many women quit because of all the barriers.  Breastfeeding is so simply, but not easy!

Not only is maintaining a supply after returning to work difficult or at least a pain in the a**, but the beginning can be tremendously hard.  Breast pain, engorgement, late supply, low supply, no supply, over supply, foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, baby food allergies or sensitivities, baby wont/can't latch, infections (mastitis, thrush), injuries (cracks, blisters), nursing in public criticism, criticism in general, nursing wear issues....the list goes on.

I was lucky, L latched on right away.  We did skin to skin shortly after his birth, and he found the nipple and knew what to do.  But thats where my luck ended.  I have sensitive skin, L has a strong suck (probably most babies do, but I have justify the pain with his being extraordinarily strong), and my nipples were mangled by the time we left the hospital (despite a good latch).  Because of my birth (traumatic and a topic for another time), my milk took about 5 days to come in (usually it's 2-3 days).  Poor L was getting dehydrated on just the colostrum and lost more then the usual amount of weight.  The pediatrician recommend 1 oz of formula after breastfeeding till my milk came in, his words, "we don't want him to dry out too much".  Fortunately I only had to do it for one day (wish I had just waited), my milk came in the next day.  

So my milk was in, things started to improve pain wise, then thrush came.  I had a feeling we would deal with this since I had a lot of the "rick factors" (traumatic birth, nipple injuries, antibiotics (during birth and after), anemia after the birth, taking allergy meds).  To try to prevent this I took probiotics, but it didn't work.  Thrush is pure EVIL, it's not dangerous necessarily, and doesn't bother L.  It does however cause breastfeeding to be excruciating for me.  To make matters worse, it can be very difficult to get rid of, and yes of course ours is difficult to get rid of.  We tried the natural methods, and even some Rx, to no avail.  It's taking a combination of strong Rx and natural stuff to get rid of it....and we are still battling it today, though it's better because of all this info.  I keep saying to D, "having a newborn/breastfeeding/sleep deprivation wouldn't be so hard if it wasn't for this thrush!".  Being in pain almost constantly, and dreading feeding my precious little boy is not fun.  And I have gotten quite a few comments like "just use formula, stop breastfeeding, take a break for a few days".  I am absolutely determined to continue to exclusively breastfeed, and I don't see pain that will get better as a reason to stop.  The best advice that has kept me going, don't quit on a bad day.

L also has a sensitive stomach and we realized that cutting out dairy from my diet helps a lot.  Some babies have a milk protein sensitivity.  This means that when a breast feeding mom eats dairy, the type of protein that gets passed through the breast milk bothers the baby, symptoms can be mild to severe.  L's symptoms were not severe, he was gaining weight nicely, no blood in his poop, no rashes.....but they were bothersome.  We saw improvement pretty quickly once I cut out dairy. 

Now avoiding dairy is much more difficult then one would initially think.  I've come to the conclusion that processed foods are disgusting (but I still indulge in some chex mix and fast food).  Basically there's way too much crap in them that you don't need to make the product. Going dairy free means I can't eat breads/buns/fries/veggies, and so many other things that you wouldn't believe at restaurants/delis/stores.  Why there is milk/whey/butter, etc in all these products doesn't make sense to me, and luckily there are brands that use the simplest recipes.  And I'm still on the look out for a probiotic (for help with the thrush) that wont contain any milk proteins.  It has been nice because we cook a lot more at home, but it is another hassle/barrier in the world of breastfeeding.  

With all the stressors, I still can say I love breastfeeding.  It's a wonderful bonding experience with my son, I love knowing I am giving him the best nutrition/antibodies, I love that 90% of the time nursing solves all of L's fussing, and helps him fall asleep.  

Some resources that I have found invaluable:

Kelly Mom - THE place for breastfeeding info on the web

Dr. Jack Newman's Handouts - Breastfeeding specialist

Dr. Jay Gordon's site - Pediatrician 

My Son Is Gay...

I've seen this linked a few places and just felt like I needed to acknowledge it.

Amazon Mom

I'm a big Amazon fan, I do a lot of online shopping and try to find the best deal. Many times the product I want is much cheaper at Amazon, and I can order everything I need in one place--so I only pay shipping once.  


Where else can you buy Grapefruit Seed Extract, a diaper bag, a therapy book, and a mouse trap (maybe a topic for another post) all in one place?  


Amazon now has a feature called Amazon Prime.  It costs $79 a year and you get free 2 day shipping on many products and some other benefits.  Well, I wasn't going to fork over $79 at this point in time, luckily there is another option; Amazon Mom.  Amazon Mom gives you the benefits of Amazon Prime for 3 months, plus extra discounts on products you "subscribe" to (such as reoccurring purchases for diapers and wipes).


From their site:

Amazon Mom is a free program for new and expecting parents featuring exclusive deals on a wide selection of brands and products to help solve all of your family's needs, plus:

• Exclusively for Amazon Mom members, receive an additional 15% discount on top of the standard 15% discount on select diapers and wipes when you sign up for Subscribe & Save delivery. Subscribe & Save shipping is always free, and you can change your delivery schedule or cancel at any time.
• Three months of FREE Two-Day shipping with Amazon Prime. For every $25 you spend within a single order in the Baby store, we'll grant you an additional month of Amazon Prime shipping benefits. You can earn up to one year of Amazon Prime shipping benefits from the date you joined Amazon Mom.

Amazon Mom is aimed at helping parents and caretakers--in the pre-natal days through the toddler years--use Amazon to find all the products their family needs, with great prices and fast shipping. If you have older kids, that's not a problem--you can still join Amazon Mom. Just keep in mind that some of the key benefits are specifically aimed at younger children (such as the 30% off diapers promotion).

To sign up, visit the Amazon Mom sign-up page. 

Bath Time Cuteness