Yikes! Time got a way from me!

It has been WAY too long since my last post! Tommy is now 8 months old.

He is wearing size 4 diapers and size 9 month or 9-12 month clothing (some 6-12 month from Gymboree). He still has 2 teeth and is able to go from sitting to his belly. He army crawls, pulling himself along the floor by his arms with his belly on the floor.

He says mamamama, dadadada, bababababa, and many other sounds. He can give high fives, wave bye-bye, and give kisses. He drinks 3, 6oz bottles of formula a day as well as breastfeeding 2-3 times a day.

He has recently begun to sleep through the night, like for real sleeping through, not the 5+hour straight stretches that the doctors like to tell us counts. He goes to bed at 8pm and sleeps until about 5 or 6am. He is sooooooo much fun and I'm loving this stage!

3 in one day?

Last Saturday, Tommy really ate terribly, like only a couple ounces of formula in each bottle then only nursing for a short amount of time. He was super fussy and was chewing so hard on his hands, toys, toes, and anything else he could get in his mouth. He was eating his solids normally so I just assumed it was his teeth bothering him, that sucking on the bottles (or boobs) was hurting his teeth.

He ate terribly on Monday and Tuesday so on Wednesday, I called the nurses line at the pediatrician's office to see when I should start to be concerned. He was having plenty of wet diapers but I was worried about him getting the nutrients and calories he needs. The nurse suggested bring him in to have his ears checked. The doctor mentioned that if he ran a fever at the end of the cold he had a couple of weeks ago, to bring him in to have his ears checked. He never ran a fever and wasn't pulling on his ears or anything so I didn't really think it would be his ears.

Bill was off of work so he brought him in. Turns out he has an ear infection in his left ear and was wheezing again. He's on antibiotics (which he LOVES) and is now on oral steroids twice a day and the albuterol, both through the nebulizer. They said that they are pretty sure he has asthma now that he's had issues with wheezing so many times already. I know it's not a severe case of asthma and it should be pretty manageable, but it makes me sad that he has to deal with this.

At least we know how to help him and hopefully it's not a big part of his life.

Breastfeeding Update

Who would have thought that I'd keep breastfeeding at 7 months? I had planned on breastfeeding but had no idea how it would go. After a few weeks, I hated it. After 2 months, I had to give up dairy and went back to work. Well now, at 7 months, I've decided to night-nurse.

I gave up my mid-day pumping session and I feel so much more free at work! I nurse Tommy when he wakes up in the morning, he drinks 3 bottles at daycare, then I nurse him around 6pm and again before bed. If he wants to eat overnight I nurse then as well. So far, it's going really well. I was really sore the first few days of not pumping but my body seems to have adjusted. It means that Tommy is getting full formula bottles while at daycare and during the day at home but it doesn't seem to bother him. It's expensive since we us Enfamil Nutramigen but this is way to keep breastfeeding at least some without being tied to my pump. I was starting to get really frustrated at work. I was losing my whole planning period to pump which meant staying later at work and getting less time with Tommy in the evening.

I hope to continue with this arrangement for as long as we can!

Oops (6 months old!)

It's been 2 weeks since my last blog post. Wow, time got away from me! My baby boy is 6 months old already! He is wearing some 6 month sized clothes, some 9 month, and some 6-9 month sized clothes. He's in size 3 diapers and weighed in at 17lbs 12oz at his 6 month appointment which is the 54th percentile for his age. He was 26in long (33rd percentile, although I think he has stretched out since that appointment) and his head circumference was 17.5in (71st percentile, yikes!).

The pediatrician suggested trying barley cereal since we're still having trouble with rice and oatmeal but I'm holding off for now and feeding him spinach to give him the iron that he needs. She also said that if I wanted, I could try and introduce dairy when he's 8 months old. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be breastfeeding for though. Things are still going alright so I'm going to keep going but we are up to 12oz of formula a day.

Two days ago we had a tooth break through! It's just one little needle-sized piece but Tommy's been teething non-stop since then! Luckily, he hasn't been too fussy or anything, just drooling and chewing everything. Yesterday, he was laying on his belly playing with some toys and he pivoted around and started nomming on the leg of his bouncy chair!

Tommy isn't crawling but he is trying! He tries to pull himself forward by his arms and he tries to get up on his knees but when he is able to, he face-plants! I don't think he's super close to being able to crawl but he is starting to get very interested in what's around him and trying to get to everything!

He is also starting to get weary of people he doesn't recognize. He will let them hold him but he looks around for Bill or I to make sure we're near.

I'm so in love with my baby boy!

Yup, sick again

Ugh. Tommy has been sick again. On Thursday morning he woke up just in time for me to change his diaper, get him dressed, and take him to daycare. I did so, then out the door we went. I had taken the morning off of work to go to the dentist to get a crown for my root canal. On our way to daycare, Tommy pooped (which he never does) and needed to be changed. I took him out of his carseat and laid him on the changing table in his room. The lead teacher came over and insisted that she do it (bless her) so I finished putting his bottles in the refrigerator and signing him in. I went over to kiss him goodbye as the teacher pulled up his onsie to reveal a nasty rash all over his torso.

The director of the daycare came in and suggested that I get it checked out so I cancelled my dentist appointment (they were not happy with me but oh well, they'll get over it) and was lucky enough to get a 9:00 appointment at the pediatrician's office.

I got in to see Tommy's specific pediatrician and she diagnosed him with roseola due to his lack of any other symptoms. At the last minuted, she decided to do a quick strep test to be sure she wasn't missing anything and was shocked when it came back positive. The diagnosis was changed to Scarlet Fever.

So I called work and took off the rest of the day and picked up Tommy's prescription for Amoxicillan and we snuggled for the rest of the day on the couch. The daycare policy is 24 hours of antibiotics but since we had our first dose at 9:45am, they let me bring him on Friday at 7:30am. He was in good spirits and napped well. His first two bottles went well but he flat out refused his third bottle. No big deal, I figured I could just give it to him when we got home. He drank about a half ounce before he spit out the nipple and cried. I laid back on the couch and he laid his head on my chest and we cuddled.

And then it happened.

Tommy picked up his head and projectile vomited all over my chest. I mean, this child is 17lbs and the amount of vomit would have rivaled the amount I had seen adults lose. It seeped through my shirt, my tank, and my bra. It was all down the front of me, in my jeans and even my underwear. The couch under me was coated in vomit. I yelled for Bill to come help me (he was conveniently in the bathroom when this all occurred) and he rushed in with a towel which he used to wrap up Tommy and proceeded to get him cleaned and changed while I showered.

Tommy pretty much slept on and off all of last night. He just could not seem to get comfortable. He didn't want to eat. He didn't want me to hold him. He didn't want me to put him down. He was just miserable.

This morning I tried to feed him several times and every time he would nurse for about a minute or two then refuse. Bill tried to give him a bottle and he drank less than an ounce. This really started to worry me so I called the doctor and they got him in at 10:45.

At 10:00 I tried to feed Tommy again and this time he ate hungrily for about 5 minutes before falling asleep.

The doctor checked him all out and noticed that one of his bottom front teeth seems to be trying to poke through. She determined that this was the reason he wasn't eating. She told us to give him Tylenol and to feed him whenever he seems hungry.

We gave him some Tylenol when we got home and for the next 4 hours he cluster fed. He was probably so hungry! Then he took a long nap and woke up almost a new baby. He was a little fussy this evening but is now sleeping.

It's so hard knowing something isn't right with your baby but not knowing just what it is. The worst part for me is seeing him uncomfortable or even in pain and not knowing what to do. I gave him some Tylenol before bed in hopes that he'll get a good amount of sleep tonight. I'm planning on going to get some teething tabs tomorrow. I've heard good things about them and I'll update on their effects on Tommy.

For now, I'm going to see if I can catch up on some much needed sleep, myself!

Continuing to Breastfeed Pros & Cons

While pregnant I just assumed I would breastfeed my baby. I didn't have any clue how it would go and even though I went to a class, I had really no idea what I was getting myself into.

One week in, things were going ok but I was crazy emotional. When Tommy was 2 weeks old, I told Bill I would only nurse until he was 3 weeks old, then I was done. I hated it. At 3 weeks, I decided to stick it out 1 more week because I was afraid that if I stopped, Tommy would get his days and nights confused again (I read somewhere that BFing actually helps to get babies on the right schedule). When Tommy was 4 weeks old, I took him to the doctor for a clogged tear duct and mentioned to the nurse practitioner that I was thinking about stopping. She was very supportive. She said that if I wanted to stop, then I could, that I had given Tommy 4 solid weeks and it wasn't for everyone. She gave me a sample of formula and wished me luck.

I started giving Tommy 1 bottle of formula a day but it wasn't going well (wrote about it here, here, here, here, and here). Once I cut dairy out of my diet and realized what a difference it made in Tommy, I was determined to make it to 6 months.

So here we are now, 3 weeks from my goal and I can't decide if I want to continue or stop in February. I decided I need to make a pros and cons list and see if that helps.

Pros:
* Perfect food
* Contains antibodies that will (hopefully) keep Tommy healthier
* Is easy at home, just whip it out and feed
* Easy in the middle of the night when Tommy's hungry
* Is comforting for Tommy, especially in the middle of the night
* Free

Cons:
* Pumping in the morning means I have to get up 30 minutes early
* Pumping at work means giving up my planning period and not feeling fully prepared
* Not eating dairy is HARD
* Others can't feed him without me needing to pump
* Not convenient when we're out of the house, either have to find a place to nurse or make sure to be home in time.
* No sex drive, may be related to BFing

Hmmmmmmmm 6 points for each side. I don't know what to do. There are some moments where I'm so not ready to stop. Then there are others where I don't know if I can continue, I'm so done with it. Crap. I was hoping for a clear-cut winner...

Another Cold

Poor Tommy, I feel like he's been sick all winter. Last Monday he woke up with a small rash on his forehead that I thought was just because he woke up in a puddle of drool. I took him to daycare and by the time we arrived, it had spread all over his body. I packed him back up and took him to the doctor. They told me it was viral and we would just have to let it run its course.

On Thursday, he had some yellow tinted goop in his eyes but when I took him to the doctor for it back in September, they told me it was just a clogged tear duct so I cleaned his eyes and away we went.

Friday daycare called me and said that the goop in Tommy's eyes was really flowing and had turned green so someone needed to pick him up. Luckily for me, my mom had cataract surgery on Wednesday and was home all week. She was doing really well from the surgery and was able to pick Tommy up and take him to the doctor. It turns out that the eye goop was an infection so they prescribed eye drops to be given 3 times a day for 5-7 days. These eye drops were no joke. Without insurance they would have been $130! We're lucky to have really great insurance so they only cost us $23 out of pocket. They cleared him up quickly though! We haven't seen any goop since Saturday morning.

The doctor said that what probably happened was Tommy most likely rubbed his nose then rubbed his eyes and the infection came from that. All I know is that Tommy is only 5 months old and has been sick A LOT. I'm sure it has a lot to do with daycare. They really do their best to keep things clean there but there are bound to be lots of germs with lots of kids running around.

Sunday morning was probably the worst day of the cold, he slept terribly Friday night and woke up completely stuffed. He had tears, drool, and snot coming out of every hole in his face. He just whined all morning long. I felt terrible for him. He cat napped on and off until finally at 2:30 I laid him down in bed next to me and nursed him to sleep where he stayed for 3 solid hours. He woke up feeling much better.

Yesterday the cold moved down into his chest some so now he has a cough. I'm just praying that it doesn't get too bad. I don't want to have to use the nebulizer on him again. Poor guy!

4 Months Old!

Tommy is 4 months old! He is 14lbs 4oz and 25 inches long. He is in size 2 diapers during the day and size 3s at night since he has been wetting through. He is still wearing some 3 month size clothes but we are starting to put him in 6 month size in some things. He is still drinking 6 oz bottles while at daycare and breastfeeding at night and on the weekends. We tried rice cereal as directed by the pediatrician and while he liked the taste, it gave him terrible gas pains. We are putting cereal on hold for another month. He is still teething and although you can see his little top teeth right below the gums, none have popped out yet. He is batting at toys and just yesterday realized that he can pull down the vibrating toys and does it constantly! He getting so aware of his surroundings!

I am so thankful that we have such a happy, healthy boy!

My Big Boy!

We took Tommy to his 4 month doctor's appointment (a weed before he turned 4 months) on Wednesday. He weighed in at 14lbs 4oz and is 25 inches long. This keeps him in the 50th percentile for weight and length. I don't remember what his head circumference was but I know that he was in the 50th percentile for that too. Perfect!

The pediatrician said he looked great and asked if we had introduced rice cereal yet. We had since she instructed us to do so at the 2 month appointment. We told her that he was very disinterested one day, loved it for about 7 spoonfuls the next, and disinterested again the third day. She said to keep trying it from time to time and when he starts taking to it, give it to him daily. She told us we are welcome to start vegetable or fruit purees once he is comfortable with rice but to keep feeding him rice too. She said the most important thing is the breastmilk, followed by rice for the iron, then purees.

This is interesting to me since there are a bunch of girls on the bump who claim that rice is just empty calories. I think I'm going to do a bit of research on this. We have decided that we won't start purees until at least Christmas but probably not until 5 months or later. We haven't decided if we're going to make our own or buy the pre-made stuff. I'd like to make my own but I'm not totally sure I'd keep up with it. We kind of suck at making food for ourselves. We also don't have a food processor so we'd have to buy one of them or a baby food maker. We'll think about it in the next few weeks. If we decide to make our own, the baby food maker/food processor could be a Christmas present for Tommy!

Oh, by the way, Tommy took his shots like a champ! He cried for a minute but was fine. His appointment was at 3:45 but he didn't get the shots until around 4:30. We came home and he slept on and off until bedtime then slept from 7:30-5 and went back to sleep until I got him up at 7:15 to take him to daycare!

A Couple of Sad Firsts

Today is the first day that I did not nurse my baby even once. He woke up a couple of time last night but just wanted his pacifier and went back to sleep. I woke up at 6, pumped, and got Tommy up in time to bring him to daycare where they give him his first bottle. I then went to work. The students had a half day due to parent-teacher conferences which ran from 12:30-3:30 and 5-8. Luckily, my dad was able to pick up Tommy from daycare since Bill had a late day today. My dad picked him up at 3:30 and he had just finished his 3:00 bottle. He then brought Tommy to my school so I could see him for about an hour then he picked my mom up from work (she isn't driving right now, she needs cataract surgery and can't wear a contact in one eye for 2 weeks) and brought him to our house. Bill was able to give him a bottle and put him to bed (another first, I have put him to bed every day that he has been alive). By the time I got home he was asleep for the night. I've spent waaaaaaaaaaay too much time with my pump today.

Funny story: I usually pump in a "teacher's work room" in the basement of my school which is a big closet with a phone, printer, and a filing cabinet. After my 3:00 conference was over, I went down to pump. My DO NOT DISTURB sign was on the door and I could hear one of my coworkers on the phone. I waited for about 15 minutes before I decided to just go to my classroom to pump. Most everyone was gone for the break and I figured I could get away with it if I sat at my desk and turned away from my door. I was almost done when someone walked in my room!!! I should have locked my door but somehow forgot. It was a parent of one of my students! Her conference was scheduled for Monday at 3:50 but came today at 3:50 instead. I sputtered, "I'm in the middle of something, I'll be right with you" and she waited outside of my door while I unhooked myself. I explained what was going on and she laughed and apologized. Oh well, I learned to remember to lock my door!

The good news is that I almost pumped enough to cover the day even though I'm dealing with a slightly low supply caused by the stomach bug I had yesterday. I woke up early Wednesday morning with it and was sick all day yesterday. I pumped my typical 10 oz this morning but at my 10 pumping session, I only got 4oz where I usually get 7. I pumped again at noon, 3:30, and 8:15 when I got home and have about 22oz total. He drank 24oz. It's kind of nice to know how much he takes in a day I guess!

Sorry I've been MIA

It has been far too long since my last post. This is mostly due to the fact that life has definitely picked up! Work days consist of getting ready, going to work, picking up Tommy, cuddling/feeding Tommy, bottles and prep for the next day, bed, rinse, repeat. Weekends are filled with laundry, lesson planning, grocery shopping, and trying to see family and friends. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it doesn't leave me much free time for things like blogging!

So a rundown:

Tommy is 3 months old!!!
He's still in size 1 diapers but will be graduating to size 2s once this box of 1s is used up.
He is wearing size 3 month clothes comfortably.
He is drinking 6oz bottles while at daycare and I'm almost pumping enough so that he can have all breastmilk.
He is taking at least one nice long nap a day as well as a few shorter naps.
HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Last Friday night, he slept from 8pm-7am!!! Then Sunday night he slept from 7pm-5am, ate and went back down until 7. Last night he slept from 7:30-6:30 waking up once because he was all congested. Once I held him upright for a couple of minutes, he went right back to sleep.
He is consistently rolling from belly to back and is trying to go from back to belly.
He is smiling daily and babbling away.

An update on the dairy sensitivity, Tommy is a completely new baby! His gas has decreased considerably. He is much happier and is much more relaxed. I used to lay my hand on his belly and feel gas bubbles moving around. He would pull his legs up to his belly and wince in pain everyday, multiple times a day. This is completely gone! Now, he basically cries when he's hungry or tired.

Being a mom is very hard and giving up dairy is difficult but it's so worth it. I'm so in love with my little guy!

1 Week Down!

Today was the last day of my first week back at work. Luckily, it was a four day week because of the Columbus Day holiday so it was a nice, short week. Tuesday was really hard. I got up, got myself and Tommy ready, and brought Tommy to daycare. I'm so glad that we decided on this center. I really trust them and know that Tommy will be in good hands while he's there which makes leaving him a lot easier. My cousin's two kids go there and I was very fortunate that his wife was dropping their kids off at the same time as I was on Tuesday. She waited for me and walked me out. I was crying of course and she gave me a hug and told me that he would be great and that it would get easier. She was right.

Wednesday, Bill dropped Tommy off and it was a lot easier leaving Tommy with Bill than at daycare but I was still leaving him for the day. Thursday and today were each easier than the previous time I left him. I only teared up for a quick minute today, no actual crying!

Tommy only ate 2 oz at a time on Tuesday so only 6 oz total for the whole day. He cluster fed like crazy that night but I didn't mind. By today, he was eating 3, 4oz bottles. I'm glad that he is taking to them. He has only been cat napping for the most part but today he did take one, hour and a half long nap! I think they'll get him on an eating and napping schedule before we know it!
For now though, they are feeding on demand.

That brings me to pumping. I have a small freezer stash but can't use any of it since it all was pumped before I found out that Tommy is sensitive to dairy, which I'll add another post about later. We can't use any of that milk. Pumping at school has been interesting. Technically, my employer is required to provide a place to pump and a time other than my lunch or planning period but that really isn't practical. If I pump outside of those two times, I have to leave my class with someone which means writing sub plans everyday. It just won't really work. So I've been feeding Tommy around 5:30 then putting him back to bed while I get ready for work. I pump at 10:00 during my planning period and at 12:00 during my lunch. I pick up Tommy by 4:00 and feed him when we get home if he's hungry, if not, I pump then too.

This has worked alright so far but I don't pump enough. My first pumping session usually gives me a good amount, about 7oz. However, I get 5oz from the right side and only 2 on the left. During my lunch I've been getting about 3-4oz, 2-3 on my right and only 1 on the left. I've only had to pump once when I get home and I got 3oz on the right and 1oz on the left. My left boob is a dud. I bought some fenugreek and planned on starting to take it this weekend in hopes of boosting my supply but now I'm not sure if I should or not. I get a good amount on the right side, I just want to boost my supply on the left. I leave the pump going on the left the whole time I'm getting milk from the right. It takes about 10 minutes to get the right completely "emptied" and only about 3 on the left. I think I'm going to try to call the lactation consultants on Monday and see what they suggest. I have noticed that Tommy definitely eats on the right side much longer than the left irregardless of which side I start him on. I've tried offering him the left side again after be pulls off and he just gets frustrated.

Tommy has also started to get a hang of our bedtime routine! He even moved his bedtime up for me! He was going to bed around 10:00 but decided on Monday night that he was tired around 8:00 so I started our routine then and he was asleep by 8:00 and slept until I woke him up at 7:00am just waking up long enough to eat twice! He kept his early bedtime all week and went to bed about an hour ago tonight!

Overall, my first week back went pretty well. Things are a bit crazy at school and I have to put in some hard work to get my class the way I would like them but it will be fine. My sub did a great job, there are just some things that I do differently! I'm glad to be back at work and even though I miss Tommy terribly, I think it's good for both of us!

Feeding...again

So there have been two major issues that we've been dealing with so far: sleeping and eating. We have started to get the sleeping issue under control but the feeding issue has gotten worse. I wrote about it here, here, and here. I mentioned what was going on to the pediatrician at our appointment on Monday and she said that the reaction Tommy's skin had to the formula would make her think it was a milk protein allergy but since he didn't seem to have any problems with my breastmilk and the soy formula was going fine, then to keep doing what we were doing.

Of course that meant that on Tuesday he started rejecting the soy formula. Yesterday he started rejecting the breast. Well, rejecting is the wrong word. He would suck then pull of and cry, suck and pull off and cry, until he finally gave up. I called the doctor and they got us in this morning. They think Tommy is allergic to dairy. I should also mention that Tommy cries all the time. Like he's either sleeping, eating, or fussing. He rarely will entertain himself and even if we're holding him, he's usually fussing. I really thought this was just normal, that we just had a fussy baby but the allergy could be the cause of this.

The pediatrician said to eliminate all dairy from my diet for at least 3 weeks and when formula is needed, we should give him Nutramigen which is a hypoallergenic formula. They said it tastes terrible and we should mix it with breastmilk until he got used to the taste.

I am more than willing to cut dairy out of my diet but I'm nervous that it's going to be really hard. There is milk in a lot of things. I started looking at labels of things we have around the house and you wouldn't believe the weird things that have milk in it, like chewable vitamin C. I did find this website, The Fussy Baby Site and there is a page devoted to non-dairy diets and resources.

So here I am, cutting out dairy. I really hope it works. Poor Tommy has terrible gas and is so uncomfortable all the time. The doctor said I should have a new baby within 3 weeks. I hope she's right.

Bottle feeding update

So I gave mixing the formula in advance a try yesterday and just as I feared, it didn't fix anything. Tommy was still pulling away and crying so I nursed him and called the pedi back. I don't think I mentioned yesterday that his skin also seems sensitive to the formula. When he eats from the bottle, milk dribbles down his mouth and into his little neck rolls. I try to keep a burp cloth to catch it but Tommy's arms are ALWAYS moving so it doesn't stay put. Well his poor neck has gotten so raw unless I immediately wash his neck after he eats.

Anyway, I called the pedi back and the nurse said the neck thing is probably just sensitive skin and he probably just doesn't like the taste of the formula and suggested I try soy. My mommy's intuition tells me that it's more than a picky palate but I will try soy since that should solve either problem.

Currently, Tommy is nursing then we're off to Babies R Us armed with formula checks to buy a small can of soy formula and a baby shower present for a coworker who is pregnant. Then Tommy and I will be going to school today to meet my coworkers!

Keep your fingers crossed that the soy works!

Bottle feeding

I go back to work on October 11. Eeek. Tommy will be going to daycare at the center for employees of my school district. I feel really good about this. We went and visited today and Bill and I just love the teachers and so did Tommy! He snuggled right into the arms of Rosa, the lead teacher! The other babies were all napping or playing quietly. Side note: the babies sleep in PNPs but there are 2 others who won't so they nap in bouncy chairs for now and they attempt the PNP everyday until they will!

Anyway, I've been pumping and have a small supply and will continue to pump as much as possible when I go back to work but I won't have enough to satisfy Tommy while at daycare so we have been forced to introduce formula. He's been taking 1-2 bottles a day of Enfamil Gentlease which was suggested by our pedi for his gassiness. Every time he takes the bottle, he drinks about an ounce before he startes moaning and pushing it out, then pulling it back in until he stops eating after 2 oz. It's like he's struggling to eat. I just thought it was the bottle itself. Until yesterday. Yesterday I pumped an extra time and fed it to Tommy in a bottle to see if he would act the same way. Nope. He calmly gulped down all 4 oz.

This morning I called the doctor to see if they thought we should switch formulas or if there was something else we should do. They suggested mixing the formula in the morning and letting it rest in the refrigerator to let the bubbles that are formed when mixing, pop. They said that's probably the problem, that it's like he's drinking a carbonated drink and his belly is getting full of bubbles.

So, we'll give it a try and see what happens. I hope that solves the problem but I have a bad feeling that it won't be that easy...

6 Week Check-Up

I just got home from my 6 week postpartum doctor's visit and all is well! Everything looks great and I got my flu shot so that's one less thing I have to worry about. I spoke with my doctor about birth control options. Basically they are: mini-pill which has to be taken at the exact same time every day, shot which will probably make me gain a bunch of weight, IUD which will cost about $1,000, or condoms. Bill and I discussed it a bit and decided that the shot was out because I just don't like it. IUD is out for now until we're done having kids. I don't want to spend all that money to take it out again in a couple of years (assuming we decide to have more kids ;)) The mini-pill would be an option but I know myself enough to know I wouldn't take it at the same time every day and we'd end up using condoms anyway. So for now, we're going to just stick with condoms until I'm done breastfeeding, then I'll go back on the pill I guess. I wish my insurance would cover birth control but it doesn't :(

Ok, I'm feeling much better since the last post. I've decided to stop pushing the whole sleeping-in-the-Pack-N-Play thing. If Tommy will sleep in the Rock-N-Play or bouncy chair, then great.

Ok, Tommy is 5 weeks old! Let's celebrate some milestones!

1. The newborn sized diapers are too small now. We're on to size 1s!
2. Along with the diapers, newborn sized clothes are mostly too small too! On to 0-3 month size!
3. My little man is incredibly strong! He's holding his head up longer and moving it from side to side with ease while laying on our chests. He's also bearing weight on his feet. We will hold him up in front of us and he straightens his legs right out and loves when we bounce him on his feet (not too much weight though!).
4. This isn't a great milestone but we had our first "sick" visit to the doctor. Last Monday, we woke up to Tommy's eye glued shut with goop. I used a warm, wet washcloth to clean it off and checked him out. The whites of his eyes weren't pink or red so I didn't think it was pink eye but I called the pediatrician anyway. They had us come in the next day since Monday was a holiday and it turns out he has a blocked tear duct. They said to use cotton balls to keep his eye clean and to massage the tear duct several times a day. Luckily for us, it hasn't seemed to bother Tommy at all.
5. This is a big one, Tommy went from 12:30pm-6:00am last night without a feeding! Now, he did wake up twice with gas bubbles so we didn't really sleep straight through, but I have high hopes that this will come soon!
6. Tommy took a bottle of formula last night without a fight and actually seemed to like it! While Bill gave him the bottle, I pumped and got 4.5 oz! This gives me high hopes that I'll be able to get some good amounts when I go back to work and hopefully will have a big enough freezer stash that if I stop producing much milk, we'll still be able to feed him breastmilk for a while.

In other news, my maternity leave is officially up as of September 21 when I go to the doctor for my 6 week postpartum appointment. I have enough sick time accrued to get me through mid-October if the school district will approve the leave. However, this year is my tenure year and I can't get a straight answer as to whether taking more time will affect my tenure date. I've been calling, emailing, and even visiting personnel and can't get an answer. The woman who should have the answer told me she had to "research it further" and would get back to me. That was yesterday and she won't answer my calls today. So frustrating! I can't be the first teacher to go out on extended childcare leave during her tenure year.

In mommy news, I tried on a pair of my pre-pregnancy jeans today. They were the first ones I could find and are a pair of the smaller ones, but they went on and zipped! They button, but not comfortably and I have a lovely muffin top, but the fact remains that I can put them on! It gives me hope that I'll get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes soon enough!

I took this video this morning, my baby boy must have been having some sweet dreams!

3 weeks

The 3 week growth spurt is no joke. And no fun. Ouch.

Sometimes Tommy's a Night Owl

Wide awake at 1:00 am

Last night I fed Tommy at 8:00 and went to bed. I slept blissfully from 9-11 when I was awoken by Tommy's little hunger noises. I took him from his chair and fed him. Usually, I have to change his diaper between each side to wake him up enough to eat again so I changed his diaper and he hungrily ate from the other side. At this point, he's usually in a milk coma and I can go back to sleep. Not last night! My little man was still looking up at me like, "now what do we do?" when he had finished eating. I tried putting him back in his chair but he started crying. I held him and rocked him hoping he'd go sleep. Nope. He was WIDE awake. After about an hour, he started to drift off. I waited until I thought he was sleeping deeply enough to put him in his chair but he bolted right awake again as soon as his bum hit the seat. I ended up feeding him again at 1 and he finally went back to sleep at 2. Bill got up and left for work at 3 and I told him that if he woke up the baby I'd kill him. Luckily, he slept through the noise and didn't wake up until 6. I was able to go back to sleep for another hour after I fed him again but those 3 hours in the middle of the night were a killer.

I tried to figure out why he was so wide awake and I have 2 theories. One is that my grandmother ended up coming over yesterday and held Tommy for 5 hours, only giving him up so I could feed him. He slept soundly the whole time. Not only did he get a lot of sleep, it was also all while being held. My second theory is that I might have accidentally hopped him up on caffeine. I got a migraine yesterday afternoon and drank two caffeinated sodas to get rid of it. I drank them around 5:00 so I'm not sure if there would be a 6 hour delay in effects but who knows.

Or maybe Tommy doesn't sleep between 11 and 2 anymore. I hope this isn't the case.

In other news, I ordered a Fisher Price Rock n' Play. I know the pediatrician said it was ok for him to sleep in his bouncer but I did some searching around online and saw that a lot of moms recommended this product for babies who don't like to sleep flat on their backs. I finally signed up for Amazon Mom and bought a Rock n' Play. It should arrive today and we'll give it a shot. I'll let you know how it works. I also ordered a nursing bra. I have 2 that I wore at the end of my pregnancy but they have underwire and I read that you're not supposed to wear underwire while nursing because the pressure can block ducts. We'll see how a supportive a non-underwire bra is for me. I have a rather, um, large chest. I've been living in nursing tanks so far but I'd really like something with more support to wear out in public. We'll see how this goes.

ps. I'm going to brag for a minute, I got on the scale today and I'm down 20 of the 40 pounds I had gained! Yay!

We're home!

The couple of days in the hospital were a blur of getting checked by nurses and trying to get a hang of nursing. I was excited to be released and get home on Tuesday, but also very nervous and scared. Would I be able to do this? Bill was able to take Monday and Tuesday off but needed to return to work on Wednesday. My dad is a teaching assistant so he is off in the summer and would be able to come over to help and my mom was taking Thursday and Friday off of work to be available to help me too. Thank god for family.

I took Tommy to the pediatrician on Wednesday and his jaundice was still in full force but the doctor just said to get him in the sun and keep feeding him and have him poop it all out. Tommy had also lost another 2 ounces and was down to 7lbs 2oz so she wanted to see us back on Friday. By Friday, his jaundice had reduced considerably and he had gained 6oz! He was up to 7lbs 8ozs! I was so proud of my little piggy!

We also have figured out sleeping at night. It's not exactly the way I envisioned but it works. See, Tommy doesn't really like to sleep flat on his back. He fusses and squirms and just wants to be held. Thursday night, I was holding him in the living room so he wouldn't wake Bill up when I decided to try to put him in his bouncy chair. He had slept in it a lot during the day for my mom and needed to try to sleep some. I put him in the chair at 9:00 and we both fell asleep. I woke up in a panic at midnight because he was still quiet. He was still asleep! I woke him up to feed him and put him back in the chair. He then slept until 3:00 when I woke him up to feed him again, then slept until 7:30! I couldn't believe it! I mentioned that he slept well in the bouncy chair to the pediatrician and she told me that if he wouldn't sleep otherwise, then go ahead and let him sleep in the chair. She also told me that as long as he is eating every 2-3 hours throughout the day, then to let him sleep as long as he wants at night. We've been getting 3.5-4 hour stretches! I'm still tired, probably because I'm still recovering and not getting a full, uninterrupted night, but it's MUCH better. I'm hoping that once we get him on a semi-regular sleep schedule, we'll try putting him back in the pack n' play but for now, I'm good with him sleeping in the chair!

So that's what's been going on so far. Today Tommy is one week old! The doctor told us to expect a growth spurt between 7 and 10 days. They said he would want to eat constantly and not to get frustrated. I'm anticipating this with some trepidation. At least I know it's coming and won't freak out that I'm starving my baby!

Tomorrow will be interesting. It will be my first day completely on my own. Well, kind of. I know my dad is around if I need him and will drop everything to come help, but I'm going to see if I can do this on my own for a day. Tuesday my friends are coming to meet him and Bill has a softball game that I might try to bring him to. Wednesday we go back to the doctor and my uncle's political fundraiser. I haven't decided if I'm going to go or not. There will be A LOT of people there but if he doesn't mind the Moby Wrap (still have to try it out) I might give it a try. The hardest thing is knowing whether I should take him places or not. We were going to try going out to breakfast this morning but Tommy was fussy and wanted to eat every hour from 7:30-10:30 so we decided to put that trip on hold. I do know that I need to start going somewhere from time to time because I'm starting to feel pretty cooped up!