So much to be thankful for

This week has been full of activity and excitement. Wednesday I was off of work so I spent my morning at my Grandmother's house helping her and my mom make Thanksgiving pies. We do this every year together and it's really a lot of fun. Thursday was Tommy's first Thanksgiving!
He did great! I was concerned since we wouldn't be home for his afternoon nap and though he didn't get a great nap in, he did sleep for about an hour and a few cat naps. The hardest part of the day was watching everyone eat all of the delicious, dairy-filled foods. I made stuffing with my Earth Balance butter substitute and mashed potatoes with Earth Balance and Coffee Rich, a lactose-free coffee creamer. I was able to eat turkey too of course! But no pie, no squash souffle, no candied sweet potatoes, no green bean casserole, etc. It's worth it, but days like this one are really hard.

Friday was Bill's 30th birthday! It also happened to be the day last year that Tommy was conceived ;) Unfortunately, Bill had to work and he had a long day. While he was at work, Tommy and I made him a sign to wish him a happy birthday.

(sorry it's so blurry)

While Bill was working, we went out to lunch with my friend Melissa who lives in DC but was in town for the holiday. It was so nice to introduce her to Tommy and catch up! We went to a pizza restaurant and I got Tomato Pie without the parmesan cheese and it was heavenly. I miss pizza! I made Bill his traditional birthday dinner of hot dogs, mac & cheese, and tater tots. It's the ultimate, kids meal that he loves because it makes him feel young!

Today was an exciting day since it was Tommy's baptism! We had the ceremony at the church where Bill and I were married and where I grew up. After, we had a party in the parish center of the church. We had a great time and it was so nice to celebrate our beautiful baby boy with our family.

(I'll add a picture when I get one!)

Teeth and Cribs

Since my last post, we've been dealing with teething. My poor baby has tons of teeth trying to poke through right now :( The strange part is it seems that the top ones will come in first, at least those are the most prominent ones right now. I thought the bottom teeth came in first and that it wouldn't be until, like, 6 months. I hope they come in soon though because baby boy is a drooly, hand chewing mess. Some nights he just whimpers and cries all night. Sunday night, he was awake every hour and the only thing I could do to console him was nurse. At least I had that. The good news is that he is pretty happy and unfazed the majority of the time.

On a completely unrelated note, we decided to transition Tommy from the PackNPlay to the crib. Our goal was to have him transitioned by Christmas and he is rapidly outgrowing the bassinet part of the PNP. We decided to go ahead and give it a try this week while I'm off of work for a few days and will have help during the day if I need a nap.

So last night instead of his nighttime routine being done in our room, I did it in his room. It took a little bit longer to get him to sleep than it normally does but he went down relatively easily. After he was asleep I went out to the living room and broke down. Bill suggested that we just try and go to bed so I wouldn't be just sitting around upset. We went to bed and I made Bill hug me so that I wouldn't go get him. Tommy slept until 2, ate, then went back down pretty easily. He slept until 6! He might have kept sleeping if I just gave him his pacifier but I missed him and scooped him up without thinking.

He did great! I, woke up A LOT. I was listening for him and waking up thinking I heard him. Then there is the monitor. It has a voice activated setting which means it doesn't make any sound when he's quiet and kicks on when there is a noise. So when Tommy farts, it turns on. When he moves his head around, it clicks on. When he coughs, it turns on. Every time it turns on, I wake up where I used to just sleep through those kinds of noises with him in the room. I'm wondering if it would make sense for me to just leave it on and have the static in the background while I sleep.

The good news is that it went so well. I'm exhausted thinking about doing it again tonight though. I know we can do it but it's emotionally draining.

My poor baby

Today has been a rough day. TMI alert: Tommy needs to poop everyday or we have rough nights. Yesterday, he did not poop. Therefore, we were up 3 times last night instead of 1. Luckily, he pooped this morning at 7 and was in a good mood. Mass was being said in remembrance of my grandfather who passed away 12 years ago this week so since Tommy seemed to be doing well, off we went. He did really well. Then we went for coffee and I nursed in public for the first time!

By that point, Tommy was ready for a nap so we went home and I tried to get him down for a nap. He fell asleep but would wake up screaming. The only thing that would console him was nursing. We spent 4 hours with him nursing to sleep to jar awake and scream a few minutes later. Finally he fell asleep and took an hour long nap.

I was hoping this was the end of it but instead of going to sleep at 7:30 like he does every night, here we lay at 8:30 doing the whole, nurse-sleep-scream routine. I think he's teething but it seems too early for that. He has been sucking on his lower lip almost constantly for 3 days and chews on our fingers when we let him. He also has been a drool monster and hardly ever drooled before the last few days. I don't see or feel any teeth though. I don't care what it is as long as it goes away soon. Poor Tommy.

Ps. This is my first post from my phone so I appologize if it's full of typos. I promise to fix them as soon as I can get to a computer!

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!

Back to work

I go back to work tomorrow. I'm really excited to get back to school and my students but I'm really nervous. I'm not really very nervous about leaving Tommy at daycare, I really like and trust the center but I have this irrational fear that Tommy will forget that I'm his mom or something. It's a weird thought because I know I'm being ridiculous but I feel like I'm handing the responsibility of raising my child off to someone else. I will be okay and so will Tommy.

Ok, I can do this.