Tyler: Week 8

August 11-August 17, 2010 (7w-7w6d old)

Breastfeeding:

This was a rough week!  Tyler has been doing great, mama... not so much.  It started off with 2 days of strange rib pain on my right side.  I had to rip off my bra, lay on the floor and stretch to get it to ease up.  In hindsight I now believe this had something to do with was to come next... blocked milk ducts.  I had 2 large hard masses in Righty and nursing wasn't getting rid of them.  Nursing eventually became unbearable so I nursed on Lefty and pumped Righty.

What ended up clearing the blockage was warm compresses and massage followed by nursing/pumping.  I rotated Tyler around Righty to compress the areola in all directions.  I curled my toes in agony.  Eventually the lumps went down which provided so much relief, then it took another day or two to get over the areola pain from Tyler tugging at them so hard to get the milk flowing.

I'm not sure what caused the blocked ducts, but likely the new bra or going too long without emptying.  With running errands and having company, I did go 6 hrs twice without emptying and just gave Ty a bottle.  Won't be doing that again!

Thought I was out of the woods until Lefty decided it was her turn.  Rinse, lather, repeat.  :~(

Diapering:

I plan on giving a full cloth dipe review after I've had a little more time to work with them, but for now, here's this week's tally on how well they did.

BumGenius AIO:  6 out of 25 leaked
BumGenius Pocket:  0 out of 6 leaked
Thirsties Wrap with Stay-Dry Insert:  1 out of 2 leaked
GroBaby:  2 out of 7 leaked

I didn't show the GroBaby in my last post, so here it is:

I have 2 Flips by BumGenius as well but haven't been able to try them as they're still a little too big at this time.

I tried out Rockin' Green detergent.  It seems to work fine.  I can't tell the difference between it and the Tiny Bubbles.  I will say that they sell some cool scents, but it's really just a gimmick as you can only smell it in the bag and not on the dipes.

As far as cloth wipe solution, I've been using BumGenius Bottom Cleaner and it seems to work well.  You can also make your own, there are tons of recipes out there if you just search for cloth wipe solution recipes.

Tyler Update:

This was an exciting week as Tyler showed off his 1st intentional smile!  This is a milestone I've really been looking forward to judging by how many pics/videos I took.  It took me forever to sort through them.

Smiling Videos:

He started sticking his tongue out.  It cracks people up.

Making silly faces video:

He took a bath with mommy for the 1st time.  You can't tell by this pic, but he loved wading around in the deep water.

He took a nap in his crib for the 1st time.  He did great, but mama spent the entire time watching him on the video monitor.  So much for using that time to catch up on things.

We tried out the bumbo chair for the 1st time.  Since Ty hates tummy time, this was a great alternative for him to work on his neck muscles.  I have his diaper undone as it was cutting into his belly.

Bumbo Video:

He's has been using his hands more, especially during BFing.  He pushes on my boob when nursing.  It's like he's doing breast compressions to get more milk.  He also grabs my hair and rubs his eyes.

He's starting to inch his way around in a circle when he's really mad.  All his arm and leg flailing gradually rotates him.

He went to a babysitter for the 1st time so mommy and daddy could go to a dinner party.  Grammy was the lucky sitter and she loved every minute of it.  I really thought it would be hard on me to leave him, but I did really well and so well that Grammy babysat again the next day so Kerry and I could go on a date to the movies.  It was fun to pick him up as I missed him so much.  Thanks Grammy!

He loves this swing and sleeps so peacefully in it.

He loves playing airplane.

But most of all, he loves sleeping.

He weighs 9lb5oz this week.

Mama Update:

Nothing really new with me.  I was due to go back to work soon and the thought of it was dreadful.  So after much thought and number crunching, I decided to extend my maternity leave for an additional 4 weeks at no pay with benefits.  Anything beyond this would result in paying cobra which is outrageous and not in our budget.  I worked too hard to get this little guy here to not take advantage of every second I can manageably get with him.

Ty, Grammy and Mama:

Judging by the bags under my eyes, I'd say the signs of exhaustion are showing, but the smile says it's all worth it!

Tyler: Week 7

August 4-August 10, 2010 (6w-6w6d old)

Breastfeeding:

BFing is going really well, just dealing with very long nursing sessions.  Tyler loves the boob and would be happy to stay there all day if I let him.  Because of that, I hadn't been able to tell when he's done feeding.  We found a way to determine if he's still hungry or full and pacifying himself.  I hand him to Kerry and if he fusses and sucks on his hands for at least 2 mins, he's not done and I continuing nursing.  If he's content and happy, he's done.  I take him off sooner and sooner and I'm finding that he's satisfied a lot sooner than expected.

I'm happy to report that there's no more pain with nursing!  Boy are the boobies going through some transformations though!  I've gone up a cup and underband size.  My nipples remain more erect now... lovely!  While Kerry thinks it's rad, I'm thinking more pain in the rear as now I have to wear super padded bras to dim the headlights.  The nipple also seems to be tougher, like they're callused.  I'm dreading what these babies will look like when nursing ends and they deflate!

Now that I have a more established supply, I've decreased the pumping after nursing from every time to an average of 3x/day.  I just have to make sure I pump more qty than what I supplement with in order to keep a supply in the fridge.  I also found that if I'm going to pump after nursing, I have to make sure I do it right afterwards and not get distracted with other to-do's or it interferes with having enough for the next feeding.

Tyler seems to still be in his growth spurt as he's hungry all the time!  Every time I turn around, it's time to nurse again, according to him.  He's feeling heavier and heavier, so I know he's gaining.

We started using the Medela special needs (aka Haberman) bottle.  It's worked really well as we can adjust the flow rate just by turning the bottle while in his mouth.  It simulates the breast best.  All other bottle nipples have too high of a flow rate and makes him choke.  I think he got this from me though as I swallow down the wrong pipe and choke all the time.  So I guess he got my hair color and choking fits, that's it!

If you're BFing, I highly recommend the My Brest Friend nursing pillow!  Love it!

Diapering:

When it rains, it pours... or at least leaks in our case.  We bought some Huggies Pure and Natural size newborn as we were almost out of diapers.  13 out of 13 leaked!  That's 13 outfits he went through in 1.5 days!  I compared them to Pampers, Parent's Choice and Fisher-Price newborn diapers and can see why. The absorbent material in front is 1.5-2" shorter than the others.  I called Huggies and they are having me send in 2 diapers at their expense to review them.  They also sent me a voucher for a new box of diapers.  I bought the Pure and Natural in size 1 and they are much better.  They are a little too big on him, but they don't leak.  So far they are my favorite disposable in size 1 compared to Huggies Snugglers and Pampers Dry Baby.

With all the leak issues, I decided to start cloth diapering this week.  While they are still a little big on him, they are fitting a lot better.  Here's the initial results so far:

Thirsties:

Thirsties Duo Pocket size 1:  1 worked well, 1 leaked right away

Thirsties Duo Wrap size 1 with Stay-Dry Insert:  2 major leaks, 2 small leaks

This was one of the major leaks

So Thirsties aren't doing so great.  I really thought these would be my favorite dipes as they are very trim, super easy to use and very cute.  I'll keep trying and see if I can figure out what the issue is, but so far, they need to get a little more thirsty.

FuzziBunz:

Baby's Got Back!

FuzziBunz One-Size Pocket: 1 major leak

I didn't try this diaper more than once as I just don't like it.  Seems many people love this dipe but I'm just not with them.  For one, I hate the snaps.  It takes forever to get this diaper on compared to velcro and I can't get as nice of a fit.  The butt on them are huge on my little guy, so maybe he's just too small for these at this time.  I'll give it another chance once he's gained some more weight.

BumGenius:

BumGenius AIO size small: 16 worked well, 1 leaked right away, 1 leaked but was very saturated
BumGenius 3.0 Pocket:  3 worked well

I am LOVING BumGenius!!!  They are made very well, are super easy to use, and most importantly, they work!  They totally out perform my other stash.

Detergent:

You have to use cloth diaper friendly laundry detergent as most standard detergents contain ingredients that leave a residue on the dipes that cause the material to repel liquid.  My first go was GroBaby Tiny Bubbles.  Since I have nothing to compare it to, all I can say is it seems to work.

Diaper Ointment:

Same as detergent, you have to use a cloth diaper friendly cream that won't coat the material and leave it repelling liquid.  I've been very lucky in that I haven't had to use any creams on Tyler since he hasn't had a rash to date.  But I have Grandma El's and GroBaby Magic Stick on hand for when time comes.  These seem to be a couple of the favorites out there.

Cloth Wipes:

We have to wash the diapers anyway, so why not throw in the wipes with them and save some more money!  We use BumGenius flannel wipes and Quilter's Nappies.  Both work great.  I have an all natural solution in a spray bottle so I just spray the wipe, clean the baby and toss in the pail.  Super easy and gentle on baby's butt.

Diaper Pail:

It seemed that all diaper pails out there got bad reviews, so I decided to forgo the diaper pail and went with a standard trash can.  I got the Mainstays stainless steel trash can from Walmart.

I have a short one for disposable diapers and a tall one for cloth.  I have it lined with a Planet Wise diaper pail liner, which I highly recommend!  I have 2 liners so I have one in the can while the other is in the wash.  I just dump the entire contents into the washing machine and toss the bag in with the wash.  This trash can/wet bag combo has worked fabulous!  I love the step pedal and it contains all odor.

Tyler Update:

Tyler is brighter eyed and is getting chubby cheeks.

He sits with assistance and with his bobble head, he looks all around and makes funny faces.  It's quite hilarious and entertaining.

He likes to look up and stare, not sure what he's looking at.

He's on the verge of smiling.

When he wakes up, he makes little noises and kicks me until I wake up.

He's definitely going through a growth spurt.  He's now weighing 8lb13oz to 9lb according to the postal scale.

He's starting to spit up occasionally, but still only a couple times a week.  I think it only happens when he eats too much, or too fast, or lays down too soon afterwards.

He sounds off in stereo now.  His favorite combo is the burp-fart and cough-fart.  It makes mommy and daddy laugh so hard!

Show and Tell:

He literally punched himself!  Those crazy arms, LOL!

Chatting with Daddy

Waking up from a nap

Oh those silly faces!

Grammy, Mommy and Ty

Auntie Sheree meeting Ty for the first time

Passed out with paci

Sporting his Winnie the Pooh robe after bath time

Sporting ear muffs at church (the music is thumping loud!)

Crashed after nursing

He always sleeps with his hands at his face

His serious look

Daddy long legs!

Mommy squeezing every last ounce out of her favorite outfit

Ty and his paci, inseparable!

Spending some time with Daddy before bed

Having a good conversation

Taking a nap with mama

Video:  Flapping ears