Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tyler: Week 12

September 8-September 14, 2010 (11w-11w6d old)

Breastfeeding:

This is a day and a half worth of pumping and supplementing... e-nuf said!


Diapering:

You've heard me talk about hard water issues in the last couple of posts.  I believe this has caused us leaking dipes as the minerals in hard water 1. bind to detergent limiting its ability to clean and 2. leaves a buildup on the dipes causing them to repel liquids.  Well, we went to a home show over the weekend and stopped by a plumbing booth that was displaying a house water conditioning system that supposedly removes all the issues that hard water causes.  I inquired about it and then lost interest when they told me it cost $1900.  I entered in their drawing and then left.

The next day I got a phone call congratulating me on winning the system and wondering when they could come install it!  I couldn't believe it!  They installed it the very next day.  While they were here they tested my water.  On a scale of 1-25 with 25 being the hardest, our water was a 20.  So now I sit back and see if this system resolves the problems.

I tried out the Flip organic insert in my Flip dipe (pictured below).  I do not like it at all!  It's basically a big prefold folded in 3. It is way too bulky, especially between the legs.  Kerry took one look and said "OMGosh, he's got diaper camel toe!".  I laughed so hard!  I'll gladly stick with the Flip stay-dry inserts that I totally love.


I tried a new dipe this week, Softbums.  There's a little toggle on each leg elastic that allows you to adjust the leg openings perfectly to your baby.  They are very soft, fairly trim and work well.  I've tried both the dry touch and organic bamboo pods.  Both work well but so far I prefer the dry touch as it doesn't leave baby sitting in a wet dipe.  No stuffing required, just snap the pod in place and it's ready to go.  The shell is re-wearable as long as it doesn't get soiled, just snap a new pod in and go.  I really like this diaper system.

Tyler Update:

He sucked his thumb for the 2nd time.  I think we have a thumb sucker on our hands as soon as he develops a little more hand coordination.  He's also sucking his hands more aggressively and quite loudly.  It cracks us up!

He gives the most pathetic, but oh so cute pouty lip right before he starts to cry.

When he gets mad, he breathes heavy and tries to push his feet off.

Video:  Aggressively sucking his fists and then pushing his feet off.

He's almost starting to giggle, it won't be long now.  I can't wait!

He's starting to understand the word bottle.  I supplement with a bottle anytime BFing doesn't satisfy him.  Because he spends the 5 mins it takes me to prepare the bottle crying, I've been working on a way to communicate to him that more milk is on the way.  I keep saying the word bottle and when it's ready, I shake it in front of him so he can hear the liquid and continue saying bottle.  Now he seems to remain a little more calm when I say bottle as I think he's starting to associate it with more milk.

I put together his highchair this week and introduced him to it.  He's not super excited about it yet, but I'm sure that will change when he starts eating solids.



Video:  1st time in highchair

He loves being naked.  He stretches and if he could talk, I think he would be saying (in a 60's tone), ahhhh, I feel so free, peace man!

He finally holds our finger.  He's preferred to keep a tight fist since birth and had no interest in holding our finger until now.  I told him when he's holding daddy's finger to not pull it!

His eyes are finally free of eye boogers!  He's had this goop in his eyes since birth and it's finally gone.  The doc said it could last 6 months, so very happy it's over with.  No more cleaning his eyes every time he wakes up.

He loves sitting on his feet.


He's very slowly losing his strawberry blonde hair, all except at the back of his neck where there's a huge chunk of hair.  Blonde peach fuzz is starting to come in on the top.


Ty has never really been a needy baby as far as needing to be held, but he's starting to show more interest in wanting to be held more.  He used to only get fussy if he was hungry or overtired, but he's added wanting to be held to that list.

He's developed very mild stranger anxiety.  We used to be able to let anyone and everyone hold him.  Now he will sometimes burst into tears when handed to a stranger and immediately stop as soon as he's handed back.  It's funny watching how fast the stranger will hand the baby back!

I keep trying to introduce toys but he still has no interest in them.

He weighs 11lb3oz.  I can tell he's getting heavier as my back lets me know after carrying him all day.

Show and Tell:







Mama Update:

Considering I'm going back to work in a couple of weeks, I thought it was time to get Ty on a schedule.  I started out with the nursing schedule.  I tried to nurse every 3 hours but gave up after 3 days.  Ty prefers an every 1-2 hr schedule during the day and I don't have it in me to deny him nutrition when he cries for it sooner than 3 hrs.  I then read in a BFing book to never put a young baby on a feeding schedule and that it's best to feed on demand as that will ensure you meet their nutritional and emotional needs.  I'm just going to enjoy my last couple of weeks of going with the flow while I can.  I'm sure once I go back to work and I'm actually on a schedule, hopefully things like bed time, nap time, etc will fall in place for Ty as well.  We shall see, I'm sure it will be an adventure in itself.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Tyler: Week 11

September 1-September 7, 2010 (10w-10w6d old)

Breastfeeding:

Tyler's been a little bit of a lazy nurser.  His sucker is weak, he's wanting to latch onto just the nipple and he's not wanting to work for the hind milk that requires a little more effort.  He gets impatient and cries.  I know there's milk left because I can squeeze and milk comes out.  He slaps my boob when he's not getting milk fast enough.  Kerry loves it and says "who's your daddy?".  Not getting the high calorie hind milk means he's hungry again sooner and puts us into a nursing every single hour routine.  This makes for a very tired mama.  I can usually turn this around by supplementing, getting him full as a tick and getting back to larger meals every 2-3 hrs instead of hourly snacks.

On a more positive note, we're no longer having hour long sessions due to constantly falling asleep on the job.  Average session time is 15-20 mins, much more doable!

I've noticed that I no longer have a let down nor leak anymore.  I thought maybe this was a sign of decreased supply, but then read that this is completely normal as supply and demand has balanced.

I'm still pumping but only 2-3 times a day.  The only time I can pump is after Ty goes to bed for the night because he doesn't leave me with any to spare during the day.  It's a challenge as I always have to try and pump more than I supplement in order to keep a supply in the fridge.  I am keeping ahead and Ty is getting what he needs, but it's a round the clock challenge.

I read that your supply standard is established in the first couple of weeks after birth.  It will then fluctuate from there on out based on supply and demand, but it only varies a little up/down from that standard set in the early weeks.  So it's very important to nurse/pump every 2-3 hrs those first couple of weeks to set your standard high.  This is how the body learns to provide for singletons or multiples.  I think this is part of my problem, I had such a rough start the first few weeks that my standard got set low and now I have to work extra hard to stay on the high side.

I've found that sleeping/naps equals more supply.  My breasts are way more full after 3 hrs of sleep than they are after 3 hrs of awake.  So when the supply seems lower than I'd like, I go take a nap.

Ok, enough about my boobs!

Diapering:

The leak issue seems to be resolved.  I stripped the diapers in case there was a buildup.  I did a cold rinse, hot wash with 1 tsp of original blue Dawn dish soap and then 2 hot washes with no detergent.  I also add Calgon water softener along with the detergent now.  If hard water was the culprit, this seems to have fixed the problem.

I tried out a new dipe this week, the GroVia AIO.  It is super trim and soft and seems to work well.  There's no stuffing and it dries fairly quick for 100% organic cotton as the insert is only sewn in at the top.  It has side snaps that are hard to get used to, but other than that, I really like it.


I also found a night time solution to leaks.  Wool covers!  They go over the dipe and if there are any leaks, it wicks up the moisture and allows it to evaporate into the air.  Wool has an antibacterial property to them so they don't get stinky and only need washed every couple of weeks, unless they get soiled.  They are great and really work.

We are now officially in all cloth diapers except for when we drop him off in the church nursery.  We use cloth overnight and during errands.  It's super easy and we just keep a small wet bag in our diaper bag to put the dirty dipes in.  We also use cloth wipes while out and throw them in the wet bag along with the dipes.

Tyler Update:

Ty is very ticklish, all over.  He squirms and grins like crazy when we give him a baby massage with our finger tips.  He gets a massage after every diaper change which has resulted in him being a content baby during changes because he has something to look forward to.

He's kicking stronger these days.  He lifts his legs in the air, stomps them down and lifts his butt while on changing table.  It makes diaper changes a little more challenging.

His talking has increased in volume.

His hands are starting to open up more and not always in a fist.  Wow he's got big hands!  He used to keep his hands in such a tight fist all the time that I would find lint in them when giving him a bath.


He took his first bath with daddy.  He thinks it's so cool to be in the deep water.  I think we got a fish on our hands.


He grew a second chin.

He weighs 10lb13oz.

Show and Tell:

Big brother Austin and his wife Kadi visited.






While they were here, we celebrated an overdue 18th birthday and their marriage.  Kerry made them a cake and I made the cake topper.  Do you think the food network would hire us?  Maybe we could start our own cake show like Aces of Cakes or Cake Boss.



Ok, despite the fact that we are NOT professional cake bakers (I know, it's hard to believe), it must have at least tasted good as Austin tore into it before we could even light it and sing happy birthday!


Misc pics of Ty:








Video:  Tyler watching himself on video

Video:  Mama trying to get a smile

Video:  Mama blaming the wrong guy

Mama Update:

I did as promised and put up all of Ty's newborn clothes, I nearly cried.  I know, I'm pathetic.  My baby is growing way too fast!

Thanks to BFing, I had to invest in a whole new set of bustier bras.  They start out so comfy, but 10 mins later they are causing pain, all 9 of them and they are all different.  I'm not risking another blocked duct, so off they go.  Whenever I come home the first thing I do is run in the house and rip it off because it's so painful.  I went to take a late evening walk one night.  It was dark, so I ventured out braless.  I started out empty as I had fed Ty recently and all was good, that was until the end of the walk when they decided to fill up.  These mamas about knocked me off balance.  Good thing it was dark as I had to hold them all the way home.  So I don't know what to do, I can't go in public without, but I can't take the pain either.  Any other BF mamas experience this?

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Newborn Photos

Our newborn photos are in!!!  This post is photo heavy, but it's narrowed down from several hundred.

25 Days Old:



















26 Days Old:






32 Days Old: