She was fantastic up to two days ago but then yesterday we regressed a bit. 20 minutes of the most pitiful crying before she sniffed her way to sleep and similarly just now for her first nap.... Siiigh. Oooh sleep gods, let this get easier for her.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
Crying it out
Our version of the Ferber method commenced yesterday after the hubby lost it with our little love nut. Unfortunately since coming back from a small road trip to see family, her sleeping habits were completely out of whack.
Last night was hard. Our girl is such a diva. I always thought diva tendencies were conditioned but I know now that it's all temperament that you're born with. This girl cried, screeched and practically screamed for 30 minutes. I thought she was going to choke. I waited outside the bedroom literally sweating bullets and regretting starting this at all and beating myself up for being the worst mom ever, what the hell was I thinking, this poor kid is going to be traumatized.
I couldn't be in the room, the sight of me and my boobs made her that much more agitated- like why aren't you nursing me to sleep woman?! My husband was in the room though, checking up on her periodically, sometimes picking her up to soothe her when she got really insane.
But then she stopped... Started to play with her feet... And then after a bit more whining, fell asleep finally after 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The seemingly longest hour EVER.
Every nap since, I've tried to apply the same technique and so far, the crying has been minimal. It's the second night and she's picked up a habit of rolling over instead to get our attention. We roll her back and tell her we love her, it's time to sleep now. Tonight it took 30 minutes to sleep and no berserk crying.
I really hope there's no regression but so far, this is a major improvement already!
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Breastfeeding: a story of supply and demand
Before baby was born, I, like many women I'm sure, had a paranoia that my body wouldn't produce milk. Add to that my in law kept telling me she was squirting milk by the time she was 6 months pregnant and why hadn't I, I was starting to worry. Well, the nurses at the post natal hospital were so awesome. They gave me very good guidance and in the end, they were right- every woman can make milk, it's all a matter of supply and demand. If your baby demands it properly from your breast, the milk will come.
Here's my own story and I'll follow this with some good references that I like to use when I had breast feeding issues. When baby was first born, she was able to latch properly on my right breast. My left breast or rather, my left nipple was too big for her little mouth so the latch was not proper and hence, colostrum was not properly demanded from that side. After the first night, baby lost almost 10% of her birth weight which I've read is normal but the nurses were a tad worried. As was I. Baby seemed like she was always hungry no matter how much I put her to my breast. And given that the left side didn't have a proper latch, my left nipple was in major pain.
Long story short, since I missed one night of proper latching and thus, proper demanding of milk from breast, there was a worry that my milk production would lag on that side. So the nurse brought in a breast pump and I pumped my breast for 10 minutes after every feed to make sure that even if baby wasn't sucking properly, at least, I was giving my body the right signals regardless. For baby, we supplemented with a bit of formula after every feed just to ensure that she was full.
How did I feel? Like a total failure! Not only did I have an unplanned C-section and thus I felt like my body failed to deliver a baby naturally, now I couldn't even feed my own baby. Add to that, I was dying of fatigue from literally 2 days of no sleep and counting and I was in pain from surgery. So yeh, lots and lots of negative feelings.
Thankfully, the nurse was right. On the 4th day, as soon as I came home, my breasts started to leak milk and plenty of it. I still had my left nipple issue but even though it hurt like a b*tch, I kept sticking it in baby's mouth and eventually, her mouth grew big enough to latch properly :) Baby has been gaining good, solid weight ever since. And I've kept the nurse's advice at heart- it's all about supply and demand. If you keep demanding it, your body will supply it.
Which is why some people's strategy of breastfeeding during the day and doing formula at night doesn't make sense to me. You're essentially telling your body you don't really need much milk so, it shouldn't be a surprise when your milk supply dwindles and it has nothing to do with your body's abilities.
Anyhow, that's my two cents on breastfeeding. Here are the resources that I found really helpful:
- the nurses in post natal care at the hospital !
- www.breastfeedingbasics.com
- my local Leche League meeting. I had problems of forceful let down due to a bit too much milk and baby was essentially choking when she would feed. My friend recommended that I attend a meeting to get some tips. I was hesitant as I'm not a fan of sitting in a circle and having group therapy like discussions about my issues. In the end, she persuaded me to go and I'm really glad I went. It's good to know that you're not the only one with issues and getting help in person with people who know their stuff is alot more helpful then reading forum upon forum of information.
Here's my own story and I'll follow this with some good references that I like to use when I had breast feeding issues. When baby was first born, she was able to latch properly on my right breast. My left breast or rather, my left nipple was too big for her little mouth so the latch was not proper and hence, colostrum was not properly demanded from that side. After the first night, baby lost almost 10% of her birth weight which I've read is normal but the nurses were a tad worried. As was I. Baby seemed like she was always hungry no matter how much I put her to my breast. And given that the left side didn't have a proper latch, my left nipple was in major pain.
Long story short, since I missed one night of proper latching and thus, proper demanding of milk from breast, there was a worry that my milk production would lag on that side. So the nurse brought in a breast pump and I pumped my breast for 10 minutes after every feed to make sure that even if baby wasn't sucking properly, at least, I was giving my body the right signals regardless. For baby, we supplemented with a bit of formula after every feed just to ensure that she was full.
How did I feel? Like a total failure! Not only did I have an unplanned C-section and thus I felt like my body failed to deliver a baby naturally, now I couldn't even feed my own baby. Add to that, I was dying of fatigue from literally 2 days of no sleep and counting and I was in pain from surgery. So yeh, lots and lots of negative feelings.
Thankfully, the nurse was right. On the 4th day, as soon as I came home, my breasts started to leak milk and plenty of it. I still had my left nipple issue but even though it hurt like a b*tch, I kept sticking it in baby's mouth and eventually, her mouth grew big enough to latch properly :) Baby has been gaining good, solid weight ever since. And I've kept the nurse's advice at heart- it's all about supply and demand. If you keep demanding it, your body will supply it.
Which is why some people's strategy of breastfeeding during the day and doing formula at night doesn't make sense to me. You're essentially telling your body you don't really need much milk so, it shouldn't be a surprise when your milk supply dwindles and it has nothing to do with your body's abilities.
Anyhow, that's my two cents on breastfeeding. Here are the resources that I found really helpful:
- the nurses in post natal care at the hospital !
- www.breastfeedingbasics.com
- my local Leche League meeting. I had problems of forceful let down due to a bit too much milk and baby was essentially choking when she would feed. My friend recommended that I attend a meeting to get some tips. I was hesitant as I'm not a fan of sitting in a circle and having group therapy like discussions about my issues. In the end, she persuaded me to go and I'm really glad I went. It's good to know that you're not the only one with issues and getting help in person with people who know their stuff is alot more helpful then reading forum upon forum of information.
Swimming classes
Aaaah!! I'm so angry at myself!! So there are swim classes for cheap-o prices given by my district at the local YMCA. Thinking that, oh I'm on maternity leave and I'll just apply for those classes that are in the middle of the day, I'm sure there will be openings. I procrastinated for four days since registration opened. AND NOW ALL 4 MID DAY CLASSES ARE BOOKED !!!!!
I can kick myself. Damnit. Now I have to wait until the summer session schedules are out. Sigh..............
I can kick myself. Damnit. Now I have to wait until the summer session schedules are out. Sigh..............
Monday, March 17, 2014
Parties with a baby
Is a logistics nightmare. Every time we leave the house, it's like we are going on a trip. Not to mention that you're never sure if the location hosting is baby friendly. Or if the people around are baby friendly. We got a comment yesterday 'don't you have parents that can baby sit for you?' -seriously? Somebody's getting judge-y about us bringing our 3 month old to a party... A BABY shower party?! Anyway. Weddings have to be the worse... The loud music, loud mc, so you end up just taking turns with your partner to bring the baby outside for the whole duration that you're there.
Life is just not the same anymore.
It's worth it to introduce baby to the world though ! Her first time to the shore, to a wedding and a bazillion new faces and smelly perfumes.
... Next time we try to limit one event per day though. The logistics challenge is tough on mom and dad.
Some lessons learned:
- wear comfy shoes
- wear white in case baby spits up on you
- don't forget shit like baby wipes in your diaper bag!! That was a fail on our part...
- wear comfy shoes
- wear white in case baby spits up on you
- don't forget shit like baby wipes in your diaper bag!! That was a fail on our part...
Friday, March 14, 2014
Baby and poop
So my mother in law thought it was weird that our baby pooped more then once a day since according to her, my husband use to do just that. Worrying after her comments, I looked this up and realized it was really common for babies these days to poop once a week... And even once every 10 days. ... To which I thought wtf? That's major constipation. Then I started worrying if our baby was pooping all the nutrients out since according to moms whose babies pooped once every 10 days, they just absorbed all the nutrients of breast milk hence there is no waste.
.... But amidst my own life experiences and intuition, that makes no sense. And then I read this article:
Our babies, our guts or: what Napoleon can reach us about breastfeeding
And I totally agree. Just because it's common doesn't mean that it's healthy or normal. They explain very well the important link between moms diet and baby's pooping schedule. And the fact that, babies ought to be pooping everyday!! It just makes sense when even on solids, we still need to poop once a day at least!
Interesting read, take a look!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Baby A is 11 weeks old
A quick update- she does mini pushups, she laughs, she coos, she speaks baby, she even plays with a toy (but only with her left hand). She's at that lovely age where she's not super attached to people yet meaning she will let anyone hold her and laugh with you if you make faces at her :) She's her grandma and grandpa's darling, both sets and her papa wants pictures of her throughout the day. She's also sleeping through the night waking up every three hours to feed. Meaning, I can finally get some semblance of sleep.
How's mom? I've chopped off my beloved hair that took forever to grow. I still have 10 lbs to battle but I'm working on it with limited carb intake, 4 sets of rigorous Tabata's every other day and yoga every day. My goal is to fit in my old pants again because it will be annoying to shop for new sets of pants !!! I can't believe three months is almost passed. In 9 months I'll go from seeing my baby everyday to only in the evenings. It's actually heartbreaking to think of. I also battle the urge to coddle my little one instead of stimulating and making her do physical activities like tummy time... But I must!
Our job is to prep her to survive on her own one day, I have to remember that!
I try to get my own things done when I can, when I have some hands free but it's hard. Much harder then I thought. Boy was I naive. Thank goodness for smart phones. But it doesn't matter, I fully understand my priorities now. I understand what people say now about mat leave- enjoy it thoroughly because babies grow so quickly! This time will not repeat itself.
That's my little update from my smart phone as I fake a nap next to baby so that she'll sleep a bit longer. Again, thank goodness for smart phones. Until next time!
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