No more Dairy

Warning- this post is about baby poo - if you don't want to read it, stay tuned for other more fun posts.

For the past week, my poor little Bear has been pooping green watery poo. Then several days ago, traces of blood began to show up in his diapers. On Tuesday, I called the doctor's office and the advice nurse told me to eliminate all dairy from my diet to see if he has a diary intolerance. I have to eliminate dairy for a week. No improvement will mean a trip to the pediatrician. So far, no improvement - but we are only 2 days in and have 5 more to go.

A few thoughts on this whole thing.

It is really hard to know that your baby is having issues. He can't tell me what's wrong. He can't tell me if it hurts. It is also difficult to know that there is probably something in my diet that is coming through in my milk that is harming my baby. It makes me feel like I am feeding him something toxic. That's a hard pill for me to swallow.

Quitting dairy is HARD. I have discovered that dairy is in a ton of things. Many breads, quaker oatmeal (a staple of mine), yogurt (another daily staple), milk (duh), cheese (mmm, cheese), most baked goods (in the form of butter), pumpkin pie (uh, my favorite, sad), anything whey, and on and on and on. Dairy is in EVERYTHING. So I have been struggling to find foods I can eat.

As much as I don't want it to be dairy because I love me some cheese, yogurt, etc, I do want it to be dairy because if it isn't, it becomes infinitely more difficult to figure out what is causing the gastrointestinal issues. And honestly, I will gladly give up diary if it will help my little Bear.

He also has a cold. I was lead to believe that he couldn't get a cold if he was breastfeeding. Apparently not. I have a very un-fussy baby normally. Between his insides not feeling good and being stuffed up, he is definitely fussy. Poor baby!

Last night was our first time doing cloth diapers at night. Success!! I love these things!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy birthday Nick! What an amazing husband and dad! Nick works so hard for our family - he leaves the house at 5:00am and usually doesn't get home until 6:00pm or later. He gets home and spends time with Bear, fixes things around the house, does yard work and is working on our bathroom remodel. He wakes up in the middle of the night and does all the diaper changes after I feed him. What an amazing daddy to wake up in the middle of the night even when he works more than 12 hour days. Bear and I are  so lucky to have him in our lives. 

4 Weeks Old!

I will stop doing weekly updates on Bear at the one month mark but will continue to do weekly pictures. I think there is something sweet about having 52 pictures next to his bear for his first year. It will be amazingly fun to look back at them once a full year has passed - plus, it will be a nice addition to his baby book.

It is amazing how much I can see Bear change. Only 4 weeks have passed and already I can see that he has grown and he is developing new skills every day.

At 4 weeks:

• Weighed 10lbs 15oz on Tuesday 
• Sleeping flat on his back in the co-sleeper, swaddled. 
• Eats every 2-3 hours during the day
• Eats every 3-3.5 hours at night
• Has started spitting up
• Is still very passionate and will cry hard when something is taken away - ei, pulled away from nursing to burp - not a good moment for him. 
• Continues to be more and more alert
• Has transitioned to wearing (mostly) cloth diapers during the day and disposables at night. We don't have quite enough cloth diapers to make it work all day but I have 12 more on the way. We will have a total of 18 BumGenius all-in-one's and 5 rumparooz. 
• Wants to be held most of the time. 
• Took a 10 minute nap in his crib, all by himself
• Seems to be getting more interactive, hasn't smiled or "talked" but is more aware of what we are doing. 
• Sleeps very well in the car
• Has a pretty bad case of baby acne- poor guy!!

Baby jeans, cute, not practical.

Yawn.

Yikes! Stripes!

Cloth diapers

Hanging out with auntie Ali and his cousins!

Awwww

Sleeping in his crib, what a big boy!

Taking a snooze with daddy

A picture with mommy!

Tidbits on Bear

Tidbits I want to remember. 

• We took our first car trip to Eugene. Nick went to the Duck game vs. Arizona State and I stayed at my sisters house. The trip went well but it was definitely a long day - we left Portland around 3pm and didn't get home until 2am. Bear slept really well but he didn't eat as much as usual. By the time we got back to Portland, I thought I was going to explode and ended up not only feeding Bear but also pumping 12 oz! Holy tons of milk!
• Bear took his first bottle of freshly pumped breast milk on Wednesday which Nick fed to him. He did great. It isn't my favorite thing to do (even though I am not particularly taken with the time consuming nature of breast feeding, I also don't like the bottle because they can over eat and because they can swallow a ton of air) but he took to it like it was what he was supposed to do. 
• He managed to wear 2 cloth diapers on Sunday with no leaks and large wetting so I took that to mean that he might be ready to transition. I prepared the Bum Genius all-in-one diapers to enter into the rotation. Our thought is that he will wear the cloth during the day and then sleep in the disposable. Hopefully the cloth continue to work without leaking. Another interesting tidbit on the diapers - when he is wet with the cloth, he will cry and let us know that he is wet. With the disposables, he is content to wear a completely soaked diaper until we change him. No wonder babies end up with more diaper rash from disposables, they don't feel the wetness so they just hang out in a wet diaper. 
• I have been feeding him every 2 hours during the day but he never asks to eat and I generally have to wake him up to eat. Today, I am trying to see what happens when I let him go longer between eating. (although I am a little nervous that he will confuse his day and night even more with me letting him just snooze rather than waking him up to eat...then again, maybe he really doesn't need to be eating every 2 hours during the day...
• We went for a 3 mile walk with him in the Bjorn and Trooper on the leash. This is the longest walk we have gone on so far. I also weeded with him in the Bjorn and threw the ball for Trooper. 

3 weeks old!

I am sure I will say this every single time - I cannot believe my little Bear is 3 weeks old already. And I already don't know how life was complete before this little guy came home with us and squirmed into our hearts. He is such a good baby. So content most of the time and so sweet and cuddly. It is difficult not to just hold him all day long. He melts into your arms, smells so sweet and is just so wonderful. Every mom needs to include a picture of their baby crying at some point so there you go :)

At 3 weeks:

• Eats every 2 hours during the day
• Eats every 3.75 - 5.5 hours at night
• Wearing 3 month carters sleep shirts, 3 month carters jammies, 0-3 month gap clothes
• Weighs 10.2lbs
• Is a very quick eater and as long as his is organized and not fighting it, will be finished in 5-10 minutes
• Loves his pacifier and has not had any confusion between breastfeeding and the paci
• Has used his Rumparooz cloth diapers 2 times with not good results, 3 with good results. 
• Had a blowout while nursing with a disposable diaper at 3am causing a full sheet change in the middle of the night. 
• Had is first blowout in a bath and got very mad and cold when I had to drain the tub and refil it. Was very happy to get back into the warm water. Loves baths!
• Loves to have his hands by his face, scratches himself even when his nails are super short
• Loves to cuddle on our chests. 
• Prefers to be upright rather than reclined or flat on his back and will choke on his saliva sometimes when on his back or too far reclined. 
• Is very passionate - if you take something away, cries instantly and very passionately
• Is very independent and wants to do things his way
• Continues to push against me while nursing but is getting better
• Startles easily but never when his doggy barks. He is completely immune to barking
• Went on his first solo grocery store trip with mommy and slept the whole time. 
• Sleeps with his sleep sheep, a white noise machine. 
• Sleeps in his car seat for the first 2 stretches of the night, swaddled 
• Sleeps in bed next to me for the final stretch of the night
• Grasps onto my shirt collar when I hold him to my chest
• Is having more periods of alertness, they are short lived but happening more and more

What's going on with me:

• No lingering pain from the c-section
• I have been able to do some exercises like lunges, girly pushups, leg lifts, bridge, etc. 
• Still having serious night sweats
• Weight 156, 11lbs to go to pre-pregnancy weight. (although in need of some serious toning to get back to the same body)
• Wondering how in the heck women work out with any vigor when breastfeeding...boobs full of milk just doesn't fit well with 5 mile run in my book. 
• Can button my rock n' republic jeans, not pretty, but I can button them! Have not attempted my other jeans. 
• Major over-production of milk (which is great and not great depending on how you look at it) and average 5 bags of breast milk bags (3oz each) per day with a current stash in the freezer of 72 bags...woa.
• Averaging around 8 hours of sleep when all added up which is pretty good and I have not been overly tired during the day. I am in bed by 9pm for our last feeding and turn in at that point for the night. Not much of a night owl anymore!
• No hormonal issues, blues, highs, lows - just happiness with life and my little family. Enjoying every moment of this - it is just flying by!

Motherhood - the art of getting sprayed

Who knew motherhood could be so messy. There has been some serious spraying going on in this house. Allow me to elaborate...

Getting Peed On:
I have been peed on.

My shirt, my pants, my cheek, my shoes, my socks.

My house has been peed on.

The floor, the counter, the sink, the wall, the carpet.

Did you know that an infant can pee remarkably far?

We know that almost every time his little member is drafted with cold air from a diaper change, he will pee. So we open, we fan, we wait. But sometimes, you wait and nothing happens - so you think, in the clear! And you proceed to remove the diaper, wipe, get the next diaper positioned...and then fire water canon, he pees! In the new diaper! And on himself! Remove diaper, wipe, repeat.

Getting pooped on:
(or rather - I should say, the dog)

Did you know that breastfed poo is remarkably runny?

And comes out in an explosion?

The counter has been pooped on.

The floor has been poosploshioned (yes, that is a technical term :)

The dog has been shot. A sad casualty of a mis-calculated poo.

Covered in breastmilk
Did you know that breastmilk sprays from your boobs?

I didn't.

If you haven't recently f ed or pumped and you decide to take a shower, beware - it is likely that when you turn that water off and go to towel off, you will spray milk all over - uh, everything. Have those magical breastpads ready to apply right away - lesson learned.

Did you know that when your infant starts sucking and then decides to un-latch, it is possible that your milk will keep spraying - all over you, your infant and everything else?

I didn't.

I don't know how we will ever be able to nurse covered, much less be able to go out in public and nurse discretely.

Here is what our feeding looks like (ok, no pictures, but with a good imagination, you can see)

1 to 2 minutes of attempted latching where Bear pushes against me, presumably because he thinks he is helping. He's not. But I appreciate his effort.

During said 1 to 2 minutes, ridiculous head bobbing and tongue waggling as Bear tries to latch (if I am lucky) or hysterical crying (if I am not)

Latch - success.

Unlatch - God only knows why

Milk spray - all over his face, all over me, all over my clothes.

Desperate attempt to stop the spray. We nurse with a towel. Or a burp cloth.

Infant to chest, re-collect ourselves.

Re-latch

Un-latch

Re-latch

Un-latch

Burp

Repeat.

Seriously - how are we ever going to nurse in public. But first, how will I ever cover him up? I already lack the third arm I need to make this happen.

In all seriousness - I am fully committed to breastfeeding. I just wish that it went more smoothly!

Bath Time!

Barrett had his first bath in his real tub on Sunday. He loved it. He relaxed in the warm water and enjoyed being diaper free! He didn't even cry when it was time to get out. What a good boy we have! Here are some of the photo's from his bath time adventure. 

Tummy time

Sometimes a little guy is just too tired to make it through tummy time.

2 weeks old

I cannot believe that Barrett has been with us for 2 whole weeks. This week has been full of learning. It has been amazing to get to know this little person better and get to experience his sweetness. He had one really bad day on Wednesday where he pretty much cried (make that screamed) most of the day. Nursing was especially difficult because he would be hungry and wouldn't be able to calm down enough to eat so he would get really hysterical. I can't figure out whether he was upset because his schedule was thrown a bit or whether I ate something? I had some gastro-intensinal issues so I am wondering if they translated to him? Darn the people who came and visited us with sicknesses (not that I don't love visitors) - it affected my milk supply and everything. I was drinking massive amounts of water just to try to keep enough flowing for him - but the pumping after every feed hasn't been happening as he is eating from both sides just to end up satisfied which wasn't the case earlier in the week.

At 2 weeks:

• Stats - 9lbs 9oz (74%), 22 inches (90%), Head 54%
• He is eating every 2 hours during the day - I find that if I feed him every 2 hours during the day, he doesn't have to "ask" to eat and doesn't cry but he is ready and hungry. He is a much better eater this way because he is not upset. 
• Eats every 4.5 hours at night - I know I said I would never wake an infant if he wanted to sleep longer, but I have found that again, if I wake him up at 4.5 hours, he is not frantic and will eat, we change him and then he is back to bed. Update - had 2 nights this week where he woke up every 2 or 3 hours - likely due to the 1inch in length growth spurt - holy growing little man!
• We go to bed around 8pm - he eats, sleeps until 12:30am eats and gets changed, sleeps until 4:30am eats and gets changed and then sleeps until 8:30am and eats again. Of course Wednesday was a complete disaster and he cried every 2 hours at night and was just hysterical during each feed so this schedule is not perfectly consistent perse- but it is pretty on point. 
• He wants to do things himself, even if he doesn't know how. He wants to latch on by himself but continues to push against me with his top side arm when he tries to latch. 
• He loves to be held on our chests
• He loves to be walked around
• We took our first walk on Tuesday in the Bjorn with Trooper and he did great. He loved the bjorn. Weather permitting, we would like to go again, it has been raining non stop all week. Bummer. 
• Loves his swing
• Loves the bounce chair and sits in it when I take a shower
• Loves MAM pacifiers which are available at Target
• Is great with sponge baths if done after eating while he is still "milk drunk"
• Is wearing size 1 diapers
• Wears size newborn sleep shirts, 3 month carters jammies, 0-3 month gap clothes - he is in 3 month clothes because of his length. He is far too long for newborn clothes. 
• His cord fell off and there was additional undried cord underneath so we have to keep him in shirts that allow for it to dry up - he can now have real baths!
• Does tummy time and doesn't seem to mind it too much, will cry a bit after he has been on his tummy for too long. Can turn his head from side to side and hold his head up. Can push with his feet and "scoot" to the top of the blanket. Loves to look outside when he is doing tummy time. 
• Sleeps with his "sleep sheep" which is a white noise machine that is amazing. We like the ocean and stream settings the most. 
• Sleeps the first two long stretches of the night in his carseat which we keep in the co-sleeper next to our bed and sleeps the last stretch in bed next to me because Nick is gone. Still does not like to sleep on his back. We swaddle him but leave his arms out of the swaddle and he does very well. 
• Is a very content baby and has only had 1 rough day and a few moments where he has cried really hard. Mostly, he just likes to cuddle up with someone. 
• Runs hot and will cry if he gets too hot and will have to be cooled down by stripping naked. 

Whats up with me:

• I am down to 160lbs, I have 15 to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight but I would like to get back to 140 eventually because I was a bit higher than normal when I got pregnant. 
• I am left with some stretch marks - hopefully these will go away...
• I am still sweating like crazy at night and have to change the sheets at least every other day. I am hoping that my hormones go back to normal soon. I have to drink way too much water to try to counteract the sweating and it is getting a bit old. 
• Definitely have a ponch that I need to work off. I have a feeling abs aren't going to cut it - good old fashioned HIIT is going to have to do it. (For those not familiar, HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training - it is good old fashioned Intervals...) These will have to wait at least 6 weeks from delivery and even then, I want to be cognizant of my milk supply - hopefully I can do this and still be able to feed my kiddo?
• I am trying to pump at least 3 times per day which equates to 21 bags of milk per week. I don't know what I am saving up for, but it is always nice to have a stockpile of milk. 
• Balancing home life with an every 2 hour feeding is definitely interesting. Between pumping and feeding, approximately 20-40 minutes out of every hour are filled with feeding related matters. That doesn't leave much time for anything. Good thing I mastered whirlwind cleaning before I was ever pregnant. 
• I am slowly fitting in some of my pre-pregnancy clothes. My chest size is waaaaaay bigger than before and I wonder if they will ever go back - if not, either I need breast reduction surgery or a new wardrobe. I am thinking ultimately, if they don't go back - and when we are SURE we are done having kids, I will get them reduced because honestly, I don't love having huge boobs, they aren't practical for being active and honestly, I like the fit and toned look better than the playboy skinny look. I guess we will just have to wait and see what the future holds for that region of my body. 
• My C-section is healing really well and I am not taking anything for pain or swelling. Good job on the surgery Doc B!!

Hanging with my doggie

On my way to my 2 week appointment

Hot baby, hanging out with dad

Going for my first walk with mom in the Bjorn, loved it!

aaaaand, the aftermath, ponchly and un-retouched...I see abs and cardio in my future. Lets just call it swelling for now :)

Dog Hair, Introducing your Dog and Post Pregnancy Wackness

The Dog Hair part:

This is Trooper. 

Trooper is a dog. 

Dogs have dog hair, duh. 

I never realized how much Trooper shed until we had a baby. There is dog hair EVERYWHERE! It follows us when we nurse, shows up in Barrett's mouth, in his diaper, on the washcloth we use to clean him up during changes, in the Vaseline, on the blankets, on his clothes. Dog hair EVERYWHERE! Why did I never notice how much Troopie shed until now?

The Introduction Part:

Trooper is adjusting relatively well to the new baby. 

He doesn't like when Bear cries. He doesn't particularly like that I am preoccupied with Bear most of the time. Poor guy probably feels a touch resentful because for 9 months, it was just me and him at home on many days, hanging out, being just us. Now there is this needy person who wakes up in the middle of the night, cries, needs to be changed and needs to be fed like every 2 hours from start to start - then I have to pump which takes up time too. 

A lot of people told me that my opinion of my woof would change when we had a baby. It didn't. I still love him just as much. I do feel bad that I am so occupied and can't give much time to Trooper. I am sure this will change down the road. 

So Introduction -

I did not hold Barrett when Trooper came back in the house - that way, he and I would have the chance to say hi- since I was going to be the one who would be most occupied with Bear. 

I make sure to still talk in the "Trooper" voice to him, play with him and pet him. 

We never say "no" when we are holding the baby - we don't want him to associate being told no with the baby and come to resent the baby. We instead intercept behavior we don't want. 

We try to play with Trooper a lot. The problem is, it is rainy and muddy. That makes playing outside difficult. Poor Troopie. 

Post Pregnancy Wackness:

I am not overly emotional - I do cry a bit easier than before, but it is nothing crazy. I do not have baby blues and have not felt anxious, down or upset at all during this journey. 

My two struggles are:

Temperature. I sweat like crazy for part of the night. So much so that I need a towel to dry off the sweat. Its CRAZY. I wake up SOAKED. Then, not long after, I will get FREEZING. Like shivering, shaking, crying cold, instantly. My temperature gauge is definitely off. Like really off. And no one ever warned me about this so it came as a big huge surprise. 

Food. I am not all that hungry. I thought that breastfeeding made you famished. I have to force myself to take in calories so that I don't lose milk supply. Thirst, not a problem, but hunger - I definitely have to force myself to eat enough. And I guess I am eating enough since I have plenty of milk but I am also down 25lbs so far (162) and have 17 to go to get to my prepregnancy weight (145) - and I haven't done anything yet. 

Barrett 1 week old

Written Friday 9/30/2011

(Usually he will be seated next to the bear, but I was lazy)

I cannot believe that Barrett has been in our lives for one week. It has been wonderful, love filled, exhausting, amazing – I don’t have enough words to describe this past week. We had some sleep issues when we first came home from the hospital where Barrett only wanted to be held at night to sleep (he would sleep for long stretches) but wanted to be held for the whole thing or would passionately cry and let us know we needed to pick him up.

We also had some early issues with breastfeeding. We had some trouble with the latching process – he would pull his tongue up and back so he wouldn’t get a latch. A pacifier fixed this issue. We then struggled when my milk came in and it was hard for him to get a latch due to my complete engorgement. Once these were worked out, nursing has gone great and he has gained enough weight and things are going well. It still takes quite a few tries to get him latched but once he is on, he gulps and eats like a champ.

I want to pump but am worried – in the hospital, I had to pump because after his circumcision he was having trouble feeding which is normal – the pump hurt and made me sore which isn’t good for a new nursing mom because things are sore and cracked anyway. I need to start pumping so that I don’t have to be the only source for food so I am building up the courage to try again.

He is such a content baby and will only cry if he needs something – it just takes us a little bit of time to figure out what it is that he needs.

I am down 23 lbs (165) and have 20 (145) to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. I have not tried on any pants and wont for a while – I am still swollen and have water retention from the c-section and all the fluids they pumped into me. (uh, I gained a bit more than I had wanted to…oops)

At one week Barrett is:

• ·      Weighed 9lb 5oz at his first doctors appointment, up 3oz from his birthweight which is super good but not the usual for newborns, especially first babies
• ·      Wearing newborn sleep shirts, mostly wears no pants – he is too big for the newborn sleep pants with feet (his feet wont fit) and it is easier to have him in just a diaper with a blanket because he gets changed so often.
• ·      Wearing size 1 pampers swaddlers – will switch to cloth when we try them on and they fit and also when he is no longer having vasaline put on his circumcision.
• ·      Eating every 2 to 4.5 hours
• ·      Very strong and will push against me with his top side arm when I am trying to get him to latch. He will get frustrated that he can’t latch and sometimes I have to have Nick hold his hand to distract him from pushing away.
• ·      When he cries and he gets really frantic, he has a kind of “eerch” sound that happens at the peak.
• ·      Very passionate and stubborn. When he wont stop pushing away when we are trying to latch, I will bring him upright to my chest and pat his back just in case he needs to burp and to re-collect ourselves for a repeated attempt. He gets very frustrated and will instantly start crying very passionately (cute when I am not tired, exhausting when I am) and bob his head up and down and lunging left (always left, apparently he has preferences).
• ·      Will make a fist and put just the index finger up when he latches on as if to say “wait” “wait” “I’m getting it” – very cute
• ·      Averaging 10 wet diapers and 8 poopy diapers daily
• ·      Grunts and pushes really strongly when he poops which is super cute. Does so while nursing if it has been over 4 hours since his last feeding.
• ·      Sleeping most of the day
• ·      Has short periods of alertness, usually mid morning, in the early afternoon and around 6:00pm
• ·      Until last night, wanted to be held all night long to sleep
• ·      Doesn’t like to be flat on his back – spends small amounts of time, generally after nursing on a blanket on his back to get used to being on his back.
• ·      Is sleeping in the pack n play with the carseat in the basinet due to the above. I asked the pediatrician if it was ok and he gave the green light.
• ·      Slept 4.5 hours last in one stretch last night, I woke him up because it was the longest he had gone and he had fallen asleep with a wet diaper so I wanted to get that off from him.  I also woke him up because I needed him to nurse (apparently my anatomy wasn’t willing to go for such a long stretch either!)
• ·      Loves to be on Nick and my chests and will fold his arms up under his head.
• ·      Can push up with his arms and look at us when on our chests.
• ·      Does not like to be naked and will only be changed without crying if he has just eaten (we call it being milk drunk).
• ·      Gets very hot easily and we have to be careful about the blankets we use to keep him from overheating
• ·      Makes squinting, smiling, yawning, facial expressions
• ·      Loves to have his hands by his face and we leave his arms out of his swaddle.
• ·      Will clasp his hands together
• ·      Enjoys his swing, sometimes likes the bouncer
• ·      Loves to be in the car, he has gone for 2 car rides so far. One to come home from the hospital and one to go to the pediatrician
• ·      Does not startle or flinch when Trooper barks. It is true what they say about babies getting used to sounds in utero.
• ·      Adapted well to Trooper and Trooper adapted well to him. I will do a post on what we did to introduce them.
• ·      Is so loved by both Nick and I. Nick is the best daddy and I just melt when I see them together. Nick is better at diaper changes than me and changed every diaper other than the ones the nurses did in the hospital.

We are so in love with this little guy and are so thrilled to have him in our lives.