Breastmilk Storage (and Lipase Issues)

Breastmilk is very resilient and typically stays fresh for the following amount of time:

Baby Stuff, Baby Stuff, Everywhere

For some reason I always thought that when they showed houses in movies and tv of families with new babies, they just staged baby stuff everywhere so you would know they have a baby. 

Well turns out that is real life! Call me naive, that's fine, I just didn't realize we would need some baby item in every room and on every piece of furniture.

I thought it would drive me crazy, but I don't mind it one bit. No matter where you are in our house, there are toys and books within an arms reach!

We are not ready to move anytime soon so have to make our little condo work. We have been rearranging periodically as needed. I've started mentally preparing to baby proof. We have all sorts of fragile stuff the baby height. It's on my to-do list.

Here's our "movie set" house of family with baby...

Keira loves all her toys and books!

Keira @ 18 Weeks

Keira is having all sorts of fun now- giggling, grabbing (and throwing) toys, making silly faces and noises, and reading magazines and books.

I think we've all finally adjusted to the time change and also finally figured out Keira's natural schedule, it goes a little something like this:

6:30/7:30am- good morning!

9:30/10:30am- eat milk brunch and then take a snooze on moms lap 

1:00/2:00pm- mom and baby both lay down for a nap

4:00/5:00pm- baby takes nap while mom walks

7:30pm- get in PJs and have milk dessert before falling asleep

3:00/4:00am- wake up for a mid-night snack 

I'm sure this will all change on vacation but we will probably try to stick to it as best as possible. Keira is flexible on the nap times, as long as she gets three and they total 3-4 hours. Bedtime is non-negotiable for her. It's been like clockwork if we don't have her in PJs at 7:30 she starts crying hysterically. We prefer non crying baby, so we stick to her timeline :-)

Overall everything is going great. I'm enjoying my time home with Keira. Here's some pictures from our week:

Isn't she precious when she's sleeping?

I love it. I love her.

A Presidential Welcome for Keira!

Who better to welcome baby Keira to the world than the President and First Lady?!

You can get one, too!

(Instructions from: http://m.thebump.com/new-mom-new-dad/newborn-basics/qa/letter-to-baby-from-president.aspx?MsdVisit=1)

I heard from someone that you can actually get a letter for baby from the U.S. President. Is that true? How can I get one?

A.

Yes, you can actually get a presidential letter for giving birth! Apparently, U.S. presidents like newborns. And a lot of new moms like the new president. Oh, the circle of love. To get baby an official letter from the president write to:

The White House
Attn: Greetings Office
Washington, D.C. 20502-0039
 
Include:
[  ] Baby’s name 
[  ] Date of birth 
[  ] Your name
[  ] Phone number
[  ] Mailing address

You can also fax your request to: 202-395-1232.

Take note: Baby must have been born within the past 12 months and requests should be made after baby's birth. A minimum of six weeks is needed to process your request.

Four Month Appointment

Today was Keira's four month appointment ( a few days late...)

Her growth is continuing right on track! 

Here are her new measurements :

Height = 25.5"

Weight = 14.31lb

Head Circumference = 16.75"

She was given several shots (again) so she is safer around other kids but we are still supposed to be vigilant about hand washing (for her, us, and visitors).

Her next appt will be at 6 months.

Chocolate CocOatNut Dairy-Free Lactation Cookies

I am so happy that my dairy-elimination diet is working (more on that in another post) but I missed my favorite lactation cookies. I googled a couple different recipes and took pieces from each to make these chocolate, coconut, oatmeal, almond, and walnut cookies.

Keira @ 17 Weeks

Today Keira is 4 months old! She is grabbing objects (including my hair, dad's nose and the straw out of my drink!), rolling over, and giggling periodically. We are working on sitting up and holding on to objects. She did throw two of her toys into the floor today. 

Her appointment is later this week, but I know she is over 14 pounds and will probably grow out of her 3-6 month clothes in a month or so.

Here's some pictures from the last week:

Crazy, Sweaty and Bald

We've all seen the pregnancy side effects- nausea, thick hair and nails, and growing belly. But the postpartum side effects seem to be less widely known. I'm here to tell you a little bit about them.

Let's start with the title of this post:

-Crazy. Everyone talks about postpartum depression, but there are lots of other feelings brought on by postpartum hormones- especially anxiety! I thought I was going crazy but turns out it isotally normal and part of postpartum anxiety and postpartum OCD. Many moms I've talked to have these affects and were so confused by them because all doctors had told them to look out for was depression. I hear so many times "I'm not depressed, but I feel crazy! I can't stop worrying! I have crazy terrible thoughts that scare the crap out of me; but since I'm not depressed it must not be de to paotpartum". Well, it is. Hormones can do some really whack things to your brain I've learned. The more educated you are about what to possibly expect, the sooner you'll recognize it for what it is and easier you can treat yourself. Sleep, eating right (lots of protein), regular hygiene, mindful thinking and exercise can work wonders.

Getting Ready for Baby (yourself)

Before baby comes, here are some things I recommend to prepare yourself (these are my personal opinion, what worked for me!):

-Get a haircut, your regular haircut, a trim, whatever. Trust me you will be happy because time flies by and anything that makes you feel prettier after birth helps you feel better overall.

-Get a nice mani/pedi. You are 38 or 39 weeks pregnant and are incapable of painting your own toes so go ahead and leave it to the professionals:

-Again, I'm going to mention stocking up on all your personal items (shampoo, face wash, body wash, shaving cream, lotion, lipstick, mascara, eye shadow - whatever you use daily); just grab an extra 2 or 3 so you don't have to worry about Target trips with a 8 day old baby.

-Take some nice loooong showers. (I love every minute with baby but I started really appreciating my long showers towards the end of my pregnancy knowing I might not get them after baby). I have showered every single day since Keira was born so it's not like you can't take shower, you'll just be more in "let's get down to business" mode, so relax a little while you can.

-Sleep in. I am very lucky and have a baby that sleeps well and we have a great routine that requires me to be awake for a very short time during the night. However, many moms in my group have babies who wake every two hours. And breastfed babies typically wake during the night until 6-9 months. It's all good and worth it, I'm just saying why not stay in bed a little longer on the weekend while you still can.

-Get yourself a nice supply of postpartum care items, including: 

*Maxi pads of all different sizes. You need about 3 weeks worth. Buy them now. You don't want to send hubby out to get them later. I recommend "U by Kotex".

*Earth mama angel baby new mama bottom spray. Refreshing and cool for when the epigram from the hospital runs out.

*DulcoEase Pink. Take it religiously and avoid those nasty pains in the butt!

*FiberChews. Again, take regularly and you won't have any digestive issues!

-Buy some nursing bras and tops. You won't fully understand the necessity of nursing tops until you wear a regular shirt and you have to pull the whole thing up exposing your postpartum belly. Trust me, nursing tops/tanks are essential to nursing success.

-Dig out your early maternity clothes. Yes you will still look 6 months pregnant when you leave the hospital, but after 2 weeks you'll be much closer in size to the end of your first trimester. Hello again, BellaBand.

-Get a Handsfree headset. While baby is cluster feeding is a great time to catch up with friends and family, but you'll likely still need your hands free to reposition baby, etc.

-Find a new mom support group. I regularly attend breastfeeding support group, new parent support group and postpartum support group. They have helped me tremendously. No one knows what you are going through better than other new moms. 

NOTE: life after baby is amazing. But it's different than life before baby. This post is just meant to make that change easier. You will be fine :-)

Baby Development

This week I attended a seminar on baby development. A very knowledgable speaker, nurse and developmental specialist came to answer questions and check out babies. A lactation consultant was also there providing information.

It was great to hear everyone's questions and I even got a few of my own answered, here's what I learned:

-No device/bouncy chair/jumper/bouncer is as good as plain old tummy time on the floor. She highly encourage parents to stay away from all the baby gear and really focus on tummy time. Aim for 45 minutes a day of tummy time. It's ok if it's in 1 or 5 minute increments.

-If you are trying to get baby to sleep and she hasn't fallen asleep by 15 minutes, it's ok to go to a "fallback" sleeping method (driving, walking, baby carrying)

-Keep baby in the room with you. That way you can easily check on them and hush them back to sleep; and very easily breastfeed.

-I asked about Keira liking to stand up and she said we should focus on getting her to sit independently first. But standing is so fun!

(Keira standing with PopPop)

-Spoon feeding baby is no longer common practice; wait until 6 months and follow baby's cues for baby led weaning.

-Colic is not an actual disease. If baby has symptoms of "colic", they typically have something actually wrong with them and likely need medical intervention. Most of these babies have severe reflux and can easily be fixed with prescription medicine (Zertec or Prilosac).

-Baby wearing is great for development. Always wear baby towards you and aim for 2 to 3 hours a day. 

-Make sure to lay baby down in different directions at night so as not to cause a flat spot.

-Don't swaddle babies arms/hands. Baby having access to her hands is very important in early development.

-"Cry it Out" method is not good for babies development or breastfeeding success. She said if you have the book "BabyWise" or "12 hours by 12 weeks" to throw them away.

-If what you are doing works, keep doing it; don't wake a sleeping baby; stop second guessing yourself. (So it's ok for me to nurse Keira to sleep every night!)

Getting Ready for Baby (your house)

Besides getting all the baby supplies ready (bassinet, diapers and clean clothes), there are some other things I recommend doing to get your house ready for bringing home baby.

You will be distracted, tired and uninterested in anything but your sweet new baby. 

So you may to want to:

-stock up on your favorite non-perishable foods (PB&J, cereal, oatmeal, beef jerky, sparkling water); whatever you can eat easily (you may be eating while breastfeeding)

-stock up on disposable plates, napkins, forks, knives, spoons, cups and straws (if you like a tidy house, it's easier to throw everything in the trash than load and unload a dishwasher)

-stock up on paper towels, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, your favorite soap, lipstick, nail polish, etc (it's not that you won't be able to go to the store but you just don't want to worry about that kind of stuff)

-consider getting a cleaning service to come either every two weeks or once a month (take a break, get out of the house and come back to everything all clean!)

-declutter as much as possible. We live in a fairly small condo and I knew I would feel like the walls were closing in on us if we had all our crap plus everything that comes along with baby. We got rid of a bunch of clutter and left a few shelves and bins completely empty knowing that they would like up quickly! 

-if you have a pet, you may want to set up all your baby stuff early, periodically turn on that bouncy seat, or play with that doll that plays music, get your stroller out, let your pet get used to all the stuff so when baby arrives he is only getting used to baby, not all baby's gear and baby!

I know that these seem pretty basic but they totally saved us and made the first month much eaier to just focus on what is important- baby!

Birth "Plan"

I get easily caught up in "the moment" and knew when I was in the process of giving birth, I wouldn't be able to remember all the things I wanted to happen in my birth process. Thus was the birth of a "birth plan". I read multiple birth plans online, talked it all over with the husband then typed it up to show my doctor:

She thought it was great and asked if she could keep that copy for my file. I was psyched and of course said "yes!". This is great- my delivery doctor will have my birth plan so I won't have to worry about remembering all those little details of things I researched for hours about how to make my birth experience the best for me, my husband and our baby.

That all got tossed out the window when my delivery doctor wasn't a doctor from my practice. Ultimately things worked out fine but some of the things I had in y birth plan didn't happen. Not because they couldn't happen for medical reasons, but because no one remembered that was what I wanted. I didn't bring a copy of the plan with me (or maybe I did) but I never made Mike promise to remind the doctor because we had met in advance and they had it in their file so I trusted they would read it when the time came. Again most everything was fine, but some things still frankly piss me off. I didn't want baby to get all her tests and everything some until we had time to bond (and breastfeed). As soon as we got to the recovery room, they came and swooped her away and she was gone for hours. I'm sure they were doing something important and at the time I was too tired to remember that I wanted to keep her there with me. Maybe it's good that she was with people who

Were actually awake. But it still bothers me. I was told later that typically babies are bathed in the room with the parents and that most everything could be done in-room, I don't recall getting that option.

When she did get back, she latched right on with no problems but it had been a while since birth and looking back I picture her stuck in a plastic bassinet crying while she waits her turn to her inspected. I'm sure I'll get over it, someday.

Lesson is: Make your husband remind the entire medical team of your birth plan, not everything you want is the norm and not unless you speak up they will just do whatever they are used to.

I will get over it, eventually!

Keira @ 16 Weeks

Thanks to a lot of sleeping and napping Keira was much less grumpy this week! I think since she has been teething we are getting confused about her sleepy / hungry cues. I called the pediatrician about her napping and she said wait until she is tired to try to get her to nap (instead of following a schedule from a book). 

That has seemed to work really well. It turns out that she really just likes one long nap around 12-3pm. Some days it's shorter and she will then only take a second nap if she's with me or if I carrying her in the baby carrier. 

Her bedtime varies anywhere from 6 to 8pm but she sleeps until around 6:30 to 7:30, of course with a snack break or two in there. I can't blame her, her tummy is still really small so it's hard to go very long without a snack.

She is laughing more often which is awesome, yesterday Mike made her laugh and of course it made me cry- it was too darn cute!

Well here we are at 16 weeks old, I can't believe it was a year ago when we found out we were expecting her!

Happy drooly baby with her feet in the air!!!