Pumping, Bottles, and a little Gem

Whether you breastfeed or formula feed your baby, I think it is absolutely important that we all support each other. It is a personal decision, how you want to feed your baby, there are circumstances that make it impossible to breastfeed and let's be honest, being able to have other people feed the babe gives Mom a much needed break, something I have been missing for about 9 months ;)

We had a bad time getting Delilah to take a bottle, and by bad time I mean she flat out, did not take the bottle. I also had a very tough time pumping, only getting an ounce or two a time. So, I decided, for my own sanity and confidence, to continue breastfeeding. Until I got a job. Granted I was only at the job for 2 weeks, after daycare costs and commuting costs I wasn't really bringing home any extra income and I was away from Delilah all day. In those 2 weeks, however, Delilah took a bottle, drank formula, and I was able to pump enough! A small miracle!

(I used formula to supplement when I didn't have enough breast milk, her bottle would have 2 oz breast milk and 1 oz formula.)

On a side note, I have a new appreciation for mothers that work. Good grief, there was literally no time in the day. None. I would get home around 6:30 pm and whirlwind around until 10 and there was still stuff that needed to be done. Go you Momma!

So the bottles that ended up working for us are the Playtex VentAire and the Joovy Boob. We use a slow flow nipple, it works well!

I went ahead and got these labels for her stuff, since they encourage you to label everything at day care. These are great, waterproof, and cute!

I pump 3 times a day with the Medela Pump in Style. At 7:30am, 1:30 pm, and 6:00 pm. Depending on  how the ladies feel, I might add one more pump before I go to bed. What the main problem was before was the fact that I don't think I was pumping long enough. I wouldn't give enough time for one letdown, let alone 2. I pump for about 20 minutes or so and I usually produced about 3 oz combined. That may not sound like a lot, but let me tell you… it is! Right now Delilah is only taking 3 oz bottles anyways, so it works for us!

I have learned that whether you breastfeed or use formula, there is one common understanding, washing bottles sucks. Bad. It has been by far the most time consuming part of my day. I am literally at the sink 3 times a day, at least! I keep thinking there has to be a more efficient way to wash bottles, but nope, I really don't think there is. 

I did find one thing, one lonely item that has improved my quality of life: a handsfree pumping bra. Yep, I can now pump while I feed Delilah, pump while I wash all of those bottles and parts, and pump while we are driving to point A to point B. (I was the passenger for the later, and I do recommend getting a car adapter for your pump, especially if you travel out of town a lot.) The best part is this little gem cost me NOTHING! I wouldn't say I am cheap, but I refuse to buy something that can be made at home with a little creativity. This just so happened to be one of those things. I have been using mine for about a month, and so far so good! 

Things I Make:

Handsfree Pumping Bra

1 sports bra (I had one laying around the house that I never used, it was from a cheap pack of 2, I wouldn't recommend using a very expensive one)

Scissors
Marker

Put the bra on and mark where the pump breast shields will need to go.

Fold the fabric where the mark is and cut a slit. I only cut about 1/2 inch or so. If it is too big the bra won't hold the bottles, especially if they are full of milk :)

 Place the breast shields in the slit (this is when you would have the bra on, and for the sake of my pride I am going to opt out of modeling it for you).

Put the remaining parts on the breast shields…

and viola, you've got a hands free pumping system! Use this time to experiment if you would like by reinforcing the slits. I have thought about sewing fabric around the slit to reduce ripping, but honestly I haven't needed too. I have two in rotation due to the nature of the activity, you can try but milk will get on the bra. I honestly wish I would have made this sooner, it has really freed up some time, just get everything you will be doing for the next 20 minutes close by and you are good to go (well as far as those tubes will let you) :)

Have a great day!

Food for your Itty Bitty: Chicken Meatballs

My daughter is now 9 months old and eating pretty much everything. We are not doing citrus because it gives her a little rash around her mouth anytime she eats it. Hopefully that is something she outgrows. This week is the first week I have been cooking for her. (Well, being mindful of what I am making for dinner so she can eat it too.) It is a lot of fun, but also overwhelming, deciding what to cook. For some reason it has gone really well (maybe because it is only Tuesday) and watching her eat the food I have cooked it pretty awesome! These little meatballs are great because they are soft enough for her to eat, yet sturdy enough for her to pick up. She is only letting me feed her a handful of foods lately, so I am trying to make things she can feed herself. The days of the pouches are ending…so sad… but hey, we will find other baby product to buy save lots of money!

I served these little yummy morsels with a roasted sweet potato, green beans, and sourdough bread. The green beans were totally from a can, but we get points back because the sourdough bread was fresh from our local farmers market. 

These can be done ahead if needed, if your life runs in 15 minute increments like mine does, you can split the recipe up in steps. Put chicken in food processor, take unknown object out of baby's mouth, make the balls, free baby's leg from gate, cook the balls, change baby's diaper, eat the balls, pick the balls up off floor, wash balls out of baby's ear, etc. I hope you enjoy!

Throw everything into the food processor. All of it. Do it.

And process away until it looks well blended. If the mixture still looks really wet, add more breadcrumbs. It should start holding together just a bit.

Get a melon baller, not even sure if that is what it is called. How about a small scoop? Make little balls with your hands. And place them into a hot skillet to brown up.

Add some water or chicken broth, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes or so. They don't technically look like balls, but Delilah loves them nonetheless ;)

Cut them up into little bite sized pieces for your itty bitty. And enjoy!

Four meatballs later…

Chicken Meatballs

2 Chicken Breasts cut into large pieces(you can use ground chicken if you would like, i think doing it yourself allows for the meat to be super fine, ha super fine)
1/4 cup Bread Crumbs
1 Egg
1/8 cup Cheese (shredded blend or parmesan)
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper
(Feel free to add any other spices to the meatballs, its your show!)

Literally throw all of the ingredients into a food processor.

In medium skillet, turn burner on med high, and put a tablespoon of oil to heat up.

Let skillet get pretty hot, then use melon baller or shape chicken into ping pong size balls, the place in skillet. Let brown, then turn over and brown other side. I usually brown three sides.

The meat is not necessarily cooked at this point. Once everything is browned, put 3/4 cup of water or chicken broth in skillet, scrape up bits from bottom, and cover and put heat to low.

Cook about 15 minutes, or until most of the water is cooked out. Let cool and serve to your itty bitty!

Our CIO (cry it out) Story

Who would have thought that such little hands and toes would make you feel more love than you have ever felt, more worry than you sometimes think you can handle, more guilt that you didn't think was possible, and so much joy you think your heart is going to explode. I find myself everyday staring at my daughter, usually in amazement at how quickly she is developing and the sense of humor that is coming out, but sometimes I look at her and am scared shitless. How have we made it to 9 months? There were times that I thought I wasn't going to make it to the next day. There were times that I thought I was all alone in my worrying and guilt. But thanks to the internet and great friends, I learned that I am not alone and we are all just making it day by day. Most of us have no clue what we are doing, and for what it is worth, that makes me feel so much better. I know that there are going to be tough days, there are going to be more times where I will feel like I am a complete crazy person, I mean even on my good days I feel like a crazy person. There are going to be more sleepless nights, ear infections, teething pain, but I will make it through. WE will all make it through!

Sleep. There have been countless books, methods, and opinions on how to get your baby to sleep. I think I have read about them all. And, not one helped us. The only thing they did do was overwhelm me and made me feel like I was doing something wrong. Delilah has never been a great sleeper. Even after she was born, when babies usually have 24-48 hours of  nothing but sleep, Delilah didn't sleep. I was always one of those people who needed, at the absolute minimum 8 hours of sleep in order to function and not be an asshole. But hey, everything else in my life had changed, so I was going to have to adapt to getting less sleep at night, no problem! In between when she was born and 8 months, the longest stretch she ever slept was 5 hours. Mostly she was up every 3 hours. She slept in her Rock N Play for 6 months next to our bed. When she would get up I would nurse her next to me laying down, and then put her in the Rock N Play, and dutifully rock her until she was asleep again. Some nights were easier than others and some nights were absolutely painful. She didn't like to lay on her back, she would only sleep for an hour on her tummy in her crib, she woke up at the slightest noise, it was terrible.

One night, I was rocking her to sleep, and the Rock N Play started squeaking. I was on the verge of tears because even the faintest noise would interfere with her falling asleep, and then the craziest thing happened, that squeak relaxed her, stopped her from crying and put her to sleep! Needless to say, I "squeaked" her to sleep for months until she outgrew the Rock N Play.

I had started putting her in her room for naps, so she would get used to being in there, but getting her to stay asleep once I put her down was nearly impossible. I think I would have had better luck finding a unicorn to ride to the grocery store. I would nurse her for 30 minutes, rock for an additional 10, lift up her arm and see if it dropped (something I read about, if her arm falls with no muscle movement, she's asleep), get up and continue to bounce, then very slowly and ninja-like place her down on her belly, and then….. NOPE, head is up and she's awake, back to repeating the 40 minute nurse/rock/ninja routine. Once I would finally get her in her crib, she would sleep….for about 30 minutes. My life consisted of nursing and trying to keep my daughter asleep. That was all fine until, around 8 months she started waking up every 2 hours. I was getting no sleep. Like none. There were nights she was crying, I was crying, and my husband looking horrified.

We decided to let her cry it out. I really don't like using that phrase, it is so negative sounding, and anytime you say it to someone, you get that look, that "how could you let your precious baby cry, you are terrible" look. I was at the end of my rope, I couldn't remember a thing, and I was definitely being an asshole, to everyone. Especially my husband. We had tried it around 6 months, but after 15 minutes, I could not do it, she was crying too much and it didn't feel right. I was skeptical to try it again but I feel like we had no other choice. The fate of my marriage and sanity depended on it. The first night she cried for about 2 hours. Not straight, don't get worried! There were moments of playing, frustration, and being tired. It was hard. But not unbearable like the first time we tried it. It was reaching 9:00 pm, that was the time I was going to get her if she wasn't asleep, and at 9:02 pm, she was out. That night she woke up at 1:00 am, then 5:00 am, and up for the day at 7:30 am.

It took about two weeks to get everything situated and for her to get used to the new routine. The second night she cried for about 1 1/2 hours, woke up at 4:30 am, and up for the day at 7:30 am. She slept for 7 hours straight! The third night was about the same. We were seeing improvement in her sleeping, but the crying was still lasting a while. I read and had friends that said it only took 3 days for them to stop crying. It was great she was sleeping, but at the cost of crying for over an hour? I didn't think I was going to make it much longer. But right when I was just about to throw in the towel, I was able one night to put her in her crib after nursing, and she put herself to sleep, no crying. And it continued. It was amazing! A miracle! Not only was I finally getting more sleep, but I also wasn't spending the majority of my day nursing her, and on top of all that, she wasn't crying anymore!

Naps were more difficult, but I never let it go longer than an hour, and it never went longer than an hour. I would nurse her to sleep-ish, and after she was done nursing, whether or not she was asleep, I would lay her down, and it has gotten to now she will fall asleep on her own! Now, I lay her down, she plays, and then she sleeps :)

Life was good. And then the ear infection happened…. we went back to waking up every 2 hours and crying when I put her in her crib. I did NOT let her cry during the ear infection, I couldn't do it. She also spent a night sleeping on me, it was the only way I could get her to sleep. So, last week was pretty much like old times, not to mention traveling for Easter. But yesterday after 8 days of antibiotics, and an obvious recovery, she only fussed for 10 minutes, and was then asleep! She also napped for 2 hours. As of now, she goes to bed around 8 pm, wakes up around 4 - 5 am to nurse, and then is up for the day at 7:30 am. Fine by me ;)

I have given up the thought of ever sleeping longer than 7 hours, and have learned to function during the day on much less. I never thought I would be able to do CIO, but I feel as though I had no choice. I know all of Delilah's bad sleep habits were caused by me, and with the next baby I am going to try to stop them before it gets as bad as it did. I followed my instincts and listened to my gut. If Delilah was in pain or was hungry, I obviously would not let her cry. There is a point when you can hear a cry and know if it is out of frustration or an actual need. Anyways, this was a long post but I wanted to share our story.

I'm not sure if it make a difference, but we use this noise machine and Delilah has a blanket, we call Fuzzy, that goes with her everywhere. We also keep a small pillow, a stuffed bunny, and this seahorse, in her crib so she has something to play with.

"Sleeps like a baby" (Yeah, right.)

Delilah's First Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! We did! However, Delilah decided not to sleep either nights, Saturday night was so bad that the only way she would sleep is on me. So we were pretty much zombies yesterday, but it was still a lot of fun! And you have to love all of the Easter outfits! We managed to have three super cute wardrobe changes!

. easter dress.

We started the weekend driving to Houston to spend half of the weekend with my family. My mom cooked our all-time favorite meal: chicken pot pie, sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, and finally a pecan roll with chocolate sauce. It. Was. So. Good. Delilah got her first visit from the Easter bunny! Yogurt melts, onsies, and a mini peep! She took one bit of the peep and literally threw it back behind her. I guess she is not a fan!

.bunny shirt.

After a short visit in Houston, we loaded up and drove to La Grange to visit Byron's family. We had out first post baby church trip, which went surprisingly well. Thank you to the Easter bunny for those yogurt melts! We took pictures in the beautiful bluebonnets, Delilah of course ate some as well ;) After a Easter egg hunt, another huuuuuge meal, and one three helpings of banana pudding, we headed home.

.easter outfit no longer available.

We learned that Delilah loves broccoli, does not like peeps, likes eating flowers, and does not sleep well in her pack n play. If anyone has advice on how to travel easier with a baby, please let me know! What are the musts for you?

A Day in the Life

It seems as though any time I feel like we have a routine down, it suddenly changes, as quick as that bird poo landing on your shoulder, you never even see it coming! Wrong I tell you, wrong! I was that mom calmly obsessively searching for routines thinking there had to be one right for me and my little one. I drove myself crazy trying to stick to these schedules that were seemingly working perfect for other families. If Delilah was up for more than 3 hours I thought our world would explode. My life became staring at the clock, making my baby wait for food because it wasn't the right time, and the impossible task of making a baby, who isn't tired, sleep. I was miserable. 

So, I stopped. And viola! It just so happened that we slipped into our own little routine that worked for us! It is an evolving routine, but a routine nonetheless! There have been some minor….adjustments we can call them, along the way. We ended up having to let her cry it out a few nights, I will touch more on that in a later post, and this ear infection has really screwed things up, I'm also pretty sure she had a little stomach bug as well, and she is also cutting two more top teeth, so its been rough. But here is an example of our day :)

(As I mentioned earlier, our 'routine' is an evolving one, and this example includes the times I now pump. Delilah mostly drinks from a bottle during the day, otherwise the times I pump are roughly the times I would breastfeed her.)

5:00 - Breastfeed, she goes back to sleep

7:00 - Wakes up

7:30 - Breakfast, usually bananas and yogurt

*pump*

9:30 - Bottle 3oz

10:00 - Nap

12:00 - Lunch, 1/2 meat pouch and fruit

1:30 - Bottle 3oz

*pump*

2:00 - Nap

4:00 - Snack, puffs or yogurt melts

5:00 - Bottle 3oz

*pump*

6:00 - Dinner, 1/2 meat pouch and fruit
7:00 - Bath time

7:30 - Breastfeed

8:00 - Asleep

These times vary anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Basically, if she is hungry I feed her and if she is tired I put her down. She is also changing how many bottles/breastfeeds she gets in a day, so give or take one or two :) She is also eating more off of my plate, so she usually gets some of what I am eating for lunch and dinner too. Clear as mud, right?

Really, the only reason I was able to get an idea of her schedule (I use that word extremely loosely), is because she was in day care for two weeks. In those two weeks, she took a bottle for the first time, she drank formula for the first time (I had to supplement for one day while I figured out pumping, 2 oz breast milk and 1 oz formula), and I was pumping for the first time. It was crazy, but we did it! Well, for two weeks ;)

I hope this was helpful!

Just Sitting

As breastfeeding my daughter comes to an end, I was rocking in our favorite chair, thinking about how still and calm I was at that very moment. I have always been a person who, at the chance of free time, will run around the house like a wild woman trying to get everything done. Sitting and enjoying the moment, whatever moment it may be, was always a difficult task for me.

Breastfeeding has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life. Delilah was born "tongue tied" and had trouble latching at the hospital. At five days old, we decided to do the procedure, a frenulectomy, to correct it. It literally took five minutes and after a quick nursing session she was calm again. Once she was able to properly latch, my milk came in! Thank the gods! I literally remember the exact moment it happened. What a relief that was….until I felt as though I had been hit my a truck, a very very big truck. I thought your boobs were supposed to be as hard as rocks and warm, WRONG! I went into the doctor with a 103 degree fever and a case of mastitis. What in the hell was mastitis?

After about a million clogged ducts, white nipples, and a few heads of cabbage, we have made it to 8 months! Also thanks to the never-ending support of my husband, family, and the great lactation consultant. We were out of the woods…..WRONG! My lovely daughter has four teeth now, four small razor-like teeth. I have made it through just about everything that can go wrong, through sheer persistence made it through sleepless nights, on demand nursing, not being able to leave my daughter for more than 2 hours at a time, and now biting? It happens about twice a week, but let me tell you, that is two times too many!

I believe how I have made it this far is setting small, realistic goals for myself. Make it through the night, then the week, then to 8 weeks, then 3 months, and so on. I now have the goal to make it a year and have started the emotional process of weaning. She has cut out the morning feed and thanks to two weeks at a job I eventually quit, she learned to take a bottle and I learned how to pump efficiently. I thought that all babies needed 8 ounces each bottle, but I soon learned that was not the case. My little bitty only likes to drink 3 ounce bottles, something I could provide her through pumping. So, she now gets 3 bottles during the day, leaving her nighttime feed and the occasional midnight feed. We have had a minor setback since a recent ear infection, her first one, but we are picking up where we left off. I pump 3 times a day and she drinks 3 bottles a day.

Getting to the point, I was nursing her the other night and just sitting rocking away, when I realized how calm and relaxed I was. I could care less that a small baby tornado went through the living room, that my lovely husband emptied all of the contents from his pockets on the dining room table, and that my kitchen could have had a guest spot on the TV show, Hoarders Buried Alive. I was feeding my baby, she was in control and I had no where else in the world to be, except right there, with her. My world had slowed down to a gentle but swift rocking motion, the distant noise of The Voice was muffled by the buzz of her white noise machine and a sweet humming of a lullaby, and the only thing that mattered at that very moment was my baby, my sweet sweet baby. These are the moments that make the nipple biting and swollen boobs worth it.

Needless to say, I started getting rather teary eyed thinking that in a few short months I was no longer going to have these moments with Delilah. I would soon be overwhelmed with the daily tasks and obligations that seem to creep up no matter how hard you try to stay on top of things. I would no longer have the opportunity to be made to stop and slow down and be present in the moment. This realization worries me and has given me a new goal once I have achieved the others I have placed, make time to just sit. Just sit and look and take in the present time. Don't think about the dishes, bills, or the load of laundry that has been washed about 3 times now because I keep forgetting to throw it in the dryer. I will be present for my daughter and my husband and we will just sit and enjoy.

Well my intentions were good!

So here I am, laughing to myself because my little baby just celebrated her 2 month birthday! I had every intention to document the last bit of my pregnancy, but that did not seem to happen :) I do strangely miss being pregnant, but that is for another time.

Now where to begin...

Our little bundle of joy, Delilah Rose, was born on July 19, 2013 at 4:22 PM, an entire week after her due date! She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.

I had a scheduled induction, and I am convinced she would have stayed in there for much longer had we not given her the boot. My labor lasted 19 hours and after about an hour and half of pushing I finally met the most wonderfully perfect creature that had been kicking me for months. As everyone always tells you, no words can describe what you feel once you hold you baby for the first time, I mean I am getting chills just thinking about it, it really is amazing. 

The induction went very well for the most part, it was quick, relatively speaking, and took the guesswork out of what was happening. Next time around I would really like to go into labor naturally and spend the majority of time at home. I received an epidural about half way through, at 5 cm, and I am glad I decided to do that at the moment I did! I can not describe the pain that comes from contractions, it is deep and completely engrosses your entire body. Intense. The problem with inducing is they do not let you walk around or even get up for that matter, and that makes it very difficult when a contraction comes. Laying down was extremely uncomfortable for me. Not getting an epidural with an induction was out of the questions due to that circumstance. All in all, the end result is me holding her in my arms and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.

Bliss.

Now this bliss lasts for quite a while, however, after you realize that you have not eaten for 20+ hours, and your body just endured marathon labor, you realize you are hungry. I mean hungry. I did not want to let my girl go, but as soon as they brought in my ham and cheese sandwich, you could not get that sandwich in my mouth fast enough. I am laughing typing this, but seriously that was the best damn sandwich I have ever had. Ever. 

The hospital I delivered Delilah in was fantastic, I could not say anything bad about it, the Labor and Delivery room was amazing, it was big, roomy, wood floors, ipod dock, it was all around fancy. However, as soon as you push that sucker out, eat, and start getting comfortable, they tell you they are going to move you into Postpartum, how bad could that be right. Ha! As soon as we were relocated, I literally asked my husband, "what did we do wrong?" It was small and dark. The adrenaline starts wearing off and you start feeling the pain and exhaustion from 19 hours of labor.  Moving along... the nurses were amazing! They helped me establish the breastfeeding relationship that I can proudly say we still have, explained the recovery process that laid ahead of me (we are talking about the stuff people had 'forgotten' to mention to you when telling you about having a baby), and cared for my daughter when they could tell I was exhausted, had not gotten any sleep, and about to unravel. I remember one of the nurses saying our sweet little baby was "irritable". She was right, but we were completely taken and in love with our little irritable baby. We were the only patients for the two days we were in recovery, weird right? So to say we were taken care of is an understatement, we received the best support! So thank you nurses at Cedar Park Medical Center :)

Sorry for the blurry picture, but this is my little family.

"On the night you were born the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered 'life will never be the same'." -Nancy Tillman