Feeding Jack

Jack's First Bottle

Before Jack was ever born, one of the things I looked forward too most was nursing him. I loved nursing Lily and was pretty upset when she decided to ween herself when I got pregnant with Jack. I consoled myself by remembering that I'd have another little one soon to nurse.

Nursing Jack, however, has not been at all like I dreamed it would be. It seems to be one challenge after another. I had a few problems with Lily, but nothing long term and felt like because I had been there before, it would be much easier this time. My doula wisely pointed out that although I had nursed before, Jack hadn't, and, honestly, he's just not good at it. I think it's mostly due to a pretty major recessed jaw, but he just doesn't want to latch and nurse properly.

The Funky Frog Nursing Position :)

In about the first week he had torn my poor nipples up to the point they were scabbed and bleeding (sorry for the TMI). It was super painful to nurse him. I went into survival mode and went to see a lactation consultant while also starting to pump quite a bit in an effort to heal. Then my supply (which had started out abundant) dropped way down to the point I couldn't pump enough to feed him and had to give him formula. Then, with a new position to try and healing nipples, we started to get better.

Then a week and a half ago, at the lactation consultant because I was afraid we had thrush/yeast (we don't - Jack has an Epstein pearl), I found out he was loosing weight. So, I began to try to feed him more by supplementing with bottles of pumped milk, only to have him again stop nursing very well.

We've gone to the chiropractor (much to Josh's skepticism) the lactation consultant, and even an ENT to make sure there were no physiological issues. We've tried all sorts of positions and the nipple shield. Sometimes he nurses well, sometimes he doesn't. I'm not totally ready to give up and pump exclusively yet, but I may be getting close. It is exhausting, and frustrating, and by far the hardest thing about Jack so far. I just hope he will grow into being a good nurser!

The Beginning of the End, of Nursing That Is!

I just pulled the last of my frozen milk out of the freezer to thaw and feed Lily, and I can't help but be a little sad. I'm not totally giving up on nursing yet, but I'm past the pumping phase, which I know is the beginning of the end. When I start back to work next week, I'm not going to try to pump. I still plan to nurse morning and at bed time, but the rest of the day she will have formula until she is a year, then we'll transition to cow's milk.

There are several factors impacting the decision. One is that my pump is not working well. It fell in the back seat of my car and one of the prongs is bent which won't create good suction. Thus, when I'm pumping I'm not getting much. Another factor is just that she is getting older and eating a lot of food, so I know she is not as reliant on my milk. In fact, I'm not even sure about my supply and her satisfaction these days. I feel like when she does nurse (except at bed time) she only nurses for about five minutes on each side and then is done, then she still acts hungry. I've tried to get her to nurse longer, but she's just not super interested. :(

While knowing that this is the start of the end of nursing makes me sad, I also know it's a fact of her growing older. I'm sure this is the first of many leaps toward her independence, and a little piece of me is relieved not to have to worry as much about pumping, milk supply, and all that goes with that. Plus, it tempers the sadness to know that, come March, I'll have a new little one to nurse!

Fantastic Finger Foods!

I am learning that Lily will eat almost anything that isn't on a baby spoon! She has recently been starting to reject more and more of the "baby food". I'm not sure if it is the texture or watered down flavors, or just that she wants the independence of feed herself, but she will not eat pureed peas from a spoon, but give her some as finger food and she goes to town!

Her meals today included finger food blueberries, Lima beans, strawberries, pea, zucchini, cheerios, and whole wheat bread. Over the weekend she had so many different things I'm not sure I even know about them all. I know she had re-fried beans, rice, guacamole, salsa, peach frozen yogurt, key lime pie, baked beans, and who knows what else my friends and family didn't tell me about. She chowed down on it all.

I have to admit that I was afraid it would make her tummy upset. I told Josh (after he was feeding her from his plate at a Mexican restaurant) that he was in charge of diapers for the next forty-eight hours. In reality, though, it didn't seem to impact her digestive system at all. It appears our little one has a tummy of steal!

All of this is good news. I would love to be able to just feed her what we are eating from the table! I realize, of course, that I do need to be careful about how much fat, salt, and sugar she is getting, but I should probably watch how much of that I'm eating as well! Anyone out there have good finger food suggestions?

The Pinch

Apparently developing a strong pincher grasp is a developmental milestone. Lily has certainly mastered it! It's really fun to watch her pick up her puffs and put them in her mouth. She also tries to pick up almost anything including carpet and buttons of shirts with her little fingers, super cute!

The only problem is that with this new grasp, she has also learned how to pinch skin! She has started this annoying little habit of pinching me in my arm pit when I'm nursing her. It really hurts. Her little fingers are super sharp and it really hurts. It's worse if I'm just wearing a nursing tank and she can get bare skin (which is usually the case first thing in the morning), but she also pinches through a shirt!

I've tried telling her no and holding her hand, but she gets frustrated. I've tried giving her a toy to hold instead of pinching, but she usually drops it and resumes the pinching. When she isn't pinching my under arm, she reaches for my face. I'm just not sure what to do about it. Any suggestions?

I was telling a friend about it and she says that her son slaps her belly with his free hand while he's nursing. Hilarious! Do any of you have any funny stories of what your babies do while nursing?

To Pump or Not To Pump, That is the Question

Well, it's not really a question anymore. I made a decision. I can no longer pump twice a day at work. There just isn't time. When I had a student teacher, it was much easier. Now that I'm in charge of all classroom responsibilities, and especially with the oncoming testing, there is just no way for me to do it twice a day.

I've been struggling with it for a few weeks. Then, on Saturday, I hung out with a friend who is also nursing a little one. She has decided to start weening her five month old daughter exclusively to bottles. She has a two year old as well and just can't find time for all those feedings during the day when her baby nurses forty-five minutes, but takes a bottle in ten! Her candid discussion of her struggle helped me realize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with changing "the plan" if it's what is best for you and baby.

My plan was to give her breast milk exclusively for a whole year. I've already had to let go of that a bit by giving her formula supplements when she was tiny and from time to time when we are out and it was most convenient. At seven months old, giving her one bottle of formula a day is no big deal. I still plan to nurse her before work, give her one pumped bottle during the day, and nurse her when I'm home in the evening. We will still have that special time before I put her to bed. She will still get way more breast milk than formula.

When I think about how much simpler it makes my work day, I have no idea why I didn't make this decision earlier. I am a bit sad, but overall I am relieved. My only hope is that when I'm home in the summer, my milk will come back so that I don't have to give her formula then. I guess that remains to be seen.

**By the way, check out this pewter breast pump from the 1830's! How grateful am I for my dual battery powered one!

Nursing Babydoll

How do you feel about a baby doll that simulates nursing? A young girl dons a halter top with little flower nipples in order to "feed" this doll who actually makes sucking and swallowing sounds, cries, and burps. This ABC News segment does a good job of showing both sides of this controversial toy. I have may own opinion, but before I weigh in, I'm curious what you think. Please vote in the poll to the right and/or leave your comments below.

Poop Problems!

*Warning: This post contains graphic poop related details. :)

Lily has gotten to the point that she usually only has a poopy diaper every three or four days. I have no idea why, but my pediatrician assures me that if it's not overly firm (which certainly isn't the case) or she doesn't seem to be straining, it's not a problem. In fact, you would think it's nice to have so few to change.

The bigger problem, however, lies in the shear volume of those poops when they finally arrive. Today we happened to be having dinner at a friend's house who also has a baby. I took Lily into her changing table to change her only to discover that she was covered from her belly button to her knees in poop! I ended up stripping her down and getting her in their bathtub! What a mess!

While many of her bi-weekly poops result in a bath, this one was particularly messy. This might be due to the fact that in an effort to help her be more regular (since she does get gassy and uncomfortable after a few days) I've been giving her some baby food prunes. I'm not sure if I'll keep that up!

Hilariously, another friend was at my house earlier today hanging out with Annie and Lily when her four month old son had a diaper blow out that resulted in me needing to wash my changing pad cover and bouncy seat!

On a side note - I found enjoyed this cartoon because I don't like the diaper genie. We have one and use it, but I feel like it gets full really fast and is no better at containing diaper smells than my regular trash can. I'm just saying...

Back to Work

Well, I survived the first week back at work. Tuesday was my first day back to work and it went surprisingly well. Getting out the door that morning was a bit rough. Lily unexpectedly woke up at 5am and I had to feed her. I had just gotten back to sleep when my alarm went off at 6. I did not want to get out of bed. After a couple of snoozes (I'm a snooze button junkie) I got up and got myself ready. Then I had a dilemma. Do I wake the baby now (at 7) after just two hours of sleep to feed her before I leave? Do I not and let Josh give her a bottle around 8? I can't pump until 11, what about my overabundance of milk?

In my emotional state, the stress of making this decision almost pushed me over the edge. There were some tears, but my wonderful husband reminded me that there really wasn't a wrong decision and I chose to wake her up. I think it was the right decision because it was really nice to get that sweet time with her before I had to leave. Putting her down was a bit tough and there were a few more tears as I got the last of my things together to head out the door.

In the car I had to switch from the sappy Country radio to Bob and the Showgram to keep me from tearing up again, but I managed, and once I actually got to school I was fine. The students were all excited to have me back, which was nice, and I have so much to do to get back in the swing that I didn't hardly have time to think about what was going on at home.

Of course I did call and text to check in, but, as usually, Lily did great. A bit short on the naps, but good overall. The pumping at work was a bit disappointing as I didn't get as much milk as I would have liked, but I hope that will get better as my body gets used to the new pattern. At the end of the day, I hightaled it out of there right behind the buses and was home just before 4. Lily was happy to see me and ready to eat...perfect!

The rest of the week went smoother. She took better naps and I was able to pump more. I didn't even have any more tears. We both seem to be settling into a new normal routine.