Celebrating Mother's Day turned into a fabulous weekend long event! Friday evening we went to a consignment sale where I got Logan hopefully everything he will need for summer. After that we went and had dinner at PF Changs. I'm starting to become a huge fan of that place. It's surprisingly affordable and so so good! Brent got up with Logan Friday night! Saturday I went and had an hour massage, compliments of my Mom. It was wonderful and very much needed! After that we got ready to take Logan to his sitter so we could go out to eat. Logan stayed with Eva, who works with Brent. She was missing her grandbabies and offered to watch Logan for us so we took her up on it. She said he did really well, so I'm hoping she will offer again. She's been around Logan before and does really well with babies so I felt fine leaving him with her. We went to Lake Lanier Island and had dinner at one of the restaurants in The Lodge Hotel. We were told it was an upscale yet casual restaurant. Apparently, that lady gets paid lots to say that because it was nothing but really expensive cafeteria food. It was not good at all, but we did enjoy our alone time! After we ate, we drove around exploring the island. Then, we headed back to Eva's to pick up Logan. Brent got up with Logan Saturday night, too! Can you believe it?! Two nights in a row! He's the best husband and daddy ever!
Sunday I woke up to two cards. One from Brent and one from my sweet baby boy. Brent cooked me breakfast. Then we got dressed and went shopping. After that we went to the park and had a picnic, fed the ducks and went to the zoo. We had a great time outside! The weather was perfect! Mother's Day was all that I've ever dreamed of and more! Brent did such a good job planning everything. He waited on me hand and foot all weekend. I'm so lucky!
Logan is changing every day! It amazes me the new things he can do and the independence he's gained. He will sit and play by himself in the floor all day. If he's not asleep or eating he's playing in the floor. Oh, by the way, he can sit up now. He can't manage to get up on his own, but if I put him down he stays up, he's been doing that for 2-3 weeks at least. We're working on him getting up on his own. We're also working on patty cake, clapping and saying "dadadada". He's such a copy cat, he usually attempts to do anything that we do. He's getting so independent that he gets frustrated when I'm feeding him with a spoon. He wants to hold it and do it himself, but he can't do that quite yet and he gets so mad at me for not letting him do it.
I had Thomas the Train on TV the other day and one of the train's whistle kept going off and I swear I heard him saying "whoo whoo" but I couldn't get him to do it again!
Yesterday he got up on all fours several times so crawling may be in our near future. He can make his walker go backwards but not forward yet. He's also putting him self to sleep most nights. Tonight I put him down wide awake after his bedtime bottle and he went right to sleep, didn't even cry! That's happened all but one night for a week or two. Last night he slept from 8:30p to 5:30a!!!! I was so excited until he decided that he didn't want to go back to sleep. But at least I got 6 straight hours of sleep! The night before he slept til 4:30, so maybe he's starting a trend. If he could just manage to sleep til 7, we'd be in great shape!
His acid reflux is doing so much better. Either he's out grown it or this medicine is really controlling it well. We forgot it one night and it didn't seem to bother him, so maybe he's outgrown it. He now has a "rash" on him that looks sort of like eczema. It started out as red bumps on his back and tummy. The next day it was dry, patchy and scaly. Now, it's mostly gone on his back but still dry and patchy in some places. It's totally gone on his tummy. But now he has some patches on his elbows and upper arms. I read online that there's not much you can do for it other than put lotion on them 4-5 times a day. It also said it is sometimes triggered by an allergic reaction, and I think that's what happened. The Dr. told me to start giving him yogurt. I told her that I was unable to eat dairy products because it made him sick. She told me that most babies outgrew that by 3 months, so I tried it. Later that day he had the rash. So, needless to say, he's not getting any more dairy for now. He doesn't have a fever and it doesn't seem to bother him, so I haven't called the pediatrician. I will if it gets any worse or bothers him, if not then I will mention it at his next appt. He has to go in in a week or so to get another shot.
Logan now has a swimming pool! It's a blow up one in the shape of a turtle with a little sun canopy on it. It's so cute! I put all his rubber duckies in it so he has something to play with. Some of the duckies have gone missing and I figured out that Nino has been stealing them and spreading them across the yard. Silly dog. I put Logan in his pool yesterday. He didn't really know what to think! I squirted him with one of the rubber ducks and he shivered so I took him out. I think all in all he was only in it for 3 minutes, haha! Maybe the water will warm up some and he can get back in.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Day I've Dreaded for 6 Months
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
It appears as though there is no more breastfeeding in our future. Things were a little worse with my supply than I let on in my previous post, I just didn't want anyone's negative comments or suggestions. I wanted to do this on my own and make the decision on my own. My supply was basically gone last week when I posted. I've been taking Fenugreek, Alfalfa, Omega Fatty Acids, and Prenatals. It equaled 27 pills a day. I started pumping every 2-3 hours, sometimes more and a power pump once a day which is where your pump for 10 minutes and rest for 10 minutes and repeat for an hour. All this equaled hardly any milk, maybe enough for a bottle a day. This weekend I started getting 1.5 to 2 oz total consistently, but that's not enough, I need at least 4. Logan still won't nurse for very long and gets frustrated easily and I don't really blame him. Yesterday we went to see the Lactation Consultant at the hospital. We did a before and after feeding weight checks. He only got 1 oz, he needed 4. He was a little distracted, but still nursed pretty well. She suggested a Supplemental Nursing System which we bought and tried out while we were there. A SNS is a bottle that your clip on your shirt that has a really small tube that comes out of the bottom which you tape to your breast and the tube goes into the baby's mouth while he's latched on. This gets him satisfied so he'll nurse for longer thus stimulating the breast to make more milk. Logan did not take well to it, but I thought it was because he missed his nap and was a little fussy to begin with. Turns out I was wrong. We tried it all day yesterday and again today and he will not have anything to do with it and if he does he just sucks on the little tube to get the formula out instead of nursing. My OB will not prescribe Reglan due to some other issues, so that's not an option.
I don't know what else to do. I really feel that I've tried everything. I know I've been really adamant about nursing for a year, it's only because I wanted to do right by Logan and do everything that I'm suppose to do and do it the right way. I already know now what not to do with the next baby. I know that introducing a regular bottle will definitely hurt the nursing relationship-in fact I should just throw all the bottles away when Logan is done with them, I know that I should find an extremely pro breastfeeding pediatrician that will not push formula, I know that I shouldn't think that refusal to nurse will just be a phase and my supply will recover once he starts nursing again, I know that LC's know a TON more about breastfeeding that pediatricians. I feel like this is all my fault by introducing the formula in the first place. I knew there was a thing called nipple preference but also knew that tons on mom's put their kids in daycare with bottle of breastmilk and they still nurse just fine. At the time I was just trying to help my baby feel better, I just wanted to fix him. I wanted him not to hurt and get some sleep. I was worn down and sleep deprived and just needed him to sleep. In retrospect, I should have consulted the Dr. to begin with. I had no clue it was his acid reflux, I truly thought it was something I was eating. If I'd taken him to the Dr. they could have diagnosed him properly and added any necessary medication and the formula wouldn't have been necessary. I shouldn't have taken things into my own hands. But now I cannot change it.
Looking back, there were only about 2 months that nursing was enjoyable and I miss that time so much. When he was first born he ate constantly and we were using the shield. The first two weeks were pure hell, then week 4 and week 6 were equally awful due to growth spurts. Then he continued to eat for 45 minutes every 2 hours until he was 14-16 weeks old. So basically I was nursing for an hour then had an hour off, then repeat. That's when we got off the shield. Everything was good for a month or so and that's when his acid reflux started getting bad complicating everything. It was all down hill from there. Even though it was so hard and challenging at times, it was so important to me that he be breastfed. I felt that it was my duty as a mom, especially since I'm lucky enough to stay at home with him. I plan on breastfeeding my next child and I plan on making it a year, I just hope nothing throws a wrench in my plan and I don't feel guilty for not nursing Logan for longer.
I don't feel as though I gave up or quit, I feel like I did everything in my power to continue nursing and it just wasn't happening, that doesn't mean I'm at peace with this, but hopefully I'll be more content in a few weeks. I think Logan is going to do fine with the formula. I gave him the best start possible and I'm glad I at least got him through winter and the flu season. He's happy and healthy, what more could I ask?
It appears as though there is no more breastfeeding in our future. Things were a little worse with my supply than I let on in my previous post, I just didn't want anyone's negative comments or suggestions. I wanted to do this on my own and make the decision on my own. My supply was basically gone last week when I posted. I've been taking Fenugreek, Alfalfa, Omega Fatty Acids, and Prenatals. It equaled 27 pills a day. I started pumping every 2-3 hours, sometimes more and a power pump once a day which is where your pump for 10 minutes and rest for 10 minutes and repeat for an hour. All this equaled hardly any milk, maybe enough for a bottle a day. This weekend I started getting 1.5 to 2 oz total consistently, but that's not enough, I need at least 4. Logan still won't nurse for very long and gets frustrated easily and I don't really blame him. Yesterday we went to see the Lactation Consultant at the hospital. We did a before and after feeding weight checks. He only got 1 oz, he needed 4. He was a little distracted, but still nursed pretty well. She suggested a Supplemental Nursing System which we bought and tried out while we were there. A SNS is a bottle that your clip on your shirt that has a really small tube that comes out of the bottom which you tape to your breast and the tube goes into the baby's mouth while he's latched on. This gets him satisfied so he'll nurse for longer thus stimulating the breast to make more milk. Logan did not take well to it, but I thought it was because he missed his nap and was a little fussy to begin with. Turns out I was wrong. We tried it all day yesterday and again today and he will not have anything to do with it and if he does he just sucks on the little tube to get the formula out instead of nursing. My OB will not prescribe Reglan due to some other issues, so that's not an option.
I don't know what else to do. I really feel that I've tried everything. I know I've been really adamant about nursing for a year, it's only because I wanted to do right by Logan and do everything that I'm suppose to do and do it the right way. I already know now what not to do with the next baby. I know that introducing a regular bottle will definitely hurt the nursing relationship-in fact I should just throw all the bottles away when Logan is done with them, I know that I should find an extremely pro breastfeeding pediatrician that will not push formula, I know that I shouldn't think that refusal to nurse will just be a phase and my supply will recover once he starts nursing again, I know that LC's know a TON more about breastfeeding that pediatricians. I feel like this is all my fault by introducing the formula in the first place. I knew there was a thing called nipple preference but also knew that tons on mom's put their kids in daycare with bottle of breastmilk and they still nurse just fine. At the time I was just trying to help my baby feel better, I just wanted to fix him. I wanted him not to hurt and get some sleep. I was worn down and sleep deprived and just needed him to sleep. In retrospect, I should have consulted the Dr. to begin with. I had no clue it was his acid reflux, I truly thought it was something I was eating. If I'd taken him to the Dr. they could have diagnosed him properly and added any necessary medication and the formula wouldn't have been necessary. I shouldn't have taken things into my own hands. But now I cannot change it.
Looking back, there were only about 2 months that nursing was enjoyable and I miss that time so much. When he was first born he ate constantly and we were using the shield. The first two weeks were pure hell, then week 4 and week 6 were equally awful due to growth spurts. Then he continued to eat for 45 minutes every 2 hours until he was 14-16 weeks old. So basically I was nursing for an hour then had an hour off, then repeat. That's when we got off the shield. Everything was good for a month or so and that's when his acid reflux started getting bad complicating everything. It was all down hill from there. Even though it was so hard and challenging at times, it was so important to me that he be breastfed. I felt that it was my duty as a mom, especially since I'm lucky enough to stay at home with him. I plan on breastfeeding my next child and I plan on making it a year, I just hope nothing throws a wrench in my plan and I don't feel guilty for not nursing Logan for longer.
I don't feel as though I gave up or quit, I feel like I did everything in my power to continue nursing and it just wasn't happening, that doesn't mean I'm at peace with this, but hopefully I'll be more content in a few weeks. I think Logan is going to do fine with the formula. I gave him the best start possible and I'm glad I at least got him through winter and the flu season. He's happy and healthy, what more could I ask?
Funny Picture
Our silly dog Nino treed Mom's cat. Then Nino got distracted because I was trying to get him to come back to the house, he got about half way and changed his mind. He went back to guard the tree that the cat was in, but went to the wrong tree! Apparently, his eyesight in his "good" eye is not that good!Easter
I guess I should write about Easter since it was almost 2 weeks ago!
Easter, like every other holiday, was super busy for the Price family. We went to Brent's moms side of the family on Saturday night and had dinner and visited with the family. Of course they were all over Logan, who wouldn't be since he's the cutest kid on the planet : ) Luckily we got to spend a couple hours there so hopefully they all got their Logan fix.
Sunday was our busy day. We went to church at The Orchard Church, a church that my friend from high school, Zach deVaux, started. After that we went to Brent's Mimi's for lunch. We got there at 12:30 but didn't get to stay too long because we had to be at my parents at 2. We ended up there probably around 2:30, ate some more and had some yummy Flamingo Freezes. After that we went to Brent's grandmothers. I think we had to be there by 4:30. Once again, we ate some more, luckily she didn't have a big meal planned, just some finger foods. Brent had to head out of town for the week so we didn't really get to spend much time there either, but that's how it goes on most holidays...busy, busy, busy. I ended up staying the week with my parents so I could have help with Logan while Brent was out of town. Mom helps out so much. I even get to sleep in late while she got up with Logan. I don't think she realizes what a treat that is for me! Monday was Taco Night with the family. I sure do miss random family get togethers like that. Tuesday night I saw my girls, who I miss so much. Mom babysat for me so I could have a nice glass of plum wine. Wed and Thurs afternoon I had to work as well as Friday during the day. I headed back Friday after Mom and Dad took me and Logan out to eat. It sure was good being back in my own house and sleeping in my own bed but I sure do miss all the help with Logan. It's not that Brent is no help, he just works his butt off and once he's home he's exhausted. He does so much though once he is home, he takes over for me while I fix dinner or just chill out getting some me time on the computer or whatever. Then it's either bath time, dinner time or night night time for Logan.
MawMaw rocking Logan to sleep on the front porch.
Logan is learning new things daily. His hands finally do everything he wants them to do now. I didn't think a 6 month old could get into everything but he does! Today I put him in the floor while I downloaded some pictures to share with you all and in just a few minutes he had rolled all the way across the living room and was grabbing at my feet trying to get my attention! It was so cute! It's definitely time to baby proof the house. He says ma ma ma ma ma consistently. I'm pretty sure he knows the meaning behind it too most of the time because he will scream "ma ma ma ma" when I leave his sight. Either he knows that's me or he knows I'll come back if he says that. We're kind of dealing with some separation anxiety at the moment. He pretty much freaks out if I'm out of sight, especially if I get caught checking on him and I leave again.
Logan helping us install our new flower beds.
I had to work this weekend. It was a super busy weekend for some reason, lots of people came in because of 4-wheeler wrecks and injuries from lots of other outdoor activities since it was so pretty. Brent did so well with Logan. I was so impressed! He put him down for every nap, put him down for the night, knew when he was hungry, fed him his baby food without it ending up all over both of them, and changed all but one dirty diaper that he kind of freaked out about. I hate working weekends but it was also a nice break for mommy!
Playing outside again. He loves it outside!
We're going home this weekend. I offered to help Mom and Dad with Flamingo Freeze at Down Home Days, then Dad promised to take us fishing on Sunday since it's bream season, which is my favorite time to go. Almost every time you cast out you get a bite instantly. So much fun. I guess I'm still a Daddy's girl at heart.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Perfect Mommy-Baby Day!
Today I took advantage of the awesome weather and took Logan to Memorial Park in Athens. At this park they have a huge lake that has ducks and tons of turtles and a walking/hiking trail all the way around it. You can fish there also and from what I learned from one of the fisherman, you can catch bream, crappy and bass. There are several playgrounds, picnic tables, grills, dog park, volleyball court, basketball courts, pool, and best of all a zoo! Logan and I had a picnic lunch. He enjoyed some Apple/Kiwi/Mango baby food and apple juice while I ate some yummy Mickey D's. After we ate I lathered him up in sunscreen and loaded him into the stroller so we could walk around the lake. He liked the ducks so I'm going to start freezing stale bread so we can feed them next time we go. After our walk, he had a bottle and we headed over to the zoo. The zoo consisted of native GA animals like deer, turkey, bobcats, owls, alligators, eagles, snakes, groundhogs, beavers, hawks and a huge bear. There was nothing really special there, but it's a good place to spend an afternoon. It was small, kind of reminded me of Warner Park when we were little, minus the monkeys and tigers. The best part about it was that it was all FREE! I have a feeling that we will be making more and more visits there this summer. Of course I forgot the camera, so no pictures..I'll do better next time!
Logan went to the Dr. yesterday. He weighed 15 lbs 14 oz, 21%. Length: 26.5 inches, 51%. Head circumference: I don't remember but it was in the 60's%. They are still concerned about his weight, but we are working on it. I'm having to pump so I can monitor how many ounces he's taking in. They want him to have 28-32 oz per day plus solids 3 times a day. Whatever I can't get with the pump I have to supplement with formula. I talked with a Lactation Consultant at the hospital and she is helping me increase my supply and told me to take omega fatty acids to increase the fat in my milk. I'm also taking fenugreek 4 pills 3 times a day, which is already starting to help! Since Logan started the formula, my supply started to go down. The LC also thinks my Dr is wacko. Her point of view is that it doesn't matter how many oz, etc, he takes in, if they can't control his acid reflux then it's still going to come back up. Which I agree with especially since he's been spitting up a ton more the last 2 weeks or so. The LC also said that 32 oz is way too much, since breastfed babies normally get 24-25 oz/day. The volume of milk doesn't increase but the amount of calories in the milk adjusts with the babies demand, unlike formula that has the same amount of calories/oz making the baby have to take in more ounces to increase his calorie intake. They switched his medicine again. He's on prevacid now...before I thought he was on Prevacid because that's what the NP told me she would call in if I needed it but instead they called in Prilosec and didn't tell me. It was generic on the bottle so I didn't know any different. If this doesn't work and his symptoms persist they are going to refer me to a GI specialist. My crazy Dr. thinks Logan is weaning, but if he were weaning he'd refuse the breast completely, but instead he just gets really PO'd after a few minutes when it's not coming out as fast as it does with the bottle. HELLO-being eager to nurse is NOT weaning! Dumbass. I'm not going to see her again! She also said that most of her breastfed patients wean by 9 months. Well no shit, they are following your crazy advice of supplementing with formula to an otherwise happy, healthy baby, which KILLS supply, trust me, I know first hand!!! Once my supply is back up, hopefully in a week or so, I'm going to cut out the formula completely. YAY!! No more stinky stuff...hopefully. If I'm unable to get my supply up on my own, I'm going to call my OB and see if she will prescribe me Reglan, which is what they give adoptive moms, moms with low supply or wish to relactate. Then if all that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to give in a get formula...but lets not think about that right now! Gotta stay positive!! I'm not going to stop til I've exhausted all efforts. So, please don't give me any comments on how I should just go ahead and do formula. I'm the Mommy now, I get to make that decision.
Logan went to the Dr. yesterday. He weighed 15 lbs 14 oz, 21%. Length: 26.5 inches, 51%. Head circumference: I don't remember but it was in the 60's%. They are still concerned about his weight, but we are working on it. I'm having to pump so I can monitor how many ounces he's taking in. They want him to have 28-32 oz per day plus solids 3 times a day. Whatever I can't get with the pump I have to supplement with formula. I talked with a Lactation Consultant at the hospital and she is helping me increase my supply and told me to take omega fatty acids to increase the fat in my milk. I'm also taking fenugreek 4 pills 3 times a day, which is already starting to help! Since Logan started the formula, my supply started to go down. The LC also thinks my Dr is wacko. Her point of view is that it doesn't matter how many oz, etc, he takes in, if they can't control his acid reflux then it's still going to come back up. Which I agree with especially since he's been spitting up a ton more the last 2 weeks or so. The LC also said that 32 oz is way too much, since breastfed babies normally get 24-25 oz/day. The volume of milk doesn't increase but the amount of calories in the milk adjusts with the babies demand, unlike formula that has the same amount of calories/oz making the baby have to take in more ounces to increase his calorie intake. They switched his medicine again. He's on prevacid now...before I thought he was on Prevacid because that's what the NP told me she would call in if I needed it but instead they called in Prilosec and didn't tell me. It was generic on the bottle so I didn't know any different. If this doesn't work and his symptoms persist they are going to refer me to a GI specialist. My crazy Dr. thinks Logan is weaning, but if he were weaning he'd refuse the breast completely, but instead he just gets really PO'd after a few minutes when it's not coming out as fast as it does with the bottle. HELLO-being eager to nurse is NOT weaning! Dumbass. I'm not going to see her again! She also said that most of her breastfed patients wean by 9 months. Well no shit, they are following your crazy advice of supplementing with formula to an otherwise happy, healthy baby, which KILLS supply, trust me, I know first hand!!! Once my supply is back up, hopefully in a week or so, I'm going to cut out the formula completely. YAY!! No more stinky stuff...hopefully. If I'm unable to get my supply up on my own, I'm going to call my OB and see if she will prescribe me Reglan, which is what they give adoptive moms, moms with low supply or wish to relactate. Then if all that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to give in a get formula...but lets not think about that right now! Gotta stay positive!! I'm not going to stop til I've exhausted all efforts. So, please don't give me any comments on how I should just go ahead and do formula. I'm the Mommy now, I get to make that decision.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Loca Killer Price...
Or at least that's what Brent called her, probably because she wanted to bite the head off of anyone who got near us. Loca got ran over by a car Friday morning. She was my baby girl (that's what I called her) and I miss her so much. We were at my parents and Mom and Logan were out planting flowers while I was working. The dogs were out roaming around as they always did. Loca apparently got in the road, which is unusual since the road is so far from the house. I was out taking pictures of Logan wearing my old Atlanta Braves hat that I wore when I was little and playing with a shovel. We noticed two cars stop in the middle of the road. I assumed they were people dealing with the burnt house in front of my parents until we saw the lady go to the back of her car and pick up Loca to move her to the side of the road. She was moving her so she didn't get hit again, which I am so thankful for, because it was bad enough seeing my dead dog, let alone if she was smeared into the road. Dad buried her next to Miss Kitty, Laura's favorite cat when we were little, and Mom planted her some flowers.
Loca, although very annoying at times, was a sweet dog. She was a great protector and a good snuggle bug. She had finally calmed down a bit and wasn't a wild and crazy puppy anymore. She will be really missed. Nino has been a little mopey and searched a lot, but yesterday he didn't seem to look for her as much. Nino is such a good dog, I never realized it before and I think it's because Loca was the instigator.
Needless to say, I'm never going to have another indoor dog and I'm definitely NEVER going to get attached to another animal. Brent wants a Boxer, but that would require a fence and that's just not a possibility at this point.
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