And some things stay the same…

I still frequently go to acupuncture. My acupuncturist is an amazing woman who has helped me on so many levels beyond just fertility. 

Today at my appointment, I told her that I’ve just been exhausted lately. I attributed it to staying up past midnight for a week straight, being the Mom of a one year old, running my own business, the change in seasons and you know, the full moon. 

She asked if there was a possibility I could be pregnant. 

I told her there was a chance –  isn’t there always when you aren’t using birth control? – but it was like a 0.01% chance.

 My gut said not pregnant. 

Well… 

Curiosity always gets the best of me. 

I dug around in the bathroom cupboard and found an ultra sensitive pregnancy test. You know one of ones from my ectopic days that literally detect anything. It was even expired. 

I peed on it anyway. 

Do you get where this is going? 

I ain’t no magical unicorn. I’m just a regular (in)fertile woman who can’t resist the urge to POAS. 

I still don’t have my period one year postpartum due to breastfeeding. I clearly need to get to bed earlier and listen to my gut. 

Whomp. Whomp. Whomp. 

Hi single red line! I didn’t miss you, you little bitch. 

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How we have handled teething

As I mentioned in our 9 month update, Wyatt currently has 6 teeth. I ordered how they came in on the chart below. The 7th is not far behind and has almost broken through. It’s the one indicated by the orange star.

When he’s teething, Wyatt shows some obvious signs – crankiness, pulling at ears, biting, chewing, clinginess – but overall, he’s been a very good teether. We’ve dealt with the bad days by giving him Camilia “teething juice” as I call it, or Hyland teething tablets. Many friends told me that the tablets work better than the drops, but I find the drops way easier as there’s no mixing involved when we are out and about. We’ve only used Infant Tylenol a few times at night.  Teethers – especially the chewellery ones – have also worked wonders for us.

After taking Wyatt for acupuncture last week, I’m 100% convinced that it’s a viable option for teething relief. We saw an Acupuncturist who specializes in Pediatrics. When kids get acupuncture, the needles don’t stay put. It’s simply a prick and done. Wyatt didn’t cry and the difference in his demeanor was almost immediate.

4 out of 6 chompers on my smiley baby.

We’ve had such a good breastfeeding experience until the teething phase. A few weeks ago, Wyatt bit me so hard that my nipple was dripping blood. For the first time, I could relate to women who have had sore, bleeding nipples earlier in their breastfeeding journeys. A grin and bear it attitude helped me get through it until it healed up.

I still love breastfeeding, but I cringe each time he latches when I know he’s about to get another tooth. It’s a hard situation to deal with. I feel like he bites because the counter pressure gives him some relief. In that case, I don’t want to get angry at him.

Other times, I feel like he’s biting simply to be naughty (i.e. when he’s goofing around instead of going to sleep). I’ve used a stern “NO WYATT!”, but he  always bites down harder. I slowly unlatch him and he always just laughs at me. When this happens, I put the boob away until he’s calmed down or shown signs that he’s ready to try again in a gentler manner. My feelings are hurt on top of my sore nipples. It’s been the weirdest emotion of motherhood to date. You know your child doesn’t understand that they are hurting you, but they are. You question why. You wonder what motivates them. You don’t want to upset them, but you don’t know how to enforce the boundary.

Do you have any advice for the biting? How do you stop them from chomping your precious nips? I’d love to hear what worked for you.

Our intro to babyled weaning

I was apprehensive about the concept of babyled weaning until I read the book, “Babyled Weaning: helping your baby to love good food“.

We started Wyatt on solids when he was 6 months, 4 days old. Before then, he was exclusively breastfed. He took to feeding himself like a champ! I’ve been so surprised at how well it’s gone… minus the mess.

What he’s eaten so far:

• Avocado
• Pear
• Asian Pear
• Banana
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Watermelon
• Cucumber
• Broccoli
• Green beans
• Squash
• Sweet potato
• Scrambled eggs
• Homemade turkey meatballs
• Homemade hamburger
• Ribs
• Chicken
• Yogurt
• Cheese
• Waffles
• MumMum rice crackers
• Mushies

He HAS to feed himself. It’s non-negotiable.  With the yogurt, I put it on the spoon and hand it to him to feed himself. I tried to give him a non-rice cereal one morning and he hated it! He spit every bite out.

Right now, we’re just doing 2 meals and maybe a small snack. He’s still nursing a decent amount, so I’m confident he’s getting all he needs.

Did you try babyled weaning? Any recipes or foods you would recommend? 

 

 

The tale of two boobs

At almost 5 months, I am still going strong with exclusively breastfeeding Wyatt. He only gets a bottle if I’m not home which isn’t very often. So far, his Daddy is also the only one to bottle feed him. I’ve got ball season coming up, so I’ve been wanting to get him more used to the bottle.

Last week when I went to our local infertility support group meeting, Wyatt drank 4 oz which is the most he’s ever taken from a bottle.

Tonight, I had a massage followed by a meeting with my softball team. I was planning on being gone for 3.5 hours. To avoid a hangry milk monster, I planned to leave at least 4oz of fresh milk, knowing that there would be extra in the freezer.

Yesterday afternoon, I tried to pump my right boob and only got 2oz.

Say whattttt???

I freaked.

Is my supply was lowering?

Wyatt has been super distracted lately.

Am I dehydrated?

My ta-tas did seem slightly deflated.

This can’t be happening!

I chugged a ton of water.

I baked a batch of lactation cookies.

This afternoon, I tried to pump the right boob again… 

And only another 2oz!!!!?!?! 

I drank way more water.

I ate a few more cookies.

I even had a beer while I was out.

When I got home tonight, I pumped the LEFT boob and got a solid 5oz!!!!!

Conclusion: my right boob is a dud.

I don’t know why it took me 5 months to realize my left boob magically pumps way more milk. It makes sense when I look back and reflect on the time Wyatt was struggling with the down flow on that side.

I only pump when I need to and I rarely pump both breasts at once. I guess I didn’t realize that I tend to always pump the left.

Lesson learned.

I’m glad to say: this Momma’s milk is still in full production. 🙂

Wyatt drank 6oz of pumped milk tonight and even held his own bottle. His progress is amazing, yet bittersweet.

I’m just grateful we can continue on.

The one thing that has gone right

I recently realized that breastfeeding is the only part of having a child that I have easily mastered.

Trying to conceive naturally = epic disaster requiring serious medical intervention (IVF + ISCI)

Birth experience = 100% deviation from my desired plan  (Induction, Epidural, Episiotomy, Forecep Delivery)

Breastfeeding = NAILED IT! Whohoo!

I attribute my success to:

1. My milk monster who came out of the womb already pursing his lips ready to suckle
2. The lactation cookies my friend brought me which helped my supply and also provided a major source of nutrition during those first weeks with my newborn
3. A balanced hormonal system due to supplements and acupuncture
4. Pure luck 🙂

I always hoped to breastfeed, but I was open to whatever had to happen. Breastfeeding came naturally. It wasn’t forced. It didn’t bring me any stress or cause for concern. Maybe that’s why it worked out? I had a clear picture of how I hoped it would go, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself in case I couldn’t achieve that goal. Hmm… this is a very intriguing mind-body connection.

Either way, I am very grateful to have been able to exclusively breastfeed my son. I love our breastfeeding sessions (even now when he’s in the highly distracted phase). ❤

What part of your journey has surprisingly come easy to you? 

 

 

 

 

 

Why does my parenting approach matter to you?

I sent a news article about how you won’t spoil your baby by picking them up to my Dad and he responded with,”You will pay for it later…” 

How?

How will I pay later for loving and tending to my child’s needs now?

I told my Dad I actually think my husband and I will pay less as our son (hopefully) won’t be in counselling dealing with all of the childhood issues that my husband and I both struggle with. HA HA HA HA 🙂

My Mom encouraged my SIL to move my nephew to his crib at 3 months.

My husband’s Uncle constantly tells us to let Wyatt “cry it out”.

His Aunt thinks that co-sleeping is dangerous, that my breast milk isn’t enough to sustain my son, and that we should already be feeding him mashed potatoes.

Why does everyone have an opinion? Why is our parenting style so difficult for our families to understand and accept?

I’m not hardcore with schedules, but I am fairly crunchy.

I breastfeed on demand.

Wyatt is 100% in cloth diapers.

I baby wear when it works for us, particularly for afternoon naps. We often use the stroller for outings though.

Wyatt gets a ton of cuddles and snuggles, but he also gets equal play time on his floor mat and in the exersaucer.

For me, parenting is about balance. It’s about listening to my child and trusting that my husband and I know what’s best for him.

Some days  I have no trouble ignoring the unsolicited advice, but other days I can help but want to scream at them, “WHO ASKED FOR YOUR OPINION ANYWAY?”

Deep breath. 

 

 

 

From Corporate life to motherhood

I just logged into my work account to catch up on Corporate news. I wanted to see if anyone else has come or gone since Christmas. There wasn’t anything too exiting in my inbox, but I know I’m not being cc’d on much activity related to regular operations or projects.

Right now, I’m going to take a few minutes to myself online while Wyatt naps in his carrier. It’s funny how much life changes once you have a little one.

My highlight of the day was finding a nursing room at one of our local malls. It’s an older, dingy mall. I don’t go there often at all, but I wanted to find a Valentine’s day gift for my husband. As we were shopping, Wyatt pooped. It’s a given that anytime you venture to a major shopping centre your kid will decide it’s time to shit himself. I changed him in a family washroom, but discovered a door labelled “Nursing”. I opened it and sure enough there was a sink, a counter and two rocking chairs. We went in, sat down and Wyatt had his lunch. It wasn’t the nicest room, but it was clean. I don’t have an issues feeding in public anymore.  In fact, I’ll whip it out just about anywhere now, but concept of the nursing room was nice – a small, quaint space for you to connect with your baby away from the busyness of the mall. I’ve decided to check and see if our other malls have anything similar.

The second highlight of my day was receiving FLUFF mail! I have totally become one of those Moms who gets a kick out of purchasing diapers, baby-wearing supplies or kids clothes online.  My most recent purchases arrived today which included a rainbow cloth diaper and an “Eat Local” onesie purchased on Zulily.

My husband heckles me about budget. I’ve been doing my own selling on our local classifieds to fund my online purchases. We just sold our swing as it was just sitting unused in my office and we are using our borrowed Mamaroo more. I hope to update you all on what baby items actually worked for us soon!

The third highlight of my day was buying new laundry detergent to wash our cloth diapers. We didn’t need a new brand or anything. We just ran out and our local store is also out of that brand, so we are trying a different one. I used to hate laundry, but I don’t mind it anymore. This may sound crazy, but it gives me a purpose – something to accomplish besides feeding and changing a baby all day long.

I love my time with my son, but there’s no doubt that it has been a transition to go from a super busy working woman to a Mom who’s on maternity leave. Honestly though, I wouldn’t trade it for a thing. ❤