Milk Teef

After what seems like months of "teething" and drooling - we are finally seeing the supposed tell tale signs that Bub's milk teef are coming in  - white swollen gums, red cheeks, pulling at her ears, LOTS of drooling, putting everything in her mouth and the runny nose.

Poor Bub has been blowing snot bubbles since yesterday afternoon and trying to make the best of it.  We've had some changes in her bowel movements since we've introduced solids so that's been interesting to say the least.  Going 14 days without any er movement to almost every day is not fun.  Especially since I am not one to catch on quick and then stuff moves out of place.  Let's just say she'd give Ann Hathoway a run for her money for most wardrobe changes in a single day.

I think the teething has put a bit of a damper on enjoying solids as well. Yesterday we tried fresh black berries and organic full fat greek yogurt... She made a face but licked up the yogurt which was nice and chunky since i'd strained it. The berries she eyed wearily and mushed a bit but didn't really try.

Later that evening it was steamed asparagus and carrots.  You should see the face she made when sucking on the asparagus - NO THANK YOU.  I think steaming just made them too bitter.  The carrots were okay but again, she just wasn't her chirpy happy self at meal time.

7 months old on Earth Day

The Bub turned 7 months yesterday.  She celebrated by showing us how well she can slide backwards, find a wall and then use it as leverage to leap frog forward.  1 step forward 2 steps back as they say :)  She also joined us at the dinner table to try some of my quinoa khichdi.

 Khichdi is an Indian dish eaten all over India, especially in the Northern regions and thus varies in how its made and what its served with.  A comfort food the staple ingredients are lentils and rice served with a side of yogurt based soup either hot (kadhi) or cold (chaas).

I made my version of my favorite with split moong dal and replaced the rice with quinoa.  I love kadhi but never with my khichdi.  So I made some chaas.


Split Moong & Quinoa Khicdhi ingredients include:
2 1/4 cup split moong
2 1/4 cup quinoa
1 potato, diced
1/2 a large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp green chili, minced
1 inch ginger, minced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1tsp garam masala
a pinch of red chili powder
a small piece of cinnamon bark
2 cloves

Chaas
Organic Full fat yogurt and water, with salt and cumin (the Bub was served only yogurt with her khichdi)

We weren't sure how she'd take to it since unlike the 2 inch finger sized pieces of food she's been given, it was all granular and mushy, even the potatoes were just in chunks.  So we decided to also give her a spoon to see what she would do.

At first she just grabbed at the khichdi and sort of scooped at the yogurt trying to bring it to her mouth.  But then after a few tries she also started opening her fist a bit so she could sort of mash the food onto her lips.  The spoon she just gnawed on until i filled it with flattened some khichdi onto it and put it down.  She picked it right up and put it in her mouth!  Once or twice she got the the curved side in facing up and the food slid off before it could go into her mouth but then she figured it out.

So every few minutes or so i'd put some food onto the spoon and place it back down on the tray.  Sometimes she went for the spoon other times she ate with her hands.  Either way she made sure to get it everywhere including her nose, eyes, chin, underarms and of course, her mouth :)

Solid Foods... shouldn't they be, well SOLID?

"Have you introduced solids yet?"

Since the Bub turned 4 months I've been hearing this question or some variation and after the umpteenth time it has started to feel more like an accusation than innocent interest.

For the record N and I had decided to wait till Siena was at least 6 months since both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6 months and since I'm able to do so and there are no concerns with her weight gain, bowel movements or sleep habits we were in no hurry.  So while many of Duckie's peers were slurping away on rice cereal and spoonfuls of peas and chicken puree Siena has been quite content with latching on to Mommy's milk machines.

  As we approached 5 months N and I realized that it was time to think more about how we wanted to approach this new chapter.  We knew that we'd be making food at home since I can't stand the taste of jarred food and will not feed her anything i won't eat.  Outside of that we hadn't a clue.

It was around this time a friend mentioned a book explaining what they did with their daughter, something called "Baby Led Weaning". Pulling out my English to American dictionary, it seams in the US weaning focuses on getting off of breastmilk, whilst in the UK it means getting onto foods.  BLW is basically allowing your child to feed themselves as you introduce them to solids.  And by SOLIDS they actually mean SOLIDS. Not mush, pureed, unidentifiable slop.

The concept is simple enough, wait until your baby is at least 6 months of age, shows signs of interest in food - AKA attempts to take fistful of whatever you have on your plate and shove into their mouth or stare you down as you enjoy that deliciously juicy strawberry and can sit upright unassisted or in high chair.


Then introduce baby to real food.  The (healthy) food we eat everyday, the way we eat it.  Allow them to experience different tastes, textures, smells and learn how to actually eat it.  Of course there are some rules to follow - no salt,preferably cut into pieces that they can hold, understanding what food groups to offer and how often, skipping foods your family members have serious allergies to,  no honey, no cow's milk until 1 (unless used as ingredient) etc.  Also we've decided to try and buy mostly organic fruits/veg and organic, grass fed meats.  There's a bit more to it than that and you can read up more here as well as on the thousands of blogs documenting people's experiences.

The concept really appealed to us.  What better way to learn how to recognize and differentiate foods, how to chew, suck, swallow and really experience all that food has to offer.  Not really possible when its all been mashed up to one consistency.  Most importantly it takes advantage of the fact that up until 12 months babies get their nutrition solely from breastmilk or formula so food is just for fun.  FOOD IS FUN UNTIL ONE.  It's not about how much they eat, but their experience.

So we read the book, did a little research and have been playing around with it for a few weeks now.  After buying a few pieces of equipment- highchair, large washable bibs, table cloth for floor we are ready to let Siena lead.

So far she's "eaten"
sliced green apples - I made the rookie mistake of offering it to her before I'd nursed so she was hungry frustrated

sliced pears - N was a little nervous that it was too ripe and she'd choke on the skin- and we re-read the section that helps explain that the place where babies gag is further up front from where they choke and this helps them to recognize how far back to keep their food.

carrots - uncooked so after gumming it for a bit i think she may have gotten a little sweet taste but that's about it

english cucumber (seedless) - seemed to enjoy sucking on it

celery - may have gotten a little flavor from a piece... but have to remember to offer it with hard strings removed as she gets teeth

roasted sweet potato - first time no skins, second time skin on....she gummed this around and definitely swallowed some, pushing the skin out.

TJ's Whole Grain Bread -  1/2 inch by 3 inch slice of my toast... the part that went into her mouth she gummed around until it was soft and ate, the part that remained in her fist turned to mush and we tossed it.

quinoa - a little harder to eat but she dug her hands in anyway, grabbing fistfuls and putting the closed fist into her mouth


Banana - yes, i touched a banana, and proceeded to cut it and give my daughter the chance to eat it.  She does not seem to have my aversion to them, unfortunately.

roasted green beans, eggplant, portabella mushrooms, and red bell peppers in olive oil, black pepper and garlic - i think eggplant and green beans were favorite but she grabbed at everything - with both hands.

And tonight's dinner - fish & chips.  Cod seasoned with panko, garlic, and herbs.  Roasted sweet potato wedges skin on and steamed broccoli.   Don't think she actually swallowed any of the fish but did gum it around.  Went to town on the broccoli - literally shoving floret after floret into her mouth.  Was a pro at eating the sweet potato and spitting out the skin.

It is messy.  She ends up wearing most of it and throwing the rest on the floor.  It is stinky - we've gone from one poopy diaper a week to one every other day in all colors and quantities.  But that would have been the case if we'd used baby foods.  The best part is we get to sit down around the table and share our meal together as a family.

What's up next?  Waiting in the wings are an avocado, mango, butternut squash, and chicken but we're open to suggestions!

Spotted Bub

So last Monday I got the Duckiebutt out of bed for our usual morning ritual - change her nappy, get into bed with mom and dad for a little snuggling and tooting, followed by breakfast for the Bub and finally breakfast for mommy.

Well as I was feeding her I noticed a little red mark on her arm, not unusual as I'd seen this little pimple the day before.  But now there seemed to be 2 or 3 larger ones that looked more like bites as well.  Hmm...2 on the other hand as well.

Now those of you who know me from my NYC days may remember my old place in Hell's Kitchen and the little bedbug infestation we had due to the guy living below us and our decrepid old brick building. I DONT DO BEDBUGS.  I will stay up all night and hunt those little suckers down.  I am severely allergic and just the thought of them makes me itch.  So i head over to her room and inspect the crib and mattress nothing out of the ordinary.

So i go back to inspecting the bub - I scream for N who's working out downstairs - our Bub is one big red blotch.  Her face, her sausage arms, chunk-a-munk legs are all covered in Hives.  She however seems to be oblivious of all this.  A good sign but we were not taking any chances.  I called our doc's office and got an appt to come in.  We go, they take her temp (normal) and basically tell us they  have no idea what caused them.  We'd been out the day before visiting some friends and family so a number of things could have been the reason.  Final diagnosis.  Go home, continue doing what you're doing - if she gets a fever or wheezing cough call us.  If she seems a little itchy give her some baby benadryl.  Otherwise, sit back and wait a week - they'll go away eventually.



And so we did.... after about 2 days they reduced in appearance and in number and by day 4 you could barely tell she had them. Crisis averted.  Let's hope the next one is as easy to handle.

HALFIE BIRTHDAY!

Gotta love fractions :)


182 days, 6 months, 1/2 a year - however which you say it, it sounds insane!  The Bub is growing and has somehow managed to survive in spite of her clueless parents.

To show us just how big she's getting, we awoke  yesterday morning to find her sleeping on her belly for the first time.  And now it seems its the only way "big" girls sleep.

She's been rolling around, kicking, dancing and blowing a bazillion raspberries - all, i've read signs that she is developing beautifully.  I am constantly amazed by how smart and clever and beautiful she is.

Happy 1/2 birthday babygirl!  Mama loves you more than you will ever be able to fathom.

I love the interweb

First and foremost because that is where I found one of my bestest friends, Kira.  But besides that, it's because there is so much information out there for new moms.  Wait, that's also why I hate the internet.  Double edge sword - too much information is definitely not a good thing for a mommy-to-be or a new mommy or an old mommy for that matter.

So I thought I'd briefly share some sites that I found helpful at one time or another over the past 15 months and maybe make the inevitable 3am google search a little bit easier on you.

PRENATAL/PREGNANCY

http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy#band1 - I was obsessed with learning about how little duckie was developing and growing inside my belly.  We also had their free phone app on Neelesh's phone which we liked

http://www.fitpregnancy.com/ - a free mag i always picked up at the OB/GYN - i liked a lot of the articles and tools for preggo moms


READ BEFORE BABY

http://simplemom.net/tools/cloth-diapering/ - a great one stop if you're thinking about trying cloth diapering.  I never ended up trying it - keep thinking maybe next month i'll make the switch but with the thoughts of solids entering the Bub soon I have a feeling it's not going to happen

http://www.thecarseatlady.com/ - WOW I love this site. After our epic  me questions.  The videos are great to help install car seats, articles on traveling with babies etc, choosing a car seat and so much more.  I would check this out site out by 32 weeks to make sure that car seat, base etc have been installed and you have a good comfort level on how to put a newborn in one.

http://www.cpsc.gov/info/cribs/index.html - The Consumer Product Safety Commission's update on all things crib related.

http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=3 - The Oh Baby! Baby Bargains, Expecting 411, & Baby 411 Books forum.

THE BABY IS HERE!

http://www.thecarseatlady.com/ - again so useful as the bub grows and we start traveling with her more

http://www.babyzone.com/baby/baby-week-by-week/ - babycenter.com and a lot of others have week by weeks for baby - I really like reading the Your Brilliant Baby week by week from babyzone with its info on what research has shown as well aus ways to help you play/engage your baby.

https://windsorpeak.com/baby411/blog/ - the book was recommended by my cousin-in-law and I received it as a christmas present.  Although i have the actual book to reference, i have used the blog as well as well as the forum listed above.


BREASTFEEDING

http://kellymom.com/
http://www.llli.org/nb.html


MISC
http://www.cpsc.gov/ - it is scary how many recalls are made on all things baby/children related


PHONE APPS  - we have an android phone but i'm sure these are available for iPhones as well (or even better ones)

My Pregnancy Today - Baby Center
Contraction Timer - James Ots
Breastfeeding tracker - can't find the one we used but there are lots of free ones out there.

And here's a link of babble's Top 25 of 2011
http://www.babble.com/products/pregnancy-products/tracker-pregnancy-apps-android-best-full-list/

Home Sweet Home

First off thanks so much for the comments/emails/texts with your words of support, encouragement and assistance on my last post.

I can't believe only 2 weeks have gone by since i wrote it.  Feel like we were put through the ringer there but made it out with just a few scrapes and bruises.  So here's what happened since my last post.

The Bub and I were on our thawing milk, pumping, bottling schedule and we flew off to NJ to visit the folks and friends.  One of my very dear friends, after reading my post, put me in touch with one of her best friends, who happens to be a La Leche League Leader (for more info on what that is click here), who i now call my BreastFeeding Jane.

After much back and forth, talking about the different issues that could be at work - undersupply, oversupply, how milk is produced, food allergies, gas etc., she helped walk me off the ledge and come to the decision that I was going to do 3 things:

1. Stop the pumping - its really hard to manage and control supply when you add this outside element in with nursing and bottle feeding and to be honest extremely exhausting with all the cleaning and timing.
2. Let the Bub decide when and for how long she wants to eat.  Not to get her to keep trying and instead offer her the boob every so often and let her eat on her own schedule.  Mind you I still watched the clock.
3. Stop the fenugreek - although its uncommon, i do believe at that amount it was causing me a lot of gas. 

Miraculously, she started eating better.  She still fussed, but then we took a break or tried again later.  We tried different positions, like the one that worked at bedtime - what i like to call The Dead Man's Plank.  Imagine if you will the chalked man outline, now take the hand that's over head and get up on the elbow in a semi-plank.  With the other hand help steady the breast as if it were a bottle while the bub is lying down.  Talk about getting a work out. Switch as needed to work that core and of course feed on the other side.

The gas though seemed to get worse.  And so did her sleeping habits.  She went from sleeping 12 hours with  1 wake up to twice, then three times, then 4!  Every 3 hours trying to pas gas and sometimes succeeding but getting used to being soothed on the boob and expecting it.  Not having much control over her belly and how her insides are growing I decided to restrict my diet. I've taken out dairy, soy and gluten completely.  No bread, no cheese, went out and got gluten-free oats, using a lot more coconut products (flour, oil, milk) etc.  Seems to be helping, well me at least.

After a very long day of flying she woke up 1.5 hours after her bed time screaming.  Damn gas.  The Hub hadn't seen his Bub in over a week and was having a hard time dealing with the tears, as was I.  After some tooting she continued to cry and we continued to try all that was in our arsenal - gas drops, belly rubs, doing squats, singing, running a bath.. until we finally realized that we were in fact making it worse and what she really wanted was to just sleep.  Put her back in her crib and after a few minutes of crying out she passed the f*ck out.

A call into the pediatrician the next day resulted in us trying some fruit juice.  We had attempted to give her prune juice a few weeks back but I think it was too strong for her system and made it worse.  The nurse said any juice starting with P would do and so off to whole foods I went to get some organic no sugar added 100% pear juice.  She had said up to 1/2 cup a day would be okay to give her - to help move things along.  I did the math and decided that 15 mls every other feeding would be more than plenty.

She is still gassy but the juice seems to be helping to move things along.  Also just being at home and sleeping in her own crib I think has helped.  Also now we can get back into our sleep training.

All in all I'm learning that as they grow and make more developmental leaps, babies have periods of being more fussy and cranky than others and all we can do is help them ride it out in any way we can.


Thanks again for your continued support

x
BMJ

Going on Empty.

My head feels like its about to explode.  Where do I even begin.

So for a while now we've realized that the Bub has some gas issues.  She is constantly trying to pass gas but has a hard time doing it.  The hardest it seems is when she is on the boob.  It will be time for her to eat and she'll suck away for a few minutes and then start arching her back and whimpering/screaming.  You can hear her belly make noises and all she wants to do is relieve herself.  Sometimes a few toots come out and she's back to eating, sometimes you pick her up burp her and switch positions hoping that will help, sometimes it does sometimes, it doesn't.  By now its taken half hour to get her to actually feed for maybe 10 minutes on both breasts.  She doesn't fuss after she stops so we assume she is full and move on.

In the evenings we started giving her pumped milk in a bottle to supplement in case she wasn't full.  Still a little fussy but she'd relax enough to drink and even toot a little.  We thought we had a routine down that worked.  In the mean time we made sure to give her lots of belly time,  rub her belly, play bicycle, and warm bathes to help her out.

This past monday it was almost bedtime and as usual Neelesh was ready with the bottle and I put Siena on the breast.  Except as soon as she went on her side she started crying, barely in her mouth and she wasn't having any of it.  Switching sides, she stayed on for maybe a minute then started hollering.  So i waved my white flag and decided i'd just pump this time and let her take the whole bottle.  She downed 5 ounces and I pumped barely 1.5 oz - from both breasts.

Houston we have a problem.

So its not just passing gas that's an issue, its that the past few weeks of fussiness and not drinking till I was empty has depleted my milk supply.  Seems it also takes too long to come out aka slow milk flow. No wonder she wakes up at 4am to eat.  I freaked out. I am freaking out. I am crying because I don't want to give up nursing.  Its selfish and silly but I really love the fact that it is the one thing only she and I can do.  I know I should be grateful, others aren't so lucky to get the chance.  But right now it doesn't feel like that.

I have to increase my supply, gotta up the calories, reduce the foods that make us gassy, try fenugreek capsules, get mom to make more fenugreek squares (indian remedy that i ran out of a while back), eat more oatmeal - anything to get more lactogenic foods in me.

I also have to pump.  Not just in the morning after she's eaten and I look like Dolly Parton.  The road to more breast milk is an empty one. Say what? Yup, if the breast doesn't completely empty out then its not going to fill back up all the way.  Here's actually a great site that explains how breast milk is created

So what does all this mean  I am now pumping every 3 hours.  Luckily for us we had some breastmilk stock-piled in the freezer from my morning pump sessions.  Unfortunately I now need 5 - 6 of those 5 oz bags to get through 1 day of her feedings.  Along with the pumping there is defrosting her milk, getting the bottle ready and feeding her every 3-4 hours.  Factor into this her naps every 2 hours, cleaning all pump equipment and bottles after every use and making sure the thawed milk is properly used and eliminated I swear my head will BLOW.

Not sure how long our freezer supply will last but I know my milk supply won't increase enough to restock as fast as its going.

This leads to the next question of having to supplement a feeding a day with formula.  My first thought was no, I can make this work. But since I'll be heading up north tomorrow and there is no freezer full of milk waiting for us, something will have to give.  Each pumping session produces no more than 2-4 oz.  Do the math.  More gets used up then gets produced.  My only option will be to add a bottle 1 a day so I can meet demand.

Oh and this might be TMI but I got my period today.  People nurse long after they get their period but it is often a sign of decrease in milk production.  And it sucks.  It's been over 1 year since I've had it and I can tell you I sure didn't miss it.

Blah.

Why am I putting all this out there? A bunch of reasons, hope that someone reading might have some words of advice or suggestions I haven't come across yet,  to help those who might go through something similar now or in the future and because to be honest getting it all out just helps relieve the crazy.

A valentine's i'll never forget

It was exactly one year ago that Hub and I found out we were pregnant while visiting Seester in Houston.  For a holiday i never cared one way or the other for it sure has become more enjoyable with the Bub around.

She received 2 valentines - one from her lovely voltron cousins in New York, Molly, Kelly and Erin and another from the newest heart throb on the NYC scene Mr. Kavin Jagetia who seems to have a thing for the older ladies (Siena is a whopping 3 months and 28 days older than him)

I love google plus

Because ALL of the pics and videos i've taken on my phone automatically uploaded to Google+ from day 1 (i didn't set it up) and thankfully although i am without phone at least i haven't lost a single pic/video of the Bub.

Oh by the way - not pooping for 7+ days is supposedly normal for an exclusively fed breast fed baby.  yeah, right tell that to the Bub.  After 9 days she finally went. Twice.  Unfortunately she still seems to be having gas issues so i'm thinking i need to get back on the gluten-free, dairy-free, legume-free, soy-free regimen.

sleepless night

it actually hurts. i mean a physical tug at my heart.  i am sitting here staring at the little video monitor watching my little bub sleep. she is beautiful. perfect. it hurts. and i don't ever want that ache to go away.