Monday, February 21, 2011
Foods of all sorts
So you know how I said breastfeeding is another whole post on its own? Well, you knew it was coming...here it is. But I also plan on discussing baby food if that makes it any better. ;)
The roller coaster of nursing Lainey continues. There have been so many ups & downs...I'm not even sure at which point we currently find ourselves! As I've noted, I started a new job about 3 weeks ago. Well, this occurred at the same time that Lainey turned into a little piglet and has increased her dietary needs. That posed quite a problem as my boobs apparently got stressed from the task of pumping at a new place. My supply dropped a lot and my boobs felt empty (sorry but it's true!). I have since been having to dip into my freezer supply every day. I finally got myself back up to where I was pumping enough to provide the daycare bottles but I didn't have enough to feed her in the evenings (we found this out after a few nights of Lainey waking up hungry in the night). So I started giving her 5 oz bottles from the freezer and she started sleeping through the night again. Hey, I think it's worth it! That also allows me to pump in the evenings and give me that last 3 oz I usually need for bottles the next day.
Things have been fine but as my freezer supply has dwindled, I knew what needed to come next. So last night, I thawed 4 oz and added one oz of formula and held my breath. But Lainey didn't even seem to notice! So...on the eve of her turning 7 months, we have begun the supplementing stage. It really isn't a big deal and even my doctor assured me at her 6 month appointment that you really only need to nurse the first 6 months because that is when they get all the health benefits (after that, it's just free food she said). So I shouldn't feel guilty and should be patting myself on the back for all that I've done. But I can't help but feel a little bad about it. And just to make it super special, it's a two-fold guilt. Part of me feels bad that I couldn't get her all the way through without using formula and part of me feels bad that I kind of want to give up the pumping and just be done with all the hassle.
On a brighter note, Lainey is now also eating baby food and that is going really well! To update what I said in a previous post...she does not like avocado. We tried that yesterday for lunch and when she started dramatically gagging, I gave up and switched to bananas.
This is her excited face...waiting on the spoon.
I have been making most of what she eats. My parents got me a Cuisinart stick blender for Christmas and I love it! It has a whisk, blender and chopper/grinder attachment. The last of these makes fixing baby food a breeze and I end up with lovely concoctions like this:
The roller coaster of nursing Lainey continues. There have been so many ups & downs...I'm not even sure at which point we currently find ourselves! As I've noted, I started a new job about 3 weeks ago. Well, this occurred at the same time that Lainey turned into a little piglet and has increased her dietary needs. That posed quite a problem as my boobs apparently got stressed from the task of pumping at a new place. My supply dropped a lot and my boobs felt empty (sorry but it's true!). I have since been having to dip into my freezer supply every day. I finally got myself back up to where I was pumping enough to provide the daycare bottles but I didn't have enough to feed her in the evenings (we found this out after a few nights of Lainey waking up hungry in the night). So I started giving her 5 oz bottles from the freezer and she started sleeping through the night again. Hey, I think it's worth it! That also allows me to pump in the evenings and give me that last 3 oz I usually need for bottles the next day.
Things have been fine but as my freezer supply has dwindled, I knew what needed to come next. So last night, I thawed 4 oz and added one oz of formula and held my breath. But Lainey didn't even seem to notice! So...on the eve of her turning 7 months, we have begun the supplementing stage. It really isn't a big deal and even my doctor assured me at her 6 month appointment that you really only need to nurse the first 6 months because that is when they get all the health benefits (after that, it's just free food she said). So I shouldn't feel guilty and should be patting myself on the back for all that I've done. But I can't help but feel a little bad about it. And just to make it super special, it's a two-fold guilt. Part of me feels bad that I couldn't get her all the way through without using formula and part of me feels bad that I kind of want to give up the pumping and just be done with all the hassle.
On a brighter note, Lainey is now also eating baby food and that is going really well! To update what I said in a previous post...she does not like avocado. We tried that yesterday for lunch and when she started dramatically gagging, I gave up and switched to bananas.
This is her excited face...waiting on the spoon.
I have been making most of what she eats. My parents got me a Cuisinart stick blender for Christmas and I love it! It has a whisk, blender and chopper/grinder attachment. The last of these makes fixing baby food a breeze and I end up with lovely concoctions like this:
Success!
Okay, after much trial & error, I finally posted my first video. Sorry it's not very good quality but it's really the sound (and just the first 20 seconds) that are the impressive parts. :) More to come I'm sure!!
Technical difficulties
So, obviously loading the video didn't work. I'll try to work on this during one of Lainey's naps...
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Big girl
Lainey is 7 months old today. I can't believe it! She is getting big and really thriving. This seems to have occurred because I no longer starving her. Apparently, girl was hungry. I am still nursing (which is another whole post) so she was getting about 4 oz about 5 times a day. After she turned 6 months, we were given the green light to start giving her pureed fruits & veggies. I went out and bought a few Gerber 1st foods to try out some things to see what she liked before attempting to make a bunch of baby food. Let me just say, she hasn't met anything she hasn't liked so far! I started out giving her one container of food for dinner around 6:30 and then a bottle about an hour later before doing our bedtime ritual of changing her and reading a story. After about a week, our nanny started telling me that Lainey was crying whenever her bottles were empty. So, even though it stressed me and my boobs out, we upped her bottles to 5 oz. I also started sending a container of food during the day for her to have at lunch. That made for a super happy baby! Then she started crying when her food was gone at night so I gave her 1 1/2 containers...and then 2. Then yesterday she cried so much after sucking down her 5 oz bottle that I then had to nurse her on top of that. What a little piglet!! But like I said...thriving. As soon as we started feeding her more, she mastered sitting up on her own, grew more hair, said "cat" and "mama" and gained like 5 pounds and 6 inches (okay, not really...but she is definitely a lot bigger!). Also, I don't mean to brag, but my baby is totally a genius. When I say that she said "mama", she was totally reading it off this book: 
Well, she definitely was holding this book and it was the first time she said it! And she said "cat" when Sparky jumped up in the glider with us one day. I know you don't believe me which is why it so happened that I caught it on tape. Behold:
We're not sure it wasn't just a fluke but she has since called our neighbors dachshund "cat" and when the cats walked in the room one day, Troy goes, "Lainey, say 'Hi cat'" and she promptly parroted him. I'm just saying...pretty impressive! And really cute & funny. :) Oh, and to all you people who joked that our kids would be so pale & so blonde, it seems the joke's on you! I mean, pale, yes. But blonde...actually, not really. We have moved to the recessive of recessive genes and appear to have more of a redhead on our hands. Actually, it's kind of a strawberry blonde. Troy is already stressing out about having a hot redhead as a daughter. She may never be allowed out of the house on her own.
Well, she definitely was holding this book and it was the first time she said it! And she said "cat" when Sparky jumped up in the glider with us one day. I know you don't believe me which is why it so happened that I caught it on tape. Behold:We're not sure it wasn't just a fluke but she has since called our neighbors dachshund "cat" and when the cats walked in the room one day, Troy goes, "Lainey, say 'Hi cat'" and she promptly parroted him. I'm just saying...pretty impressive! And really cute & funny. :) Oh, and to all you people who joked that our kids would be so pale & so blonde, it seems the joke's on you! I mean, pale, yes. But blonde...actually, not really. We have moved to the recessive of recessive genes and appear to have more of a redhead on our hands. Actually, it's kind of a strawberry blonde. Troy is already stressing out about having a hot redhead as a daughter. She may never be allowed out of the house on her own.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Runnin' on empty
Well hello friends. It seems I've been away from here for awhile! I do have good reasons that I will share now...
The past few weeks have been very busy. The biggest part has been that I have changed jobs. I had been kind of casually looking (you know, dusted off the resume on Careerbuilder and checking craiglist here and there) but then an opportunity kind of dropped in my lap. To be honest, it's still no dream job and definitely not doing marketing like I had hoped but it was more money and, well, that was pretty much enough for me.
So I've been busy wrapping up loose ends at my old job and starting my new one. I took a week "off" in between (and that totally deserves "" because I was busier that week than when I was working!). During that week, I took Lainey to the doctor; the cats to the vet; did a marathon shopping day with Lainey, my Mom and sister (Lainey does love to shop!); got this house in order; thoroughly cleaned and then topped it off with a massage. Man, that was a good week. I could totally do the stay-at-home mom thing, especially when Lainey spent two-and-a-half days of it in daycare. ;) Hey, I needed to get stuff done and didn't see how I could handle two cats and a baby at the vet...don't judge. But it was so nice actually cleaning the house to my old standards, being able to plan and cook meals, run errands at a leisurely pace and play with and enjoy my family. Ah well...like I said, this new job is more money so there's no way I can get out of working now! Troy is super excited (he already has plans to order a new engine for the jet-ski). In all seriousness though, we really did need the extra income...my increase will basically cover daycare costs to put us back where we were before having Lainey (which was certainly not luxurious but definitely comfortable and not having to struggle and scrimp and save). It couldn't have come at a better time too because we had just done a budget after the New Year and realized we had like $40 extra a month after bills and groceries. Not really...but kind of.
So I have a legitimate excuse for my absence this time! But I will try to be better (I feel like I've said that before...). I've only been at my new job a week but I like it so far. Everyone is really nice and I stay busy, which I like. The biggest downfall though...the commute. Because of Troy's unpredictable schedule, I handle the drop-off and pick-up for Lainey every day. My new job is 8-5 (my old one was 8:30-5:30) which I thought I was so excited about because one of my gripes with my old job was the fact that I got home so late. Well now I get home about 10 minutes earlier than I did. Wee!! I now get up at 5:30 and leave the house at 7 to get to work at 8. Say what? Well, you see, Troy doesn't get up until around when I am leaving for work and lately Lainey has been waking up for the day when my alarm goes off. So I have to juggle getting ready in the morning with entertaining her and getting her ready. (And before I get the comments that he should be getting up earlier to help...it really wasn't his fault this week...he has worked 3 weekends in a row and last weekend got a total of 9 hrs of sleep for the whole weekend so I was trying to be nice and let him catch back up. And, yes, he will start getting up earlier to help!) There just really aren't enough hours in the day. How do people do it? And have time for other stuff, like blogging or TV or washing their face before bed? And dang it if Troy didn't break my crock pot (Jaclyn, I was totally going to try out your recipes!).
The past few weeks have been very busy. The biggest part has been that I have changed jobs. I had been kind of casually looking (you know, dusted off the resume on Careerbuilder and checking craiglist here and there) but then an opportunity kind of dropped in my lap. To be honest, it's still no dream job and definitely not doing marketing like I had hoped but it was more money and, well, that was pretty much enough for me.
So I've been busy wrapping up loose ends at my old job and starting my new one. I took a week "off" in between (and that totally deserves "" because I was busier that week than when I was working!). During that week, I took Lainey to the doctor; the cats to the vet; did a marathon shopping day with Lainey, my Mom and sister (Lainey does love to shop!); got this house in order; thoroughly cleaned and then topped it off with a massage. Man, that was a good week. I could totally do the stay-at-home mom thing, especially when Lainey spent two-and-a-half days of it in daycare. ;) Hey, I needed to get stuff done and didn't see how I could handle two cats and a baby at the vet...don't judge. But it was so nice actually cleaning the house to my old standards, being able to plan and cook meals, run errands at a leisurely pace and play with and enjoy my family. Ah well...like I said, this new job is more money so there's no way I can get out of working now! Troy is super excited (he already has plans to order a new engine for the jet-ski). In all seriousness though, we really did need the extra income...my increase will basically cover daycare costs to put us back where we were before having Lainey (which was certainly not luxurious but definitely comfortable and not having to struggle and scrimp and save). It couldn't have come at a better time too because we had just done a budget after the New Year and realized we had like $40 extra a month after bills and groceries. Not really...but kind of.
So I have a legitimate excuse for my absence this time! But I will try to be better (I feel like I've said that before...). I've only been at my new job a week but I like it so far. Everyone is really nice and I stay busy, which I like. The biggest downfall though...the commute. Because of Troy's unpredictable schedule, I handle the drop-off and pick-up for Lainey every day. My new job is 8-5 (my old one was 8:30-5:30) which I thought I was so excited about because one of my gripes with my old job was the fact that I got home so late. Well now I get home about 10 minutes earlier than I did. Wee!! I now get up at 5:30 and leave the house at 7 to get to work at 8. Say what? Well, you see, Troy doesn't get up until around when I am leaving for work and lately Lainey has been waking up for the day when my alarm goes off. So I have to juggle getting ready in the morning with entertaining her and getting her ready. (And before I get the comments that he should be getting up earlier to help...it really wasn't his fault this week...he has worked 3 weekends in a row and last weekend got a total of 9 hrs of sleep for the whole weekend so I was trying to be nice and let him catch back up. And, yes, he will start getting up earlier to help!) There just really aren't enough hours in the day. How do people do it? And have time for other stuff, like blogging or TV or washing their face before bed? And dang it if Troy didn't break my crock pot (Jaclyn, I was totally going to try out your recipes!).
Six Months
Okay, so Lainey's more like 6 1/2 months now...but I wanted to give the the update!
Here are the stats: 15 lbs (25%...the doctor said babies often slow down with weight gain around this time bc they're burning more calories), 26" (~60%), 2 shots (but just cried for a second...she quit before they even got the band-aids on her) and a perfect bill of health! The doctor said everything was good and she was perfect (of course!) and that we could introduce stage 1 baby food and keep doing what we've been doing. Some good news...she also said that at this age, she is just capable as an adult at going from dinner to breakfast-time without eating. She had gotten into a fun habit of waking up around 4 a.m. to eat and the doctor said it is totally okay to make her wait until a more normal time, like 6-ish. She must have heard her say this because she started sleeping through the night that very night!
Here are the stats: 15 lbs (25%...the doctor said babies often slow down with weight gain around this time bc they're burning more calories), 26" (~60%), 2 shots (but just cried for a second...she quit before they even got the band-aids on her) and a perfect bill of health! The doctor said everything was good and she was perfect (of course!) and that we could introduce stage 1 baby food and keep doing what we've been doing. Some good news...she also said that at this age, she is just capable as an adult at going from dinner to breakfast-time without eating. She had gotten into a fun habit of waking up around 4 a.m. to eat and the doctor said it is totally okay to make her wait until a more normal time, like 6-ish. She must have heard her say this because she started sleeping through the night that very night!
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