Sorry it has been so long since the last post. Things got hectic and we weren't videoing, taking pictures, or blogging like we used to. I'm back now with a few cute videos and updates.
Since the last post there aren't many new developments with our move to New York. We have been preapproved for a mortgage, so we're hoping to get the home-buying process moving ASAP. We need our clearances to go though before we can take a trip to NY, though. So, we are waiting, and waiting, and waiting... Things are slowly progressing, so it has to happen eventually, right? I'm just hoping our jobs start before I need to take maternity leave.
Celia is growing as fast as ever. You'll see in the next few posts and videos that she's starting to walk and, if I can get it on video, crawl! Who thought she'd start crawling AFTER she started walking? She just got her second tooth this passed weekend, and now she's really beginning to eat solid foods. I just want her to be interested in solid foods beyond the dry ceral type things. Am I asking too much?
I stopped pumping as of today. My supply ad dwindled to 3 oz a day or so and it was really taking a toll with little benefit. It was a hard decision, but we feel it was the right one. The next few posts will be the things we got pictures of videos of. Oma came to visit us the last weekend in February, but we didn't get pictures! Where was our head? We enjoyed her visit and are sorry we didn't get any pictures or video. We love you!
The videos and pictures will be updated as fast as I can get them uploaded. So, probably over the next few days. Have fun!
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Announcing ...
We are expecting our second baby September 9, 2010! We're very excited about it, although I'm not sure how excited Cecilia is about the changes already happening.
I have morning sickness (or rather all day sickness) this time around, and I can't maintain a milk supply sufficient to meet her calorie needs. If the stubborn baby ate solid food, it might be ok :)! Hence, we've started supplementing with formula, which she is finally starting to take on occasion - if Ben feeds it to her. She hasn't nursed in over a month, even at night, but evidently she must associate breast milk with me, still. She only needs about 4 ounces of formula a day, but the smell of it makes me sick. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to it, but even rinsing the bottles after a feeding I have to hold my breath. It's not what we envisioned when Cecilia was born, but I guess nothing usually works out the way you anticipate.
We're taking a different approach toward prenatal care and delivery with this baby. I'm going to wait until we're in NY and find a midwife there to hopefully do a homebirth. I've already scoped out a few and will begin calling a week or two before we move. I should be around 12 weeks when we move, so we aren't concerned about waiting. Plus, I've been on prenatal vitamins since before I got pregnant with Cecilia, so there's not much a doctor here would do except get me admitted into a group and tell me which day I got pregnant (which I already know ;) ). I have my trusty Brewer Diet to follow too! Although, with the morning sickness I haven't been getting my eggs or my protein. I try though!
This pregnancy is already different than the last, although this time I'm taking care of a baby and still tying to exclusively breastfeed. I think the women who nurse throughout a pregnancy must have older babies who eat solids, because I can feel the energy draining from my body and I just can't get enough calories! We'll see what the next 32 weeks bring. We're very excited and looking forward to our newest addition! Any bets on boy or girl? We'll have to wait until delivery day to know though (sorry to my sisters, who want to crochet in advance). I'll go on the record now as saying I think it will be a girl.
I have morning sickness (or rather all day sickness) this time around, and I can't maintain a milk supply sufficient to meet her calorie needs. If the stubborn baby ate solid food, it might be ok :)! Hence, we've started supplementing with formula, which she is finally starting to take on occasion - if Ben feeds it to her. She hasn't nursed in over a month, even at night, but evidently she must associate breast milk with me, still. She only needs about 4 ounces of formula a day, but the smell of it makes me sick. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to it, but even rinsing the bottles after a feeding I have to hold my breath. It's not what we envisioned when Cecilia was born, but I guess nothing usually works out the way you anticipate.
We're taking a different approach toward prenatal care and delivery with this baby. I'm going to wait until we're in NY and find a midwife there to hopefully do a homebirth. I've already scoped out a few and will begin calling a week or two before we move. I should be around 12 weeks when we move, so we aren't concerned about waiting. Plus, I've been on prenatal vitamins since before I got pregnant with Cecilia, so there's not much a doctor here would do except get me admitted into a group and tell me which day I got pregnant (which I already know ;) ). I have my trusty Brewer Diet to follow too! Although, with the morning sickness I haven't been getting my eggs or my protein. I try though!
This pregnancy is already different than the last, although this time I'm taking care of a baby and still tying to exclusively breastfeed. I think the women who nurse throughout a pregnancy must have older babies who eat solids, because I can feel the energy draining from my body and I just can't get enough calories! We'll see what the next 32 weeks bring. We're very excited and looking forward to our newest addition! Any bets on boy or girl? We'll have to wait until delivery day to know though (sorry to my sisters, who want to crochet in advance). I'll go on the record now as saying I think it will be a girl.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
First Try at Formula
Well, the day has come. Yesterday and today we tried giving Cecilia formula because my milk supply is no longer holding out. We've been staving this off for more than a month, but it has finally happened. The last few days I've been sick and I can't eat enough calories to keep up normal milk production. However, Cecilia doesn't like nor want formula. At this point, she would rather go hungry than eat anything other than breastmilk. We've had a little luck with pureed sweet potatoes lately, but she does not like solids. It's rough in the Swoboda house lately with a hungry baby and nothing she will eat.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Cecilia' 4 month Doctor's visit
Cecilia had her 4 month check-up. She got two vaccines, Rotavirus (oral) and DTap (shot). She was upset about the shot for a minute or so, but quickly recovered and had no apparant side effects that night. Yeah! She's back on the Dr. Sear's alternative schedule for vaccines, so we'll go in again next month for the Pneumaccocal and HipB.
I don't have the charts right now, but her measurements were
height - 26" (96.29%)
weight - 15 lb 12.8 oz. (90.33%)
head circumference - 41cm (51.97%)
It appears her weight is now catching up with her length and she's in the 90+ percentile for both! She seems to have a smaller head, though :).
Other notable points from the visit:
- Leah (our doc) was impressed her belly button was an inny already because most babies don't have strong enough abdominal muscles to pull it in. That may not happen until 2 years in many cases.
- She is hitting all of her milestones and is even a little ahead on some things (I forget what they are at the moment - I guess this is "Mom brain").
- Although she could get a flu shot at 6 months, we have decided that since she is a breastfed baby who does not go to daycare and is not in a risk group due to a medical condition we will not get her a flu shot.
- We have been assured that her infrequent stooling is completely normal for a breastfed baby and she is definitely growing well.
- We will not schedule visits for 10 am again since it is before her current "wake up" time and she was very sleepy in the doctor's office.
Overall, we are reassured that Celia is growing well and developing well. Here is a quick update on her feeding. Celia has been breastfeeding less and less, now more for comfort than for nutrients. I offer all day, but she usually refuses. I have hope that she may decide to breastfeed more often again, but we've come to accept that our baby gets most of her nutrients from pumped milk. So far, I've been able to maintain my supply and I plan to do so until Celia no longer needs to nurse at all. I have visions of her choosing to nurse sometimes as an older baby and establishing a routine of nursing at bedtime at least. The most success we have with breastfeeding now is at middle of the night wakings and at naptime - all while lying in bed. If I can catch her as she's waking she'll usually nurse for at least a few minutes. While this is not what I had hoped for, we have learned a lot and hope to breastfeed more successfully if we are ever blessed with more children. We are proud that we were able to teach her to breastfeed and every day we can continue to give her breastmilk instead of formula is a small victory.
I was surprised that the information included in the after-visit summary they gave us after her check-up said that she should be eating 6-7 ounces every 4-5 hours. This implies that she should be eating 30-42 ounces a day. We feed on demand and always have milk available to her, and she eats around 25 ounces a day - sometimes less! Obviously she is growing well, so she's getting more than enough calories to thrive. I am inclined to think that some babies might eat more because they eat so much faster with bottles than with breastfeeding and still need to suck (aka the pacifier) so that parents who bottle feed tend to regulate how much the child gets instead of the child regulating the intake. I may be way off-base since I haven't studied any research, but it seems to me that we don't have a really accurate idea of how much a breastfed baby eats (I've heard up to 30 ounces at 6 months, but I don't know). The bottles we use do require suction and compression and require her to suck more than a normal bottle to eat. I wonder if the increased sucking means she's eating more slowly (we know it can take her 15-20 minutes to eat a bottle) than if we used another bottle so she is regulating her calorie intake more closely to the way a baby does when they eat exclusively from the breast. She also usually gets milk pumped within a few days unless we're freshening our frozen supply. I've also heard that the composition of breastmilk changes as the child ages, so it may be that the calorie content of milk changes to meet the needs of the baby. Also, breastmilk is metabolized better than formula, so I wonder if the baby just gets better at metabolizing the nutrients and doesn't need as increased an amount of milk to meet her needs. These are just my thoughts since Celia eats far less than what they are telling us she should and is definitely not having any problems with growth or development. An interesting discussion. Any thoughts?
I don't have the charts right now, but her measurements were
height - 26" (96.29%)
weight - 15 lb 12.8 oz. (90.33%)
head circumference - 41cm (51.97%)
It appears her weight is now catching up with her length and she's in the 90+ percentile for both! She seems to have a smaller head, though :).
Other notable points from the visit:
- Leah (our doc) was impressed her belly button was an inny already because most babies don't have strong enough abdominal muscles to pull it in. That may not happen until 2 years in many cases.
- She is hitting all of her milestones and is even a little ahead on some things (I forget what they are at the moment - I guess this is "Mom brain").
- Although she could get a flu shot at 6 months, we have decided that since she is a breastfed baby who does not go to daycare and is not in a risk group due to a medical condition we will not get her a flu shot.
- We have been assured that her infrequent stooling is completely normal for a breastfed baby and she is definitely growing well.
- We will not schedule visits for 10 am again since it is before her current "wake up" time and she was very sleepy in the doctor's office.
Overall, we are reassured that Celia is growing well and developing well. Here is a quick update on her feeding. Celia has been breastfeeding less and less, now more for comfort than for nutrients. I offer all day, but she usually refuses. I have hope that she may decide to breastfeed more often again, but we've come to accept that our baby gets most of her nutrients from pumped milk. So far, I've been able to maintain my supply and I plan to do so until Celia no longer needs to nurse at all. I have visions of her choosing to nurse sometimes as an older baby and establishing a routine of nursing at bedtime at least. The most success we have with breastfeeding now is at middle of the night wakings and at naptime - all while lying in bed. If I can catch her as she's waking she'll usually nurse for at least a few minutes. While this is not what I had hoped for, we have learned a lot and hope to breastfeed more successfully if we are ever blessed with more children. We are proud that we were able to teach her to breastfeed and every day we can continue to give her breastmilk instead of formula is a small victory.
I was surprised that the information included in the after-visit summary they gave us after her check-up said that she should be eating 6-7 ounces every 4-5 hours. This implies that she should be eating 30-42 ounces a day. We feed on demand and always have milk available to her, and she eats around 25 ounces a day - sometimes less! Obviously she is growing well, so she's getting more than enough calories to thrive. I am inclined to think that some babies might eat more because they eat so much faster with bottles than with breastfeeding and still need to suck (aka the pacifier) so that parents who bottle feed tend to regulate how much the child gets instead of the child regulating the intake. I may be way off-base since I haven't studied any research, but it seems to me that we don't have a really accurate idea of how much a breastfed baby eats (I've heard up to 30 ounces at 6 months, but I don't know). The bottles we use do require suction and compression and require her to suck more than a normal bottle to eat. I wonder if the increased sucking means she's eating more slowly (we know it can take her 15-20 minutes to eat a bottle) than if we used another bottle so she is regulating her calorie intake more closely to the way a baby does when they eat exclusively from the breast. She also usually gets milk pumped within a few days unless we're freshening our frozen supply. I've also heard that the composition of breastmilk changes as the child ages, so it may be that the calorie content of milk changes to meet the needs of the baby. Also, breastmilk is metabolized better than formula, so I wonder if the baby just gets better at metabolizing the nutrients and doesn't need as increased an amount of milk to meet her needs. These are just my thoughts since Celia eats far less than what they are telling us she should and is definitely not having any problems with growth or development. An interesting discussion. Any thoughts?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Back on Track
After our visit with the LC, we're back on track with breastfeeding. The latch is going better, but we've still got to be diligent about it. It will be a long couple of weeks while we get the hang of it, but improving all the time. Our LC also gave the red light to introduce a bottle, since we'll have to do that while I work. We haven't done it yet, but we're doing reading about the best way to go about it.
Cecilia is being more interactive everyday. She's growing more alert and looking around. Her personality is also becoming more apparent. She doesn't like to be alone. Instead, she wants to cuddle and be held. She sleeps in bed with us at night and we hold her or lay with her most of the day. So far, she doesn't like the ring sling. I'm working on that, because wearing her would allow us to do more while she's snuggling with us. She also LOVES kisses and smiles after being kissed. She plays a game with us. While we're burping her, she tosses her head towards our head and we kiss her cheek. At first I thought is was an accident, but she keeps doing it and seems to have sufficient control to do it on purpose. She usually smiles during the game, too. She loves to be rocked and will fall asleep to the lullaby "Guten Nacht" (sorry, I can't spell in German). She's a good baby and we're having so much fun learning about her!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Softball game and new breastfeeding problems
Today was a blow for breastfeeding. I developed sore nipples which is a clear indication that we're not latching correctly. We e-mailed our LC and have an appointment for Wednesday so we decided to finger feed for the rest of the day to let my nipples have a rest before they get really bad. Hopefully we can correct the latch problems and get back on track. It's hard to think that we've come this far and may not make it.
We also took an outing to Ben's softball game. It seems that everytime we take Cecilia, it rains and gets cold. The sprinkles were light enough that Cecilia was able to enjoy the game while sleeping in her stroller. Ben played a great game, getting a hit every time at bat and making to big plays at third. The team lost the game, though, 9-4. In Hannah's opinion, the umps were calling a biased game, but what can you do about it? The team played great defense after the first inning, but the bats never got hot. Cecilia and I cheered on Daddy, though!
We also took an outing to Ben's softball game. It seems that everytime we take Cecilia, it rains and gets cold. The sprinkles were light enough that Cecilia was able to enjoy the game while sleeping in her stroller. Ben played a great game, getting a hit every time at bat and making to big plays at third. The team lost the game, though, 9-4. In Hannah's opinion, the umps were calling a biased game, but what can you do about it? The team played great defense after the first inning, but the bats never got hot. Cecilia and I cheered on Daddy, though!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Totally Breastfed
Well, it's been 3 long weeks, but it looks as though we are done with the nipple shield and breastfeeding normally! We had an appointment with the lactation consultant (LC) this morning, and Cecilia had a whole feeding on the breast with no shield or other help. She's not an expert, but things are better. She only gained 3 ounces this past week on the nipple shield, so we have some techniques to help her eat better. Part of it is that she falls asleep right away and pacifies without getting a good feeding. So, we are going to have to stimulate her and be assertive about feedings until she starts getting good feedings. Right now she's developing the habit of pacifying on the breast from the end of one feeding until the beginning of the next. This is draining on mom and interfering with her finishing a feeding, rather "snacking all day". Our LC feels that it might interfere with my milk production and prevent her from getting a good feeding. So, we're going to make her stay awake until she's done and then take her off the breast. The good news is that she doesn't mind coming off the breast when she's full, she just won't volunteer to do it.
We've been really worried about her intake the past couple of days because she stopped stooling. Her stools went down until there were none yesterday and only a small one this morning. Well, at the LC's office this morning she let it all out. We were discussing her stools and she let a huge load out. We were laughing about how she'd stored it all up, Ben cleaned her up and got a new diaper on her, and not more than 5 minutes later she let out an even bigger load! She definitely got rid of a couple of days worth of stools. It's amazing that such a little person can hold so much! It was funny that as soon as she did it, everyone (Ben, me, and the LC) had to look to check out the quality and quantity. It's also amazing that being a new parent makes you obsess about urination and bowel movements!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Day 2 of Breastfeeding only!
So, we are still breastfeeding only, and Cecilia is refusing to finger-feed! We breastfed last night, and it seemed to go well. She went to bed at 10:30 and then woke at 3am. She fed for an hour and slept until 6 am. This is good and normal, but at the 6am this morning she decided that she wanted to nurse for a few hours. Around 8, I gave a slightly dozing baby to Ben with instructions to finger feed so I could sleep before he went to work. Not too much later, she was hungry but only took an ounce from Ben and wanted the breast! It looks like she prefers breastfeeding, so babysitters may have some trouble with her. It's a good sign for the future, though.
We are still using the nipple shield, but I'm working on getting her to latch without it for part of a feeding. So far, this has had limited success. She still doesn't like to keep her mouth open wide unless something, aka a nipple shield, is making her. It's only her second day breastfeeding, though, so hopefully it won't take her too long. In the meantime, I'm still supposed to pump after feedings. I try to do this, but she likes to nurse for a long time most of the time and I don't have the opportunity to pump. My supply still seems ample, so lets hope everything remains good. The next step - get her off the nipple shield and on to the breast alone!
We are still using the nipple shield, but I'm working on getting her to latch without it for part of a feeding. So far, this has had limited success. She still doesn't like to keep her mouth open wide unless something, aka a nipple shield, is making her. It's only her second day breastfeeding, though, so hopefully it won't take her too long. In the meantime, I'm still supposed to pump after feedings. I try to do this, but she likes to nurse for a long time most of the time and I don't have the opportunity to pump. My supply still seems ample, so lets hope everything remains good. The next step - get her off the nipple shield and on to the breast alone!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Cecilia Breastfed Today!
Cecilia breastfed today! We had an appointment with our lactation consultant today and found a way to successfully use a nipple shield. Cecilia got 2.4 ounces during feeding at the clinic. We're going to try and go with just breastfeeding and no supplementing for the next few days. It's a little scary since we won't know for sure how much she's getting now, but exciting too. We haven't done a feeding at home yet, but things are definitely looking up!
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