Weaning

Since I’ve been so tired there has been a lot that has happened in the last few months that I have neglected to blog about. So I’m going to try to catch up a little. One big thing that happened is that I weaned John Patrick.

Since every baby and every mom are different, Mary Kate thought it would be a good idea to share my experience in case it helps anyone else out there in the blogosphere. Great idea!

A little background: Since John Patrick was a preemie, he was introduced to the bottle before the breast. It took him two months to get the hang of breastfeeding – remember that? So I did a lot of pumping at first. But once he finally clicked with breastfeeding, it was all downhill – for awhile.

Introducing formula: At three months I decided to slowly introduce formula. I knew that I would be going back to work in another four weeks and I wanted him to get used to eating formula with me, in case he had any kind of bad reaction to it. I knew that he would probably have to take some formula at his nursery. He clicked with it really easily. It almost seemed as if he didn’t even notice a difference. (I decided not to take that personally.)

Going back to work: Now I should preface this by saying that going back to work was EXTREMELY difficult for me. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t want to leave him (although that was a part of it). But it was mostly because my boss decided to punish me for a couple of months for having a baby and my work environment was unbearably stressful. This was the point in the last 8 months that I almost had a nervous breakdown. I felt like I couldn’t do anything right, in any part of my life. It was really horrible.

Through all this stress my milk supply consistently decreased everyday. No matter what I did (pumped more, drank special teas, breastfed more at home) it didn’t matter. First I went down to 50% breast milk and 50% formula at his nursery. Then it went down to only one bottle a day. I felt guilty because at this point John Patrick was only 5 months old. I had it in my mind that I would definitely breastfeed for a full 6 months.

Then I finally realized that the stress of breastfeeding was also making me crazy. I was literally trying to be EVERYTHING to EVERYBODY (nurturer / nourisher to my son, the model employee for my boss, organizer / household manager for my husband). I finally just snapped. And I realized that I just couldn’t do it all.

Just letting go: Once I decided that it was ok for John Patrick to take formula and that I had done the best I could (I did last 5 months with a preemie who originally had no intention of ever breastfeeding), things just happened naturally. My body produced less and less everyday. John Patrick became less and less interested in breastfeeding. Till finally the only nursing I was doing was before bedtime. I don’t even remember the last time I nursed him but at some point he stopped wanting to be nursed then too. And my body stopped producing about the same time.

For me, I didn’t have hormonal issues or engorgement. My issues were more psychological. But as I soon as I stopped putting so much pressure on myself, it just happened naturally. And he’s a big chunky healthy boy so I’m over feeling “guilty”.

Everyone experiences something different when weaning (if you decided to breastfeed). I guess my only advice is don’t be your own worst enemy. It’ll happen when it’s supposed to happen.

Good Luck!

Jen

I’m So Tired

Warning – Whinny Post Alert!!!!

I’m so tired.  And I’m tired of saying, “I’m so tired”.  And my husband and friends are tired of hearing “I’m so tired”.  But I’m so tired.

I just can’t seem to recover.  I have been exhausted since my second trimester.  So basically, I have been exhausted for a year now.  No one tells you that.  And it’s not that I don’t ever sleep.  I sleep.  But not the same quality of sleep I had before.  I don’t think I’ve just woken up on my own since I gave birth.  There is always something or someone waking me up.  Admittedly that the “someone” is the most adorable human being ever – but nonetheless, waking up to his screams is quite a jarring experience.

The other day I was complaining explaining to someone that I feel like I work two full time jobs.  I work all day and then come home and try to be a good mom.  Then I physically drop at 9:30.  Most nights I don’t even have enough energy to read a couple of pages of a great book I’m trying to read.  This morning I noticed that my eyebrows are out of control.  I just haven’t had time to pluck.  My house is a mess and dirty.  I haven’t updated John Patrick’s album since he was three months old.  And I’m sure most of my friends think I’m a big selfish hermit because I never call anyone anymore.

Did I mention that I’m so tired?  Ok, and admittedly, feeling sorry for myself.  Believe me, I KNOW that I’m not the only working and tired mom out there.  But how do you all do it?  And am I ever going to feel rested again?  Sometimes I just daydream about checking into a fancy hotel, drawing the curtains shut, turning the air conditioner down really low, and sleeping for a good 14 hours.  In this dream, I wake up on my own because I have had enough sleep and it’s a slow process, not a jumping out of bed and running to get a bottle process.  But then I realize that even one night away from my pumpkin would make me miserable because I would miss him so much.  So I guess it just leaves me with…

I’m so tired.

Jen

Walk of Shame – Cheap Diapers

I’ll admit it – we’re drowning in baby expenses – food, diapers, wipes, swimming lessons and daycare. Add to that New York City rent, working at a nonprofit and well, you can do the math. It’s tight. So last week when I went to buy diapers – again – I got cheap. There were Duane Reade generic diapers on sale for $5.99. So I bought them.

You can guess what happened… That night I woke up to the cries of a very uncomfortable baby. He had soaked through his pajamas and bed sheet. Here’s where the really shameful part comes. After this mishap, you would think that I learned my lesson and got him better diapers. Nope, I couldn’t make myself waste the $6 so I sent them all to daycare for them to use on him there.

The very next day when I went to pick him up he was in a different outfit. His teacher informed me that he had soaked through his clothes and sheets during nap time. I acted shocked by this turn of events (even though I knew full well that would happen).

Finally, I went to buy the Huggies diapers and threw out the Duane Reade generics, but I did hang my head in shame the whole walk to CVS.

Jen

Swimming Lessons

Saturday John Patrick had his first swimming lesson. He really enjoyed it. It was his first time in a pool and he took to it like a fish in water (so to speak). Well, he didn’t cry anyway.

I was really nervous about my 6 1/2 month baby having swimming lessons but it’s been really great. It was really all about getting him used to the water in a fun way. Now I feel like we can go to the public pool across the street and wade around in the kiddie pool. He’s had the proper introduction. (Kudos to Jim for signing him up and ignoring my reservations.)

It was interesting because I saw a couple of five year olds having swimming lessons as well and they were hysterically crying and afraid of the water. I’m hoping that getting John Patrick in the water at such a young age means that he won’t be afraid of the water later. If nothing else, it was fun.

Here’s John and Dad on their first swim together: (I know, I know, he’s the spitting image of Jim.)

Jen

It has arrived…… the first tooth!

Since John Patrick started solids almost a month ago, I’ve been so focused on his eating that it was his daycare teacher who first noticed that he had cut a tooth. To make a long story short, here are all the symptoms I thought were caused by “carrots” but were indeed symptoms of teething: (don’t ask me why I thought it was carrots)

• diarrhea
• lots and lots and lots of pooping
• fussiness
• getting up multiple times in the night
• diaper rash

Reason #56 why daycare has been a positive for my family. They actually know what they are doing!

Jen

Totspot – The Place to Be

Check out: www.totspot.com.

Jim (my hubby) found this amazing site and I am totally addicted. It’s an easy way to set up a website for your little ones that tracks everything going on in their lives. This is great for us because basically our entire family lives in Florida or places other than New York. Before finding this site we uploaded pictures on picasa and videos on YouTube and emailed updates to family, but everything seemed so disconnected.

Totspot has it all. You can keep up with your kiddo’s firsts, growth charts and write journal entries telling everyone about all the “cute little moments” family and friends far away are missing. You can also upload pictures and videos. After you get your page up and running, you just send an invite to friends and family and they can view your child’s page and keep updated. They can even leave comments for your little one. I’ve only been using this for a few days but already I feel so much more connected to our friends and family that are all over the place. It’s a one stop shopping type of place. People can stop in and find out everything that’s going on with John Patrick. My sister-in-law loved it so much that she set up pages for her boys too so now John Patrick has “friends” that he shares pictures with.

And as Jim put it: “Now I don’t have to feel all this pressure to create a really amazing website for John Patrick”. This is just a really fun and easy way to keep track of everything going on with your kids and keep everyone connected.

Do I sound like I work there or something? I wish! ha ha

Jen

Overwhelmed by Solid Food

John Patrick is now 6 months old and so……..

Here comes the exciting new world of solid foods. Yay! So what do I do? I’ve talked to my pediatrician, googled it and still I’m totally confused. I get that I should introduce one food every 4 or 5 days in order to check for food allergies. I also get that I should introduce green foods first to encourage him to eat his veggies (I’ve already broken this rule). But here are all my other questions about the stuff I don’t get:

1.) How much do I feed him a day? Keep in mind that he’ll eat until he explodes if I let him.

2.) Does this mean I don’t give him as much milk per day?

3.) Once he can have more than one food, do I give them to him in meal format? (For example, for dinner tonight you’re having green beans and bananas?)

4.) My pediatrician suggested that I start giving him water in a sippy cup. After I picked my jaw up off the floor I wondered… how many times a day? When is he supposed to have water? Cold water?

5.) Does this mean I should be taking solid food to his daycare now too? I usually take 4 eight ounce bottles of milk per day. Does this mean that I don’t take as much milk or the milk quantity stays the same?

6.) What are some good containers for all this food if I need to take it to daycare?

7.) He’s had rice cereal, what other cereal should he try next? When is he technically a “stage 2” eater?

Obviously, I’m solid food challenged. I feel like an idiot but for some reason I just can’t wrap my mind around how this works. HEEELLLLLPPPPPP.

drowning in tiny jars of mushed pears,

Jen

Happy Six Month Birthday!

John Patrick is six months old today. I can’t believe it’s already been six months since he was born! On the other hand, I can’t even remember what my life was like without him. When I try to remember, it seems like a lifetime ago.

Here are my favorite things he’s doing now:

• He had his first taste of banana baby food tonight – he’s quite an eater.
• He attacks my face and tries to suck on my chin.
• He stands up in his exersaucer and plays with toys.
• He plays with his hands and reaches for everything.
• He yells when he’s mad – I mean really YELLS. Sometimes it seems as though he’s cussing us out.
• He plays in the bath.
• He smiles and looks for us when he hears our voices.
• He looks at books as if he’s reading them whenever I read aloud to him.
• He watches Sesame Street.

Who knew six months ago that the little 5 pound preemie would be doing such cool things in only six months. Well, at least I think they’re cool. 🙂

Happy Six Month Birthday Mi Amore.

Jen

Where Have I Been?

How long has it been since I wrote a post? A loooonnnnng time! And honestly, that really sums up my life right now. I still try to login to my Google Reader periodically and I just have the utmost respect for you wonder woman mothers out there that are able to balance work, motherhood, matrimony and blogging. I’m truly jealous of your energy and multitasking skills that surpass my level of comprehension. I, on the other hand, am having a very difficult time just simply keeping up with my everyday life. So my first post in a loooooonnnggg time is going to be a list of all the things that have dropped out of my life that I miss.

1.) Catching up with friends – One of my dearest friends and greatest sources of motherhood advice lives in North Carolina and I don’t call her half as much as I’d like. Not to mention my friends right here in the city that I can’t seem to get together with.

2.) Thank you cards – John Patrick’s baptism was about 3 weeks ago and still on my list of things to do is to write about 12 thank you cards. And I used to pride myself on getting these out within a week of a gift or event.

3.) There’s something growing in the tub – to say my apartment is disgusting right now is the understatement of the century. I’ll just leave it at that.

4.) John Patrick’s baby book – this stresses me out more than anything else. Sometimes I want him to stop growing just so I can catch up with recording it. What kind of mother does it make me?

5.) Send pictures to my Meema – thank God for email and online photo albums but since Meema isn’t really a computer whiz, I really need to mail her some pictures.

6.) I need a haircut bad. I don’t think I need to explain that one.

7.) I need clothes that fit. I’m too tired to shop.

8.) I’d like to plan a fun family trip for my husbands birthday.

9.) I need to finish decorating John Patrick’s nursery.

10.) I’d like to blog more…..

Hey, at least I’ve gotten one post down. How do you all do it?

Jen

Cool Translation Site!

Are you struggling to communicate with someone in an unfamiliar language? Well, I do and I have a really great computer translation site that I use that you might find helpful, Babel Fish Translation*. It has definitely made communicating with my mother-in-law a whole lot easier.

I may have mentioned once (or twice) that my mother-in-law watches Becca when I am working and that she only speaks a little bit of English. This wouldn’t be such a big deal except that I don’t speak a lot of Spanish. Over the years, I have managed to pick up some rudimentary Spanish (Cuanto tiempo Becca durmió? – How long did Becca sleep?) and situational Spanish (Cómo usted dice esto? – How do you say this?- pointing to an object) In general, this has worked out pretty well for us. But every once in a while, we run into a situation that requires a more sophisticated vocabulary and I have found that the Babel Fish site allows me to do that (it offers 36 different language translation options).

While I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the translations, I do know that they have definitely helped my MIL and I through some very sticky situations. I will type in the 2-3 (or 6-7) sentences and then read it to my MIL. Sometimes it is necessary for me to repeat what I have said (my pronunciation is horrendous) and a few times it has been necessary for my MIL to read the actual screen. But in every case, it has helped us to talk about our feelings and Becca in a way that we couldn’t do without the site.
What tips/tricks do you have for translating between languages (or dealing with your MIL ;))? I would love to hear them!

Hasta luego,

Mary Kate

*like all of my reviews (so far 😉 ), I was not solicited to review this site and did not receive any compensation (in any form) to review it. It has been a lifesaver for me and I thought other people could benefit from it as well.