Students in an advanced biology class were taking their mid-term test. The last question was, ''Name seven advantages of Mother's Milk,'' worth 70 points or none at all. One student was hard put to think of all seven in the textbook . He had written:
1. It's the perfect formula for the child.
2. It provides immunity against several diseases.
3. It's always the right temperature.
4. It's inexpensive.
5. It bonds the child to mother, and vice verse.
6. It's always available as needed.
Then the student was stuck ; he could not think of the 7th advantage. In desperation, just before the bell rang ending the test, he wrote...
7. It comes in two attractive reusable containers.
He got an A+
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
November 26th, 2011 - Over-supply to Under-supply
6 months ago, I felt like I had an endless supply of milk. My over-supply was honestly the hardest thing I had to deal with being a new mom. And boy did I take it for granted. If I had known that by going back to work and pumping 3 times a day, that my supply would slowly diminish, I would have pumped and saved a TON more.
When I first started back at work, just over 3 months ago, I wouldn't leave the office with less than 15 ounces. Now, I am lucky to leave with 12 ounces. Plus, now that Mason is older and is eating oatmeal in the morning, I need 16 ounces everyday to keep up with his bottle needs and have the extra ounce for the oatmeal. I am down to 3 frozen bottles for emergency. I recently started taking Fenugreek, an herbal supplement known to increase milk supply. I am hoping it will start really working soon. I've read it can take up to two weeks to kick in. I am not opposed to supplementing with formula but I really want to continue nursing, so why add in extra work? I already have to deal with pumping, washing pump parts, and bottles. Why add formula, formula dispensers and bottled water to my diaper bag? I'm thinking it's going to be the all or nothing kind of deal, for my sanity, at least.
However, I now have a new challenge. Teeth. Mason now has two lower teeth. Since he regularly takes a bottle and a paci, he is used to biting at the nipples as part of relieving his teething discomfort. But now I face the issue of him not discerning the bottle and paci nipple from my nipple. He's been biting a lot lately and it really hurts. I've let out some pretty loud screams from the shock of his bites. He will then pull off, look up at me and laugh. Sometimes I give him a stern NO and still he laughs. It's going to be a slow process to teach a 7 1/2 month old not to bite. It's going to take a lot of NO's, taking the boob away and waiting and maybe taking it away entirely. Last night it was so bad that I had to take an all day break today from nursing so I can heal. I am literally swollen and in a lot of pain. Again I don't want to give up but exclusively pumping will only diminish my supply further unless I pump every 2 hours and I'm not sure I can mentally and physically do it right now.
Carter and I have talked and we are both okay if we have to switch to formula. I was really hoping to make it all the way until regular milk was acceptable, but now I'm thinking my plans may have to change. Any tips from moms out there are greatly appreciated. Hopefully I will be healed enough in the morning to nurse. There is nothing worse than having to fix a bottle at 5 AM. The best benefit to nursing is the ability to bring your baby to bed with you, nurse and you both fall back asleep in the wee hours of the morning. That is the ultimate snuggle time.
When I first started back at work, just over 3 months ago, I wouldn't leave the office with less than 15 ounces. Now, I am lucky to leave with 12 ounces. Plus, now that Mason is older and is eating oatmeal in the morning, I need 16 ounces everyday to keep up with his bottle needs and have the extra ounce for the oatmeal. I am down to 3 frozen bottles for emergency. I recently started taking Fenugreek, an herbal supplement known to increase milk supply. I am hoping it will start really working soon. I've read it can take up to two weeks to kick in. I am not opposed to supplementing with formula but I really want to continue nursing, so why add in extra work? I already have to deal with pumping, washing pump parts, and bottles. Why add formula, formula dispensers and bottled water to my diaper bag? I'm thinking it's going to be the all or nothing kind of deal, for my sanity, at least.
However, I now have a new challenge. Teeth. Mason now has two lower teeth. Since he regularly takes a bottle and a paci, he is used to biting at the nipples as part of relieving his teething discomfort. But now I face the issue of him not discerning the bottle and paci nipple from my nipple. He's been biting a lot lately and it really hurts. I've let out some pretty loud screams from the shock of his bites. He will then pull off, look up at me and laugh. Sometimes I give him a stern NO and still he laughs. It's going to be a slow process to teach a 7 1/2 month old not to bite. It's going to take a lot of NO's, taking the boob away and waiting and maybe taking it away entirely. Last night it was so bad that I had to take an all day break today from nursing so I can heal. I am literally swollen and in a lot of pain. Again I don't want to give up but exclusively pumping will only diminish my supply further unless I pump every 2 hours and I'm not sure I can mentally and physically do it right now.
Carter and I have talked and we are both okay if we have to switch to formula. I was really hoping to make it all the way until regular milk was acceptable, but now I'm thinking my plans may have to change. Any tips from moms out there are greatly appreciated. Hopefully I will be healed enough in the morning to nurse. There is nothing worse than having to fix a bottle at 5 AM. The best benefit to nursing is the ability to bring your baby to bed with you, nurse and you both fall back asleep in the wee hours of the morning. That is the ultimate snuggle time.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
November 9th, 2011
Do you still get to claim mommy brain when your child is 7 months old? I must admit, I’ve had a pretty hard time adjusting to day light savings time fall back. Last night, I went to bed at 8:00 because I was just so exhausted and needed the sleep. At 2:00, I woke up feeling pretty rested thinking it was 5:00. So I went down stairs, let Rocky out and went ahead and got Mason’s bottles ready for the day. Afterwards, I went back to sleep. Mason later wakes up at 4:40, so I nurse him and put him back in his crib. Normally, I would jump back in bed and sleep until around 5:30 and then rush to get ready, but since I was very rested, I went ahead and got ready myself. To my surprise, I got ready pretty quickly and at 5:30, I was pretty much done. So I go ahead and get dressed and right before I walk out of my closet, I take one last look in the mirror and see that I have no makeup on. I literally was about to head to work with no makeup. Then I think, well no wonder why I have all this extra time?!. So I finish getting ready, head down stairs, clean up a bit and head out the door. About half way to Nashville, I think I better call Carter to see how Mason was doing, because he had a little cough this morning. I grab my purse and pull everything out trying to find my phone to no avail. After I accept the fact that I must have left it at home, I realize that my phone is plugged into the AUX input and I’ve been listening to music from my iPod. Seriously, has all this sleep made me looney? I think my body has just adjusted to only 5-6 hours of sleep and doesn’t know what to do with all this misplaced energy.
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