The Sippie Cup War........Part Deux!

The battle is finally over!  A winner has emerged and the bottle is gone!  Hooray Hurrah!!  Yes, what our wonderful children do not know is that parents are in it for the long haul.  Our commitment and dedication to getting our little one off the bottle paid off.  It seemed as if it would never happen.  He loved his bottle, and truthfully, I loved to watch him drink from the bottle.  He had this methodical, mechanical suckling that was so adorable and soothing to him, but as we all know he does not need to be on the bottle any longer.  I have to attribute it to waiting.  Everyone pushes for 12 months and makes a new mom feel pressure to reach these target dates.  As I mentioned before, I talked to veteran moms that said just wait until they are ready or that their children were not off bottle until like 18 months.  So I can say at 16 months, my son kicked the bottle.  I think what helped was that we decided to not push it until he really got familiar and comfortable with his sippie.  We probably started water out of a sippie at 12 months.  Now, don't get me wrong, we did initially try to rush the bottle and that totally back fired.  When 15 months came around we reintroduced the sippie with milk in mornings only.  He would have it as soon as he woke up when he was thirsty and desperate.  That seemed to be natural for him and hey, don't judge we had to take advantage.  After a few weeks of that we brought the sippie for his bed time bottle (bottle right before bed) and while fussing he devoured every last drop.  The second  night was a cake walk and out went the bottle.  Next is cold milk...we are almost there!!!

The Window

So I am putting on my son's jammies this evening which consisted of a onsie and pj shorts.  As usual, we start on his back putting on his night time diapers (which are a Godsend...no more waking up soaked in pee pee), then we finish up with him standing on his changing table and me pulling up the shorts.  Once I put him back on the ground I realized the two side-shoulder buttons on the onsie needed to be buttoned.  He was eyeing his books on his book shelf deciding which ones to knock down so he can choose one to "read".  I went to button the onsie and I got a little sloppy and was struggling.  I started to panic and shake a little because he was approaching that moment where he would start fussing if I took any longer and finally I got them buttoned.  When I finished, all I could do is laugh that I was in such a panic to finish.  My heart was actually racing and that, my friends I dubbed "The Window".  Occasionally Boogie will give us a still moment where we can clip his nails, fix his clothes, wipe his face and if we do not finish in time he will scream or run and anything to avert the situation.  I realized that this has done two things, it has caused me to panic if for some reason my hand is too shaky or if I slip.   The other thing, is that is has made me a speed demon at some things like changing his diaper since he gives me like 10 seconds before he tries to roll over and stand up naked.  I tell you, I have to wonder who is really running the show.

The Sippie Cup War........Part Un

My son transitioned to cow's milk so smoothly.  Actually it was a little too smooth.  I mean I expected there to be some major telenovela dramatics when he discovered his milk was no longer coming from mommy.  I was a little sad to see that he didn't skip a beat.  The truth is, I was the one that needed to be weened.  It made me feel so crucial to his life when I was breastfeeding.  Then he started eating more solids so we reduce the amount of milk and we decided to implement water with a sippie.  There was a lot of spilling and choking in the beginning which gave me constant heart attacks. After a couple of months or so, he mastered the sippie....with water.  Around 13 months, we decided we wanted to try to get him off the bottles.  Everything we were reading said "Get Them Off The Bottle" with such urgency as if it's a critical situation (Let me point out, we never found a concrete explanation for the urgency).  We figured this would be a piece of cake since everything else went so smoothly.  Besides, he was starting to drink water so well from the sippie....WRONG!!!  Apparently these little ones know their liquids and have developed an affinity for how they drink their milk.  For example, I have to have my hot liquids extremely hot.  My husband likes his coffee black.  I like to eat ice cream out of a cup and apparently my son will only take milk from a bottle.  The first time we tried it we held the cup to his mouth and he took some and spilled most.  He wasn't really interested so we would pour it back in the bottle and he would have his way.  My husband is in a daddy group so one of the dad's told my husband his ped said it was imperative that they get their son off the sippie.  The ped further explained to just take the bottle away cold turkey and that the baby would fuss for like the first four days and then be over it.  Of course my husband translated that as, let's do that for our son.  He put up a fuss at the morning milk, but he drank some (approximately 2 oz.).  The afternoon milk went the same, but we noticed he was fussy all day.  At night, we have a pretty set and extremely consistent schedule that he knows to the "T".   The key part is that I put the bottle on our night stand and we put him in our bed to have a relaxing bed time drink.  Well instead of a bottle we had the sippie cup and I carried him in the room to protocol and he took one look at the sippie and lost his marbles.  He screamed bloody murder and in fear of not getting him to sleep, I caved and gave him a bottle.  Of course, we did not initially give up and decided it was the sippie.  Approximately 3 cup types later, we ultimately decided that my husband and I would revisit the sippie cup later down the road.  I talked to vet

Food For Them

It is a constant challenge trying to find things to feed my little one.  Combine the fact that he is limited in what he is able to chew with trying to maintain a healthy diet and you have a recipe for disaster.  In the beginning there was breastmilk and there is just no easier way to feed a baby.  Then there is the rice cereal, of course I started off early with the health food kick so I chose brown rice cereal.  He took it really well.  Next is the Stage 1 Gerber (or equivalent) baby food.  Let me just say the best thing I read was to start the babies on vegetables first before fruit.  We took that to the core and only gave him veggies for like a month or more.  He now eats all of his veggies, except green beans.  He eats peas, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash.  Once he was initially good with veggies and after we covered a wide range, we added fruit very slowly.

Oh, side note, we didn't start solids until 6 months.  The AAP recommends starting at 4 to 6 months.  Once our son turned 4 months I could not wait to feed him solids, because according to the old school and experienced moms, "he was going to sleep much longer".  I wanted to check with the doctor first so at his visit we discussed it with her and she suggested we wait until 6 months.  She had explained that since he was gaining weight so well with my breastmilk, we should wait.  Apparently their immature digestive system increases the risk of allergies.  I will not get too technical here although I'd love to do that, but that is the jist.  I went home disappointed and thankful all at once.  So two months later, yay, we started on rice cereal.  Let me be the first to tell you feeding him solids did not help him sleep any longer.  Also, those same moms were talking about putting the rice cereal in a bottle and letting them go to sleep.  It was plastered all over our paper work FEED CEREAL WITH A SPOON, NOT IN THE BOTTLE!  It is a choking hazard.  Man, people did some crazy things back in the day.  The funny thing is that I heard from moms later that their baby was on formula and solids and it didn't help them sleep better so I was relieved.  Also side note, anything you read about feeding times when they are only on milk usually only apply to formula fed babies.  That is something I really wish I knew earlier.

O.k. so Stage 2, I decided to start making some homemade baby food.  It is a daunting task, but so worth it knowing what is going into their bodies.  The easiest foods were sweet potaotes, carrots, squash, and peas.  I would roast them with no additives and blend them in a food processor.  It is amazing to find how much natural flavor is present in these vegetables.  I will say, however, adding cinnamon to squash and sweet potatoes will have them going bonkers for it.  Well at least that how it is for my son.  I didn't stop there though, I would start putting full dishes we made into the food processor.  Not everything works for them, but most do.

Now on to finger foods.  My son took a while to get his first tooth and then the subsequent other teeth.  I was dismayed as I was so excited to get him to finger foods.  Then I researched I realized something that made me laugh.  As adults, we actually use our molars to do the real grinding and babies don't get those forever.  Turns out the gums are hard and strong enough to chomp certain foods.  Everything just has to be over cooked and/or soft.  The can have teething crackers, bread, soft fruit, etc.  With only four teeth my son is eating beef and broccoli, lasagne, chicken dishes, peas, chopped fruit (no citrus until later), real brown rice, pasta, and more.  Turns out he is like mama and loves flavor.  I have a couple of recipes on the blog and I will add more, but here are suggestions

Breakfast
Healthy Pancakes (recipes will be posted later) - use baby food for sauce no syrup
Whole Wheat English muffin with cream cheese and babyfood fruit
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Cut up Turkey Sausage
Baby Oatmeal Cereal (they could still use the iron)
Whole Wheat Waffles (recipe on the blog site)

Lunch
Sunflower Seed Butter Sandwich (thin layer only)
Steamed Sweet Potatoes (Trader Joe's has fresh ones cut up like fries)
Steamed Carrots
Peas (smash first in the beginning stages of eating finger foods)
Whole wheat pasta with ground turkey and marinara sauce (see picture, only 20mg sodium per serving)*
*It's easier to chop the pasta into pieces right after cooking before adding anything
Anything you made for yourself, but chopped up

Dinner

Choose a brand that is right for you (Plum is most expensive)

Same as lunch

Snacks**
Puffs,
Cheerios
Fruit
Squeeze Pack are good for on the go (see pic) - they are just baby food in a squeeze pack
Cheese Chopped into small cubes (Colby Jack is awesome and it is a recommend first cheese)


**I am working on some new ideas

His Favorite Fruits
Mango
Peaches
Cantaloupe
Honey Dew Melon
Bananas

Some notes, I got a tip online to roll slippery fruit in flaxseed or crushed cheerios.  I also spoon feed anything that is not a solid piece of food so I always combine a spoon fed item with a finger food.  They tend to prefer feeding themselves, I think.

Write Out A Plan and Then Throw It Away!

Write Out The Plan and Then Throw It Away

I know my son is almost 15 months old now, but I was just watching “Tia & Tamara” and Tia was crying and complaining that the books tell you everything except what happens when things don’t go the normal way.  Well the funny thing is not going the normal way is the normal way.  I am just not sure why it isn’t talked about as much so I will share.

I remember looking around in my Lamaze class and being the only pregnant woman in the area designated “Absolutely No Epidural”.  My Lamaze instructor had pointed out 3 or 4 sections in the room each based on your level of decision making to have an epidural.  The majority of the group was split between “I am flexible” and “I want to start without having an epidural, but if I really need it I will take it”.  I was beyond committed to that choice.  My mother didn’t have an epidural with two deliveries and my mother stopped her sister from getting an epidural at one of her deliveries.  Needless to say, she was not invited to the next birth.

My husband and I had it all planned out.  We were so excited about how to relax me so I can go au natural.  The facility where we would be giving birth had DVD players.  Our Lamaze instructor was pro epidural free so she gave a lot of methods to relax.  We had breathing; we were going to use an exercise ball which I happened to already have in my possession (it wasn’t being used for anything else).  I figured my water was going to break late at night and I would say “Honey, wake up, it’s time”.  I planned to have my bags packed weeks before my due date, we would bring my relaxation CDs, comedy DVD’s so I can laugh, and anything else that would make me feel great.

My baby shower was June 26^th.  My mom wanted it later, but I was like oh you know we shouldn’t have it so late.  My due date was August 1^st.  We had just moved into our first home June 21^st and I was going to begin my maternity leave a week after my shower.  I had PLANNED on working until 2 weeks before, but I just got really tired and he was really pushing on my pelvis.  My shower was wonderful, my mom and best friend, aka sister, did a great job.  We had so much stuff, it was insane.  Everything filled my son’s nursery.  I was so excited, I was going to nest and put everything away perfectly and we were going to set up his crib which was in a box in the garage…

That Monday (June 28^th), the last week before maternity leave, I went in to work at my usual time of 7:00am and I just didn’t feel right.  I strangely told my co-worker, “I feel so weird; I don’t think I am going to make it through the week”.  Throughout the day I began to feel gushes of fluid come out, but as I learned from a previous scare and L&D visit that it was probably just incontinence since my amniotic fluid tests came out negative.  Yet, it just seemed to be a little too much this time.  I talked to a co-worker, mother of a daughter, and fellow pregmo and she was like “uh you should go to the doctor”.  Then I called L&D and they were like, come in.  Please note, they always so come in.  It is the only time they want you to be overly cautious.  I drove myself to the hospital and on the way I called my husband at work and said “I think you should come this time”.

I went to the bathroom and collected a urine sample as instructed, stood up and watched in shock as a puddle of clear fluid gushed onto the ground.  Yep, my water broke.  The strange thing is that it took three tries to confirm amniotic fluid.  The doctor initially saw negative results and based on my bathroom fiasco took and ultrasound only to find that my fluid level was low and said I may have to stay for two weeks before they can induce since I was only 34 weeks.  She actually told us do not make plans when she attempted the test one final time, to which we ignored and began making plans. 

At approximately 5:00pm that night, I was induced (checked in at 1:00pm).  First they started with a pill, then the Pitocin.  I held my ground for 14 hours and asked, how much longer since I was only 1 cm dilated and 30% effaced, my mid-wife estimated another 10 hours.  I was hesitant, I cried, I apologized to my mom for not being strong enough and I got my epidural.  Fourteen hours later, I pushed my 5 lb. 7 oz. boy out.  The NICU team was standing by, they took him over to the bed they had set up right away, and I didn’t get to see his face.  They assessed him and did their entire preliminary test and then they took him out of the room.  Excuse me, what happened to laying him on my chest like the movie I saw in Lamaze class and watch him find my breast and latch.

I was able to see him on my way to recovery and by see him I mean look at my baby attached to tubes and face covered in mesh so the oxygen mask will not come off.  The NICU doctor was like no other doctor I had ever seen.  He talked to us like we were family and like it felt our pain, it was insane.  I was checking his credentials, this is not doctor behavior, I thought. 

Needless to say, my Boogie was in the hospital for 7 days to recover from fluid in the lungs (a result of being early).  The awesome thing is that a 5 lb 7oz baby is big for a preemie so he was a champ.  I think he might have been an 8 pounder.

Moral of the story, things rarely go according to plan.  Doctors say it is rare (I forgot the percentage) for people to deliver on their due date.  I was always warned about delivering early due to my fibroid, but I thought I was in the clear.  We should have a base for what we want and then be prepared to do whatever it takes to deliver a healthy happy baby with a healthy happy mama.  My son doubled in weight so quickly, thanks to the help of the NICU nurses (one of which was a breastfeeding Nazi) he latched like a champ and you would have never thought he started with a feeding tube and formula.  So remember, write out a plan and throw it away!

Vegas Baby! (Traveling with a Tot)

Bright lights, cling clang of slot machines, hooting and hollering of drunk people winning at the tables are all sounds that I welcome when I am in Vegas.......normally, but when I was pregnant and then when I was with child those were all danger zones.  Las Vegas was me and my husband's prime local vacation spot every September (for his birthday) and then in February, but it is just no place for a pregnant woman or children.  But after 2 years of waiting, we decided to go for my husbands 34th birthday.  How would we pull this off with a 14 month old.....we did!

The first must, was the lodging.  There was no way I was bringing my precious baby through a smoke-filled casino so we stayed off the strip.  Secondly, we need space and a refrigerator and a functioning kitchen so I can stick to feeding him his healthy food.  We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations at the Convention Center.  It was pretty nice and the room was huge.  It was only $76 per night.  Now that is of course with the amazing deals that my husband finds.  Finally, we needed a nanny and since I put my millions of dollars into my yacht and mansion, we brought grandparents.

The ride down to Vegas was spectacular.  My son actually stayed up for the whole 4.5 hour drive so thank goodness mommy was prepared.  The key was "The Toy Bag" and by the toy bag, I mean a bag in which I put several of his toys.  The trick is variety rather than quantity.  I brought different types of toys as so many children's toys are similar.  The next thing was I would only bring one out at a time so each one would distract him and catch his attention because it would be something new.  It was absolutely exhausting since I had worked that day.  As we approached Vegas I was excited because I knew he would go to sleep immediately.  We checked in and found out that their "crib" was actually a play pen.  Now some people may have expected this, but when I see the word "crib" I expect a crib.  Fortunately, my germophobia, had me prepared and I brought his crib sheet.  We also ended up putting some extra sheets in the bottom because it is not really padded.  Now fast forward to bed time.  I was so ready to get hopping to the casinos so we put him down and the screaming began.  What, you mean he didn't fall right to sleep in this new foreign place and foreign bed.  Yes, I wasn't thinking.  Well after the 30 minutes that felt like 2 hour, he went to sleep and mommy and daddy left for the casinos.

O.k., I must rewind back to the set up.  When we arrived in the room, we put the food we brought away prepped his bottle, and the most important thing, set the room up for a tot to roam around. First there's the matter of the outlets.  We brought the plug protector and thank goodness we brought the whole container because we learned, "hotels" have a massive amount of outlets.  Next, we dealt with the corners.  The coffee table was below his head so we just had to keep an eye on him, but there was the matter of the dining table.  We just set the chairs up so they blocked the corners and the other side was pushed up against the wall.  We obviously could not install the safety locks on cabinets in drawers so you just have to keep doors closed and never let them any where out of sight.  Finally, I brought disinfectant wipes to wipe off all surfaces he would touch including the bathtub.

The second day, Boogie had already acclimated to his environment.  He took his naps right on schedule and because of the previous day's events, the naps were long.  It was awesome.  Although, I was a zombie only having 3 hours of sleep (the price of fun), I went grocery shopping for fruit and his lunch and dinner.  We only went out once during the day and during his naps so the grands could have their fun.  The second day we took him to the pool which was awesome and he loved it and the Vegas sun was so merciful on us so we really were able to enjoy it.  We made it an early night to recover for the lack of sleep.

The third day, we took him the the Lied Children't Museum and he loved it.  We enjoyed ourselves as well.  They have something for all ages, even a 14 month old which is why they charge children starting at 1 year of age.  We had the grands put him to bed that night so we could get out early and have dinner before Ka.

All in all it was such a wonderful trip.  To go out and have Vegas fun and then come back to this gorgeous, precious little being.  I think you have to remember, you can drink as much or party as hard because you will have to go back to being a parent in a couple of hours.  It was totally worth it.  We plan to do it again and probably not change a thing.  Well we actually didn't have a good system to toss his poopie diapers and since we have a Diaper Jeanie, we were forgetful of the powerful stench that can come from such a cute tiny little person.  There were multiple times where I thought our suite had a sewage leakage.  We ended up sneaking and throwing them outside of the hotel, we're not that cruel.  We'll have to work on how to solve this one.

DO NOT BUY!!

Do not buy toys for your little one!  O.k., maybe that’s a little extreme but here is the reality…they like the real deal.  My son’s playroom is the kitchen.  Not a toy kitchen, but my actual kitchen.  His toy trunk is the cabinet with the plastic storage containers and lids.  The hundreds of real toys go relatively untouched throughout the day.  “Maybe, he’ll play with this toy remote we bought him so he’ll leave the real remote alone”.  Nope, he will not be duped.  I am pretty sure he said “what is this crap” when we gave him the toy remote.  He has two toy cell phones, but nothing is like mommy’s Samsung.  Fortunately most of his toys were gifts so we aren’t too bummed and truthfully, his real toys do come in handy when we are out on the go.  After talking to several veteran parents and my very own mother, it is universal that infants prefer to play with everyday objects.  If I could go back again, I would only get like 3 toys and then bust out the ziplock.   We actually got to the point where we transferred all of the safe dishes to cabinets in which we allow him to play (get safety locks).  I can cook in the kitchen and he will just play in the cabinet for around an hour.  He also has a few favorite drawers where we keep the wooden spoons and the plastic serving and mixing spoons and any piece of kitchenware that is safe.  It is great and free!

Do not buy the high chair that is stylish.  You know which one I am talking about.  The one that everyone gets that matches their dark wood furniture so that it blends in inconspicuously with the rest of the furniture.  What they don’t tell you is after a couple of meals that thing stands out like a sore thumb no matter what type of wood you purchased.  The reason why?  It is the most difficult piece of furniture to clean.  The food gets stuck in the crevasses preventing you from really getting a good clean.  The food sticks onto the wood so you end up damaging the paint when you try to scrub it off.  Oh and joke is on us, we feed the Boogmeister in the kitchen since we have carpet over the dining area; there is no wood in the kitchen so what does it match?  Pass on this one people.  If we have another, we will sell this high chair and get the reliable old plastic ones.

He's Finally Walking

He’s Finally Walking

We had it in our head that he would walk on his 1^st birthday.  He would stand up by himself.  He seemed like he would want to take a step.  It was like he was teasing us.  He would watch us as we held our breath and stared and well…his birthday just came and went without a single step.  We were fortunate that we had been exposed to parents who had little ones that didn’t start walking until 13, 14, and even 15 months because it is easy to get worried about these types of things.  Also, he was premature by 5 weeks so we have always known he could be behind until around two years of age (or not).  Needless to say, as with most things, we focused on the bad.  We kept thinking about the kids that started walking at 9 months and 10 months.  We began to try to force the walking; you know coaxing him with things he loves.    It would seem like he was going to take a step and then he would drop to the ground.  Finally somewhere at the end of his 12^th month, he took his first steps.  Of course we jumped on it and began trying to make him take steps every second like a little puppy doing tricks.  Once again, he showed us and didn’t really do it often.  Finally, shortly after 13 months, he began taking more steps and more and more until fast forward to today (he is 13.5 months) and he just walks circles around the house.  He almost never crawls.  He has broken out into a run a few times.  What I learned from all of this, is don’t rush your child into anything.  Every single milestone with our son has just happened.  We are so very rigid with our plans and our schedules and he just consistently laughs in the face of our ideals.  It’s almost like he never crawled.  We often go back and forth between forcing him into things and letting it happen naturally.  Happening naturally always seems to win.  Of course, we needed a baseline.  You also have to acknowledge a milestone for them.  We would clap when he would travel a longer distance with each session.  Of course by clapping, I mean being hysterical because I was so excited.  Now, with walking, incidences or injuries are increasing so it’s probable a good thing he waited a while to walk. 

Getting Out Round 2

Today the mall became more than just a place for me to shop.  My little one is getting older and starting to realize the outdoors is full of adventures and fun things to do so he get antsy when he’s been inside all day.  Since I live in a valley area, it is way too hot to take him to the park.  I decided to go to our local mall for several reasons.  The first is that there is air conditioning.  The second is that this particular mall has a play area for kids.  The third reason is it is always loud at the mall so no one would notice my super loud child.  Finally, there is so much for him to see that he will be very much stimulated.  I packed up his dinner of Sunflower seed butter sandwich and carrots and Sippy cup full of water and headed on my way.  Of course, I am on a shopping freeze so I had to brush off my window shopping skills.  While I was slowly strolling around, I realized how wonderful it is to get out.  The monotony of coming home sitting in the living room or playing in the living room with CJ, then feeding him, then taking him upstairs, then reading, then getting him ready for bed can make you feel like you are at a dead end job.   It’s is nice to amongst your fellow man and out getting fresh air.  The best part is I am still spending time with my son, which is critical since I work full time, but I am not sitting there counting down the hours for him to go to bed.  It may sound harsh, but I am so excited to see my son when I get home and for the first two hours I can run circles around him.  Eventually by the 3^rd hour you need a break and get exhausted.  Yet his bed time is upon us so there are no breaks for about 4.5 hours and coming home from work to that will make you count down to bed time.  Taking my son out to the mall or other places allows me to spend great time with him without feeling like I am in this zone.  By the time we get home, it’s time for a bath, reading, and bed time.  For some reason, I become re-energized and rejuvenated.  This again was my reminder that you always need to get out and about as a new parent.  You can turn the mall into your play zone.  It is good to find malls that have family bathrooms especially if you are breastfeeding.  I have been to some awesome malls with these insane family rooms.  It makes you want to go there just to utilize the facilities.  Another great place is IKEA.  My husband and I go there for their cheap breakfast.  They have a great family room for changing that they set up with their furniture and then there is a play area for kids.  I greatly appreciate places like that….letting you know they know and appreciate what you are going through as a parent.  The main message here, is get out, you’ll need it.

Peanut Allergy...Really??

Thank goodness for Sunflower Seed Butter (we’ll get to that later), because our little guy seems to be allergic to peanuts.

Between my husband and myself, we have always been nervous about allergies for our son.  I am allergic to scaly fish or fish with fins(not shellfish thank goodness), poppy seeds and I have asthma and my husband has major environmental allergies so we knew something could be passed along.  Yet, we were hoping that this would be one of those times when it skips a generation.  Well so far….we are not quite sure.  A wonderful mother in our playgroup had told us about this product called Sunflower Seed Butter that is sold at Trader Joe’s or TJ’s as I like to call it.  We started giving it to Connor first since peanut butter is a common allergen.  He loved it, it didn’t give him problems and everyone was happy.  Then we got a little bold and decided to try a peanut butter sandwich on our munchkin.  It went smoothly at first and I was soooooo excited.  Then he began to rub his eyes and seemed a little irritated.  Then the red bumps showed up on his face, around his left eye and some near his mouth.  I, of course, was devastated, but thank goodness it was just a mild reaction and it actually went away after a few hours.  He was fine and didn’t miss a beat.

He now has an appointment with the allergist so I am very interested in what test they perform on a 13 month old to find allergies.  My husband and I agreed NO skin allergy test!!!  So we will see what is available.  The optimist side of this is that early exposure to these types of allergens  cause a reaction in little ones, but after like 2 or 3 years of age they grow out of it.  This is why you can’t give babies egg whites or strawberries or peanut butter before 12 months and some recommend longer.  The digestive system isn’t fully developed and so things can cross over (into he blood stream) more easily and cause an allergic reaction.  I am crossing my fingers for the latter.  In the meantime, I hope T.J.’s stocks up on  SS Butter. 

No Crying Out...The Ferber Method!!

It was that time, the moment to which we were so apprehensive, letting CJ go to bed on his own.  I had spent many of days being a stealth, sly ninja carrying him from our bedroom to his own once he fell asleep on the breast.  I would wait until he had fallen deep into sleep (light sleep will not get it) and “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” my way out of the bed, maintaining a stable hold where he lay in my arms.  I would hold my breath to reduce chest movement; oh yes (moms should know this) it was that serious.  Truthfully, I could have done that forever, but there comes a time when you have to tell yourself he/she needs to learn how to put him or herself to sleep.  With that said, I refused to do the cry it out method.  Especially after hearing horror stories of 3 hour long crying sessions.  The thought of him crying hysterically while I just lay there made me want to cry as myself.  Fortunately, like most tech savvy moms, I thrive on an internet connection with other moms and ended up finding everything from let them cry until they fall asleep to co-sleeping until like 3 years of age.  The most interesting thing I found seemed to be a compromise and the was called the Ferber method.  I am not sure how you are supposed to quote things in a blog so will just say specific details can be found on the internet.  O.k. so back to basics, I actually cannot remember exactly where I saw it but I usually prefer to get my info from women who have gone through what I am going through.  Basically what you do is on let the baby cry for intervals.  The particular person had said, you put your baby down (awake) in the crib and leave.  You let them cry for 5 minutes and go back in and soothe him or her, without picking them up, for no more than 1 min.  If the baby is still crying, wait 10 minutes and repeat.  Next interval is 20 minutes.  You can choose to go longer or stop at 20 minutes.  I never got passed 20 minutes and it actually only took 3 days.  After that I he cried, but stopped before 5 minutes.  After a couple of weeks, there was no crying and by like 10 months he pretty much started jumping out of my hands to get in the crib.  He doesn’t like being rocked to sleep anymore.  Wait, I actually forgot something, he did still wake up in the middle of the night, but you are able to pick them up during this time and it helps them know if really needed you are there.  I am not 100% sure the midnight sleep is from Ferber, but it was recommended on the site I found.  Some nights I pinch myself because I had the wake up every hour and a half (in the beginning ) baby, then I had the wake up 2-3 times per night after 6 months baby.  So the fact that I pretty much can count on putting him to bed around 7:15p/7:30p and getting started with my stuff does not seem real.  I actually didn’t realize I have a baby that sleeps 11-12 hours a night until my neighbor asked me his sleep schedule and freaked out.  Thanks Ferber!!!

Cabin Fever

I will tell you from experience, do not let your fear of germs or your fear of people being near your baby make you a prisoner in your own home.  Once again, another plan mapped out; no one was allowed to come see the baby for 2 weeks.  I wasn’t going to take him out for at least 3 months, because my baby wasn’t going to be exposed to the outside world.  Even CJ’s pediatrician got in on it.  I asked about going out and she looked at me like I was crazy.  You know, like parent saying “where do you think you are going”.  She said, “Well if you are going to the store, go early when there aren’t as many people there”.  Like that was the only place I could go being a new mom.  This was confirmation that I was doing the right thing by keeping everyone away.  Well after a month and recovery from my Maternity Blues, I got into another funk.  I felt trapped in this strange world.  I didn’t feel like myself which is an energetic, outdoors girl.  It felt like the world was closing in on me, like I was suffocating.  I mean I did not leave the house and I was losing it.  My anxiety began to rear its ugly head like “is this my life”.  Then I had an epiphany, I remembered when my amazing mother came over and forced me to take a walk with her outside and how freeing and refreshing it felt.  So that is what I began to do, take walks.  Just a simple 10 minute walk around the block (baby in stroller), felt so good and fresh.  I didn’t feel I was compromising my rule because no one was around and I covered up my munchkin like Fort Knox.  Eventually I went a step further and remembered how much I loved to just drive around with my husband B.C. (since my son’s name starts with a “C” that works both ways) and look at architecture, people walking around, etc.  So I decided to grab my diaper bag, baby and head off for a car ride.  Oh that was my favorite because it reminded of the cool city in which I live.  I breastfed so his food was readily available and I would stop through a drive thru if I got hungry.  Since my Cabin Fever never got extreme enough for me to break my “rules”, those two things were a great compromise.  Of course, there are people who will take their child out anywhere right out the gate (you know to which gate I am referring) and good for them for being fearless, but all you out there like me find a compromise because Cabin Fever is no day at the park.  Oh and a side note, if I am blessed to have another, I will keep my rules and just start my outdoor fun earlier.  My son didn’t have a single sniffle until we started him at Gymboree and at 9 months he caught a bad cold from one of his classmates.  Good Luck!!!

MSPI For A Day

For those of you who do not know, which may be anyone reading this, MSPI stands for milk-soy-protein intolerance and it is a parent’s worst nightmare.  And for 3 weeks we were convinced CJ had it.  To be fair, a doctor pushed it in our heads even more.  The Boogmeister (one of my son’s many nicknames), had stomach problems from about 1 month through about 8 months.  Our initial pediatrician and our final ped kept telling us it was normal and he would grow out of it, but we just refused to believe his gas and squirming was normal.  Every other day I thought he was allergic to something he ate, so I would stop eating it.  The final straw was when there was a streak of blood in his diaper.  I took him to a doctor and that is when it was suggested that he might be and MSPI baby.  Now I don’t know if people truly understand what it is like to have to avoid dairy and soy because those are the ingredients of everything.  I lost a lot of weight from breastfeeding, but this put me over the top.  At first I almost didn’t eat because everything has soy.  Then I did research.  I have to first thank this vegan enthusiast at Trader Joe’s that helped me find Vegan products.  It was even harder though because vegans can have soy.  T.J.’s has signs that indicate Vegan, Vegetarian, and Glutton free so that made it easy to search.  I will tell you right now their vegan snickerdoodles are awesome and they have no soy products.  Another product I found was whole wheat bread from Van De Kamps which has no soy.  That was the only bread I could find.  I ate a lot of rice and I think some corn tortillas.  The best part is it turned out CJ did no have the allergy.  We decided to wait for his well-baby visit to confirm with his doctor.  She explained to us that MSPI babies are really sick and do not thrive.  It is really obvious that they have a problem and since Boogie was in the 75^th percentile, we were pretty sure that was not the case.  Months and months later, we look back and realize I will do anything for my child and that some doctors are not so great to say the least.  Oh well, at least I got some good Vegan products.

To Schedule or Not To Schedule

Right out the gate, I must admit I am a Type A personality.  There must always be a list, a plan, and a back up plan to account for any deviations in the original plan.  So it would come to no surprise that I would choose to be a scheduling parent rather than a go with the flow free spirit.  I am sure some veteran moms have already begun to laugh hysterically.  The truth is, schedules work and they are good to an extent.  It pretty much becomes a base, at least that is what I should have told myself.  If I had a nickel for everyday that I would starve (well not really since he went from 5 lbs 4 oz. to 75^th percentile in a month) or sleep deprive my child because “it wasn’t time” (based on the schedule).  Doctors, nurses, and some books would constantly bombard you with the phrase “they will let you know”, but anyone who is type A knows how hard it is to deviate from your schedule.  So my son would cry and I would be in a light panic because I didn’t know what was wrong.  “He is definitely not hungry because it has not been X hours” I would say to myself.  “He can’t be sleepy, it’s X hours before nap time”.  It took many a day and night for me to say, “maybe he is hungry”, “maybe he is sleepy”.  Experienced mothers will tell you over and over again the infamous 3 … dirty diaper, hungry, sleepy and for some reason it’s the last thing you think about.  My husband and I would laugh at ourselves for missing I-3 and then catching it at the last minute.  The main thing I realized was having a schedule prevented me from being a scatter brain, it’s like a security blanket, but I had to be willing to think outside the box when it comes to my little guy. Along with the schedule comes routine and he loves routine.  You can see in his eyes, the comfortable feeling of knowing what is going to happen.  Also as he got older, he learned the sound of the bottle warmer.  Although that might be because that thing is obnoxious, I ‘m like is there a fire, a war, no it’s just my son’s bottle that is done.  Anyway, he will get excited and antsy.  When I put him in his “drinking” spot he smacked his lips or now he starts making this funny noise.  I read that they like schedules and routine and I can tell you from my little experience that it is absolutely true.  But Type A beware, “he/she will let you know” and that is the best planner you need.

Maternity Blues or Postpartum Depression??

So Postpartum Depression is defined as (taken from wikipedia and multiple other websites) moderate to severe depression in a woman after she has given birth.  It can begin any time beginning immediately after delivery through the first year.  Symptoms include:

• Agitation or irritability
• Changes in appetite
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Feeling withdrawn or unconnected
• Lack of pleasure or interest in most or all activities
• Loss of concentration
• Loss of energy
• Problems doing tasks at home or work
• Negative feelings toward the baby
• Significant anxiety
• Thoughts of death or suicide
• Trouble sleeping

Maternity Blues is defined as mild and transitory moodiness suffered by up to 80% of postnatal women.  Symptoms of Maternity Blues include:

Tearfulness

Irritability

hypochondriasis

sleeplessness

impairment of concentration

feelings of isolation

headache

It seems to me that they are pretty similar except Maternity Blues is not as severe, doesn’t last as long, and you don’t have negative feelings towards the baby.  That is what gave me the hint that I didn’t have PPD.  It was just so natural to take care of my baby.  While I was moping around, while I panicked, while I was anxious, I was so attached to my little man.  I remember being home by myself, while my husband was at work, and freaking out about this new little person that has entered our life.  The first few days he was home I was a wreck.  I kept thinking OMG we made a mistake.  How did this happen?  What are we going to do?  We can’t afford a baby? Etc. etc. etc….I felt nauseas.  I didn’t know how I was going to be a mom.  Please note, we planned this baby.  I mean the whole shebang.  Marking the calendar, having dutiful sex, laying motionless after the deed to optimize the “swimming” environment.  Even so, I was saying “how did this happen”.  What was worse, I looked a mess.  Probably like a deranged woman.  I was calling my friend, who is a mother of two and my own mother, every single day.  One of the recurring thoughts in my head was, I am never doing this again.  On top of that, I had tore in like 4 places with my vaginal delivery.  I had hemorrhoids that also was a result of the delivery.  Also, I tore my perineum (the space between the vagina and butt) and had to get stitches.  This amplified all of the aforementioned feelings.  I felt so lonely and miserable, like I was trapped in the Twilight Zone even though I have a wonderful, ever-present husband.  It was like an out of body experience.  It was a vicious cycle because the more I felt anxious, lonely, and I guess slightly depressed, the more I became worried, nervous, and anxious that I may have PPD.  I just kept telling myself, no, you love your baby and you have no negative feelings toward him.  The more severe stage of this was over in about a week and a half.  I slowly started to get a grip, but here is something messed up that they don’t really tell you.  By they I mean, doctors, nurses, and the ridiculous books (we’ll get to that another time) you read trying to prepare yourself.  Anyway they forget to tell you there is an insane random hormone extravaganza going on in your body after you give birth and even more so if you are breastfeeding (which I was) and anyone who knows anything about physiology knows that hormones are little messengers that make things happen in the body so imagine an overload of them in your body sending all these messages, causing all of these signals.  Of course you are going to go haywire.  Yes, some women are lucky and they don’t have big problems, but I wasn’t one of them.  It probably took me over a month to get it together.  Yet I must say have no fear ladies, today with a 12 month old, I can totally say I do not even know who that person was.  I wouldn’t recognize her if I saw her now and she wouldn’t recognize me.  This too shall pass.