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.