Monday, August 30, 2010

Fun Stuff

I want to share this opportunity to help out an important cause and get your ears on some awesome family-friendly music at the same time. I've been following Ryan's blog for nearly two years now and really love his family. He's an incredibly talented photographer, an awesomely devoted husband, and a super dad. He's the parent of a little boy with special needs & dreamed up this album to raise money for research that might some day help families like his. And then he made it happen. And I want to help him spread the word. So buy the album & then give some love to the artists who donated their time and talents to the cause. (Oh, and I want to draw your attention to the 'make a donation' button in the bottom right-hand corner...in case you want to do more.)  Feel free to make all kinds of virtual noise about this using your preferred social networking tool!  And buy the album. :o)

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Announcement

David and I finally had a minute...or a few hours, actually...to sit down together and hammer out George's birth announcement! 



The inspiration came from an actual circus ticket for the "Loomis Bros. Circus."  They performed in Okeechobee, FL a few years ago and my dad snagged an extra child's ticket to send me. I had this idea to mat and frame it for 'the kids' room' some day.   When George arrived, I realized it could easily be translated into a birth announcement.
I had this image in my head and no way to get it on 'paper.' And David, well, he's a photoshop genius. The way the ticket was laid out made it perfect to swap out the show info for birth stats.  I wanted to avoid the over-used 'welcome' or 'announcing' headline.  I figured the announcement would speak for itself in that respect.  So we came up with 'Admit One Child,' since that's, in effect, what we were doing! The original ticket actually said 'great family fun' at the bottom so we left that part alone.  When all was seemingly said and done, David pointed out that the year was nowhere on the ticket and he worked it in.
Now to have them printed & send them out...

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

My Sucky Baby


George is a sucky baby.  From day one, he's been pretty fussy.  Always nursing, never satisfied.  And I've been exhausted!!  We supplemented with formula (GASP! - don't tell LLLI), which I'm sure has 1) reduced his patience for nursing and 2) reduced my milk supply.  Vicious cycle, I know.  But my baby is hungry and momma's gonna fill that belly!

Originally, I blamed myself; I didn't nurse often enough early on, I wasn't getting him latched on right, I wasn't producing an adequate supply of milk because of a surgery I had 10 years ago, I just plain suck...

So I started to research what might be causing his inefficient feeding behaviors....
 - falling asleep after only a couple minutes of nursing
 - not releasing his latch even though he's asleep
 - not emptying the breast (I HATE that word, by the way.  They may say 'breast is best,' but I say 'boob is better.')
 - rooting and fussing immediately after being taken off the....boob
In addition - VERY sore nipples.  VERY.  Cringe worthy.  That kind of pain that makes you get dizzy and vomit...or at least feel like you're going to vomit.  Where other mothers might experience a surge of feel-good hormones when nursing their babies, I was experiencing an adrenaline rush.  An honest-to-goodness fight-or-flight response.  And sweat.  It was making me sweat profusely...which I do when I'm nervous.  I do, however, refrain from sticking my hands in my armpits and smelling them, like thisssssss...
What did I find?  Low milk flow.  
Ok, why is it low, and how do I fix it.  Then I remembered:
I said it shortly after he was born, but never actually thought that it might be related, "I think George is tongue-tied."  And why wouldn't he be?  His father is.  George's tongue looks just like David's. I forgot to mention it to Dr. Loghry at his 2-week well-check.  I didn't think it was causing any problems.  Now that I've looked in to it, it's likely causing ALL of the problems!!

It's fitting this is my first post-partum post; it's the first time I'm not stuck in the recliner with a hungry baby nuzzled in my bosom!

Update:
No clippy.  The ENT said he's not tongue-tied.  Which...sucks....pun intended.  No quick fix.  I am historically better with quick fixes than long processes.  I didn't even stick with physical therapy after I broke my elbow.  I'd love to learn Spanish, but it would require long-term effort.  You see what I'm getting at.
Anyway, next up: herbal supplements to boost milk supply and a lactation consult on Friday.  A chat with the local LLL leader, of course, resulted in the suggestion that giving a bottle has made for an apathetic nurser.  But that doesn't really concern me, since 1) he started getting a bottle AFTER becoming 'apathetic' about nursing and 2) I'm going back to work in 1.5 weeks, after which he'll have to take a bottle regularly anyway.  I just want to have milk to put in it!  (And I would prefer that he can drink directly from the source when I'm home so that we don't have to plan ahead and pack and keep milk on hand when we're not at home.
I'm sure I'll return to this topic again...