January 26, 2015 by Stephanie

George-5 Months

How has it been 5 months?

Weight: 14 lbs and 24.25 inches. He is in the 7% for height, and 2% for weight. His head, however, is in the 58% at 42.25. (Which explains why we have a hard time getting his head through shirt neck holes. He also doesn’t fit into any hats except the one that I crocheted for him, and it stretches a lot.)

Health: He still has problems going #2, but the doctor said it was nothing to worry about at this point because there is no blood in it. She said he may just be a gassy baby. Other than that he is a happy drooly baby!

Diet: He is still mostly on breastmilk. We have a bottle of formula before bed. This month has been really hard breastfeeding wise. I know that I am not making enough. I am still barely making enough even with pumping during the formula feed. Most days I have one pumping session that I get less than an ounce, and most others are not much more. George eats at least 4 oz per feeding. Watching my supply basically start to dry out and having to pump/feed almost every 2 hours, I have decided that this will be our last month breastfeeding. Unless something drastically changes, I plan to start the weaning process once he is 6 months old. It has become more of a burden and it is taking too much time for what I am pumping. Or not pumping. I don’t feel like it is fair to keep pushing both of us to do this when it obviously is not working well. It just makes for one un-happy and guilty mommy. (George could care less as long as there is something in his belly! He is a mess otherwise.) I have tried all the tricks so believe me there really isn’t much more that I can do to increase my supply. Some women just aren’t able to breastfeed because of the supply, and their bodies never adjust to the demand. Despite my best efforts, I happen to be one of those women. I feel like there needs to be more out there for women who try but cannot make the supply. I feel that it is very polarized: either you formula feed or you are an expert breastfeeding with supply galore. It has been very stressful and hard to find material out there for those in the middle. I think there is also a lot of negativity for those who stop “early” too, so I want to say power to all moms for however long you try. Breastfeeding is not an easy journey, and I don’t want to feel guilty for stopping now. So we will happily make it to 6 months. We plan on starting our solids adventure around then any way, so we feel that it is the perfect timing to end our breastfeeding journey. There is a huge weight lifted off me now that I know there is an end in sight. While I am glad that I was able to do it, it is a struggle that I am happy to know will soon be over. I will say cutting holes into my sports bra has helped tremendously while pumping. It makes things much easier to do both at the same time hands free. So that was an improvement this month. We did try rice cereal this month, and he HATED it. We have tried both spoon fed and bottle fed, and he did NOT want to have anything to do with that rice stuff.

Clothes: We are still in 3 month clothes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we are still in them next month either. We are in size 1 diapers right now. By the end of this week, he will be in size 2. And that is mostly because I don’t want to go buy more size one since I know he has almost grown out of them, and we are down to our last stack this week. He also started wearing shoes when we go out on the weekend. It makes him look like such a big kid!

Sleeping: I think he is going through some sleep regression. We have a pretty good routine for bed time. I read him a story and lure him to slumber. Then he wakes up, and Tom has to take a crack at it. It usually takes us about 30-45 minutes to get him to actually be asleep. Unfortunately, he has started waking up around 4am, wide awake and hungry. It’s that awful timing that if I feed him and get him back to sleep I have about 30-45 minutes to sleep before I need to start getting ready for the day. So we end up just staying up. We tried switching his bedtime to 8 pm earlier this month and that just didn’t work for us. It took us even longer to get him to sleep and then he was getting up at 2 or 3. So his bedtime stays at 9pm for now. He is really funny about naps. He definitely gets cranky and will fight going to sleep. The only way we have gotten him to sleep for naps is by having him lay perpendicular to my stomach so his face his buried in my arm and then you have to pat his butt. Works every time. He also will only sleep on his back here at home, but at the babysitter will only sleep on his stomach. Weird kid.

Likes: He has really started playing with his feet this month. (This picture was the first time I saw him try to put it in his mouth though.) George is constantly holding them and trying to pull off his socks. He has started splashing during bath time. I am not sure if he likes it because he is always startled by it, but he will keep doing it. He likes to grab the hair at the nape of my neck and pull it like it is a handle. I never have a full ponytail anymore. He has to either have his hands or a pacy in his mouth. He loves to talk now, so he loves hearing you babble to him. He likes to stand more than sitting. I swear he will stand on his own before he actually crawls. His legs are so strong. He likes when I babywear him, so if nothing else works to soothe him in the carrier he goes. He still loves holding our hands. He LOVES Larry the parrot on VocabuLARRY. He will be screaming, and then when the show comes on, he stops and smiles in amazement.

Dislikes: Not being able to see you. He is more aware of his surroundings now, and knows when you have left him alone. He hates to burp and for feeding time to end. It is quite comical for us, but he acts like he is being tortured. If there is not a nipple (of any variety) in his mouth he screams this horrific scream. So we have to have a pacy ready for after feeding so we can calm him down from the feeding being over. I am not sure if he doesn’t like diaper changes, but he doesn’t want to sit still during them. He tries doing back bends when we change his diaper, or he has to monkey hang on my arm.

Milestones: We heard his first real laugh this month. He also rolled over for the first time. He looks like he wants to crawl; he pushes his butt up like an inchworm. He just doesn’t go anywhere forward, but he turns himself in circles. He can grab things now, but he doesn’t really know how to control it once he has it in his hands. He sort of can get his pacy back in his mouth if you count him chewing on the plastic part instead of the rubber part. He is trying to sit up. He looks like he is doing crunches trying to pull himself into a sitting position on his own.

Quirks: He hums himself to sleep. It is so cute. He attacks his pacy like a lion going after his prey. He will still lay newborn style when he is laying on your stomach. Never too big I guess to snuggle up tight.

We parents are: still trying to figure out a good schedule. Things are good, but Tom’s schedule isn’t the same from week to week, so that makes it somewhat difficult to have things consistent. It has been nice to get back in the gym consistently. om was sick this last week, so that was a little rough pulling double duty so George wouldn’t catch whatever Tom had.

The dogs are: loving him more and more. George has started noticing them a lot more. He laughs at them now and reaches out to them.

January 19, 2015 by Stephanie

Being a Positive Mom

I have the best mom.

She has taught me so many things over the years, and still continues to be a role model for me to this day.

Growing up circumstance weren’t always perfect, but my mom tried to make things perfect for us.

She always picked us up with a smile and was intentional about making every moment with her count.

She taught us that even if things are not ideal to go at it with laughter and grace. When we played, she taught us to use our imagination whether we were making confetti eggs or making up songs in the car. She showed us what it meant to be positive ad humble.

It was like no matter what happened, she always had a smile on her face and pushed us to be positive people. She gave her all for us every moment even if it meant putting herself last.

She is a beacon in my life for sure, and I hope that I am half the mom that she has been to me and my brother.

A couple weeks ago, a fellow blogger (whose baby is only a week younger than George) shared her personal experience about motherhood. She shared how she felt that being a mom was not as hard as she thought.

She was (always is) looking at the positives of her situation and how she loved being a mom. She was being thankful for what she had been given.

And people just wrecked her for it. Some comments posted to her page were spiteful and only meant to put her down and make her feel guilty about her situation and how she has chosen to live her life.

It made me think of two things.

One, I agree with her. Being a mom is much easier than I had originally thought.

Hold up before you get your panties in a bunch.

Being a mom is hard, and I won’t deny that. There are a lot of pressures of “Am I doing this right? or Am I messing my kid up by doing such and such thing?” There are moments when I feel like I am not good enough because he just wont stop crying. George is not always a happy baby, and those moments aren’t always easy. I also wonder when I am watching him sleep or watching him take the world in, if I am doing enough to help him grow.

However, it still is not as hard as I thought. People for years say that you will never get sleep again. People say that your life is over once you have kids. People like to poke fun and make you feel like it is such a burden being a parent.

Have there been nights that I haven’t gotten as much sleep as I want? Yes. But there have also been nights that I had to wake up George because he was sleeping so soundly, and we all were able to get a beautiful 8-9 hours rest. (I also remember nights of little sleep in my early 20s too. Just saying it isn’t the first time I have seen 3am)

Is my life over now that I have a kid? Yes and no. My life as I knew it is over, but I chose to make this change. I love embracing this NEW life, and I am completely content saying goodbye to the life that was. However, I haven’t lost who I am as a person just because I am a mom. I still have 29 years of Stephanie that are still all mine. I just have a new part of my identity to explore and develop. I don’t lose me just because I birthed another human being. I have to say it has made me better. So is my life over? Well I am still here telling my tale so that would be a no.

Am I saying that there won’t be moments that I feel lost as a parent or that his needs will trump mine? I am not oblivious to the responsibility of raising a human being. I know I will feel hopeless without any direction at times. I know that there will be many challenging things ahead. Again, I do understand that being a parent is a big deal.

BUT…

It’s not as hard as I thought because I love George so immensely that it makes being his parent easy: Because I have the investment to be a good parent. Because I want to makes the whole process easier. The love that I have for George is so empowering it pushes me to be the best for him. And when you are invested, generally it is a not as hard.

The second thing her post (and subsequent backlash) made me think of is how we as moms treat each other . There is so much support out there for moms, but there is also a lot of negativity, comparison, and mom-shaming. I know I haven’t been a mom long, but I don’t understand why there needs to be so much judgement towards other moms. There is enough to worry about raising my own kid, I don’t also need to worry about raising yours. Are there things that other moms do that I may not do, absolutely. But who am I to judge their circumstances? I have no idea what led them to make those choices. As long as we do the best that we can for our kids and they are happy and healthy, that is really all that we can ask for in this world. We should be supporting and praising each other on this journey of parenting. It shouldn’t be a competition of who has the best schedule or is the crunchiest mom. It shouldn’t be jealously and envy spitting out hate when things aren’t perfect for your situation.

And what is perfect anyway?

This blog does a pretty good job of mocking the pristine images we see of parenting and making it normal that our lives do not look like a magazine or our favorite pins on Pinterest. I get giggles out of it every time.

Any way there should be more support for each other instead of all the side-eyes. We all know we have had those moments where our shirt is on inside out once we get to work. (I did this last week, and not only was it inside out but it was also backwards…) Can I get an amen on the mom bun?

Luke 6: 37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

We get to be parents. I think that is pretty awesome, and we should celebrate that together and give each other some much needed grace. I mean we have babies! Seriously what is better than a baby?

A baby and a dog, that’s what.

All of this brings me back to my mom. I want to be a positive mom like she was and still is for me.

I want George to grow up enjoying things and embracing moments because there is always something positive to look at. I want to be happy so he sees and understands happy.

I want to be thankful for each day I get to spend with my little guy. I want to make his day better.

I can’t enjoy that time or make it enjoyable for him if I feel like it is a burden to have him.

I want to be a positive mom.

So in those late night struggles, I want to embrace the extra snuggles and cherish that George finds comfort in our arms.

When I get tears from breastfeeding not going well, I want to congratulate myself for making it as long as we have.

When I see another parent struggling, I want to tell them they are awesome because being a parent can be hard at times and sometime we just need to know we aren’t alone.

When I feel like I am not being a perfect parent, I want to remember that God knew what he was doing when he made me George’s mom and to trust Him in my imperfection.

When I look at other kids sitting nicely at a restaurant when George is inevitably trying to concoct some way to make a spaceship out of a straw, a pickle, and the pepper shaker with as much noise as humanly (and embarrassingly) possible, I want to thank God for that kid’s vast imagination and ability to keep himself entertained.

When things just seem impossible, I want to remind myself we found out we were pregnant at the fertility doctor and that George continued to make the impossible possible when he was born 3 weeks early.

When he just makes me frustrated down the road and I feel that I have no patience left, I want to remember these moments.

But he won’t make me frustrated because he is perfect.

December 26, 2014 by Stephanie

George-4 Months

This month was a big month for little man!

Weight: 13 lbs and about 24 inches.

Health: He still looks like he is in pain sometimes when he goes number 2. Other than that though, he seems pretty healthy. He doesn’t have quite the issue with spit up any more. It happens a couple times a day, but it is usually small dribbles and mostly is only when I breastfeed him. He has his 4 month check up after the holidays so we will see what she has to say about him. We are seeing someone new, so hopefully we like our new pediatrician as much as our one in Clarksville.

Diet: He has six feedings a day. Five of them are breastmilk, and the last one of the day is formula. As I described in my pumping experience, we had to add formula to the routine because I was not making enough breastmilk. Thank you for all the advice and support I have received over the past couple days. I have a few things I am going to try to hopefully increase my supply and my productivity at work from some of the wisdom shared with me.

Clothes: We are sitting pretty in the 3 month range. Some 0-3 month items are getting too snug and some 3 month stuff is too big. We are not even close to fitting in 3-6 month stuff.

Sleeping: This has been all over the place. I usually read him a bed time story and rock him to droopy land. Then I put him in his crib where he generally falls asleep. Then about 15 minutes later he has lost his pacy, and he starts crying. Tom will then repeat the rocking and talking him to sleep. At this time for the most part, he falls asleep for the night. Occasionally, he doesn’t make it all through the night, and Tom will attend to him. (I will be honest that I haven’t heard him stir before 4:30 myself. I am in my own sleepyland.) There have been a couple nights where he ends up in bed with us or I fall asleep with him in the rocker because he just isn’t having the solo crib life. He does sleep a lot at the sitter’s, so I am not really sure if that is affecting his sleep at night or not. She tries waking him up but he puts on his cranky pants and refuses to stay up.

Likes: He LOVES his pacy, but this kid needs to learn to put it in his own mouth. We are always chasing that thing because he spits it across the room. You think I am exaggerating on the “across the room” bit, but sadly I am not. I think he thinks it is a game that we are playing. And seriously, someone please tell me where the Pacy Abyss is. We are always losing them… He loves talking with his Daddy. They are just too much cuteness together! We discovered the Baby First channel this past week. He watches a couple shows in the morning while Tom and I get ready. He will sit and coo back at the characters. It is so cute to hear his giggles and Oooos to the little animals on the screen. Our favorites are Tilly Knock Knock and VocabuLARRY. These are the two he responds to the most, which is perfect that they are right when I get ready. They are only 10-15 minute clips so they are perfect for that 20 minutes that I need to get ready for the day. And I then sing the songs for the remainder of the day…

Dislikes: He hates being burped right now. He will shriek when we try to do this until we put the bottle back in his mouth or give him his pacy. He is getting better at tummy time. He can lift his head up like a cobra yoga pose. But after a minute or two of lifting, he is done and will let you know it. His tummy time is funny though because it seems like he is lifting his rear end up more than his head in a superman type fashion, like upside down leg lifts.

Milestones: He can hold his head up on his own now, and he sits up pretty well if propped up. No more slouching here! He is really getting more chatty. Both Tom and I usually have a chat session with him a couple times a day. We also had to take him out of church a couple weeks ago because he decided it was a good time to test out his new sounds with his dad. He stays awake more in the car too and will coo at the music on the radio. He started doing raspberries and humming this last week. You can tell he is really learning how to use those chops more and more. He doesn’t really laugh yet; we get giggle chortles right now. I think a full on laugh is coming soon though. His smiles are really just the best. He smiles at me every night when he realizes it is me picking him up from the sitter. (I have to hold back tears of joy every day.) He met soooo many people this last month from his great-grandparents, to old friends, to people at work and church…he was Mr. Sociable this month. He also met Santa and was unimpressed. This may not be a milestone to others, but this is huge in our household: We don’t cry anymore at lotion!!! My eardrums are being saved, and George is actually smiling now when I lather him up. We are fairly certain that he may be teething. He has been a little crankier than normal and is a hot drooly mess.

Quirks: He smiles with his pacy on. Any pair of pants he wear (no matter how long they are) end up being short on him. He wants to be a summer baby all year round. He will stick his hand up your short sleeve when you are holding him and hold onto your shoulder.

We parents are: making it. This month was a rough one for the Whitener parents. We had a lot of stress on our plates, and well it was just a hard month for us. George was not the root of any of it just to be clear. Both Tom and I are routine people, and it has been a little awful without some continuity from day to day. And it is just a busy time in general with the holidays pulling us in a lot of different directions. Oh yea and we moved into a new house and both have new jobs. But we are bouncing back and getting more settled every day. I just need to let go of some of my control issues…Tom started his new job this week so it is so great to see him so pumped and excited again.

The dogs are: four this week! If you follow me on IG, you can see a lot more of their relationship with George blossoming. Grace is just in love with him, and she tries to shower him with kisses anytime she can. (Or she is trying to help clean up George drool.) George also reached out and pet Crosby for the first time the other day. I will just be over here melting away from all the cuteness.

December 23, 2014 by Stephanie

Pump It Up

I am here to chronicle my pumping journey. As a working mom, I had to decide if I wanted to continue our breastfeeding adventure once I returned to work.

For me it was pretty simple: I want to keep providing George with breastmilk as long as I can.

Since we had to pump quite a bit his first month of life due to his early arrival situation, I knew that transitioning back to it wouldn’t be that difficult.

I just had to figure out how it would fit into my new work schedule.

There are laws protecting women in the workplace who decide to pump, meaning that they have to let you do it. But there is still cause to worry. Will my colleagues be understanding? Will it cut down on my productivity/availability? How will I fit this in my schedule? Will it become too much?

Luckily my colleagues have all been super accepting and understand fully what I am going through. They both have kids of their own and know this is something that I need to do. I just have to kindly remind them when I need my mother break. I feel really lucky that they have been fully supportive and help me in whatever way they can to make sure I get my time.

As far as my productivity and availability, this has been the hardest thing for me to adjust to. I take three pumping breaks a day, which leaves me practically useless for those half hour spans of time. I am fortunate to be able to pump in my own office so I can still do minimal work on my computer. I would say it is not super productive since I can only type with one hand (although my speed is increasing.) I don’t have one of those fancy bras that holds the cups in place, so I have to physically hold it with my hand for the duration of the pump. I try to save more reading tasks or phone calls for these times to maximize what I can do since I am limited to one hand.

But I cannot meet with anyone. It hasn’t been a huge problem yet since I have still been in training mode and our student contact dies down at the end of the semester. I do worry though once next semester hits, and I have back to back meetings and need to be available to students. I don’t want to seem unapproachable or hard to meet with due to my blocks of time.

I ~~had~~ have a lot of guilt that I am not doing my job the best I can because I have to take these timeouts. I know that this is the best for George, but I also feel a strong sense of responsibility to do the best at my job. Sometimes, I feel an immense amount of guilt because I have to hide myself away for an hour and a half a day to do something personal.

Which leads into my schedule. So far I have only had one day that I have not been able to do all three of my breaks. I do worry that this will happen the more I get involved and more things I need to tend to. The day it happened I had 3 meetings back to back in different places around campus and was not able to make it back in time to pump. I learned that I will need to be more vigilant about moving my pumping schedule around so people don’t schedule my time on my calendar. Unfortunately, I know there will be times when those meetings are out of my control. I feel that as long as I make sure I have 2 pumps a day, I can make it work. But ideally I need to have three to keep up with George’s feeding the best way possible.

I am so glad that I have my own office to escape to for my breaks. I can leave my pump somewhat set up under my desk, which is nice not to have to break it down each time. My first day here they didn’t have blinds on my window yet, which is a floor to ceiling window looking into a lobby. I had to go to the community breastfeeding closet that day. This would have really eaten into my schedule because the one room they have designated for breastfeeding moms is not in my building. So I would have to walk two buildings over (luckily they are connected by a breezeway), climb three flights of stairs, and hope the room wasn’t occupied. Then I would have to set up and break down each time. That travel time and set up alone would add 15 minutes to the already 30 minutes I was taking. Plus there is no computer in that room, so in order to work, I would have to lug my work station with me. Needless to say the blinds were installed on my office window on my second day so I only had one day of that to deal with. Whew. I do not take this luxury lightly!

Funny story: Even though I have blinds and a locked door, I did have someone walk in on me a couple weeks back. It was a maintenance man who did not heed my “I am busy” when he knocked. He got more than he bargained for when he unlocked that door. I am still not sure why he needed in my office because I had no work orders out and he never came back to do what he intended in the first place. I was really mad at first but looking back, I can only laugh at his facial expression when he realized what was going on.

Anyway, besides all the professional questions, you think about all the mom things: Am I going to make enough? Is George going to be more used to a bottle now and will we have problems breastfeeding?

I don’t make enough milk. There it is. I feel like a failure sometimes when I think about it. It just is what it is though. I have tried taking supplements and eating all the lactation cookies to increase my supply, which helped, but ultimately I was not keeping up with George’s demand. He is pretty greedy with the bottle. I average around 3 oz each complete session and George drinks 3-5 oz each feeding. Do the math; I got behind fast…We had to make a choice, and we recently decided to feed George formula for his last feeding of the night. This was for two reasons. One, he was no longer sleeping through the night, and I was having to wake up at 2/3am to feed him. We were hoping if we fed him formula it would get him through the entire night since all the readings say it keeps them full longer. And two, it gave me the opportunity to pump at night and stock up extra milk for the sitter. So we have been doing that for a little more than a week now, and it has really changed everyone’s mood. We are all sleeping through the night for the most part (we still have our nights), and we now have enough for him to drink breastmilk all day. For now.

There was a lot of anxiety on my part for this one. Tom and I had several conversations that we were going to do this, and it still took me a couple days to actually pull the trigger on the formula. I still feel guilty that I wasn’t able to do it 100% longer, but we made it 3.5 months. I know that formula is not bad. Goodness I was only formula fed and I am just fine. I think though that there is just so much pressure these days to be mom who breastfeeds, and then you put a lot on yourself as a mom if you can’t succeed in that. I just need to remember to look at the whole situation; his primary sustenance is still breastmilk and again formula is keeping lots of babies perfectly healthy. We ultimately were going to have to end up doing formula somewhere because the reality was I was not making enough to fill him up. The plus side is that now Tom can be more involved with feeding because he is in charge of that bedtime feeding now. That gives them some time to bond that I was previously hogging (unintentionally).

We also did have a few problems with breastfeeding before the big switch to formula that began shortly after I started working. George did not want the boob. He would kick and fight me the whole time, and I was so distraught. But yet he would have no problems with a bottle. Apparently they go through cycles and this happens, but I had firmly decided that it was because of pumping and “abandoning” my baby at feeding time. “All my fault” was flashing in big neon lights in my head. I just need to get over myself on this one-it’s a daily battle friends.

I really just need a reminder that there are going to be little troubles, but we will make the best decision that we can within the means that we have. I need to accept that. He is healthy and being fed and that is what matters.

So I pump more than I breastfeed now. We do breastfeed completely on the weekends, besides that last feeding. It is nice for me to catch up on all the missed feedings with him. I honestly think that pumping has made me cherish those times we do breastfeed a little more.

And I cherish the fact that there are less dishes to do on the weekend. Like super cherish. I hate doing those silly dishes.

I have to wash pump parts every single night to keep up. (I have 6 pump parts, and I am ~~adament~~ stubborn about buying more even though I pump 4 times a day.) Those are 15-30 minutes I wish I had back every day, but I am too paranoid to leave it to the dishwasher to get clean.

Other things that are handy for pumping at work:

It is vital that you have a good pump. I have a Medela, and I love it. (As much as you can love a suction cup machine)
Burp cloth or hand towel-I keep a burp cloth in my bag because it is inevitable that I will spill/spray milk every where.
Cooler/access to fridge- My pump came with a little cooler and ice pack, which I use everyday to transport the milk. I am lucky that we have access to a fridge in my office, otherwise I would probably invest in a mini-fridge to store the milk throughout the day. Although it would still be nice to have a fridge in my office again.
Water and snacks-I am thirsty and hungry ALL. THE. TIME. I pack my lunch bag with extra snacks to have for these pumping sessions. I also make sure that my water bottle is full before every session so I can stay hydrated.
Nursing pads-These are just a must so you don’t leak through your work clothes. I use the Target brand, and I have never had a problem with leaking out of them.
Ziplock bags-I keep two bags to keep all the clean and dirty parts separated in my bag.

I don’t wear a nursing bra because I found them too cumbersome. I am still managing with a sports bra and cami everyday and then just roll it up when I need to pump. It does somewhat limit my wardrobe, but I am making it work. This is the most comfortable for me. I do miss all my dresses though…

There are times that I wonder if this (the pumping, the washing, the preparing) is worth it. Pumping only 3 oz each time can be really discouraging. There is a conversation a few times a week about whether we should continue. In the end though, what I am able to supply is a huge blessing. Whatever I can give is good for George.

Just saying, it is also nice on our wallet to keep pumping. Even with only one feeding of formula a day, I feel like we are just zipping through this container of formula.

You have to always be re-evaluating this nursing experience. Your situation and baby’s needs are going to make things change, so you have to be ready to evolve with what is going on. It can be really stressful at times. For me, it was in those moments that I realized we needed to do something different because it was not healthy for any of us to continue down that path. So adjustments are made and you move on to the next thing.

Which is teething…oh buddy.

Do you have experience pumping at work or know anyone who does? Did you have struggles? What are your tips? Did you feel like a bag lady going into work everyday?

November 26, 2014 by Stephanie

George-3 months

Weight: He weighs 11.4 lbs now. He has more than doubled his birth weight. I don’t know where my tape measure is right now to measure his length, so maybe I will find it before 4 months. It’s hard for me to see how much he has grown sometimes since I see him every day, and then I look at pictures and think holy moly he is a big boy.

Health: An update on his heart scans: they went well. He still has some holes, but the doctor seems optimistic that they are normal and will close on their own. They are getting smaller, but they aren’t on par with most kids his age so we are going to have to go in again for another scan at 6 months to just keep checking the progress of them closing. The doctor did say that George is not reacting negatively to them so that is a positive sign that he is just fine. So hopefully that is the case. Otherwise, this kid is doing super health wise. He still spits up, but we now think most of that has to do with the fact that he just eats too much so it has to come back up. And now it is not violently painful for him so that is good news. He still looks like he is in pain when he farts/poos. The gas drops made him throw up more so we stopped giving him those. So we are just working through the gas issue with rubbing and warm cloths to make him not so tight.

Diet: Still exclusively breastmilk. This last week he has been pretty awful during nightly feedings. He will shriek in the middle and right after the feeding all the while doing windmills and burpees on my chest. I don’t know what his deal is, but he usually calms down about 20 minutes after we barrel through the feeding. He is not doing this when he is fed through a bottle or our first feeding of the day. Who knows. I did buy formula again (our previous back up stash is in KY.) I have not been pumping as much as he is eating through the day so we depleted our frozen stash again. Plus sometimes I don’t have the time to do a full pump session at work. I had to start pumping right after he does his first feeding in the morning to make that little bit extra for him. I think it is interesting that I can’t pump enough to feed him but yet he was doing just fine when he was just breastfed. So anyway, I bought formula again to have on reserve. I plan on writing more in depth about our new feeding adventure with pumping here soon too. Funny story about feeding: George’s cousin Ava, who is 5, is around him quite a bit. She gets upset with me all the time because I don’t let her feed him since I am breastfeeding. She said to me the other day that if she had a kid she would let me feed them. Way to guilt trip me Aves. She is helping babysit him today so hopefully she will get lots of feeding time with him to hold her over for a few days.

Clothes: We put away all the newborn clothes a week ago. Tear. He is rocking the 0-3 month clothes and some select 3 month items. Most are still pretty roomy but he is slowly filling them out. Another note about baby clothing items, I think it should be a rule that all pants are made with built in feet/socks. Baby socks are worthless 90% of the time because 90% of the time they do not stay on.

Sleeping: He does so well sleeping. He is still taking several naps a day, but he is also sleeping through the night. Which makes for one happy momma. His down for the night bedtime is 10pm. Then sometimes he will start stirring about 4:30, and then we wake up officially at 5am to get ready for the day. Since we are in limbo with our living situation and currently staying with my in-laws, we don’t have a crib. We were trying to make the Rock and Play still work for him, but he outgrew it for a full night’s rest. He can still nap in it for short periods of time, but when he fully stretches he bumps his little head on the top. My sister-in-law gave us a Pack and Play to use in the meantime until we get a house and unload the crib. I was concerned about him laying flat on his back and throwing up on himself which is why he was in the inclined Rock and Play for so long. But he has been doing great in the Pack and Play! I don’t think he has thrown up on himself during sleep time once since the switch, which was not the case a couple months ago.

Likes: Gosh this kid loves to snuggle and be held. I don’t mind that one bit! And since we are living with Grandma and Papa right now, he really is never put down for the most part. He LOVES ceiling fans. We joke that he is making love poems about them. “Oh fan of mine…” He likes to stare out windows and at Papa’s fish tank. He loves being sung to and talked to. He is pretty content when he is put in his baby swing. He still wants a pacy a lot, but it is getting less and less the more talkative he gets. He still loves the Kick and Play Piano…and by love I mean he kicks the dickens out of it.

Dislikes: He still hates being naked and diaper changes. The worst part of his day is lotion time. It is absolute torture for him. Just dreadful. He screams so hard that I usually have to stop halfway and hold him so he will remember to breathe. Yes it is that awful for him. He does tolerate baths now, but not the dreaded lotion. He does not like it when you stroke his spine, which is the same ticklish spot that I have and makes me quiver. So we just have to remember to pat and not rub his back. He also is still not a fan when we are actively attempting to do tummy time, but he does nap on his tummy sometimes. Weird kid…

Milestones: He can hold his head up on his own now. We joke that we should have made him a bobble head for Halloween because that is what he looks like when he is trying to steady himself. He will stand (with much holding assistance); he likes straightening out those legs and putting his weight on them. He smiles and responds to people now. BEST THING EVER. We can get him to imitate a howling noise, and he will go back and forth with you. I am overcome with joyful emotion when he does this (seriously I have tears sometimes), but of course he doesn’t ever do it as well when I am trying to record it. Geez George, just trying to capture the memories. Anyway, he is definitely trying to find his voice now and figure out what that mouth can do. He rolls his tongue a lot and sticks it out like a lizard. And that stinkin’ smile is just adorable. He is doing great at the babysitter’s. The other kids love him, and I know he is just loving all the attention he gets. This past weekend he rolled on to his side. I don’t think he realized what he did because he has only done it that one time. He is throwing his booty up in the air quite a bit though while he flails his little legs around on the Kick and Play. I wish I had that sort of enthusiasm when I was doing leg lifts…So I think constant rolling is in our near future. So there’s that.

Quirks: He can raise one eyebrow. It is hilarious that he knows he is giving you the stink eye. He curls his toes, which is something that I do as well.

We parents are: doing fairly well. This month has been a little rough because we are apart and doing A LOT of transitioning. Tom is officially out of the Army on December 5th, and we are in search of a new home. So there is still a lot of things in a state of flux right now on top of the new job situation. We are making it work though. I have been trying to figure out a new workout routine because I have definitely been feeling like sludge since starting my new job. Also I am hungry 100% of the time. Breastfeeding can also be coined the suckage of all calories out of my body. Tom has been super bored by himself in KY, so it will be nice to be back together so we can be homebodies again.

The dogs are: freaking out with the move process. They obviously aren’t with George right now, but they are definitely not acting themselves with us gone. Tom is in the midst of packing our home in KY, and they do not like living amongst all the boxes. They do move permanently back this weekend though, so we are happy about that reunion. They can be a big drooly mess together.