Sleep Training and Praise be to Solid Food!

If your little one was a good sleeper....boy are you lucky! I am incredibly jealous. Even after we got the reflux under control little man would STILL wake up 1-2 times a night looking for some food. At his 6 month appointment  (Although I was in a better place) I was so dang tired of getting up twice a night. His doctor informed me that at 6 months old he did not NEED to get up anymore and that we could begin sleep training. Since he was waking up to eat she recommended that we wean him off night feedings.



So what we learned quickly was that he was ABSOLUTELY in it for the milk. The first wake-up was usually around 11 and he would put up a little bit of a fight but we could rock him back down without the bottle. Soon he dropped this wake-up (because he was in it for the food not the cuddles) and instead only woke up around 3. Well by 3 AM his little tummy must have been growling because it took MONTHS to drop this one. I admit, we could have been stronger. There were some nights when we caved and gave a tiny bit of formula just so we could all go back to sleep. Unfortunately that just delayed the weaning/sleep training. Please note: We have a VERY small home. I can walk clear to the other side of my house and still hear everything that's happening at any time anywhere in the rest house. My husband slept with ear plugs in...there was no escape.

Then something glorious happened. Solid food. Well semi-solid food since there is no chewing involved. Once we got some good old FOOD into this kid he started to sleep through the night. He inconsistently slept through the night from 9-11 months and by his first birthday he was a sleeping champion. (going down to one nap a day was also very helpful) Now he is a sleeping pro. He naps for 2 hours a day. goes to bed without fuss, and unless he is teething or has a nightmare we don't see him until 6AM. (Bed time is 7:30)

Reflux, Pumping, and a Dairy Allergy - Answers and the turning point

When my little one was around 3 months old our pediatrician started him on baby Zantac. For about a month this was a GAME CHANGER. He went from constantly upset, hungry, and pooping/puking to just pooping/puking. It doesn't sound like much of an improvement but it is HUGE when you want more than 2 hours of sleep at a time. So as things improved and he went from being up every 2 hours to every 4-6 hours we found a better rhythm as a family.

I was back to work right around  this time so I was pumping as much as I could but my supply was plummeting. Can we side note for a minute?



Pumping at work is a nightmare. You start your day like the crazy bag lady as you carry in your pump, parts, bottles, cooler bag, etc. Then if your experience is anything like mine (Read: no private office) you end up carrying your stuff down to a "Mother's Room" or a "Lactation Room" or a "Pumping Room". (I work in a school so "Mother's Room" is the chosen title) This room was a hell-hole. Listen I am grateful that there are new laws requiring employers to designate these spaces BUT the requirement is very bare-bones. They must provide seating, a fridge, and lockable door. Aaaaand that's about it. My place of employment took what used to be a closet (Yes it was a walk-in closet...they didn't even take the shelves down) and found some old chairs from sitting areas. Then they added a mini fridge. And that's it. It is in the basement and has no cell reception. It is cold, uncomfortable, and feels dirty. Plus it is really only set up for one mom at a time. My friend and I asked for an old divider from the school nurse so that we could pump at the same time without having to be all in each other's business. 

I tried to bring in some homey touches but adding a basket full of supplies like extra milk bags, saniwipes, snacks, and an extra phone charger. We added a white board so we could leave messages for the other moms. No matter what we did (unless I was willing to shell out some major bucks) it was just an uncomfortable situation. There was the added challenge of not having a sink or microwave (two ways to sanitize pump parts). Sure you can seal them in a container and pop it in the fridge but who wants to hold cold flanges to their nipples....not I. So I ended up bringing TWO sets. What a mess.

So as you can imagine, with my supply tanking and my willingness to sit in the closet also tanking, I was ready to start giving more formula. I was combo feeding but until this point I was going about 75% breastmilk and 25% formula. So first I went to 50/50 and then it became more like 60/40 with nights bring entirely formula. Then it happened. Bloody Diaper. It was after Christmas and we had family with us. I called his doctor and they told us to either go to CHOP or Lehigh Children's. City Driving is about my least favorite thing so we went to Lehigh Valley instead.

After a traumatizing ER wait (That's a different story for a different day) we have two different doctors FIGHTING in front of us about what was causing the bleeding. They eventually send us home with no real answers. One doctor strongly believed that it probably just a Diary Allergy and advised me to stop formula and cut dairy from my diet completely... or buy this very fancy very expensive dairy-free and soy-free formula called Nutramigen.


Well...I can tell you. This was the turning point. I dropped Breastfeeding and pumping and we started him on Nutramigen (which warning...smells like hot garbage). Holy life change. He started only waking once at night. He wasnt pooping/puking like before. I was actually happy and enjoying feedings. My PPD faded away and I finally was the Mom I wanted to be.

Praise to you Nutramigen and Zantac!

Home with a Newborn- Breastfeeding, PPD, and Maternity leave

For many, the newborn phase is their favorite. Tons of snuggles, sleeping every two hours, lots of 1 on 1 time, cries are still sweet and tiny, etc. For other this can be the most trying time. I can tell you that I was suffering. Suffering big time. I felt very unprepared for the healing and the changes in my life and my body. I was unprepared for the constant fear that the baby wasn't being cared for properly (made much worse when I struggled with  breastfeeding and he had Jandice). I felt alone and scared mostly.



I should preface this topic with the disclaimer: I had PPD (Post Pardum Depression) and I waited entirely too long to talk about it and get some help for it. So everything I experienced was clouded by these feelings that I was a bad mother. With that disclaimer lets break it down.

Breastfeeding:
Boy oh Boy. This may be the biggest challenge I have ever faced. My tiny little baby had a hard time latching and I had a hard time producing. So the hospital had me pump. Pump after every feed and then feed what I pumped - repeat forever. This meant that if he needed to eat every two hours I would spend 30 minutes breastfeeding, then 30 minutes pumping, then 30 minutes pace bottle feeding. That's an 1 and a half. All I did for weeks was worry, pump, and worry, cry and then mix my breast milk with formula. I did end up combo feeding which was a blessing and I was able to do that for 3 months until we found out that he had a dairy allergy. Then we switched to Nutramigen which is daily free and smells like hot garbage. He drank it anyway but unfortunately he had terrible reflux.  Around 8 months this eased and he puked less and slept more.



Maternity Leave:
Turns out, I am not stay-at-home-mom material. About half way through my leave I was ready to come back at least part time. I even asked if I could or if I could work from home a bit. They said no which was probably best for everyone but boy did I need to get out of my house and think about something other than diapers. The days and nights all run together because you are up every few hours. Simple things like eating and showering are difficult. I am glad I had the time 1 on 1 with my son but they were some of my most difficult days. I truly believe I became a better mother when I went back to work.