40 days

Flynn is starting to show an interest in solid foods and it's the cutest thing. We have him eat with us at the kitchen table during dinner (he sits in his bumbo seat) and he thinks the sight of us chewing is hilarious. He also loves when we make silly, loud chewing noises. Just recently, we noticed him opening his mouth and leaning forward... almost as if he's trying to take a bite of our food. But as much as we can't wait for him to try solids, we are holding off until he is absolutely ready. We'd also like him to be able to sit up on his own first.

The AAP now recommends waiting to start solids until 6 months of age, and I actually agree with them on this topic. So until May 6th (or for 40 more days), he will only be getting breast milk. Then, let the games begin! I am beyond excited to give him real food. Sweet potatoes, avocado, squash, egg yolk, banana... I can't wait to see his precious little eyes light up when he discovers that there is more to this world than just Mommy's milk! Cue the Aladdin song... a whole new worrrrrrld.

We received this book at Flynn's baby shower. It looks awesome!

Of course, I can't do anything the "normal" way, can I? I am interested in baby-led weaning, but need to read more about it. We are also skipping white rice cereal and going straight to more nutritious grub, like sweet potato and avocado. I just can't get on board with the idea of feeding Flynn a simple carb as his first food. What's the point? If it's not really that great for adults, it's probably not that great for babies. I will add oats & brown rice to his diet a little later.

Then there is the whole organic issue. I've always heard of the "dirty dozen" when it comes to selecting organic v. non organic produce, but now that I'm going to introduce it to my little baby's pristine digestive system, I can't stand the thought of feeding him pesticides. This website has the whole list of best & worst produce as far as pesticide contamination is concerned. Preview: Apples = the worst; Onions = not so bad; Oranges = right in the middle.

Growing up, I was always annoyed that my Mom wouldn't buy sugary cereals, like Lucky Charms. And now just look what I'm doing! Gah. I am my mother after all. If Flynn is anything like me, he'll love sleeping over at his friend's houses and eating their cereal. And if he's anything like my husband, he'll like Kool Aid. And have a full beard at age 14.

<3 Meg

P.S. - You can read more about why we're skipping traditional rice cereal here.

Cloth Diapers: 4 months in

Before Flynn was born, I was super excited to cloth diaper. Then, immediately after he was born, I was very apprehensive about our decision to cloth diaper. But, like anything, it just took some time to develop a routine. 

[Does this make my butt look big?]

We exclusively used disposable diapers until all the meconium had passed and his circumcision healed. Flynn was swimming in his FuzziBunz one size diapers at 8 pounds, but after using them for a week, I was hooked. We did, and still do, put him in a disposable diaper at night because they are more absorbent. Unless he poops, we don't change him. It makes nights quieter if he's not rudely awoken by a diaper change before or after a feeding. Quieter nights = happier mommy & daddy.

[Flynn in a disposable from Goods Store in Amish country. They also sell cloth diapers!]

Even before transitioning to cloth diapers, we switched from disposable to cloth wipes. Best. Decision. Ever. We have specially designed cloth wipes, and also regular wash cloths from Target. The special cloth wipes are smaller and ideal for quick clean-ups, while the wash cloths come in handy for, uh, larger messes. They go right into the wash with the cloth diapers and nothing has stained or smells.

I don't want to bore you any longer, so let me just jump right into my list of pros and cons of cloth diapering. Keep in mind, I'm going off of my experience with one type of cloth diaper, FuzziBunz One Size Pocket Diapers. I have heard great things about other brands, including G Diapers & BumGenius, and there are many more out there! Amazon sells almost every brand and all the cloth diapering accessories you could ever need. Or you can find local shops and support them if you're into that kinda thing.

CONS:

- Up-front cost. You're going to be like, I'm spending HOW MUCH at one time on diapers? Ahhh! Sanity check: they are the only diapers you will ever need to buy.

- Extra laundry. If you don't have a washer & dryer in your house, you probably shouldn't cloth diaper. Just saying. You will be doing a few extra loads of laundry a week, depending on how many diapers are in your stash (we have 12, and would ideally like 15). And you will be doing extra rinse cycles to prevent detergent build-up if you have hard water like we do. However, there is so much extra laundry with a baby anyways... what are a few more loads?

- Not as absorbent as disposables. This is true. They're not. And it's because they don't contain chemicals that absorb which can be harmful to your baby. Cloth diapers rely only on natural fibers to absorb liquid. When Flynn recently starting peeing more, his diapers started leaking and now I double up on inserts. Hemp inserts and even old school cotton pre-folds are awesome. A little more stuffing and washing, that's all.

- Takes a while to get the right fit. It's not just "velcro & go." There are lots of snaps and adjustable elastic. However, this enables the diapers to fit your baby from birth through potty training. I adjusted the leg elastic two times so far on all the diapers (it's a little tedious) and the snaps are simple to adjust at each diaper change once you get the hang of it.

- Added bulk. "I like big butts and I cannot lie..." I find myself singing this to Flynn sometimes, because cloth diapers are bulkier than disposables. However, this turned out to be a "pro" for our skinny dude because now his pants stay up.

[4 1/2 months old!]

- Not convenient for traveling. Obviously, if you're going on a road trip to Disney or staying in a hotel without a laundry room, you may want to forego cloth diapers in favor of disposables for that week. No one ever said you can't switch back & forth.

PROS:

- Long-term savings. Once you've purchased your diapers & accessories (hanging diaper pail, travel wet bag, diaper sprayer, cloth wipes, extra inserts) there is good news. You don't ever have to buy diapers again! Sure, you may want to pick up an extra cloth diaper here & there if you find you're sick of doing laundry every other day. And keeping a pack if disposables on hand is probably a good idea for emergencies. But think about it... you will literally save thousands of dollars and that's just on your first baby. If you use the cloth diapers for subsequent children, the savings really adds up.

- Better for the environment. You're keeping thousands of disposable diapers out of landfills. Way to go, gang. Neat-o! And if you live in an area like ours that charges $3 per bag for trash pick-up, you're also saving money on the trash bill.

- Better for baby. I'm not saying you're a bad mom if you don't use cloth diapers, so don't start a mommy war with me. But listen, unless you're using "green" diapers, like Earth's Best or Seventh Generation, there ARE chemicals in there that may not be good for your babies skin. I mean, that's just science. And that leads to my next pro...

- No diaper rash! In 4+ months, Flynn has had zero diaper rash. We don't even own diaper rash cream. It's pretty amazing.

- Customizable absorption. Going on a long car trip? Putting your little one down for a nap? Throw an extra insert in there. Last time I checked, you can't double up with disposable diapers.

- Stylish colors & designs. Sorry, but I don't want cartoon characters on my kids' diapers. I think it looks tacky. I love FuzziBunz's fun colors and get all excited about matching them to his outfits. Nerd alert! Your baby also still looks stylish if he's going pants-less. Or outfit-less.

[He favors his hands over pacifiers. Can't say I mind!]

I love that cloth diapers are making a comeback. Who would have thought that having a baby would turn me into such a tree hugging hippie? Or maybe I just like having more money in my bank account. Either way, it's a win-win.

Awkward & Awesome Thursday: Pumping Edition

Today I'm going to enthrall you with all of the awesomes & awkwards of pumping breast milk at work. Let's see if I can organize my thoughts, because there are so many things I want to mention. I've been pumping at work (and at home) for over a month now and I'm finally into a routine. I think. Usually when I say I've got a routine down, something goes horribly wrong. So I probably just jinxed myself.

Random cute baby pic!

Awkward


Trying to discreetly store breast milk in the break room fridge. My pump came with this neat little cooler, but everyone knows what's really in there. (It's not toxic waste people. It's probably more sanitary than what you put on your cereal this morning.)


Toting my pump bag from the 3rd floor down to the 1st floor twice a day. Someone always says, "Have a good night!" because they think I'm leaving. Then they see me later... So now when someone acts as if I'm leaving, I say, "Oh, no, I'm going to pump breast milk." This guarantees that they will never question my comings and goings again. Plus, it educates people who think you can't work and continue to breastfeed. I'm doin' it!


Rinsing out bottles & pump parts in the women's bathroom. It was so awkward the first few times I did it, that I just gave up and started washing everything at home after work.


Being in a long drawn-out conversation with a co-worker, feeling my milk come in, and trying to abruptly end the conversation so I can go pump. It's technically called "let down" but I refer to it as "the booby tingles." 


The sound the pump makes. The walls at my office are thin, and I know people can hear the pump when they walk by my little pumping office. REH reh REH reh REH reh REH reh. (Sometimes, the pump talks to me. The suction noises sound like words. Yes, I've lost my mind.)


Practically undressing at work. Unless you're a total whore, it just feels wrong.


Awesome


The fact that I don't have leakage problems. One less awkward thing to worry about.


Knowing that I'm connected to my baby even when I'm not with him. Makes me feel less guilty about working when I know I can still provide him with the best form of nutrition.


Getting a little break twice a day a/k/a People magazine time! Brangelina. Are they ever going to get married? WHO KNOWS.


Proudly toting home 4+ ounces of milk. 5 oz. is my all time high. One day I only got 2 oz. and I cried. (That was when I had mastitis and took antibiotics. HUGE mistake.) Flynn drinks 2 4oz. bottles in the afternoons when I'm working, so I still have to pump another 4 oz. before I leave for work the next day. Low milk supply is the devil!


The Medela Pump In Style. Truth be told, I haven't tried another pump to compare it to, but this one is working great so far. They sell tons of accessories for it, too. Amazon has the best prices. Just throwing that out there. As if Amazon doesn't already have high enough self esteem.

Nom nom nom

To all you other pumping mamas. I salute you.

Sleeping Arrangements

When you have a baby, the first questions people ask you are "How is he sleeping? Is he sleeping through the night?" I find this very strange, especially coming from people who have children. Have they forgotten how little sleep they got in the beginning? I'm sure they mean well and are just trying to make conversation, but the question really irks me. Hormones? Probably. But it's as if they make the question a reflection of your parenting skills. Like it's a bad thing that my 2 month old isn't getting 8 solid hours. He doesn't work as an air traffic controller, so I don't really see why it matters.

I usually avoid the question and respond with, "He's sleeping like a baby!" Which is vague and super annoying to the asker. But also completely true. Breastfed newborns sleep for short increments because breast milk is digested very quickly, and they wake up because they're hungry. Flynn is almost 3 months old, and the longest stretch he's ever slept for is 5 hours. And he woke up SCREAMING because he was starving and I felt really bad for being so selfish. Since we brought him home from the hospital, I had been setting the alarm on my iPhone and waking him up every 2-3 hours at night to feed him. Then people were telling me to "never wake a sleeping baby" so I tried it. Yes, I got more sleep, but it started having a negative affect on his weight gain. So now I'm back to waking him up when he sleeps too long. Gotta put some meat on this kids bones to make Mr. Pediatrician happy. (Although, I'm pretty sure Flynn will always be weight-challenged if he has my genes. Could be worse.)

The other sleep-related topic that people want to know about is where he's sleeping. This is a touchy one, and depending on who is asking, I lie omit information. In fact, one of my midwives TOLD me to lie about it - ha! And the reason for that is because from night one until just last night, Flynn was sleeping in our bed. Judging from internet message boards, some people think co-sleeping is a form of child abuse (seriously, it's a big mommy wars topic). But I trusted my instincts which were screaming, do not let this baby further than an arms length away from you! We took safety precautions, made sure he wasn't near any pillows or blankets, bought a firm mattress, and I even placed a rolled up towel between Tim and the baby so he wouldn't be able to accidentally roll over on him. There was zero chance I'd ever roll over on him. It's a mom-awareness thing, that's all I can say. Any movement or sound he made, I was immediately awake. If he was TOO quiet, I'd wake up as well. 


Co-sleeping was fantastic for the first few months because he was nursing so frequently at night, and as soon as he woke up, I was there to feed him. He never had to reach the point of crying out of hunger. (Night nursing alone presents it's own challenges... aka... you can't see a damn thing. Thank goodness for the flashlight app!) But I really don't feel like going through the whole safety precaution/nursing spiel to most people, so I just say matter-of-factly, "We have a bassinet in our room." Which is technically true! It's right next to my side of the bed. However, Flynn wasn't sleeping in it. See how I avoided the question? I am sly like a fox.

I don't think our bed has been made since this photo was taken.

Last night, however, I decided to try out the bassinet (part of our souped up pack n' play, it also makes nature sounds & vibrates... baller). And it was great! I had more room to stretch out in bed, and when I woke up around 1am to pump, I didn't wake up Flynn. He slept sound as a pound. Well, except for waking up around 2am to eat, and then again at 5am... and then he never really went back to sleep. Sigh. You win, baby, you always do.

I really enjoy/ed having Flynn in bed with us... and who knows, he may end up there from time to time in the future. I laugh when people say, "You'll never get him out of your bed!" That's like saying you'll never get a kid out of diapers if he starts off in diapers. It's called potty training... and clearly it works since you don't see too many adults walking around peeing their pants. You can adjust your kids to anything new. It just takes time and patience.


Co-sleeping helped me sleep better and helped Flynn sleep better early on. He was in my belly for 39 weeks and 4 days, listening to the sound of my heartbeat and breathing... so clearly, those same sounds are still comforting to him. Plus, I never worried about him being cold at night since he had his mama's body heat!


I sometimes wonder why I rushed into buying a crib... or decorating Flynn's room. The only time he's ever in there is to get his diaper changed! Oh well. I had to do something with my nesting instincts.

2.5 months & still going strong

When you're nursing a baby, you feel like your entire life revolves around two things: your boobs. My boobs hurt. My boobs feel full. Are my boobs making enough milk? Can anyone see my boobs when I nurse like this? Are those stretch marks on my boobs?! Why is my right boob bigger than my left? Why does more milk come out of my left boob than my right? Will there ever be a day when I DON'T think about my boobs? Did you know that boob spelled backwards is boob? 

And this is if everything is going normally. Add pumping breast milk, going back to work, clogged milk ducts, breast infections & other people's opinions ABOUT breastfeeding into the mix... and it's enough to consume your every thought.

But no matter how awkward/time consuming/challenging breastfeeding is, I've come to love it and look forward to it every day. It's natural and a wonderful bonding time with my little guy. When he was a newborn, he would just focus on the job at hand. Now, he'll take a break, look up at me & smile and it is the most heart warming thing I've ever experienced. He'll never have that kind of a connection with anyone else, and it makes me feel needed. 

Flynn, 2 months old

For the first 7 weeks of Flynn's life, I nursed him on demand. I never set a rigid feeding schedule. I planned my life around him. Before we went anywhere, I'd have to plan everything out ahead of time so that he would be full & happy during the outing and we'd be back before he was hungry again. When I'm not working, I still nurse on demand. I don't believe there is such a thing as spoiling a baby by letting him choose when he wants to nurse. (Did I mention we co-sleep and it makes nursing SO much easier? That's a whole other topic!)


The first 2 weeks were rough. I couldn't get him latched on correctly and I was very sore. Nursing was borderline torture at times and I would dread feeding him again. I got some pointers from the nurse/lactation consultant from The Birth Center who came to our house for Flynn's home visit and they made a big difference. It hurt less and less every time I nursed and after a few days the pain went away altogether.

I've reached a level of comfort where I can now nurse Flynn while doing other things, whether it be surfing the net on my laptop, eating a bowl of cereal, pumping on the other side... hell, I've even sat at the dinner table and nursed him while I was eating! (Anything for a peaceful meal.) I've nursed him in my car in the Longwood Gardens parking lot, in the waiting room of my doctor's office and in front of family & friends. It's convenient and the health benefits for Flynn and myself can't be topped. Oh, and it's FREE! Except for buying a few bottles and a breast pump (which isn't absolutely required), it's much less expensive than formula, which I've heard costs $1 per ounce. (Ex. Flynn has 8 oz. while I'm at work. That's about $200/month that we're saving.)

Medela Pump in Style Advanced

Working outside of the home while breastfeeding brought a whole new set of challenges. I knew when I was pregnant that I'd be going back to work and I negotiated part-time hours with my employer. I also told them very directly that I planned on breastfeeding for as long as I could and would need them to accommodate me pumping at work, which they are required to do by federal law. I'm glad I was up front about it, because I now have my own private office with a locking door, comfortable chair, desk and get two paid 20 min. pumping breaks per day. I tote my breast pump around the office with pride! Not that it looks like a breast pump... it's concealed in a black shoulder bag. (BTW, I have the Medela Pump In Style Advanced and I love it!)

Did I mention THIS gentleman is also in my pumping room at work?

My midwife warned me that going back to work would put me at risk for a few problems, like clogged milk ducts and mastitis (a nasty breast infection). And of course, she was right. My body was used to feeding Flynn on demand, and suddenly, I was only pumping for 2 short periods of time in a span of 6 hours. I started getting clogged ducts and most of them went away, but sure enough, one morning I woke up feeling like I had the flu and my right breast felt like it was on FIRE. Awful. I stayed home from work and started antibiotics. 


Big mistake. I rushed into taking drugs because I wanted to feel better, but little did I know what they would do to my precious milk supply! It dwindled. Flynn was fussy during feedings because he wasn't getting his usual amount of milk and I was struggling to pump what he needed for his bottles during the afternoons while I'm away. I was stressed out, which only made things worse. So I stopped taking the antibiotics immediately (which I know you're not supposed to do) and started taking herbal supplements to increase my supply (fenugreek, blessed thistle, mothers milk tea). I also drank a TON of water and made sure I was eating healthy foods and enough calories.

I pumped around the clock, since your body works in a supply & demand fashion (the more baby takes out, the more your body makes), and after a few days, I was back to normal. I'm still doing a lot of extra pumping after work and even in the middle of the night, but it's working! Oddly enough, I get the most milk when I pump between the hours of 1am & 4am. It has something to do with prolactin levels... ehh, I'm no doctor. 


I am more than willing to sacrifice sleep & free time to make sure Flynn always has plenty of Mommy Milk. He hasn't had one drop of formula and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible. My goal is to nurse him for 12 months or longer and not start solids until around 6 months. 


Flynn's pediatrician already had the nerve to tell me, "Well, maybe you're not making enough milk." This was at his 2 month appointment, because he's a little on the small side (but not unhealthy). And I've had co-workers who know I'm pumping at work say, "Good luck, I only did it for a month before I gave up!" So encouraging...


Basically, I'm treating breastfeeding like I did natural birth. I'm determined to do it, and the more people tell me it's not going to work out, the more I want to prove them wrong. 


Why am I like this? I have no idea.

Flynn's Birth Story

Flynn is 9 weeks old and I’m finally sitting down to write this. Better late than never! I know you’re all just dying to know every detail… right?

Before I was pregnant, or married for that matter, I was fascinated by natural childbirth. I watched the documentary “The Business of Being Born” by Ricki Lake and was very turned off by the hospital birth process. It seemed so cold and strict. Not every woman is the same, not every birth is the same, but doctors expect everything to go the same way or there needs to be an intervention. (I’m sure a lot of this has to do with covering their butts from lawsuits, but that’s another issue altogether.) I’ve had bad experiences with doctors in the past and decided the typical route of a hospital birth with an OB was not for me. Plus, I figured if the cave women could do it… I could do it! Also, women in most European countries use midwives and have home births and they have less infant deaths than the U.S.

My mom (who had 3 natural births) always told me, “Just go to the Birth Center.” The Birth Center is a wonderful stand-alone facility in Bryn Mawr, PA located just steps from the Bryn Mawr Hospital, and they are affiliated if someone were to need an emergency transfer. All of their patients are cared for by CNM’s (certified nurse-midwives).

When I found out I was pregnant, I didn’t need to weigh my options. I already knew I wanted to give birth there. They only take a certain number of clients per month, and luckily I called early enough to get on the list. Tim and I went to their introductory seminar where we learned everything they do and don’t do. One of the big things they don’t do is offer pitocin to induce labor or epidurals. Fine by me! I wasn’t a fan of anything I read about either.

My pregnancy was ridiculously easy. Good genes? Good luck? Who knows, but it was a breeze. I kept running through month 6, then slowed down a bit and did yoga, walking & hand weights for the remaining months. I feel strongly that all of this exercise during my pregnancy gave me the birth outcome I wanted: a healthy baby & minimal recovery time.

Fast forward to Friday, November 4^th, 2011. I started noticing something at work that afternoon. I was losing my mucus plug! Hooraaaay. This usually means labor is imminent. And yes, it’s as gross as it sounds.

3am on Saturday morning, I woke up with contractions… REAL ones. None of this Braxton Hicks nonsense. I knew without a doubt I was in labor. And for some reason, I was extremely calm and nonchalant about the whole thing. According to Tim, I woke him up around 5am and said, “Babyyyy, I’m in laborrrr.” I honestly don’t remember sounding that dumb, but whatever. He jerked out of bed with a panicked look on his face and I told him to relax because my contractions were around 8-10 minutes apart. It was going to be a while. A while meaning approximately 27 hours… mm hmm, you heard me. It’s not like in the movies, kids! Especially not the first time around.

I called The Birth Center at around 9am to talk to the midwife on call and explained what was going on. I lost my mucus plug, my contractions were 8 minutes apart, and I was pretty sure my water broke. It wasn’t one big gush, but multiple small ones… kinda like I peed my pants a few times. Lovely! She told us to sit tight and keep timing a few contractions here and there. We should call back when they were 4-5 minutes apart. She also told me some FANTASTIC news. The midwife coming on duty was my favorite one… Gazelle! Yes, like the horse. I think I fist pumped the air when I heard this. I had seen her multiple times for prenatal appointments and had complete confidence in her.

My mom came over, gave me a pedicure and cleaned the house. She must have been bored. Tim took Indy out for a long walk. And we waited. At around noon, my contractions were getting more intense and were consistently 5 minutes apart. I called Gazelle and through my heavy breathing, she could sense it was time for us to come on over. Worst. Car ride. Ever. Driving on bumpy under construction 202 while you’re having contractions is torture.

From around 1:30pm-8:30pm… I labored, and labored and labored. Now I know why they call it labor. Hard work, son! Tim and I walked circles around the parking lot, and walked the steps, and walked the hallway… and I basically never sat down. Sitting down hurt like a mother#%&@$! After all that walking, Gazelle checked me and I was 4 cm dilated. Yep, all that and only 4 cm! I was in for a long, uncomfortable night.

I got into the shower in my room and lay over a birthing ball (exercise ball) while Tim pointed the shower nozzle right on my lower back. Ahhh, a tiny bit of relief. After about a half hour of that and lots more excruciating contractions, Gazelle checked me again. 5 cm. Are you effing kidding me? Tim said the look I gave him was one of sheer terror. How much longer was this gonna take? Hurry up, Flynn!

After the shower, I pretty much realized I was going to be naked from then on. Honestly, you reach a certain point where you just don’t care anymore. I got into the whirlpool tub and very quickly went from 5 cm to 8 cm. And boyyy could I feel it. I went into my own little world of pain and couldn’t really hear or see anyone. It was pretty bizarre. Tim put my birth mix on the iPod… couldn’t even hear it. I apparently yelled at him a few times, too. Sorry, babe!

It was around midnight when my body started having the urge to push. So I’m in the tub… pushing. The midwife decides to just go with it, even though I wasn’t 10 cm yet. (That’s what I like about them. They let you follow your instincts.) I got out of the tub, suddenly re-energized. This was it! I was going to pop this baby out! Not so fast...

For the next 3 hours, I pushed and pushed and pushed in every position possible. There’s the head! Wait, where did it go? Now ya see it, now ya don’t. Flynn’s big old head was stuck. (And yes, Tim looked.) Finally, Gazelle broke the news to me that Flynn wasn’t going to be born at The Birth Center. His heart rate was up and down for too long and he needed to be born in a hospital setting for safety reasons. Vacuum? C-section? I was crushed. I wanted to give up. It was over. I was going to the hospital. I failed.

But how can you think you failed after this beautiful screaming baby comes out of your body? It’s impossible. With birth, there is no such thing as failure if the end result is the baby you carried for 40 weeks. You finally meet him, and forget everything that just happened.

5 am. I bucked up, put my clothes back on, jumped into my car with Tim and Gazelle. No ambulance, baby head literally between my legs. We drove the 5 second drive to the ER entrance, illegally parked, I got in a wheel chair and was admitted. Hospital gown on. Monitors on. IV in. They gave me pitocin through my IV. Really you guys, was that necessary? I’m 10 cm and pushing. The doctor was rude and short with Gazelle. I remember hearing her say something like “Another one? You’re wasting my time.” How about stop being a bitch and deliver my baby!

I amused the nurses with my cave woman-esque moans and grunts. I heard the word “episiotomy” and got scared. Gazelle reassured me that it was probably for the best. They gave me a local & told Tim not to look. Slice. Push. Wahhhh! Flynn was born. He came out screaming, peeing and with the cord around his neck. Tim didn’t get the chance to cut it, but I think he was too exhausted to care.

Instead of handing him directly to me as the Birth Center would have done, he was whisked across the room for an oxygen mask and cleaning. I could barely see him. That was the saddest moment. I kept asking when I could hold him, but all of the nurses were ignoring me. I barely even noticed Dr. Bitch between my legs stitching me up without anesthesia. All I wanted to do was hold my baby. After what seemed like forever (pretty sure it was only 15 minutes), they handed me this little bundle and Tim and I stared at him in awe. He nursed immediately, with Gazelle’s help, and that was that. I did it. We did it. Oh, where was Tim that whole time? Right by my side. But I could barely even remember him being there. It was an insane 27 hour whirlwind.

We were released 12 hours later. Not the typical hospital stay, but that’s when we would have been released at the Birth Center. I felt surprisingly great after being awake for 36 hours and couldn't wait to get out of the hospital and back home.

A week later, I was back in my skinny jeans and 25 pounds lighter, to which I credit breastfeeding, genetics, age and exercising throughout my pregnancy. I’m not trying to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight because frankly, it was a little unhealthy. I had lost weight due to stress before our wedding and was hardly eating anything. Whenever I have spare time and Flynn is big enough to sit in the jogging stroller, I’ll get back to exercising. But for right now, I’m enjoying every minute of just lounging around nursing and holding the little one. It’s going to go by so fast…

Would I give birth without drugs again? Absolutely. But I know now why pitocin & epidurals are so popular. Birth is long & painful! But pain doesn’t kill you. You get through it and you forget about it, which I almost have only 2 months later. What I liked about having a natural birth was this: I could feel everything. Is it weird that I WANTED to feel everything? I was so curious as to what it would be like! After giving birth, I feel like I can accomplish anything. The more people told me I was crazy and that I’d be “begging for drugs”… the more it motivated me to have a natural birth. So, thanks haters ;-)

Flynn Ryan Annan

Born 11/6/2011 at 5:30 am

7 lbs, 3 oz. 19” long

Wipe Out

Today was the day we switched over to using cloth wipes for Flynn, who is snuggled up against my chest in his moby wrap as I type! He loves this thing.

4 days old and at the dog park!

We've already blown through two boxes of disposable wipes since he was born. They were very convenient during the first two weeks because he was pooing and peeing so frequently, and that meconium... nasty stuff!  It would have ruined my cloth wipes. However, the disposables were so flimsy and thin, it took a few of them to get everything off Flynn's bum. Just seems like a waste of money to keep buying them week after week. $4 a box x 4 boxes = $16/month for wipes alone. Uh, no thanks. (Buying diapers is annoying me as well but Flynn isn't quite big enough for his FuzziBunz. Soon though!)

After I used the last wipe, I made my homemade wipes solution. My bottle of dish detergent was almost empty, so I rinsed it out to repurpose it for the solution. I used 3 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of Dr. Bronner's liquid castille soap (the baby kind in the light blue bottle) and 3 tablespoons of olive oil (to keep Flynn's skin soft). In the future, I might add a few drops of an essential oil like lavender (to make it smell nice) or a few drops of tea tree oil (an anti-fungal).

The oil floats to the top, so I just give the bottle a shake before I squirt it on a wipe.

I felt like something useful could be done with the empty plastic wipe boxes, so I hung onto them and turned to my old friend, Google. Well, Yahoo! actually, but it sounds cooler to say I "googled it." Sorry, Yahoo!

This blog came up and I loved the idea. Who doesn't have a whole bunch of plastic bags shoved in a drawer or closet? I bring reusable bags to the grocery store, but always end up forgetting them when I go to other stores.

I made one for the house (lining waste baskets) and one for the car (doggy poop bags, wet shoes, etc.) Now they are all contained instead of floating around and they pop out easily! I love simple organizing ideas and repurposing.

UPDATE: We removed the olive oil from our homemade wipes solution because it was making our cloth diapers repel pee pee. No bueno! So right now it's just water & Dr. Bronner's and it still works great.

Happy Belated Birthday

Welcome to the world, baby boy!

Tired Mama

Tired Papa

Flynn Ryan Annan was born on November 6, 2011 at 5:30 am. Weighing in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. and 19" long... he is the most perfect little thing we've ever laid eyes on. We are completely in love.

Birth story to follow!

(Preview: 27 hours of labor...)

Wrap It Up

I don't know why people even bother trying to keep the Christmas season at bay until after Thanksgiving. Even if department stores didn't put up their greenery and start playing festive tunes, chances are you'd be thinking about holiday gift giving in advance anyways.

This year, my family smartly decided to switch over to a pollyanna gift giving format because we're getting too big to buy everyone an individual gift. (My immediate family is now comprised of 8 adults, 7 children & 2 dogs). We drew names over the summer while we were all down at the beach and set a monetary limit of $35-$40 with a "no gift card" rule. Because that's cheating.

As early as August, I create an "idea list" of what I'm thinking of getting my gift recipients, and the list slowly evolves over the next few months. By now, it's pretty much set and I've either bought some of the items and/or have picked up the supplies necessary to make them.

This year, I'm keeping my Christmas list on my new favorite app - Cozi.

I like to do a mix of handmade and store-bought, depending on the person. Let's face it, giving all handmade gifts can come across as cheap (even if they weren't cheap to make) and sometimes, what you plan on making isn't as cool as you thought it was going to be, so it's good to have something else in the box to back it up. Unless you're some world class knitter who consistently bangs out trendy scarves year after year, it's probably best to not rely 100% on your crafting skills. At least, I would never completely rely on mine...

Once November rolls around, I start feeling the holiday pressure. And additional pressure this year, literally, because there is a baby's head pressing on my internal organs. Stores jumping the gun on Christmas may add to this pressure, but in some weird way, I'm thankful for that because I'd be kicking myself if I waited until the beginning of December to start thinking about the holidays.

In addition to finalizing my gift list and starting to cross things off of it, I always think about how I'm going to wrap everything. Last year I posted about how I dislike "traditional wrapping paper." You know, the kind with cartoon santas and reindeer on it? Not a fan. If you give me a gift wrapped in paper like that, I'm not going to judge you or think it's lame, because clearly that wrapping paper spoke to you. The way we wrap gifts reflects our style, whatever it may be.



From http://www.marthastewart.com/276321/gift-wrapping-tips-and-techniques#/218249

Those who received gifts from us last Christmas may recall this wrapping paper in black and red. Spoiler alert! I'm going with solid colored wrapping paper again this year. I'm picking up a large roll of brown butcher paper, plain brown gift bags, colorful bakers twine and printing my own gift tags on cardstock. Free printable gift tags are available all over the internet. Like here & here. I love the simplicity and rustic look. Plus, you can wrap presents in this stuff any time of the year!

So don't get angry at Macy's for playing "Santa Baby" the day before Halloween. Take it as a hint and start prepping early so you can actually enjoy the month of December.

2 down, 998 to go...

I always have a list of projects that I want to do, and there is no end in sight. With this baby coming any day and my time about to be extremely limited, it's a problem. So tonight I happily told my husband, "Of course you can watch Terra Nova!" and I knocked two of them out of the way. To keep Indy from following me around the house, we gave him a disgusting delicious pork bone which he is still gnawing on hours later.

After my fabric flower failure, I decided to finish my placemat clutch with one of the brooches that decorated our wedding cake.

It started out looking like this.

The placemat cost $1.50 (Christmas Tree Shops), the magnetic closure was $2.49 (after a Joann's coupon) and the brooch was reused. Not bad. My plan is to look for some cuter placemats next time. Pier One? World Market? Just wanted to try it out and needed something cheap.

Next, I finished a project that I started LAST WINTER. Oh, the shame. I had promised Tim a cozy man-sized fleece blanket (apparently he was not happy with the size and warming capabilities of our current throws) and after I started it, we moved and it got packed away and forgotten about.

Until tonight!

 Just a simple tie-blanket, but hey, whatever makes the man happy!

I've also realized that this post at Small Notebook totally describes me.

My ideas definitely outweight my action these days.

Having a baby will solve that... mm hm... right.

Forget babies, let's talk dogs.

Bored with all the baby talk? Me, too! So I wanted to share a little about how we take care of our FIRST baby. Our labrador retriever, Indy! His name is short for Indiana Jones, but he is nothing short of adventurous. Keeps us on our toes, makes us clean the house a little more, and loves to lick our faces & feet. We adore him.

I never really gave it much thought before we got a dog, but now I'm such a believer in giving our sweet little pup the best stuff out there. My husband and I are literally seeing first hand how our dog's diet is a positive influence on his health and appearance.

We try to eat healthy. We buy processed snacks and indulge in desserts now and then, but the majority of our diet is made up of whole foods and I make homemade meals almost every night. We buy organic when we can, avoid added sugars and preservatives and also supplement with vitamins. In my mind, human or animal, any member of our family is going to be treated the same.

We got Indy from a reputable breeder when he was 8 weeks old. From the time he was eating solids, she fed him (and his brothers and sisters) Purina Puppy Chow. While researching dog breeds, my Mom sent me a few articles about typical dog food (like Purina) and what goes into it. Ugh, let's just say it was pretty disturbing.

Here are the first 5 ingredients in Purina Puppy Chow: Whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, chicken by-product meal, whole grain wheat, animal fat.

It doesn't sound terrible, until you realize that animals are like people. What happens when you load them up with processed grains (especially corn) and animal byproducts? They gain weight. They are more likely to develop diseases. They are unhealthy. They have digestive problems. The only healthy things in entire ingredient list are dried carrots and dried peas and they are pretty far down, which means there isn't much in there. Ironic that Purina's motto is "Long Live Your Dog".

So, we decided we were going to switch Indy away from Purina and try one of the newer holistic dog foods on the market. There are more and more available now, which is exciting! I had heard about Blue Buffalo brand and we decided to give it a try. After slowly weaning Indy off of Purina and onto Blue Buffalo, we still weren't impressed. The ingredients were definitely better, but his stools were unpredictable (sometimes loose, sometimes he was constipated) and often times, he didn't even finish the portion we put in his bowl. I'm not saying this dog food is bad, it just didn't agree with Indy so we were ready to try something else.

Indy loved these treats during Puppy Kindergarten & when we were housebreaking him!

Around this time, my Mom went to a local street festival and happened upon a Natural Balance pet food stand, where they loaded her up with free samples. She dropped them off at our house and we decided to see if Indy liked it, because we certainly liked what we learned about the products. (We'd never heard of it before, but once we started Puppy Kindergarten, it turned out to be the brand that the trainer recommended, so we figured it was worth a try).

Could Indy have gone any more BONKERS over this dog food? He went insane and gobbled it up so fast. We ended up giving him the rest of the dog food samples for meals & treats until they ran out, and then continued feeding him Blue Buffalo because we still had a whole bag of it left. Guess what? Once he had a taste of Natural Balance, he wanted nothing more to do with his old food. He was so over Blue Buffalo and would barely touch it. The next bag of dog food we bought was Natural Balance and now we're customers for life.

Just for a comparison... here are the first ingredients in a bag of NB: Sweet Potatoes, Venison, Potato Protein, Pea Protein, Canola Oil, Potato Fiber, Flaxseed

They also carry wet canned food & yummy "food rolls" that are GREAT for treats!

Indy's coat is sooo shiny - he almost glistens in the sun and we constantly get compliments on it. His poops are always normal, which leads to happy anal glands (graphic, but it's a part of our lives) and his stomach is rarely upset. He is also one muscular dude! 7 months old and he looks like he hits the gym twice a day. Sorry ladies, he's neutered. Playful, full of energy, social with other dogs/people/children, protective of us when strangers come to the door... just an all around happy & healthy pup!

Natural Balance is more expensive because of the high quality ingredients (like venison, sweet potatoes, brown rice & real chicken). It's about $15-20 more per bag than other non-holistic brands. But, like I said at the beginning of this post, we knew when we adopted a puppy that we were going to treat him like a member of the family and to me, giving him the best dog food we can afford is one of the ways in which we accomplish that.

Look at that face!

Disclaimer: Neither of us have any affiliation with Natural Balance, except that we feed it to our dog!

Least Productive Weekend Ever (For Me)

My lengthy to-do list got very little crossed off of it this weekend. What happened to my nesting momentum? I feel like all I did this weekend was clean up dog hair and do laundry. However, in trying to stay positive, here is what I DID accomplish...

- Finished writing out all of my thank you notes for baby showers.
- Made a delicious new meatloaf recipe & made an extra loaf to freeze for after the baby arrives (Mozzarella Stuffed Italian Meatloaf... amazing).
- Survived the wacky October snowstorm. (4-5 inches and we haven't had snow before Halloween since the 1950's!)

In the beginning...

After an hour or so...

My mums were very confused.

Getting 2 all-wheel drive vehicles was an excellent choice.

It's official. Indy loves snow!



- 3 loads of laundry.

- Vacuumed, swiffered, dusted & cleaned the bathroom.

- Took Indy to the groomers for the first time where they made him look & smell pretty (he even got a cute little Halloween bow... awwh). I'm not sure who the groomers spoiled more... me or the dog. He'll definitely be going back next month!

Daddy is not pleased with our manly dog wearing a ghost bow.

Indy got an excellent "Pawgress" Report from Pet Smart.

- Did not go into labor during the snow storm (Tim was very appreciative of this).

- Bought a new pair of wedges that actually fit. Your feet really DO get bigger from pregnancy. I went from a 7.5 to an 8 and my current pairs of flats are sooo tight.
- Attempted to make a fabric flower and it was disastrous. I don't even want to show you. It looks terrible.

Annnd there you have it. Seems like I did a good amount, but most of these things weren't on my actual to-do list. I'm simply reiterating them to make myself feel better. And I kind of do! Mission accomplished. Hopefully I have another baby-free weekend in my future to git 'er done.