To Breastfeed or Not?

Of course, 99.9% of any one will say, YES! Breastfeed!

With my first baby Megan, I thought "Of course I'll breastfeed." I didn't realize it was really hard to breastfeed.

1. The baby doesn't know what to do.
2. The latching on is the most crucial step. You don't get it right, it'll affect milk supply and how painful it is.
3. The first 2 weeks are awful.
4. Not only is the mom sleep deprived already, breastfeeding is time consuming.
5. You are leaking, your breasts are engorged, and sore nipples.

It took me 10 days. I had to stop. I did not look forward to each feeding and I knew that was bad when I was delaying the nursing. I was still in pain from my labor. I had a perineal tear that had its stitches torn within an hour of my labor. So I was restitched up a 2nd time.

The perineal tear made my recovery longer than most. It took me 10 weeks instead of the usual couple of weeks. From the pain to low milk supply, I was frustrated, in pain, and sad/depressed.

Switching to formula really helped my family.

With Emma, I decided to try breastfeeding again. I felt good! Emma was latching on (not perfectly but adequately) enough to get enough dirty and wet diapers. I was supplementing with formula also. I got through 5 weeks of pain. It was worth it.

But my decision to change to formula was a sad one. I loved the closeness I felt when breastfeeding. As much as I wanted to continue breastfeeding, it was time to go back to work. I had missed a lot of work time because I was put on complete bed rest since of my 31st week of pregnancy.

My doctor recommended me to continue to breastfeed in the morning and at night but I also work from home too. To make ends meet, my time breastfeeding had to stop. Everytime I look at Emma, I feel melancholy that I couldn't do more for her.

I'm glad I breastfed both my kids as much as I could. Circumstances now compared to in the past are different. We're working women and working moms.

Sleeping Battles

Megan is now 2 years old. Along with a new baby in the house, I am struggling to control Megan's behaviors. She had always been a great 1 year old toddler. Well minus her constant urge to get into every nook and crany of everything.

Yeah, so she's a handful.

But recently, (well 5 months ago), she started to have sleeping problems. She would get into bed at 9pm but wouldn't sleep until midnight. Around 20 months, she got the nerve to climb out of bed and walk through the door. We would find her in her play room at midnight. We put her back into bed and she would fall asleep ... an hour later.

We had to sleep by her side. If she wakes in the middle of the night, and one of us is not there, she would burst into tears.

So now at 2 years of age, and with a newborn, we need to make some changes. PRONTO.

I am at wits end when I ran across a parenting advice column. 2 parents recommended "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." I bought it and I'm reading it and already I see some hopeful and helpful tips.

Keep yours fingers cross

Daycare Hysterics

Megan is starting daycare on Monday. And I'm nervous. I know she'll cry. I know I'll cry. I don't even know if I can leave her in the care of strangers.

I just have to do it. I'm 5 months pregnant, working and grandma is very taxed from watching a growing 19 month old. Megan is stronger, faster now. She's injured grandma on several occasions and is getting very heavy for anyone of us to carry around.

I'm hopeful that we've chosen the right daycare. I was recommended to Primrose School but online reviews give me a bad feeling.

I don't know if I'm making the right decision. Well I know Megan needs to go to daycare to interact better with other kids her age. And she seems to like to play with other kids.

Our plan is to drop her off Monday at 9am or 10am. Play with her a bit and get her situated with the class. We'll probably pick her up at 1pm for several weeks. After several weeks, we'll extend the pickup time to 3pm. The latest we might leave her til is 5pm. But that's very rare.

Cross your fingers for us. I'll keep everyone updated.

Joys of Parenting

My 19th month old baby girl is really growing. She's just sprouting super fast. At her last checkup she was 34.5 inches tall and weighed 26lbs. The doctor was asking how many words she can really say and I was worried that she wasn't talking much. Mostly it was in baby gibberish that 90% of time no one could understand.

She says:
Mom
Dad
Ba - for grandma
Um - pick me up in vietnamese but it's been like 3 months since she said that word.
Where's that?
What's that?
Who's that?

Today she said something new! I had turned on the TV for her and she replied, "Tank You." hehe. I was shocked.

It made me happy and it's kinda promising that I'm doing something right.

Growth Spurt Over?

Wow, it's been a tough couple of months. When Megan turned 16 months, we noticed she began to be more whiny. She made hold her more often even when I told her I was very tired. She threw more temper tantrums when things didn't go her way. And it was awful going out to dinner with her throwing food and refusing to eat!

We were getting very sad and we missed our sweet natured baby.

For the past week, it has been a lot better. Especially going out to dinner last night. She did throw food on the floor but it was an accident. She picked up her bowl a little to swiftly and the contents flew out. She was easily entertained at dinner with sipping ice tea out of a straw and with ice cubes that she could play with. And she readily slurped up her milk without me, pushing the cup at her.

Today was another great day. Great improvement. At 12:30pm she climbed into bed, grabbed a pillow, pulled the covers over herself, babbled for a couple of minutes and now she's asleep. First time in a loonnng time that she was able to do that.

I did notice that 1 of her back molars came in. Maybe the babying was because she was in pain and she just wanted some affection. It is nice to have my sweet girl back. But I'm not looking forward to the other 3 molars though.

Nothing Should Surprise Me

Hehe. I'm writing this blog after I found harden sauce in my hair. It had clumped around the bottom of my hair in this hard mass. I had to pick at it and realized it was some sauce substance from my baby's food. She had went wild tonight, dumping everything on her high chair. Thank goodness it was only in the tray of her high chair.

I think I would cry if I had to mop the floor tonight.

Somehow her tossing and flinging sauce at me, made me laugh. I was happy that she was so carefree and excited. I guess that's just her being young. And within a year, two, even 18, I might never ever see that side of her again. I just want to enjoy it for as long as I can.

She also take in delight at HI-5 series that a friend of my parents sent to us. She loves the colors, the acting and the music. I couldn't tear her away from it. It got so good for her that while she bounced and jiggled to the music, I ate standing up. Stuffing my face, quick just to keep an eye on her. My husband kinda stood aghast at seeing supermom in action.

So nothing should surprise me to find sauce in my hair or that I who usually eat savoringly will stuff her face.

Sippy Cup Saga - RESOLVED

Oh my lord. Finally Megan is using the sippy cup without problems. It's been 3 days and nights and no complaints. I have fully removed the bottles and they are IN STORAGE!

YAY!

How I did it? I don't know.

Ok so I have an idea how I did it. It took 3 weeks though.

Step 1: remove the bottles from sight.

Step 2: Give only sippy cup.

Step 3: After tantrums and crying, I gave up and handed her the bottle.

Step 4: Try sippy cup tomorrow. Add something to that milk. Use something she likes. I used mashed avocado. She loves avocado. Let her see you add that item.

Step 5: Repeat Step 1-4. Add less of "GOODIE" to milk each time.

Step 6: Voila! Hand her the sippy cup without a blink or nervousness. She took it without even a tear.

Hang in there moms. You can sippy cup train 'em.

Why Are You Breaking Everything?

"Why are you breaking everything?" - That's what my husband said to our baby daughter, 14 months.

She was reaching up trying to turn the tuner dial of his stereo. He had to grab her away while she was happily trying to break off the switch.

Nice. That's my baby!

Sweet Baby Smell

My baby was sleeping so peacefully last night. I was giddy that she was sleeping well. Occassionally there are nights when she would fight sleep while sleeping. She would kick her legs and fling her arms from side to side. I don't know what she's doing, fighting in her sleep, but it sure doesn't make me sleep easier. Those nights are the toughest because I would be vigilant throughout the night. I wouldn't get any sleep because the slightest peep out of her, would make me pop from bed to take care of her. She never needs me, but I just worry.

Last night was a good night. I saw her clutching her blankie, sleeping on her side, breathing in and out. That was peace to me.

I gave her a kiss on her cheek and I just had to sniff her. And yes, that sweet baby smell was still on her. It's been there since she was born. The first time I held her in my arms, and I thought "She smells so good. I don't want to let her go."

So she continued to sleep. And I dreamt of her toothy smile when I woke up. I wasn't disappointed.

Sleeplessness

Last night was one night that I thought I would sleep as well as the baby. As it turns, this was not the case. I could not fall asleep at all. My mind was still active even though my eyes were weary. I kept twisting and turning so much I woke the baby up.

Megan sleeps with me. I love to co-sleep because it usually helps me sleep better. When she slept in her crib I would wake numerous amount of time just checking up on her. I fear that she's too cold, or too hot, suffocating from her blankie, or just not comfortable. A peep out of her during the night would make me shoot off the bed to check on her. I was terribly sleep deprived during those nights. It got better, yes.

Then it got worse. She began to teethe. She would have slight fevers in the middle of the night. She would wake up in terror, maybe in pain. I do not know. I just know that I felt better and I slept better when she was in our bed.

Last night was the opposite. I woke her up. She began to kick and squirm, irritated that I woke her. Her sleep was disturbed. So the rest of the night, each time I would slightly fall asleep, she did something to disrupt my sleep. I eventually was not able to sleep until 3 or 4 am.

I woke up feeling awful... and sick. I guess somehow during the night I caught a cold.

Sippy Cup Saga Part 3

Okay, Megan is finally getting the hang of the sippy cup. She drinks about 5 oz of milk today out of her sippy cup. Her final feeding before bedtime is still a bottle. However, I'm optimistic, she'll stop and start using the sippy cup for this last feeding soon.

I feel a bunch of stress just lifted off my shoulders. It was such a horrible task. Megan kept crying the demanding the bottle throughout the day. But I sucked it up and figured I have to be MOM. She can't control me or she'll walk all over me.

Each morning, she gets a sippy cup of milk and breakfast. I keep offering that same sippy cup every hour. I figure she'll have to get used to this sippy cup.

Sippy Cup Saga Continues

Currently Megan can drink from a sippy cup for water and juice, but NO MILK. She refuses to drink her milk out of a sippy cup. She actually like the First Years Take and Toss Cups, as shown left.

I tried many things today:

Getting her to drink from a cup only (no sippy). She actually liked that. But I didn't. It was way too messy. It spilled all over her. She liked it because she got to play with the mess.

I also tried using a straw. Didn't work because she couldn't figure how to suck from the straw.

Then I took her bottle without the nipple top part, and tried to show her how to drink like a cup and with a straw. No to both tries.

Tonight before bed, she usually takes a bottle of 8 oz. But tonight, I gave her a sippy and she refused it. So she went to bed without anything to drink. Hopefully she'll sleep well.

So tomorrow, I will try the milk with cereal deal.

Sippy Cup Dilemma

Wow. Just when I thought troubles were over, we're having sippy cup problems. She is drinking normally from a sippy cup for just water and juice. But she refuses to drink milk out of a sippy. I'm at my wits end.

I googled answers and found this:

1. Use a cup. Try with and without a straw.

2. Give milk in a bowl with cereal. Get baby to sip from bowl.

3. Use milk in something else, like a smoothie.

I made an avocado shake today using 2 oz of milk. Spoon fed her, and she liked it. I will try the other methods and see which works. Wish me luck!

Parenting Questions?

I remember the first week after my baby was born. I was stressed and sleep deprived. Megan was not breastfeeding well. She seemed always hungry. I didn't know enough about a baby to begin with. I felt like I was a horrible mom. "How could I keep raising a child when I don't know what to do?"

I mean, "Wasn't I supposed to know intrinsically?"

With the help of http://answers.yahoo.com/, saved my sanity. I would just search for answers. "How much is a my week old baby supposed to drink? How do you wash her? What am I supposed to do when she..." The most important thing I found was that many moms out there were in the same position as I was. They were having doubts but with http://answers.yahoo.com/ we found the answers we needed.

My current question was how much whole milk should my baby drink?

My doctor said "12oz to 15oz" a day. Megan was drinking on average 28oz a day. I found out that this was bad. Cow's milk contains a lot of calcium which could cause dental problems later on and even digestive problems.

So just in the past two days, I've but back 2 feedings. She seems to be handling it just fine. Amazing! I thought she would cry and starve.

I guess that means she's eating enough.