6 Month Check-up and Feeding

So, we went in for Sprout's 6 month physical on Monday. She was 14 pounds, 8 ounces and 27 inches long. Her weight was in the 14th percentile, which was moving enough in the right direction to keep us from extra tests or supplementation. Mommy was quite relieved. It seems that she's back to growing well. Yay!

She's right on track developmentally, and her doctor commented on how different she was from 2 months ago when she was still so serious and we expressed some concerns about her lack of interaction. Now she's all smiles, sitting up on her own, and grabbing anything she can get her hands on. It's really amazing and she has become so much fun. DH and I feel like we've come out of a fog.

Right now, she's still nursing 6 times a day, but some feedings are much more successful than others. She has become so distractable! We're now feeding her 3 solid meals a day. Each one consists of about 2 tablespoons of oatmeal mixed with an ounce of formula plus a vegetable or fruit. We then give her the rest of the 2 ounces of formula we mixed up in a bottle. Normally, we might not give her so much cereal, but since we really need to get some meat on her bones, that's the way we decided to get her supplemented. She's quite a good eater most of the time and looooves her sweet potatoes!

We decided to use mainly Earth's Best organic baby food. I'd love to make my own and I hear it's pretty easy, but since there is very little organic produce available around here, we decided that it was probably healthier to just buy organic baby food. My entomologist step-father is loving the extra baby food jars.

I'm still really trying to figure out how to meet some mommy friends. I tried the library story time for babies, but there were only 3 people there and this week was the last week. Why do they need a summer break for infant story time? I'm so sad. We'll probably do a baby & me swim class over the summer, so maybe that will be more successful. I'm not sure what else to do. I'm not a very outgoing person in general, so it's tough, but I need friends.

Breastfeeding Update & Solids

So, we introduced solids after Sophia's not-so-good weigh in a few weeks ago. She is a great eater and started plumping up well. Then we went on vacation and she caught a cold. The combination led to some poor eating. We went into DH's office for an informal weight check at the beginning of the week and she'd gained 6 ounces in 2 weeks. Definitely still a lot lower than where she should be. So, we're mixing her cereal with an ounce of formula and giving her the other ounce in a bottle, since you can't mix less than 2 ounces very easily. We also started introducing vegetables and Sophia is a fan.

She took to the formula quite well, which is honestly kind of a relief to me. As a consequence, I decided to stop pumping unless I miss a feeding. I have enough in my freezer stash for a missed feeding here and there, though a big portion will likely be depleted when DH and I go on our date next week to see Wicked (I can't wait). When it's gone, we'll just give her formula for missed feedings. As I said, I'll still pump when I miss a feeding to maintain supply (and relieve pressure) and I may change my mind when we use the end of our freezer stash, but not having to take half an hour of my precious little time with DH in the evenings to pump has definitely made me a happier woman.

Breastfeeding is generally going well, though I did have a bout of blisters while traveling. I guess it just came from having to feed her in strange places in positions that aren't quite right. It gets so discouraging when it's really painful, but it's so nice when it's not, that I keep trucking through it.

Things to bring when traveling with baby

So, I'm not going to go through all the obvious stuff - clothes, diapers, etc., but a few extra things we needed:

• Bring your own car seat no matter how much DH tries to convince you that borrowing from the rental car place is a good idea. We ended up buying one because the one they gave us was awful.
• Wet bags (or Ziploc). I'm a cloth diaperer, so I had wet bags, but they'd be helpful for anyone while traveling to stow messy outfits, dirty bibs, etc.
• Diaper covers. Again, I use cloth diapers, but we used disposables on the trip. Last time we traveled with disposables, LO blew out every single time she pooped. Yuk! This time went much better. We put Thirsties covers over disposables and they worked like a charm to keep in the poo.
• A largish blanket to use as a play mat.
• A pacifier, even if LO doesn't usually take one. Our little girl doesn't love them and used to refuse them entirely, but she'll suck on one for a little while now, and that few minutes provides just enough time to get through security or other situation where I can't feed her change her right that second. With the paci clip, it also served as a toy that she couldn't drop.
• Everything you need if LO gets a cold, because she probably will. (snot sucker, Tylenol, saline)

We went to Target the first morning there to stock up on diapers, wipes & baby food so that we didn't have to pack them. We also ended up buying a Boppy. I was already getting blisters from nursing in odd places/positions, so it was worth it, even though we had to leave it. I'll be sending back that card to get $7 back instead of the parenting magazine, though.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but since it's nap time, I'm going to try to start getting this house back in some semblance of order.

Family Vacation

We had a wonderful family vacation in Arizona. It was certainly an adventure. Traveling with a baby makes things more interesting, for sure, but it was a special moment, sharing the Grand Canyon with my little girl. She was a trooper, even after she caught a cold. She adapted to everything we threw at her with way more grace than I did. We said many prayers of thanksgiving for how great she was on the trip.

I'll probably be adding a few more posts with tips and lessons learned and such, but for now, I'll just say - if you're thinking about taking a family vacation ,just do it! It will be different than you expected and often not easy, but making those memories together as a family is priceless.

One evening, I was frustrated and tired and trying to feed her sweet potatoes mixed with oatmeal sitting in the car. Then suddenly, I realized, that instead of struggling with her at home, I was having this experience while watching the sun set over the Grand Canyon. I mean you can't beat that. I breastfed her in all sorts of new and interesting locations, learned how to change diapers in the car on my lap, and put the stroller through its paces.

And Arizona is such a beautiful place. From cacti growing in Phoenix to snow-capped mountains to the painted dessert to the Grand Canyon, as DH likes to say, "That God can sure paint a picture." It's too bad our little girl won't remember this vacation, but we'll be sure to tell her about it and show her the pictures.

My Grandma

So, I was planning on getting to this with my "Overwhelmed" post, but Sophia woke up and I never got there.

My Grandma is 90 years old. She is an amazing woman. She has lived all over, including joining the Army in the middle of World War II and then just deciding to go to Alaska to get a job when she got out of the service. She has an adventurous spirit and she has had a profound influence on my life. She moved to Alabama when my brother and I were young because my brother has some significant disabilities and she wanted to be there to help my mom. A lot of times, that help involved spending time with me.

Anyway, her health is in serious decline. She developed macular degeneration many years ago and when it got to the point where she was more blind than not, she really couldn't live on her own anymore. She now rotates among my mother and her two sisters. She's been down this way staying with my mom since January and stayed with me last week while my mom was gone. It was tough. It was wonderful to spend time with her, but it was also hard to take care of her and Sophia. And then I felt guilty for feeling overwhelmed by it all.

Plus, every time I see her, I realize that she's getting weaker and weaker and needs more and more help. She talks a lot about dying now. I think she really thought that she would come down and meet Sophia and die while she was here. She's almost disappointed that she has to go back to New Jersey next week, when she usually is excited to move. Part of that is that she adores our little girl. She just ate up her time with us, though she lamented that she couldn't help me take care of her. I could see her disappointment when she would try to hold her, but was shaking too much and it just upset them both.

Losing her is going to be really tough when it happens and it makes me sad that Sophia will not get to know her like I did. I've started a project with the family of recording her stories so that we can compile them one day. I hate seeing her struggle so much and so weak. But I am so grateful that her mind is still as sharp as ever and that she can still share the things that are most important.

Overwhelmed

So, I took Sophia in for a weight check yesterday. She had dropped a bit in percentiles at her four month check-up, so we wanted to do a weight re-check in a month to make sure she was on track. She's not. She only gained 6 ounces in a month. I'm so sad. In that same month she has blossomed developmentally. She is smiling and laughing and interacting more than ever. She has become such a joy and I hate putting her down for naps sometimes because she's so much fun.

Her pediatrician (one of DH's colleagues) is a wonderful, kind, and calm man. He is super supportive and did nothing to make me feel bad, but I did anyway. I feel like I should have known that she wasn't gaining weight. I feel like I've been doing so much and working so hard to continue breastfeeding, but I've still failed. All the supplements and pain and giving up foods, did it end up hurting more than helping her? Should I have just given up in the beginning when my milk didn't come in quickly? I realize that all of these things are irrational. I realize that she has gotten many benefits from my breast milk and that she is growing and developing normally. The rational side of my brain is fine, but the emotional, hormonal mommy brain is having a rough time. I feel like I just got my test paper back and it has a D- on it.

So she's not gaining weight. As noted in previous posts, I breastfeed all the time. I cannot add in more feedings. We decided to go ahead and start her on solid foods. That's not a bad thing, but I feel like I'm cheating, somehow. Her pediatrician knows that I've had a difficult time with breastfeeding and told me that while he was not saying I should stop breastfeeding, I should give myself permission to give her formula occasionally if I want to and if it would make life easier. I'm not there yet. My sweet DH would say that I'm being stubborn and he's probably right. I don't think he can possibly understand how emotional breastfeeding can be. How when its working well and she's nursing, it's one of the sweetest moments ever.

I must say here that I have zero judgement on anyone who decided not to breastfeed or gave it up at some point. Believe me, I know how hard it is and know that others have struggled even more than I have. This post is about me and my hang-ups and not a tirade about how everyone should endure constant blinding pain from never-ending nipple blisters to nurse. I realize I'm crazy :)

So, we start foods and watch her more with the feedings. Maybe pump here and there in place of a feeding to get an idea of what she's eating. In a month we weigh in again. If she's dropped off more, then we start tests and lab work and extra needle pricks. I hope it doesn't come to that. The doctor (and DH) say that they really don't think she has an underlying medical issue because she is doing so well otherwise and her length and head measurements are still on track.

She had her first cereal last night. She loved it. It actually made me feel better about the whole thing. She sucked it down and would've eaten more, if we'd let her. She wasn't as crazy about it this morning. She ate some, but not as much and lost interest pretty quickly. I'm trying to think of it as a milestone, which it is. My little girl is growing up. Now we'd better hurry up and get a high chair. This feeding stuff is messy!

Colds, Breastfeeding, and Smiles

So, we are on the tail end of another cold. Poor Sophia. Having a pediatrician as a daddy does have it's downside. He tries so hard not to get her sick, but I think it's inevitable. Luckily, it's just been lots of colds so far. I just hate hearing that pitiful cough.

My blisters are clearing up, thankfully, and I've resigned myself to wearing plastic nipple shells for the duration of breastfeeding. I hate them, but they are a lot better than the blisters. We get to start solids soon. I can't wait. I'm experiencing breastfeeding burnout. And I don't feel like I can take much of a break because we went through a good bit of my freezer stash during the last round of blisters. I had also stopped pumping so now I'm only getting an ounce or two at my evening pumping, so it takes me 3 days to have enough for one feed. It's going to take a little while to build things up again.

I love having a smiling and interactive little girl. It makes everything so much easier. She may have been late to smile and had her parents worried, but she's making up for lost time and I'm loving every minute. It has done wonders for her daddy's mood, too. I can see him not wanting to leave her in the morning and soaking it up during the evening instead of trying to find excuses to hand her off. We're enjoying the reprieve between colic and teething. May it last awhile!