I ate a mushroom swiss burger from McDonald's yesterday - complete with fries and a sprite (no caffeine for me!). It was delicious. Of course, the back story... Readmore...
Breastfeeding my son never worked out for me. Although we enlisted the help of a lactation consultant during our hospital stay, my son would always scream and scream... Readmore...
During the last few weeks of my pregnancy, I developed a condition called Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy ("PUPPPS"). The only cure to the horrible... Readmore...
I took the baby out for the first time by myself! We just bought a new car (woot!) and it's so much easier to get in and out of. I had an old two-door Honda Civic... Readmore...
04-Sep-2009
I ate a mushroom swiss burger from McDonald’s yesterday – complete with fries and a sprite (no caffeine for me!). It was delicious.
Of course, the back story is that we’ve long suspected that the baby might be having an adverse reaction to dairy products in my diet since he is breastfed.
I have to say – it was an awful night. He was gassy and hardly slept which meant we hardly slept. Fun times in the fishbaby household.
01-Sep-2009
Test Drive Your Daycare
Leave your baby with your daycare before you start work. The week before I started my first day at work, I left the baby with his daycare for a few hours here and there. I had a lot of peace of mind knowing that I could pick him up anytime I wanted. It also gave me a chance to change my mind if I didn’t like what I saw there. If I didn’t like what I saw there after I had started work, there would be little I could do and helplessness about your baby is not a good feeling.
Drop By
I wouldn’t trust any daycare provider that did not allow you to drop by anytime you wanted. I have seen some daycares only allow parents to visit between certain hours. Dropping by unexpectedly allows you to see how your child is being treated and how he or she is behaving during the day.
Stay for a Little Bit
When I picked up my son for the first time, I stayed for about 30 minutes just to see the going-ins and outs of my daycare. It will reassure you that your child is well taken care of (or not). It allowed me to see how the children interacted with each other and how the daycare providers interacted with the children.
Organize the Night Before
Pack bags, diapers, extra clothes and the like the night before. That way, you are not rushing in the morning and accidentally forgetting to bring something crucial.
Accept the Anxiety
Many moms feel anxious leaving their child with someone other than their partner. The feelings are normal and many moms have been able to get through it.
31-Aug-2009
Every mom feels some anxiety about leaving their baby with daycare after their maternity leave is over. It was 3+ months of everyday baby and all of the sudden we are thrown back into the busy, working, adult world.
If it weren’t for the need for additional income or the fact that I loved my job, I would have never gone back. In order to relieve my anxiety about daycare, I actually googled “relieving daycare anxiety.” I found tons of articles about relieving my son’s daycare anxiety… but what about mine?
Horrifyingly, after some more various Google searches, I stumbled onto site after site about the negative effects of daycare (more prone to becoming aggressive, elevated stress hormones – but good vocabulary!). The more I looked into it the more I was determined to stay at home with my son.
Today, I went back to work despite the anxiety and guilt that I was not providing the absolute best for my son. It turned out okay. Many moms before me have gone back to work despite the awful feelings, could I be one of those moms that eventually finds some peace with work and daycare? Stay tuned…
26-Aug-2009
Breastfeeding my son never worked out for me. Although we enlisted the help of a lactation consultant during our hospital stay, my son would always scream and scream and never got properly got the hang of it. When we discovered that both he and I developed thrush, I pretty much gave up nursing entirely.
I googled and googled wondering if it were possible to exclusively pump and I found little information online. Surprisingly, I did find sites discouraging pumping exclusively. Eventually I found a community of exclusive pumpers and trudged on. In the beginning, in order to maintain supply, I had to pump every 3 hours. It was not easy. Eventually I learned to put the baby in the swing while I pumped for 10 minutes each time. I was waking up in the middle of the night as well. Obsessively, I kept a log for two months detailing my output and when it dipped, I freaked out. I bought lactation cookies from Etsy (mmm…!) and hoped that my supply would go back up.
At 12 weeks when my supply was theoretically supposed to stabilize, I began pumping every 4 hours. At 14 weeks, I began pumping every 6 hours. I’m still pumping every 6 hours and outputting about 60 oz a day – more than my son eats – but I like having back up.
My son is 4 1/2 months old now and although exclusively pumping is not easy, it’s definitely possible – despite what some sites say.
25-Aug-2009
Category : Pregnancy
During the last few weeks of my pregnancy, I developed a condition called Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (”PUPPPS”). The only cure to the horrible itching was to deliver the baby. Unfortunately, I wanted a natural pregnancy and wanted the baby to come when he was ready. I endured this condition for almost two weeks.
I tried several things to alleviate the itching with some solutions being more effective than others.
Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap. I don’t know if it was psychological, but Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap seemed to work for me. I would lather the soap with a sponge and rub it all over the affected areas. I took several showers a day before the itchiness became manageable.
Benadryl Cream & Pills. These were not effective at all for me.
Calamine Lotion. Although calamine lotion alleviated the itching for a few hours, I hated the drippy mess.
I was hesitant to try the Dandelion Root herb supplement that some people swear by only because I was not sure of the effects it would have on the baby. We did buy a bottle but it still sits unopened on my desk.
10-Jun-2009
Category : Baby
I took the baby out for the first time by myself! We just bought a new car (woot!) and it’s so much easier to get in and out of. I had an old two-door Honda Civic and when my husband and I got back from our trip, my mom had sold my car. We went immediately out and bought a new Honda CRV.
So, with our new car, I felt more confident to take the baby around. We went to Babies ‘R Us and I prayed and prayed he would not fuss.
Tomorrow is another adventure where I get to take him to the pharmacy. Our thrush infection has returned. :(
The baby is 8 weeks this Friday and we finally sent out our birth announcements. I’m also celebrating 2 months of breastfeeding/pumping!!!
08-Jun-2009
Category : Baby
We left the baby this weekend with grandma and grandpa and thank goodness I was too distracted with work to worry about him! Being able to leave him with my parents opens so many doors for us – movies, dinners, date nights.
I was able to have a sit-down dinner alone with my husband for the first time since the baby was born and it was really nice. Our time alone together just reminded me how important it was to not neglect our own relationship.
For now, back to the grind!
