Andy is on holidays which has been so enjoyable, however we havent had any opportunity to relax!! I will show you why!!
Our Kitchen before!!!
Our Kitchen After!!
Friday, December 28, 2012
Kitchen
We have had a crazy (insane!!) past few days!! Christmas always comes and goes so much, and this year was exactly the same!!
Andy is on holidays which has been so enjoyable, however we havent had any opportunity to relax!! I will show you why!!
Our Kitchen before!!!
Our Kitchen After!!
It took a ton of work, but Im happy with it!! I will sit down this evening or tomorrow evening and explain how we did it, and what was entailed!!
Andy is on holidays which has been so enjoyable, however we havent had any opportunity to relax!! I will show you why!!
Our Kitchen before!!!
Our Kitchen After!!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Domperidone
The last few weeks were a bit stressful as my milk supply drastically dropped. I went from having more than enough milk, too much milk, to barely cutting it by the end of the day. What changed? The only thing I could figure was the fact that my dear old friend returned... any guesses? For those of you who guessed my menstrual cycle, you got it right. Thats the only thing that I can figure changed. And once I talked to my doctor, she confirmed that its quite normal that when your period returns, your milk supply drops.
I tried everything to increase it. Pumping every 2 hours, drinking more water, mothers tea, and fenugreek. For a time the tea and herbs worked to increase my supply, but then it dropped. I spoke to my dr, and she prescribed me Domperidone. This medication is not actually to increase milk, its for prolonged stomach fullness, and nausea, I dont have either, however one of the side effects is increased milk production. Women who are not lactating at all can take this drug and it will cause their bodies to produce milk. Needless to say this stuff works!!
For the first time in over a month, I actually had enough milk by 5:00pm, that I could put 6 oz away in the freezer. This is such a great feeling. Before I started the domperidone, we ended up picking up a tub of formula because I just didnt have enough. I had considered looking into other mothers who had a large supply of frozen breastmilk before turning to formula, but Andy wasn't comfortable with that idea, so formula it was. It was only about a bottle of formula once a day, usually at the end of the day as my supply would drop in the evenings.
The side effects to this drug are headaches and dry mouth. I have experienced both in small amounts, however nothing that I can say has been a big issue.
Once concern that I do have though is I wonder what the long term effects of this drug could be on my system? I hope to continue to exclusively pump and give him my milk until he is a year, and so being on this drug for another 7-8 months could maybe cause some long term issues. Im not sure, its just a thought.
If anyone has any experience with Domperidone, and would like to chime in, Id love to hear it!
I tried everything to increase it. Pumping every 2 hours, drinking more water, mothers tea, and fenugreek. For a time the tea and herbs worked to increase my supply, but then it dropped. I spoke to my dr, and she prescribed me Domperidone. This medication is not actually to increase milk, its for prolonged stomach fullness, and nausea, I dont have either, however one of the side effects is increased milk production. Women who are not lactating at all can take this drug and it will cause their bodies to produce milk. Needless to say this stuff works!!
For the first time in over a month, I actually had enough milk by 5:00pm, that I could put 6 oz away in the freezer. This is such a great feeling. Before I started the domperidone, we ended up picking up a tub of formula because I just didnt have enough. I had considered looking into other mothers who had a large supply of frozen breastmilk before turning to formula, but Andy wasn't comfortable with that idea, so formula it was. It was only about a bottle of formula once a day, usually at the end of the day as my supply would drop in the evenings.
The side effects to this drug are headaches and dry mouth. I have experienced both in small amounts, however nothing that I can say has been a big issue.
Once concern that I do have though is I wonder what the long term effects of this drug could be on my system? I hope to continue to exclusively pump and give him my milk until he is a year, and so being on this drug for another 7-8 months could maybe cause some long term issues. Im not sure, its just a thought.
If anyone has any experience with Domperidone, and would like to chime in, Id love to hear it!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Christmas, pumping, sleep, etc
Andy has been super busy with side work this month. We prayed for extra side work, and his phone wouldn't stop ringing. It actually got to the point where he told me that if his phone rang and he wasnt around, not to answer it because he had to tell no to so many people!! Our plan is to have him stay home for 2 weeks at Christmas. 16 days in total (not that we're counting!!) so we needed to save up enough for him to stay home. Needless to say we have enough and more for him to stay home for the 2 weeks. Now that we're on our budget, we're saving more money, and a whole lot motivated to save as well. Its such a great feeling!! Next we're hoping to save up to buy a minivan. Yup, I said it. A minivan! Id love the space & easier access into the vehicle!
Judah is finally back to his normal health. Its so great to have him feeling better. However, I think he has started to teeth because he is constantly drooling (just like Eli!!) and his fists are always in his mouth, sometimes both at the same time! Last week we attempted to give him some rice cereal. He loved it, however come Monday he was miserable and moody! He wouldn't eat or sleep. I think that physically Judah is ready for solids however I dont think his digestive system is ready for it. So we'll wait a bit longer. Im considering trying baby led weaning, and generally you dont start BLW before 6 months.
His sleep has started to get a bit better. There was one night last week that I was up 7 times! Weather it was to feed him or to pop a soother in his mouth because he was whining. However the last 2 nights he slept fairly well. Put him to bed at 7pm, slept till 12:30am the one night, had a full feeding, and then slept till 8am. The next night he went to bed at 7pm, slept till 2:15am, had a full feeding, and then slept till 7:30-8ish. This I dont mind. One feeding a night, I can handle. Obviously, our babywise sleep training hasnt worked out quite how I wanted. My struggle with it was that Judah doesnt like to have a full feeding in one sitting, and so it makes it a bit more difficult.
Iam still exclusively pumping and bottle feeding. Im loosing steam though. I spend so much time hooked up to a pump. I know that breastmilk is so good for him, and whats best, but every day is a struggle to keep at it. Ive done it exclusively for almost 4.5 months (other than the first few months of breastfeeding before I started pumping.) and Im tired of it. My supply is dropping because I am getting lazy with pumping during the day, and I barely am keeping up with how much he is eating. When I first started pumping I would have 10+ oz left in the fridge at the end of the day. Now, Im lucky if I have 6 oz ready for our night time feeding. We've been dipping into the freezer stash which is quickly dwindling, and once its gone Im not sure how we'll keep up. I picked up some mothers nursing tea, which has some herbs to increase your supply, as well as some fenugreek which is also a herb to increase milk supply. For a few days I believe it helped, however now Im feeling stressed that Im not keeping up as much.
Eli has been so excited about Christmas. This year is different than any other. Eli remembers last year, and understands what its about. We're not going all out for gifts, but we do plan on making some special memories. We set up our Christmas tree, and I think Eli had the most fun vacuuming up the needles that fell on the floor! So precious!
Judah is finally back to his normal health. Its so great to have him feeling better. However, I think he has started to teeth because he is constantly drooling (just like Eli!!) and his fists are always in his mouth, sometimes both at the same time! Last week we attempted to give him some rice cereal. He loved it, however come Monday he was miserable and moody! He wouldn't eat or sleep. I think that physically Judah is ready for solids however I dont think his digestive system is ready for it. So we'll wait a bit longer. Im considering trying baby led weaning, and generally you dont start BLW before 6 months.
His sleep has started to get a bit better. There was one night last week that I was up 7 times! Weather it was to feed him or to pop a soother in his mouth because he was whining. However the last 2 nights he slept fairly well. Put him to bed at 7pm, slept till 12:30am the one night, had a full feeding, and then slept till 8am. The next night he went to bed at 7pm, slept till 2:15am, had a full feeding, and then slept till 7:30-8ish. This I dont mind. One feeding a night, I can handle. Obviously, our babywise sleep training hasnt worked out quite how I wanted. My struggle with it was that Judah doesnt like to have a full feeding in one sitting, and so it makes it a bit more difficult.
Iam still exclusively pumping and bottle feeding. Im loosing steam though. I spend so much time hooked up to a pump. I know that breastmilk is so good for him, and whats best, but every day is a struggle to keep at it. Ive done it exclusively for almost 4.5 months (other than the first few months of breastfeeding before I started pumping.) and Im tired of it. My supply is dropping because I am getting lazy with pumping during the day, and I barely am keeping up with how much he is eating. When I first started pumping I would have 10+ oz left in the fridge at the end of the day. Now, Im lucky if I have 6 oz ready for our night time feeding. We've been dipping into the freezer stash which is quickly dwindling, and once its gone Im not sure how we'll keep up. I picked up some mothers nursing tea, which has some herbs to increase your supply, as well as some fenugreek which is also a herb to increase milk supply. For a few days I believe it helped, however now Im feeling stressed that Im not keeping up as much.
Eli has been so excited about Christmas. This year is different than any other. Eli remembers last year, and understands what its about. We're not going all out for gifts, but we do plan on making some special memories. We set up our Christmas tree, and I think Eli had the most fun vacuuming up the needles that fell on the floor! So precious!
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