Breast Milk and Deer Meat....

 


  I chose to breastfeed my children for all the typical reasons.  The biggest reasons are the health and financial reasons.  I feel lucky that breast feeding has been fairly easy for me.  With my oldest, my milk came in very fast at 2 days.  I became so engorged that I needed to pump to relieve the pain and because my son couldn't get a good latch.  Because of that, I pumped and breast fed from very early on.  I didn't do it on purpose but I am glad it worked out that way because I was able to share feeding duty with my husband and who ever wanted to feed him.  I pumped and breast fed my son until he was 9 months old. My goal was 12 months so I continued to pump and bottle feed exclusively but got lazy with the pumping and quickly dried up.  Pumping can feel like a full time job!!  He had breast milk until he was about 10 months old and then we used formula until 12 months.
    Since pumping and breast feeding worked well with my first, with this little one I chose to do the same.  I had some trouble getting little girl to latch but with a couple visits from the lactation consultant, we were good to go.  **I HIGHLY recommend taking advantage of the hospitals lactation consultant.  Breastfeeding came easy with my first so when I was having pain and difficulties with my second I got frustrated and scared I wouldn't be able to.  The consultant was SO helpful and it took only a few short visits before I was feeling confident having success! She even called me a couple weeks after I left the hospital to check in.  Anyways,  knowing that I was going to be going back to work earlier with this baby, I worked hard from the beginning to build up a good supply.  What worked for me was to pump after every breast feeding to tell my body I needed more! If someone else fed her a bottle, I still pumped in place of that feeding. Even if she slept for five or six hours at night, I still woke up every three hours to pump.  Week one and two, I was freezing sometimes n five or six 5oz bags on top of what she was eating each day!!  I made a conscience effort that the first four to six weeks of my maternity leave were going to be about relaxing....and saving as much milk as I could.  I am a party animal I know.  :)  Once I started leaving the house more, and sleep seemed more necessary, the amount of milk I was able to freeze became less.  My daughter is seven weeks old this week and I am able to freeze maybe one a day.  I don't think I have been drinking as much water as I was those first couple weeks.  It is harder for me to remember and know how much water I am drinking when I am not at home.  It is definitely something I am working on.  Those first four weeks of hard work pumping and breast feeding paid off though.  I currently have over 85 5oz bags of breast milk saved up!! For an anniversary present last December, my parents bought me and my husband a deep freezer.  We are currently renting and our freezer is quite small.  My husband is hunter and so after hunting season we have about two deer worth of meat.  So although a deep freezer seems like an odd anniversary gift, to me and my hubby, it is just what we needed!! So currently in my deep freezer, there is a ton of deer meat and a ton of breast milk.  *** Don't worry,  the meats and milk are separated and sealed and can no way contaminate each other.....***

Here are some of my breast feeding tips and preferences. ( Note:  I am in no way an expert, I am still learning and this is just what worked/ is working for me!)

1. Your breast milk is supply and demand, especially those first couple weeks, so nurse or pump as much as possible.
2. Familiarize yourself with the rules on breast milk storage and usage.  That stuff is liquid gold so you don't want to waste any because it was stored wrong.
3. I love my Medela automatic, double breast pump! Link here: Medela Automatic Double Breast Pump
4. Most insurance companies now will cover a breast pump! Call your insurance company and ask!! It is worth a try! Also, I used the same pump with both kiddos but needed the accessories.  I found out that my hospital's lactation consultant actually supplied them for me!  They gave me the tubes, breast shields, and a few bottles. Hey! I'll take free stuff!
5. Something I found helpful was to have two sets of breast shields. That way if I was cleaning one or something, I always had more available. 
6. Using bottles that are compatible with your breast pump makes it easy to store.  Of course Medela has their own bottles.  That is actually what we use.  Most standard size bottles of any brand will fit the Medela pump.  I pump right into the bottles and then put some in the fridge and then poor what I need into bags.
7. Drink lots of water!! This seems to be harder than it should for me!  Do what ever you need to do, buy a cute water bottle to carry everywhere with you.  One thing I try and do is drink a glass of water every time I am nursing or pumping.  You are sitting there anyways, multi-task! You can do it!
8. That leads me to this tip: Listen to your body!  I am way hungrier while breast feeding than when I am pregnant.  Your body is working hard to produce that milk and burns more calories.  Make sure you are eating enough healthy calories so that you are producing the quantity and quality of milk your baby needs.  I eat lots of oatmeal and drink lots of milk and almond milk which I feel helps me.  I also make these cookies called "lactation cookies" or "booby bites" that help with milk supply.  I will post the recipe in a future post.
9. Be okay with a little extra tummy fat for awhile.  Your body is hanging on to some extra fat that it needs to make sure it can burn calories making milk!  Your body is working hard! No fat shaming! 
10. Enjoy the time breast feeding.  I have a toddler and a newborn so if my husband is home and can keep buddy occupied or if he is napping, I can really have some bonding time with baby girl while I breast feed.  Not to get all sappy about it, but whether you are breast feeding or bottle feeding, that is precious time to look into your baby's eyes, talk to them, sing to them, pray for them.  I love that time! Sometimes I use that time to check my instagram or emails, but I really try to focus on baby.

 

This is a picture of my bags of breast milk!  I bought a box of two gallon zipblock bags..  I wrote the date range and the numbered the bags so that when I need to use them I know which bags to start with.  From what I have read, in a deep freezer, breast milk will last 6-12 months!

That's all for now!  I am happy to answer any questions or hear any suggestions!

Butt what?

I am a HORRIBLE cook.  I am not creative, I have two or three dishes that are safe, that I don't burn or under cook.  I want to be a good cook, I just don't have that instinctual 'thing' when it comes to cooking.  That being said, I am trying!!  We had dinner at my inlaws house the other day and she made a wonderful pot roast.  It was so yummy!  She told me how easy it was and I had to try it.
   At our local  farmers market I bought a boneless boston butt roast.   It was one of the smaller ones I could find since it is just me and my husband.  I haven't been able to get my 2 year old to branch out beyond chicken nuggets and mac n cheese as of yet. 

Anyways, here are the steps:

• Rub the roast with a little olive oil
• Massage seasoning into the roast.  We chose Grill Mates Montreal Chicken.  One of our favorites
• Make sure you get all sides of your roast
• Place in crock pot on low.
• Leave in for 6-8 hours.  The longer, the more tender the meat gets.  It seriously just fell apart... so tender!
• Pair with your favorite veggies.  We chose carrots and sautéed onions this time
• Enjoy!

This is my kind of meal! Simple Steps, really yummy, easy clean up!  Left overs taste just as great!

Fisher-Price Auto Rock 'n Play Sleeper Review

 Fisher-Price Auto Rock 'n Play Sleeper:


Original Rock 'n Play
 

   With my first child (who is now almost 2 1/2), a friend loaned us the original Rock n' play. I hadn't heard about the rock n play until my friend offered to loan us hers.  My son was having some gas/tummy issues at about six weeks and therefore sleeping was a problem. He was sleeping in a basinet that I didn't really care for and really only slept well if he was on his belly.  Needless to say I was desperate for a good sleep solution for my baby!  As soon as we started using the Rock 'n Play he went from waking up every two hours at night to sleeping 3 1/2 -4 hours that first night. It was a game changer for us! The original Rock 'n Play did not have any special  features such as the vibration or the auto rocking and music.  When pregnant with my second, I saw the Auto version in the store and knew I had to have one!





Auto Rock 'n Play

  The Auto Rock 'n play obviously cost more than the original but in my opinion it is well worth the extra 40-50 dollars!!  The Auto Rock 'n Play has the option to vibrate, rock, and play music.  The vibrating is gentle and operates on two AA batteries. I often pick up the baby and forget to turn it off so I have gone through a few batteries already.  The music, and rocking are run by plugging in the rocker.  The rocking has two speeds and the option of OFF, 6hours, or 30mins.  The music has a volume control but to  be honest, I never use the music.  I purchased mine at Babies R Us.  Their retail price at the time ( January 2015 was $89.  At the time of purchase Babies R Us was accepting competitor's coupons so I brought a Buy Buy Baby 20% coupon with me!  That, in addition to a gift card from my baby 'sprinkle' I got our brand new Rock N Play for about $35.  I am a big proponent of buying used but in this case,  buying new worked out!

  LOVES:

• The auto Rocking!- I love not have to reach over in the middle of the night to rock!
• It is super portable- It folds up in half easily with a push of a button.  It isn't super small but I can fit it in by car standing up or laying down when traveling.
• Does not take up much room-  It sets next to my bed and is much smaller than a traditional bassinet.  At night, when she is ready to eat, I can lean over and grab her to nurse.
• The incline- The incline, in my opinion, helps with any congestion baby might have.  It gives me peace of mind that should she spit up or something, that she is sitting up just a bit. 
• The prints. -  The prints available or nice and safe, in a good way!  The store I purchased ours at was out of pink, so I grabbed a green one but it is neutral enough to use for a boy or a girl.  They have a woodland creature one, but for the most part, they aren't too cutesy.

DISLIKES:

• The Auto-Rocker is a little loud. - The faster speed is pretty loud.  I don't think that I would be able to sleep through listening to it.  the slower speed, although a little annoying, is manageable and after one or two nights I didn't even notice it any more...being completely exhausted  could have helped that a little  :).  If you are a really light sleeper, you may not like the automatic rocker.  It was worth the noise for me for sure!
• The length of the cord. - Or lack there of!!  If I move the rocker too much I end up unplugging the rocker.  Then I have to get out of bed, fumble to find the cord, fumble to find the outlet...ugh!  I wish they would have made the cord longer knowing that mammas would have to move the rocker around.  I know I can use an extension cord, but that's not the point!
• This might just be me, and I am sure there is a reason for it, but I wish the rocker was a little more of a bed then a seat.  I feel like by morning, the baby's legs are all scrunched up underneath her from her little body wiggling down through out the night.  I would choose for the seat to be a little more shaped like the mama roo. Honestly it probably looks more uncomfortable than it really is, I mean babies slept all kinds of crazy in the womb right!?  

Overall, any dislikes I have are greatly out weighed by the LOVES! I would recommend this to any mama in need of a bassinet next to their bed before moving to the crib.  I am also including this on my top 'Newborn Must Haves'!

Potty Training

I had a plan for potty training.  At 18 months, maybe 20 months, I was going to do the three day potty training boot camp.  It was going to work and I was going to be done with diapers... but then I found out I was pregnant.  I had morning sickness so bad with baby number two that the idea of cleaning up pee and poop was enough to set me over the edge.  So time passed us and all of a sudden, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant and my two year old was still very much wearing diapers.  My options were to suck it up and potty train right before a new baby, or risk having never getting the guts to do it! So after collaborating with his teachers, here is how we potty trained Ryder!

I bought a little kids potty that sits on the floor, and the kind that you put on your toilet seat.  I wanted both so thinking that the little one on his floor would be easier for him to sit on himself but I wanted the one for the toilet seat s well so that he wasn't scared to sit on the toilet. I would point out the potty to Ryder and tried to talk about it every time I changed his diaper.

We went to the store and picked out his big boy underwear together.  He chose car underwear of course and was very excited about them.  We washed them and put them in his drawer together.

This step felt weird to me, but was recommended to me and I do think it helped;  when my husband or I went to the bathroom, we would leave the door open and tell Ryder that we were going pee pee in the potty.  He would look curious and sometime ask to flush the potty. 

We choose a treat.  M&Ms.  He had never had them before so it was enough to entice him.

We chose a day for the training to begin! Our work week is Sunday through Thursday so my husband and I took our little boy to school on a Thursday morning with 5 changes of clothes and a bag of M&Ms in his back pack. We took him to the bathroom and had a little chat:


Me: Ryder, you are a big boy now!!! Big boys get to wear underwear!!!! Diapers are for babies but you are a big boy! Here is your big boy underwear!
Ryder: unarare!? (underwear)
Matt(my husband):  Yes. You get to wear underwear!
Me:  Lets take off your diaper and put it in the trash. (we took off the diaper and threw it in the trash with much drama)
Me: Ryder you are gonna sit on the big boy potty and then you will get an M&M!!
--- We then sat him on the potty... and he screamed and cried. lol.  I was instantly discouraged but I waited till he calmed down and then let him off and gave him an M&M.  We cheered and hi-fived.  We put his underwear on and told him when had to go pee pee to say " I gotta go pee pee!" to his teachers. 

The rest of the day the teachers put him on the potty about every 30-45 mins.  He wet his clothes multiple times of course.  But each time he noticed it a little sooner.  He peed successfully one time on the toilet today and the teachers celebrated with a dance party with his class...and an M&M of course.

The next three days I stayed home with Ryder the whole time  and we just watched movies, played and drank lots of water and juice.  I placed his little potty in the middle of the Kitchen and Living room and every 15-20 mins I would I ask him if he had to go potty.  He would mostly say no but after awhile I started to recognize the signs of when he had to go and I would just walk him over to the potty and have him sit.  Each day did get better.  It helped to have amazing teachers when he was at school. 

We are now about two months into this process and I have to say, Ryder is doing better well.  We started two weeks before our second child and so naturally when we came home with the baby, there were a few set backs.  Some of those set backs were my fault.  It was hard to jump up in the middle of breast feeding the baby to help Ryder sometimes.  It has just been maybe the last three or four days that he has gone number two in the potty on his own.  (Apparently some kiddos have a phobia of pooping on the potty...ugh)  We put him in a pull up for bed time and sometimes nap.  He wakes up a few times a night to go potty or crying because he wet himself.  I cant be mad at him, I am happy that he recognizing he has to go, but between him waking up and a newborn,  no one in our house is sleeping much.  :)

Sorry this post was so long put potty training is involved!!  Here are a few pointers or things I learned to sum it all up!

Potty Training Snap Shot:

1.  Try to schedule your intro to potty training when you have some time to devote to it and your little one.
2. Don't wait for the perfect time.  I know that sounds counterintuitive, but there won't be a perfect time.
3.  If you live in a two story place, get two potty training potties...trust me, no one wants to run a toddler up and down the stairs when they are just learning how to hold it.  You will end up with a pee trail.
4.  Some of you will find this overkill, but I found it useful to have cleaning products handy by your potty training area.  I had Lysol wipes, cleaning product and paper towels close by.  I also recommend having flushable wipe.  Once Ryder started pooping in the potty, the flushables made it easier to clean his bottom and not have to deal with regular wipes in the garbage and all that.
5.  Invest in a waterproof sheet for your toddler's bed and a few extra sheets.  They WILL have accidents in the middle of the night and you WILL want an extra sheet handy to quickly change your toddler, put a new sheet on, and get everyone back to bed!
6.  Have a few books, toys, or a tablet for your toddler while they are sitting on the toilet.  Some people might be against this but at the beginning I was making him sit on the potty for 10-15 mins and so to keep him calm and not hate sitting on the potty, I would sit next to him and read stories, or let him watch cars on my tablet. It worked for us.
7.  Now that it will get better, but just embrace the ride.  I am actually pretty happy with how well Ryder did.  He caught on to the basics pretty quickly.  I cant wait, of course, till the day he can hold his bladder through the night but for now, it is what it is.  We try and reward him each and every time he goes.  His little face is so proud when he says "Mama, I pooped in potty!" and even though that sometimes means the people in Target look over at us.  I say "Great job buddy Hi-five!!"

What are some of your tips and tricks!?  

Look at the mess I made!

I couldn’t wait to be a mommy.  It is the one thing I have been 100% sure of my whole life, that I was meant to be a mom.   Ever since I was a young girl, I knew it would be my greatest adventure; and it has been.  I LOVE being a mom. There is nothing better than holding my babies tight, and thinking of them now almost brings tears of joy to my eyes. BUT I am going to be truly honest with you. As I write this; my house is a mess. I hear my two year old screaming “Mommy tuck me in” in the baby monitor.  My three week old is screaming her head off as I try to situate myself fast enough to nurse her. And my sweet husband is doing dishes and I’m sure he's feeling quite neglected by his yoga pant wearing, unwashed hair sporting wife.  This is hard!  I mess up...ALOT!  I yell more than I wish I did, I am not as organized as I should be, my work comes before my family sometimes and visa-versa.  I thought I would just know how to do this thing; being a grown-up.  I don’t, at all!.  I am working on it though, to do this thing called life a little bit better every day.  To be a better wife, mommy, daughter, sister, friend.  A better me! But this is me, and my beautiful mess.