Friday, July 22, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Pumping Part Deux
Wow, look at me - on a roll with these blog posts, right?
Anyway- so back to pumping. I mentioned I didn't like it, but here are a few things I discovered to help make it more bearable:
I admit, it's mildly amusing.
1- Hands-free pumping bra. This makes it SO much better. I remember when I was home on maternity leave, I was nursing so much that it was hard to squeeze in a pumping session (not that I really needed to pump- I just wanted to build a freezer stash). And so I would nurse C on one side while I pumped the other. This was a logistical nightmare. Trying to keep C latched on with one arm while I held the pump flange with the other. Ugh. But, the bra I got makes this totally easy. It's basically swim suit material, and it wraps around your chest and connects in front with hooks and eyes. There are little slits in the material where you put the flange through. And then the fabric holds it up while you do whatever: nurse on the other side, work, write your blog, whatever. It's great. I think I paid about 30 dollars maybe? And it's super cute- black and white polka dot.
2- The Milk Memos. Great book. It was adapted from journals these women kept in the lactation room at IBM. Very informative and fun to read, too. [While googling for an image, I also noticed there's a website: www.milkmemos.com with a blog that might be helpful.]
3- A good double-electric pump. I use the Medela Pump in Style. I've also heard the Ameda Purely Yours is a good one. Expect to spend around 300 bucks. Yee-ouch.
4- Drink lots of water and eat oatmeal/Life Cereal/oatmeal cookies/anything with oats.
5- Relax. This one's super hard for me to do. Other people have told me think about your baby, bring something that smells like him to work, think about feeding your baby. But for me, relaxing is looking at the internet or instant chatting with Sean or checking my email or editing documents. It was killing me before I got the hands-free bra, just sitting at my desk not being able to do anything except sit with my hands on my chest looking at all the papers on my desk. Ack. Once I was able to do something, I relaxed. And my pumping output increased. So, do whatever it is that helps you to relax. It'll help.
6- Squeeze in a pumping session first thing when you arrive at work. I get the most at this time of day. And no one's usually at the office yet either. So, I hook myself up to the pump, unpack my bags, check my email, organize my files, and by the time I'm done, I've got 3-4 oz by 8:15! Then I can still pump at 10, 12, and 2 while I'm at work and then pump/nurse together at 5:30 when I get home.
7- Do breast compresses while you pump. They totally work. The pump's just not as effective as babeh at getting the job done.
Guess that's all the learnin' I've got to impart on you.
Talk soon.
Anyway- so back to pumping. I mentioned I didn't like it, but here are a few things I discovered to help make it more bearable:
1- Hands-free pumping bra. This makes it SO much better. I remember when I was home on maternity leave, I was nursing so much that it was hard to squeeze in a pumping session (not that I really needed to pump- I just wanted to build a freezer stash). And so I would nurse C on one side while I pumped the other. This was a logistical nightmare. Trying to keep C latched on with one arm while I held the pump flange with the other. Ugh. But, the bra I got makes this totally easy. It's basically swim suit material, and it wraps around your chest and connects in front with hooks and eyes. There are little slits in the material where you put the flange through. And then the fabric holds it up while you do whatever: nurse on the other side, work, write your blog, whatever. It's great. I think I paid about 30 dollars maybe? And it's super cute- black and white polka dot.
2- The Milk Memos. Great book. It was adapted from journals these women kept in the lactation room at IBM. Very informative and fun to read, too. [While googling for an image, I also noticed there's a website: www.milkmemos.com with a blog that might be helpful.]
3- A good double-electric pump. I use the Medela Pump in Style. I've also heard the Ameda Purely Yours is a good one. Expect to spend around 300 bucks. Yee-ouch.
4- Drink lots of water and eat oatmeal/Life Cereal/oatmeal cookies/anything with oats.
5- Relax. This one's super hard for me to do. Other people have told me think about your baby, bring something that smells like him to work, think about feeding your baby. But for me, relaxing is looking at the internet or instant chatting with Sean or checking my email or editing documents. It was killing me before I got the hands-free bra, just sitting at my desk not being able to do anything except sit with my hands on my chest looking at all the papers on my desk. Ack. Once I was able to do something, I relaxed. And my pumping output increased. So, do whatever it is that helps you to relax. It'll help.
6- Squeeze in a pumping session first thing when you arrive at work. I get the most at this time of day. And no one's usually at the office yet either. So, I hook myself up to the pump, unpack my bags, check my email, organize my files, and by the time I'm done, I've got 3-4 oz by 8:15! Then I can still pump at 10, 12, and 2 while I'm at work and then pump/nurse together at 5:30 when I get home.
7- Do breast compresses while you pump. They totally work. The pump's just not as effective as babeh at getting the job done.
Guess that's all the learnin' I've got to impart on you.
Talk soon.
Oh how I hate pumping
It sucks. It's time consuming, and it makes your dang nipples hurt if you have to do it every two or three hours like I do. Apparently my body hates the pump and doesn't respond well. Rumor has it the 2-3 oz I pump during each session is totally normal. And normal's all fine and dandy except C eats between 12-15 oz when I'm at work. I'm already pumping 4 times per day, and I feed C at lunch everyday, so unless I want to add a middle of the night pumping session (I don't), I'm not really sure what to do.
I am thinking of trying a combo of fenugreek and blessed thistle to see if that helps increase my pumping output. The annoying side effect: it makes you and your baby smell like maple. If you know me, you know I hate maple. I don't even really use the fake stuff on my pancakes or waffles. So, yeah, the idea of smelling like the local IHOP makes me really excited. But, the kid's gotta eat. So, I'm gonna order some from Amazon and see if it works.
Beyond that, I've decided that I can only do what I can do. And also any breastmilk that baby gets is better than none. So I think it may be time to concede that every once in a while, C might need to take a little formula. And I need to learn to be ok with that.
This post really didn't start as a vent about everything I hate about working and pumping. In fact, I intended it to be more about tips and tricks I've learned to make pumping suck a little less (pun intended). However, since my milk duds have dried up for the moment, it's back to work for this momma. My helpful post will have to wait.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Worth Every Pound: Weight-loss After Babeh
Let me first start by saying, I wrote this post yesterday, and then my flocking computer deleted it. *(@&#*( I was not thrilled, and I only hope this re-created post lives up to the wittiness and general awesomeness of my first post (ha!).
So, I have a confession: I gained a lot of weight while I was pregnant. Like more than the recommended 25-35. Like almost double. Forty-eight pounds. My doctor was not one of those jerky people who commented on it all the time because, in his words, "there's no easier way to make a pregnant woman cry." (He's right). However, toward the end of my pregnancy he did say that maybe I should watch my starch intake. It was hard not to laugh aloud when he said this as I thought about all the yummy things I had been eating. For a woman who'd been on a diet the last thirty years, pregnancy was an amazing excuse to finally (finally!) not be such a freak about every morsel that passed my lips.
As a result, after C was born, I was waaaay heavy. In fact, I'd been so pumped up with fluid during labor and delivery, that I weighed the same when I went in the hospital as I did when I came out. My belly was a little smaller, though. I only looked about six months pregnant instead of nine. And the texture? Was this weird gelatinous feeling. Let me tell you: I looked hot. But for the first time in my life, I really didn't care all that much, and for the first few weeks home, I spent my time doting on my new bundle of joy and resting whenI could.
About a month after being home, I was getting really (really, really) sick of wearing the same yoga pants all the freaking time, and I started to wonder how I could speed up this weight loss thing. I had only lost about 15 pounds at this point (which, if you think about it is pretty much just the baby and all the gunk that came along with him). For me, the weight was not falling off like I'd heard happened to some women. The main problem though? I didn't want to lose too fast and hurt my milk supply. Breastfeeding was already a tough thing for me, and I didn't want to monkey up the works.
So I did some research and learned that weight watchers has a nursing mom program. And it takes into account whether you exclusively breastfeed, supplement with formula, or whether your baby's on solid foods yet. For me, this program has been AWESOME. I am never hungry during the day. Christopher is still 99% exclusively breastfed. You can eat all the fruit and veggies that you want (yep, even bananas). And, best of all: I HAVE LOST FORTY-ONE POUNDS.
YAY for prepregnancy weight!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Surely I can do better than this?
Yes, it's been nearly a month since my last post, and I'm beginning to wonder whether I'm cut out for blogging. Mostly because I just don't seem to have enough hours in the day to do things like oh, I don't know, brush my teeth.
Seriously, working and mom-ing is time consuming. I used to think I had a full schedule before Christopher, what with all my happy hour-ing and going to the gym, etc. But I really had no idea what a full day was until I went back to work. As you can imagine, initially it was really hard. The first week, I'm not even sure I did any work at all between thinking about C, worrying about the day care, pumping, going to feed C at lunch, and pumping again (unless of course you're my employer, in which case I was totally productive).
But it's getting easier. I mean, it definitely sucks to drop C off at day care every morning, but I can do it without tears now. And pumping? It's getting better too. Don't get me wrong: I still really don't like doing it, and the ladies still don't give me a large volume of milk (God bless the freezer stash), but I think my body might be getting used to the pump.
More on pumping in another post. I'm actually pumping as I type, and I think it's time to disconnect.
I promise to post again soon.
Seriously, working and mom-ing is time consuming. I used to think I had a full schedule before Christopher, what with all my happy hour-ing and going to the gym, etc. But I really had no idea what a full day was until I went back to work. As you can imagine, initially it was really hard. The first week, I'm not even sure I did any work at all between thinking about C, worrying about the day care, pumping, going to feed C at lunch, and pumping again (unless of course you're my employer, in which case I was totally productive).
But it's getting easier. I mean, it definitely sucks to drop C off at day care every morning, but I can do it without tears now. And pumping? It's getting better too. Don't get me wrong: I still really don't like doing it, and the ladies still don't give me a large volume of milk (God bless the freezer stash), but I think my body might be getting used to the pump.
More on pumping in another post. I'm actually pumping as I type, and I think it's time to disconnect.
I promise to post again soon.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Vacationing with baby
Wow, time sure flies! Christopher just turned nine weeks old on Saturday! And he's already been across the country and back. Quite the jet-setter, he is. And traveling with an infant isn't really all that complicated actually. I mean, it's definitely more work than just packing your carry on and mozy-ing down the jetway, but it's not bad. Here are the things I learned to do and not to do:
1. Disposable. Normally, I try to be pretty green in my parenting. We use cloth diapers, cloth wipes, etc. But, I also try to be fairly practical, and for me, practical does not include toting around 24 poopy diapers, trying to find a laundromat, etc. I think, if we do a weekend trip or a car road trip where paying for additional baggage/carrying said additional baggage weren't considerations, I would keep with cloth. But for this two week adventure, I hit up my local costco (incidentally, diapers are insanely inexpensive at costco), bought C's first pack of disposables and some wipes, and hit the road. It worked well. The disposable wipes also came in handy for cleaning hands and faces.
2. Snap n Go stroller. This item was recommended to me by a friend, and I really wasn't sure about it, since C has a travel set stroller/car seat combo. We got this McLaren easy traveller stroller from amazon for about 80 bucks (free shipping with Amazon Mom!). It was really nice. It folds up like an umbrella stroller, there is less risk of it getting broken by the airline peeps since it's so small and light and easy to carry, and you can finagle it one-handed (a plus going through security). C's car seat snaps in and out.
3. Speaking of security, here's what worked best for me. We had four flights, so I tried a couple of different methods. I put C in his baby bjorn (also a very useful baby accessory- more on this later). That way I had both hands to get all my crap on the xray machine. You're not allowed to bring the baby through in his car seat (or obviously to put him through the xray machine). So, with C in his carrier, I got everything on the belt (note the car seat has to have the carrying handle all the way back and be put through upside down in order to fit - God bless the nice TSA lady who helped me figure it out). Then right before it's my turn, I popped C out of his carrier and put the bjorn through. Walked through with C in my arms.
The TSA people I encountered were very helpful. As were my fellow passengers, which I was surprised by. Someone offered to help me each time. Warmed my cold black heart right up. I won't lie, the security portion was very stressful (though I'm a fairly anxious person generally), but it's totally doable.
4. Gate check your car seat and stroller. It was free for us on Continental and United, and it was really nice to pile all the carry on baggage in the stroller and push it through the airport while C was in his carrier.
5. You get to take an additional carry on for free for baby's diaper bag.
6. You're allowed to take breastmilk through security. I didn't do this, so I don't know the particulars (like if you can take ice/ice pack to keep it cool), but I did see a sign that the milk itself was ok to go through. I imagine the same is true for formula.
7. Nursing cover. This was an AWESOME investment. I got an email for www.uddercovers.com, and the cover was free if I paid shipping. If you google it, I'm sure they have another code- they seem to always have some special or another running. It was great- I fed C all over the midwest/east coast very discreetly. Plus, the pattern was cute!
8. If you're breastfeeding, bring your pump. For me, the extra bag meant I was able to have cocktails with friends and not worry about baby getting alcohol-tainted milk. Plus, I usually kept a small bottle in a little cooler sack (that is, until I left the little cooler sack in the stupid Cleveland airport). That way, if you're somewhere it's impossible to breastfeed (i.e., a car), then you have a little something to tide baby over until you can nurse.
9. Feed on take off and landing. The sucking is supposed to sooth baby's ears during the pressure change, and I found it really worked. C didn't really make a peep on the flights. There may have been a squwak here or there, but no baby meltdowns. Always a good thing.
10. Baby Bjorn (or other carrier). This was great. C tends to be a little colicky - especially during the early evening witching hours, and whenever he's in this little job, I can sway and bop and do other sooth-y things. I prolly look like a total dork, but hey, my kid's happy. So I don't care. Also, it was nice to walk around without the hubbub of a stroller.
OK, baby's calling. Hasta for now.
1. Disposable. Normally, I try to be pretty green in my parenting. We use cloth diapers, cloth wipes, etc. But, I also try to be fairly practical, and for me, practical does not include toting around 24 poopy diapers, trying to find a laundromat, etc. I think, if we do a weekend trip or a car road trip where paying for additional baggage/carrying said additional baggage weren't considerations, I would keep with cloth. But for this two week adventure, I hit up my local costco (incidentally, diapers are insanely inexpensive at costco), bought C's first pack of disposables and some wipes, and hit the road. It worked well. The disposable wipes also came in handy for cleaning hands and faces.
2. Snap n Go stroller. This item was recommended to me by a friend, and I really wasn't sure about it, since C has a travel set stroller/car seat combo. We got this McLaren easy traveller stroller from amazon for about 80 bucks (free shipping with Amazon Mom!). It was really nice. It folds up like an umbrella stroller, there is less risk of it getting broken by the airline peeps since it's so small and light and easy to carry, and you can finagle it one-handed (a plus going through security). C's car seat snaps in and out.
3. Speaking of security, here's what worked best for me. We had four flights, so I tried a couple of different methods. I put C in his baby bjorn (also a very useful baby accessory- more on this later). That way I had both hands to get all my crap on the xray machine. You're not allowed to bring the baby through in his car seat (or obviously to put him through the xray machine). So, with C in his carrier, I got everything on the belt (note the car seat has to have the carrying handle all the way back and be put through upside down in order to fit - God bless the nice TSA lady who helped me figure it out). Then right before it's my turn, I popped C out of his carrier and put the bjorn through. Walked through with C in my arms.
The TSA people I encountered were very helpful. As were my fellow passengers, which I was surprised by. Someone offered to help me each time. Warmed my cold black heart right up. I won't lie, the security portion was very stressful (though I'm a fairly anxious person generally), but it's totally doable.
4. Gate check your car seat and stroller. It was free for us on Continental and United, and it was really nice to pile all the carry on baggage in the stroller and push it through the airport while C was in his carrier.
5. You get to take an additional carry on for free for baby's diaper bag.
6. You're allowed to take breastmilk through security. I didn't do this, so I don't know the particulars (like if you can take ice/ice pack to keep it cool), but I did see a sign that the milk itself was ok to go through. I imagine the same is true for formula.
7. Nursing cover. This was an AWESOME investment. I got an email for www.uddercovers.com, and the cover was free if I paid shipping. If you google it, I'm sure they have another code- they seem to always have some special or another running. It was great- I fed C all over the midwest/east coast very discreetly. Plus, the pattern was cute!
8. If you're breastfeeding, bring your pump. For me, the extra bag meant I was able to have cocktails with friends and not worry about baby getting alcohol-tainted milk. Plus, I usually kept a small bottle in a little cooler sack (that is, until I left the little cooler sack in the stupid Cleveland airport). That way, if you're somewhere it's impossible to breastfeed (i.e., a car), then you have a little something to tide baby over until you can nurse.
9. Feed on take off and landing. The sucking is supposed to sooth baby's ears during the pressure change, and I found it really worked. C didn't really make a peep on the flights. There may have been a squwak here or there, but no baby meltdowns. Always a good thing.
10. Baby Bjorn (or other carrier). This was great. C tends to be a little colicky - especially during the early evening witching hours, and whenever he's in this little job, I can sway and bop and do other sooth-y things. I prolly look like a total dork, but hey, my kid's happy. So I don't care. Also, it was nice to walk around without the hubbub of a stroller.
OK, baby's calling. Hasta for now.
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