My New Must-Haves

This post is dedicated to the products that I think every mom should have.  Specifically, these are things that I did not have when Taylor was a newborn and I really wonder how I managed without them! =)

1. Total Baby app for iPhone and iPad
This app is totally worth the $4.99.  You can track pretty much every little thing about baby with this.  It's great for nursing moms (you will never have to try and remember which side you nursed on last!) and keeping track of diapers is so easy.  I no longer nurse but I still use it to keep track of my pumping.  Plus, you can input baby's growth stats and it will graph it and give you the percentages for CDC and WHO! You can even quickly track milestones like smiling or rolling over so you're not stuck wondering "now what day did she first do that?"  And you can track multiple babies which is also great. 

2. Moby Wrap
I loooove my moby wrap!  Once you get the hang of tying it and getting baby in it, it's so nice!  With other carriers I never felt like baby was really secure and I always had to keep a hand on her.  But with my moby, I can have both hands free and know that Lucy is snug as a bug.  Supposedly you can use it with babies up to 35 pounds so I guess I could use it to carry Taylor around but I don't see the point considering she's perfectly capable of walking.  Plus I'm not sure she would want to sit in it. 

3. Fisher Price Snugabunny Cradle n Swing
I really didn't want to fork over money for a swing (especially the amount of money I spent on this), however I wanted  a way to have Lucy in the family room with us without her being on the floor (and being subject to Taylor's pestering).  I must say this swing was totally worth it!  It has 2 different swinging directions, tons of different sounds, a little mobile, and the best part: it plugs in!!!  Yes, no more buying oodles and oodles of batteries.  Lucy loves sleeping in this swing (and who wouldn't?  The fabric is super soft!).  The only problem is Taylor is just tall enough to still bother Lucy.  In fact her favorite thing to do is to push the swing all the way up (with Lucy in it!) and lean against it.  But at least the swing has straps so Lucy can't fall out.

4. Badger Baby Balm
This was suggested to me by Val (thank you!!) and I understand now why she uses it.  It is one of the few balms that does not leave a residue on cloth diapers and it works great on diaper rashes.  I've also been using it on Lucy's face since her skin has been so dry.  It's completely organic so I'm not worried about getting chemicals on Lucy's delicate skin.  Definitely love this stuff.

Cookies and Milk Update

I'm pleased to report that I have seen an increase of about 2 oz/day since starting the cookies.  I decided that I really didn't want to have to eat tons of cookies every day so I have started to focus on consuming the 3 ingredients that are supposed to help supply: oatmeal, flaxseed, and brewer's yeast.  I was already eating oatmeal every day so I just started sprinkling the flaxseed and yeast in that.  I've also started putting the yeast in other things like my yogurt or tea.
2 oz is not much of an increase but every little bit helps.  =)

Cookies and Milk

As I've stated before, I struggle with my milk supply.  Therefore, I'm constantly on the lookout for things that can help my supply.  I eat 2 servings of oatmeal every day (by the way, the Aldi brand oatmeal is SO good!) and I take oodles of supplements.  Seriously, you should see our kitchen counter where I keep them all!  I even drink a few cups of nursing tea every day.  Obviously "normal" women would probably be exploding if they did all the things I did.  But for me, these things only give me a small increase (maybe 2 more oz per day?).

But I found this recipe for lactation cookies online and I just had to try them.  I just finished making the first batch and they are GOOD!  Seriously, I don't know how many of these I should eat every day but I could probably eat quite a few!  They're just like chocolate chip cookies except with some extras thrown in to promote lactation.  I obviously don't know if these will help my supply yet so I'll have to post again in a few days to report any increase.

Anyway, here's the recipe (I've starred the ingredients that help with supply):

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar (I used sugar substitute because that's pretty much all we keep in the house)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons water
*2 tablespoons flax seed meal (You can find this at any grocery store)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
*3 cups oats (REAL oats, not the quick or instant ones!)
1 cup chocolate chips (or raisins, or M&Ms, or craisins, etc.)
*2-4 tablespoons brewer's yeast (You can get this at any health food store.  Natural Gourmet in Champaign sells it in bulk.  I bet Strawberry Fields does too.  I used 4 tablespoons)

Preheat oven to 350°.

1. Mix the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 3-5 minutes.
2. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar well.
3. Add eggs and mix well.
4. Add flaxseed mix and vanilla; beat well.
5. Sift together flour, brewer's yeast, baking soda, and salt.
6. Add dry ingredients to butter mix.
7. Stir in oats and chips.
8. Scoop onto baking sheet.
9. Bake for 12 minutes.
10. Let set for a couple minutes then remove from tray.

I got about 3 dozen cookies from this recipe but they're pretty good sized cookies. 

Look Ma, No Hands!

In my last post, I mentioned how I created my own hands-free pumping bras which was pretty MacGyver of me according to Walker.  This morning I started thinking about all the things I've done while pumping so I thought I would share....=)

*Feed Lucy
*Feed Taylor
*Play with Taylor on the floor
*Check email/general computer stuff
*Pay bills
*Blog (yep I'm pumping right now)
*Eat
*Fold laundry
*Sleep (I have fallen asleep while pumping several times now)
*Ride in a car
And soon I will be trying to pump while driving, probably on my way to work.

I'm clearly all about the multi-tasking!  And now I must end this as my adorable toddler is starting to get very crabby in her high chair (it's not my fault she threw all her crayons on the floor and can't reach them now....)

One Month Pictures!!

1 Month

April 8th means Lucy is 1 month (and 1 day) old!  She had her check up this morning and is doing very well!
Weight: 8 lbs, 14.5 oz.
Height: 21.5 inches

So it may look like she's only gained a little over a pound in a month.  But, let's remember she didn't gain back her birth weight until 2 weeks ago.  So really, she's gained a pound in the past 10 days.  Our lactation consultant (our pediatrician is out on medical leave) was very impressed.  Also impressive was Lucy's ability to not only pick her head up while on her tummy but also push up on her arms.  Apparently this is a 2 month skill. 
Another "advanced" skill she's acquired is smiling.  She doesn't do it a lot yet but Walker and I have gotten her to smile in response to us quite a few times.
Now I haven't done her "official" one month pictures yet.  I can take them but we are in the process of rebuilding our home computer.  I did take some of the pictures I've taken recently and put them on my laptop with Picasa but editing just isn't the same and I can't make the pictures look the way I want using it.  I will try and take the pictures tomorrow and I guess I can always use Walker's laptop to edit them since we loaded Lightroom on his computer while ours is down.
And what is little miss eating these days?  Well I'm proud to say she's still getting mostly breastmilk. . . just not from the "tap" as I like to say.  Yes, I have moved to exclusive pumping.  Nursing was simply way too frustrating and time consuming for me.  Now granted I do spend a lot of time pumping (on average 3 1/2 hours per day) but since I made my own hands free pumping bra (as in cut 2 slits in an old sports bra) I can multi task while I pump.  So I can feed Lucy or work on the computer.  Heck I even fed Taylor her lunch the other day while pumping.  Right now I'm pumping 15-16 oz per day.  Obviously that is not enough for Lucy but it's close as we only give her between 4-6 oz of formula per day.  It makes me feel good I can provide 75% of her nutritional needs.  I realize as she gets bigger, she will end up eating more formula but that's okay.  I really hope to EP longer than I did with Taylor.  My ultimate goal is a year.  I know that takes a LOT of dedication.  So I'm not focusing on that.  Instead I'm aiming through the end of the summer.  It's easier for me to focus on shorter term goals. 
And I leave you with a picture....hopefully "official" (as in nice) pictures are coming soon.

(no, her eyes are not brown...they just look that way in this picture for some reason)