Supplementing with Formula

Unfortunately, over the last few weeks, my milk supply has started dwindling.  I'm not sure if it's going back to work, the stress at work, or what, but I am not producing like I used to.  I am also concerned that Annie isn't eating quite as much as she needs to at her age (which is 3 months as of today!!! :)).  I am trying to bump up her feedings to 4 oz. bottles throughout the day, and there is just no way I am going to produce that.  And unfortunately, I do not have the frozen supply I would like to use in the meantime of trying to revamp my milk supply (I started an herbal supplement today called Fenugreek, which is supposed to help with milk production!).

So, after talking with the pediatricians office and the Breastfeeding Clinic, I've decided I have to start supplementing with some formula for the time being.  Also, I have to start giving her bottles in the evening too (either of breast milk or formula) because my milk supply is much less in the evening - I know I only produce about 2-2.5 oz. or so at her 5pm and 7:30pm feedings, which is just not enough.  The Breastfeeding Clinic suggested that I at least try to give formula and breast milk in separate bottles (if she will take the formula on its own) since supposedly mixing reduces the effectiveness of breast milk.  So last night was her first full formula bottle at her 7:30pm feeding...and she took it like a champ!  Didn't even make the "ewww, what's this?!?" face that I expected her to.  So, of course, I thought everything was going well transitioning to one formula bottle per day.

But, unfortunately that wasn't the case!  We, luckily, have gone 3 months without having Annie fuss throughout the night....until last night.  She went to bed around 8pm, and woke up crying at like 9pm, 11pm, 3am, and 5am.  We could tell her tummy was hurting her.  She has had issues with gas in the past, but she was definitely in more pain last night.  So, the only thing that has obviously changed in the last 24 hours is the fact that she took a formula bottle.  I used Enfamil Infant formula...no special kind, just the plain infant formula.  Has anyone else had this happen where their baby reacted bad right away to formula?  I am going to call the doctor to see what I should do, but I also wanted to see if anyone else has gone through this as well and what the solution was for them.  I have a sample of a "gentle" type of formula from Gerber I think it is, so that could be a solution.

Anyway, just wanted some feedback from people that may have dealt with this when transitioning to formula...thanks! :)

Life as a New Working Mom

Having experienced both in my life now, I have enormous respect for two things...1) stay-at-home moms and 2) working moms (so I guess I'm saying moms in general are awesome).  But really, either path that a mother can choose - working or staying at home - have their own rewards and challenges.

There is nothing I loved more than being at home with Annie for the first 9.5 weeks of her life.  I loved being with her every second of every day and I truly enjoyed only focusing on her for that time - I barely thought about work (worked for a few hours a week, but that was really about it).  The fact that I truly loved being home with her made me really nervous about going back to work.  I was afraid that I was going to go back to work and really not like being there.  I knew eventually that I would probably get used to it, but I figured it may take me a long time.

I went back to work on Monday, March 4th.  Luckily I decided to do half days the first 3 days, which I know helped ease me into this working thing.  Of course the first morning that I left for work, I cried when I went to go wake Annie up and say goodbye.  I called my sister on the way to work to distract myself - so luckily the only time I cried was when I left the apartment.  But, much to my surprise, when I walked into my office at work for the first time in 2.5 months, I felt happy.  I was happy to be back.  As much as I miss Annie when I am at work (and believe me I do), I have really enjoyed getting back into the swing of things and working again.  I think overall there are 3 things that have really helped with this transition:

1. We feel really good about our day care - we know that Annie is being well cared for!  Lauren is awesome and we have great communication, which is key.
2. I really love my job - I think it helped to leave for a few months to really learn to appreciate how great and fun my job actually is (yup, I love weather and climate!...I'm a nerd, I know!)
3. Work has been so busy that I haven't had much time to think about anything else when I'm there! - and this was definitely true of the first week because we had a big outreach event that first weekend!  Here is a picture of Annie and I at that outreach event!  Annie got to come see her mommy work :)

Annie's first time in her big girl stroller too (looking out at the world!) :)

I think some of the things that make it most difficult to be a working mom (at least for me) are the following...

1. I feel sad and guilty that essentially, I am only spending 3-3.5 hours a day with Annie during the week.  I get about 15 minutes with her in the morning before I leave (which luckily is when she is all super smiley and happy after waking up!) and then after we get home at 4:30, we have until about 7:30 or 8 when she goes to bed.  That is really hard to wrap my brain around...3.5 hours a day.  Just simply not enough.  But, even if I don't get to spend quite as much time with her as I would like during the week, I know it is how I spend that time with her that is so important.  And unless something else really needs to be done, Annie is 100% my focus when I get home from work at 4:30!!
2. The weeknights fly by and I am exhausted at the end: by the time we get home and I play with Annie, feed her, feed us, give Annie a bath, and then put her to bed...I have to pick up the apartment, pack lunches/bottles for the next day...and I am exhausted.  I go straight to bed - and usually an hour later than I would like to. 

Another thing I have learned to appreciate as a working mom....weekends!!!  Non-stop loving on my baby girl is the best!!  While it's still an adjustment being back at work, I really think we've gotten into a great schedule and things are going so well!  I know there will be some days that are tougher than others, but overall, the transition really went better than I thought it would!!

2 Months - Already!?

I can't believe that Annie is already two months old!  Time has flown by...and over the last 2 months, I've probably experienced every type of emotion too.  I guess that is expected when there are still some "crazy" hormones lingering and slight sleep deprivation :).  But, overall, I honestly can say that the most common emotions over the last 2 months have been joy and love.  Our little Annie has changed our lives, and I never want to go a day again in my life without the amazing feeling of being a mom! 

Looking back at her 1 month pictures, it's hard to believe she has changed so much in the last month!  Here are her "stats" from Tuesday:

Weight: 11 lbs 14 oz. (50th to 75th percentile)

Length: 22 inches (10th to 25th percentile - shrimp!)

Head circumference: 38.7 cm (25th to 50th percentile)

Overall, Annie is a really good baby!  She is so sweet - very smiley (she did her first real smile in response to me around 1 month) - and I'm sure anyone who has been following pictures of Annie on Facebook or Instagram know that she is a smiley girl! :)  Over the last month, she has become so responsive when you interact with her.  She of course loves to smile at you, but also loves to make those adorable baby sounds - the range of her "talking" has become much more versatile over the last couple of weeks!!  I swear she has been on the verge of laughing one time for me and Ben said one time for him too - I think it's only a matter of time before we hear that adorable giggle!  It's so fun to think about all of the fun things she'll be doing over the next few months!  Well, the rest of her life for that matter :)  But this first year is just so amazing how much they learn and change!

Other 2 month "milestones": her neck is getting very strong - from about 2 weeks, people have been commenting on how strong of a neck she has for her age.  She is pretty good at lifting her head at a 45 degree angle (if not more) when she is doing tummy time and when you are holding her over your shoulder, she holds her head up really steady (which she has been doing for a few weeks now!).  

We have had some challenges along the way...Annie has a mild case of reflux, which isn't fun because you can tell she is in pain, especially during and after feedings.  Some days it is really bad, and others she is fine.  But because of her reflux, she often fusses when I try to feed her (which makes it difficult to get a full feeding since obviously I don't force it if she is in pain...), spits up quite a bit, and is just uncomfortable after eating.  We do try some things to make her more comfortable (holding her upright after feedings for 30 mins, angling her crib mattress, etc.), but the worst part is that we really can't do much about it.  Hopefully just a little bit of time will help this issue!

For the first month to month and a half, Annie was having a lot of "internal" issues...she fussed like crazy every time she had gas or was trying to work something out (if you know what I mean!).  Again, another issue that is so hard to deal with because there isn't a lot you can do about this.  I did try a few things though....gas drops (seemed to make it worse), I cut out dairy and soy for a week or so (didn't really seem to make a difference), tried a little pear juice in her 1 bottle a day (seemed to make it worse too!)...finally, I cut out all caffeine which seemed to help (finally!!)  I really wasn't even having much, half a cup of coffee a day, but it seemed to make a difference.  She is passing things along a little bit easier now - she still fusses every now and then when she has gas pains, but it's not horrible anymore (and this is normal for babies according to her doctor).  The idea of going back to work on Monday without ANY caffeine though is a little scary...haha!

As I said at the beginning, there are so many emotions that you experience as a new mom - joy, love, happiness, helplessness, worry, uncertainty, doubt, frustration - just to name a few.  I think the hardest part so far is knowing what exactly we should do for different things...like what to do about her reflux (and feeling helpless in the meantime that you can't help her pain), or how to start good habits so she falls into a schedule eventually (how long is too long for a nap?  How long should she go without eating during the day?)...and on top of all of that, there is SO much contradicting information in books and on the internet (all from credible sources) on what is right.  So, it definitely has been a challenge to try and get all of the information possible and then come up with our own decision on what WE are going to do....all the while having NO idea if we are doing any of this right! :)

In the end, what is most important is that our baby is happy, Ben and I are happy with one another, and we are happy as a family - and I can say without a doubt that all of those things are true!  So, at least for now, I think we're doing something right :) 

DIY Monthly Picture Chalkboard

Happy ONE month Annie!!  This has, by far, been the best month of our lives so far!

I knew I wanted to do something fun and a little bit different for her monthly pictures.  I have seen pictures of people using chalkboards for things like monthly pictures, bump pictures, etc...so I thought something along those lines would be fun for her monthly pics!

I searched where you can find little chalkboards and one place that came up was JoAnn Fabrics...so Annie and I ventured out to JoAnn Fabrics on Friday to see what we could find.  While we were there, luckily my creative brain switched on!  I thought it would be fun to personalize the chalkboard instead of have it just be plain...so that's how I came up with the final product above :)  Here are a few pictures of the making of Annie's personalized chalkboard!

First, I picked out the frog decal that I wanted on the chalkboard.  Then from there, I picked out 2 paint colors that I thought would be fun with the froggie (one for the frame of the chalkboard, one for the letters and polka dots!).  First I painted the frame with the blue color using a sponge brush (showing in 2nd picture below in corner).  The paint dries pretty fast luckily!

Then, I made the polka dots using the back of a bamboo stick I already had at home!

I found these little packets of letters by Craftwood - each pack was only $0.99 for 5 letters!  And then I painted those with the pink.  They were a little bit trickier to paint because they are so small, but the sponge brush made it pretty easy to get in the small spaces. 

Annie was helping....

I let the frame and letters dry over night before putting on the frog and letters with the glue gun.

And voilá!  The final product!  Pretty darn easy - and pretty cheap too!  Altogether, it cost about $18 (and it was a little bit more because I had to buy a glue gun which cost $6!)

I'm sure I'll be making more of these in the future! Like for baby #2's bump pictures and monthly pictures! But that's a couple years down the road... :)

Annie's Birth Story

Now that we have a few weeks of having Annie home under our belt, it's time to start blogging again!  

Welcome to our precious little girl, Anne Jeanine Woloszyn!

...or "Annie" as we like to call her :)

Annie was born on December 28, 2012 at 6:41pm.  She weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19.5 inches long (or as Ben accidentally put in an announcement text...19.5 feet long! haha).

So here is Annie's (long) birth story (if you are interested!)....

The day had finally arrived!  Thursday, December 27th was the big day...our induction day!  I was instructed by the doctor to call Labor & Delivery around 4:30pm on Thursday to find out what time we should come to the hospital, and to make sure they had room for us.  Luckily when I called, it sounded like it was a pretty slow evening, so they were ready for us to come in at 7pm!  I was very thankful for that - I can't imagine being so anxious for the 27th and then having to wait until the next day!

But off we went to the hospital at 7pm on Thursday.  It was sort of surreal leaving our apartment, knowing that the next time I'd be walking through the door, it would be with a baby!  The first step in the induction was to get a medicine called cervidil on Thursday night.  The cervidil doesn't put you into labor (well, I guess for some people it does, but that's kind of rare) - the cervidil just helps to get you more "primed" for the pitocin the next morning.  So the first night in the hospital was basically us just sleeping before the big day (or trying to sleep...).

One thing that was a little weird about being induced is being in the hospital, and in the room that I would eventually deliver Annie, for just over 12 hours without really being labor....things were very calm - so we were just waiting, anticipating when things would get started the next morning! 

After a very restful sleep (...or not), the nurse started pitocin the next morning at about 7:30am.  Unfortunately, the cervidil didn't make me progress any further that night, so I was starting the induction at about 1.5 centimeters and 50% effacement - and with her head still very low!

About an hour after the pitocin started, Dr. Fulfer came in and said that they are going to need to keep a closer eye on Annie, because her heart rate kept dropping slightly after each contraction.  In order to monitor her heart rate more accurately, they would need to insert internal monitors - which they would have to break my water to do.  So at about 9am on Friday, Dr. Fulfer broke my water (that is a weird sensation!!) and inserted the monitors - one attached to Annie's head to monitor her heart rate and the other is a pressure sensor that goes inside my uterus.  I remember hearing about the monitor that attaches to the baby's head in our labor class, and of course I hoped we wouldn't have to use it.  But Dr. Fulfer assured us that it doesn't hurt Annie and that she may come out with a little mark where it was, but that's it.

After the internal monitors were in, the nurses and Dr. Fulfer were watching closely to see how Annie was responding to the contractions.  If she continued to have a deceleration in her heart rate after contractions, I would have to be prepped for a c-section.  Honestly, at this point, I was pretty much convinced I would be going in for a c-section and we would be meeting Annie much faster than we expected.  But, luckily, the internal monitors were showing that Annie was actually responding much better to the contractions, and the nurses slowly increased my pitocin throughout the morning.

One of the weirdest things about the internal monitor that was attached to Annie's head was that I could feel when she moved her head - because when she moved her head, the cord to the monitor would move!  When contractions got more intense, she was actually my clue that a contraction was starting because her head would move a certain way, then the contraction would start.  It was really weird (and cool!).

Once my water was broken, I started feeling the contractions more, but they weren't too painful until around noon.  It was around noon that I really started contemplating an epidural.  I went into labor actually trying not to get an epidural.  A few reasons: I didn't want anything to slow down labor, and sometimes an epidural can do that if you get it too early.  Also, I really didn't want to be stuck to the bed - I really wanted to be able to move around so I could let changing positions progress labor.

I started thinking an epidural may be the way to go though.  Few things made me want to go the epidural route...even though they can't guarantee it 100%, the nurse felt I was at the point (I was about 6cm), that an epidural would not slow down my labor.  Also, I was stuck in bed anyway because of the internal monitors.  Also, the contractions were getting very intense (as I expected of course!), my hip pain was like nothing I had felt before (and I could only lay on my sides because she didn't respond well to me being on my back), and I was already exhausted and knew I had a long way to go - so I figured it might be nice to get a little bit of rest before pushing had to begin.

I was scared though to get an epidural!  That huge needle going in my back really freaked me out - I asked Ben to call in my mom and sister to help me make up my mind.  It was good to talk to them and for Katie to remind me that getting an epidural really isn't that bad - and that the relief of pain I will have after is well worth it.  So, I decided to get the epidural.  A decision I am very happy that I made.  However, I didn't have the best experience actually getting the epidural - it hurt a lot more than I thought it would!  Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist tried 2 spots initially and hit nerves...a really sharp pain shot down my back and my leg and wouldn't stop.  But, the third time was the charm and the epidural was in!  And, despite the pain of having it put in, I am very happy I got it - I couldn't believe how I felt nothing when I was having a contraction!  That was really nice to relax and rest up before it was time to push!  And, since I was more relaxed, I was actually able to start getting excited again about meeting Annie very soon!  That was really nice, to remind myself why I was there and that it was almost time to meet our daughter! :)

I also think being able to rest sped things along since I was able to relax a little bit and within about 2.5 hours, I dilated the additional 4 centimeters and was ready to go!  I started pushing around 4:45pm - I ended up having the "perfect" epidural (so said the nurse) because I couldn't really feel any of the pain, but I could feel enough of the pressure to know when contractions were happening to push.  I pushed for about 1.5 hours with just the nurse and Ben in the room - Ben was a great counter for me! :)  Pushing was different than I thought it would be - my contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, so that 2-3 minute rest in between was very nice.  For the first hour, Ben and I and the nurse were just talking in between contractions - about random things like the nurse's upcoming wedding, what Ben and I do for jobs - which isn't what I expected (obviously the epidural helped keep it a calm environment during this time!).  But, towards the end, pushing definitely started getting more intense even with the epidural.  Finally, Annie had crowned and it was time to call Dr. Fulfer in for delivery!!

So the nurse called...and we found out that Dr. F had just been called to another delivery!! Agh!  So I had to sit there for like 10 minutes with Annie crowned and really ready to go (her head was pushing out at each contraction, without me doing anything!). Finally, Dr. Fulfer came in and it was time to really push!  It went well until her head was out and we found out that her right hand was up by her face (yes, that position that she loves to sleep in, she was born that way!!!)...that made it difficult to get her out at the very end, but she finally made it out!! 

I feel very lucky that everything went well - and that I was able to have her "normally" (without a c-section) - especially after that scare at the very beginning of the day.  No matter how you have your baby though, it is an absolutely amazing experience and nothing beats the first time that you lay your eyes on your precious child.  We love Annie more than anything and cannot imagine our life without her!!