34 A,C

That would be my bra size.

To be more specific (since I'm sure you are dying to know) my bra size would be 34 Left A, Right C. Now, where to find a bra to fit?

I was completely prepared for the larger boobs that would come during pregnancy/lactation. Plus I was even prepared for the smaller "deflated" looking boobs I heard would come post lactation.

However...

I was not prepared for this state of confusion my body seems to be in where my left side (weak side) has decided to slowly stop producing milk and my right side (strong side) has kept on keeping on.

So unless you have any suggestions for me I've come to these options: 1) Stuff left bra cup. 2) Intravenously inject dark beer and oatmeal in left breast. Or 3) Always carry baby/purse/object in front of chest while in public.

( . )( . ) (For you more visual folk out there)

Tiffany

How We Did It: SLEEP!

As promised, a post to tell you how we went from this:


to THIS!!!

Now that I've gotten your attention I will take a moment to let you grab your pen and paper...go on...I'll wait.

No, I'm just kidding, I do not have all the tricks or claim to have all the answers, HOWEVER, there were some things that helped us so here is how we got B sleeping through the night unswaddled.

A week ago on the same day as B's 6 month appointment we were also having a heat wave. It was in the 80's for a couple days which made it just too hot to swaddle. At B's appointment he got his shots which is enough to wear him out plus he was already exhausted on top of that. When I brought him home he literally fell asleep the second he hit the crib (unswaddled). He napped for a good hour by rolling himself to his side.

That night we thought we might as well bite the bullet and go for all night sleeping unswaddled. At bedtime he again was exhausted from his Dr. appointment (I really do think that helped). At 8:30 when we laid him down we gave him a paci, and put a second one in the crib that he could find if he needed to. Also, we gave him his little blanket that is about an 8"x8" little blankie to hold for comfort. I was against giving him any sleep item to cling to but I thought about it again and if it will calm him down, and give him something to hold/play with, then why not? He was so tired he fell right to sleep still on his back.

About 15 minutes later he woke himself up with a jerk. Crying. We went up, gave him a paci and left. Still crying. Went in again, and picked him up, paci, calm, lay down. A few minutes later more crying. This time his crying was almost hysterical crying (my heart breaking) so I decided to nurse him again as that was the only thing to calm him down. I changed his diaper, nursed the second boob, burped him, and laid him back down. He was calm for a while, then fussed, then he rolled to his belly. He fussed for a while and we just let him go.

It is now approaching 10:30. I took stock of the situation; he is not hungry, he is not wet, he is not cold, he is not hot...he is just tired. At this point we let him cry it out. I know some people could never use this method. If you would have asked me 2 months ago I would have thought I could never use the cry it out method. But in all honesty, once they reach a certain age, and you know that they know they are fine, comfortable, loved and that they are just tired, it is a bit easier to let them cry it out. His fusses turned to cries and I was about to go back in. Thank goodness for hubs because he said, "Just wait, it sounds like he's tiring out." And he was. A minute later his head was down and he slept ALL.NIGHT.LONG.

Since that night, we have never looked back. B lays down in his crib like he knows exactly what to do. He grabs his blanket, rolls over, and goes to sleep. IT IS AMAZING.

It is amazing at how smart babies really are, and how easily they adapt. Of course I think timing had something to do with it. I really do think he was "ready" (whatever that means). But I also think it helps to stay consistent. He gets 2 paci's, a blanket, a kiss from mom and dad, and then bed. Letting him cry it out that one night was sooooooooooooooo hard, but sooooooooooo worth it.

Because of my boy's good sleep habits now he is down to only 2 naps a day. 2 long naps. I love it!

Tiffany

Odds Are

You can be the care taker of your happy baby all day long, no problems, no messes, no fussing and no accidents.

But, odds are that your spouse will walk in on you when your baby is peeing on the carpet, and on the new diaper he is holding, while rubbing off the freshly applied vaseline, and knocking over the powder, which he got on his face.

I'm sure that's what my hubby thought when I walked in on him trying to change B .... what are the odds that after all day, that is what I first see. Poor fellas.

On another note...odds are that if you stick with something long enough, it will eventually work out. (I am so excited to write this.) B is now successfully sleeping all night, in his crib, unswaddeled! I will post more on this, and how it came to be. But until then just know it is amazing. I do realize I sound crazy but as a parent I even feel proud of my baby while watching him sleep. Also, as scary as it was for me in the beginning, it is true that they sleep better on their bellies once they can roll.

I guess his bald spot on the back of his head will finally start to grow back!

Tiffany

Please Don't Fail Me Now

Boobs. Please don't fail me now boobs.

Like I said in my previous post, I fear/feared I was drying up. (Isn't that phrase "drying up" the most hideous sounding phrase ever?)

So I think what happened is I got lazy. I know when babies start solids it is natural and normal for the milk supply to lesson because the baby's needs lesson. But still, I don't what mine to lesson. Every time I feed my baby cereal, i.e. every day, I pull frozen milk out of my freezer to mix it with. I used to pump around the same time I fed B solids so I could replenish the frozen milk I took out. Well the past couple weeks I got lazy in my pumping and boy, could I tell.

I started to totally freak out because I would pump and literally get nothing. Then I was worried that I was starving our kid, even though the 3 rolls on each of his thighs were telling me different.

Anyway, I know B is getting enough from me but I wanted to get my supply back up so I could (continue burning massive amounts of calories) wait, no, so I could replenish my stock.

So I began to google.....oh google....I love you. Basically with all my research it boiled down to only 2 things that have actually proven to work to increase ones supply: 1) Dark Beer 2) Oatmeal

So that night I had a Guinness. The next day I ate oatmeal. Repeat on days 2 and 3.

No change.

Maybe I need to put the beer IN the oatmeal?

Dunno. But I did get diligent in my pumping and I think it's coming back. At least, I'm not that worried about it anymore in the sense that I don't think I'm "drying up". (Eww that just sounds so gross.)

I guess there is no secret. It just all comes down to supply and demand.

Too bad my credit card doesn't work that way....I demand the hell out of that thing. When will it replenish my supply?

Tiffany

Cinco de Mayo Aftermath

No- Not my aftermath. All I did last night was google milk supply/drying up/increase milk production....and all those fun topics. That will be a later post.

For whatever reason I just keep thinking about all the people that went out partying last night,

Drank too much tequila,

Got drunk,

"Just relaxed",

Got within 10 feet of a sperm,

And in 2 weeks from now will find out they accidentally got pregnant.

Lucky sluts.

(JK! A little funny though right?)
Tiffany

Half A Year Old.

Today

6 Months Ago Today

Bradley you are a miracle!

Tiffany

Well hello there sleep.

Sleep. You tricky bastard you.


We went back to swaddling. I had too. Poor B just wasn't getting it, wasn't napping, therefore I wasn't napping, cleaning, blogging, working....I wasn't doing anything. So we swaddle. I guess my little man just loves being wrapped up tight. Did I cause this? During pregnancy were my pants too tight or something?


So now naps are back on track. Lovely. However there was a new beast in town. The feeding breast, I mean beast....I guess my breast is the beast.


Once I moved B into his nursery I fell into a bad habit of sticking my boob in his mouth whenever he woke up at night. I guess it was just the quickest, easiest way to get him back to sleep. It worked...well it worked to my DIS-advantage. He began waking up more and more often to eat. Pavlov's dog theory? Quit possibly.

So I began getting less and less sleep at nights. Which meant more and more naps needed during the day. No good.


So I am back to a different form of sleep training: Weaning him off of night feedings. I am happy to say that after a week of paci, feed, feed, feed; Paci, paci, feed, feed; Paci, paci, paci, feed; Last night was only paci, paci, paci. No feed until morning. 12 hours of sleep/paci and no food. I call that "getting the hang of it."


So for now we're on the right track. I might eventually have a toddler that needs swaddled and a paci strapped to his head at nights, but at least he will stay in his crib a whole 12 hrs!


Tiffany