Day of Nursing

Today was a bit of an experiment. I've been a pumping mom for almost 6 months now. While in the NICU Greyson seemed to be okay a nursing, but in retrospect it wasn't great nor terribly effective. Since coming home I have made it a point to "put him to breast" every day. For a long time it was more of a comfort measure than for feeding and I'd always follow-up with a bottle which he usually downed.

Today I nursed him in the morning as usual and he wasn't interested in a follow-up bottle. He seemed full and happy and settled in for a nap. This happened again at 11 and 3 (I still can't believe he held out that long). Nursing was enough. I was shocked and delighted. At 5 I did give him a snack bottle because he was a little fussy but he only took less than an ounce. He took his last feeding by bottle with a boob chaser because he was tired. But we made it most of the day on nursing alone. I got to try out being a breast-feeding mom and I liked it. No bottles to warm-up and clean-up and because he drained me so well I didn't have to pump much today! It was awesome!

I don't know if we will be able to keep this up, but I am excited to try.

12/21/08

I have decided to start using some of my frozen milk. I've been defrosting it a day at a time and mixing it with some fresh and then freezing the extra fresh in bags instead of the tiny NICU bottles that take up so much space!

So the milk Greyson is getting today is from December 21st, 2008. Every bottle labeled with his name, the date and the exact time it was pumped. Pulling out that milk made me think about that day and it was an amazing day. 12/21/08 was the day Greyson came out of the isolette and was in an open crib! It was the first day I could hold him without needing to get a nurse first. What a great day.

It is strange to think that the day I pumped this milk for him he looked like this.
And now all these weeks later he is happily in my arms, more than twice as big and without the high-flow nasal cannula.

Pumping

I'm a pumping mom. Once Greyson came home we discovered that breastfeeding full time just was not going to work for us. So I pump for him, 7 to 8 times a day. I'm trying to work it down to 4 or 5 times and keep up with the 27 to 32 oz a day I have been expressing since Greyson came home. It is a pain to do, but providing him with breastmilk is really important to me. When Greyson was in the NICU it was one of the few things I could do for him.

This article about another pumping mom - brought tears to my eyes and made me so thankful for Greyson.  It also helped to confirm our plans for our deep freeze full of milk.  This July if we haven't needed to use it by then we will donate the extra I pumped in December to a milk bank.  There are at least 15 days down there with about 15 to 20 oz per day. We will then do the same for January in September.  

I am fascinated by breast-milk and amazed that in addition to creating a whole new life our bodies are able to produce quality nutrition for that new life!  It is really amazing.  And through donation we can help even more babies.

Singing

I love to sing. But I don't like to sing when people can hear me. But I have started singing to my little guy. Today he was kicking up a storm - we are talking about LOTS of movement. So I started singing to him and he stopped moving around. Then I stopped singing and he started kicking again. So I sang for awhile longer and he settled down enough for me to take a nap. Now I'm up and he is at it again!
So I maybe doing a lot of singing in the future.

Oh, I get it now...

I finally understand why horizontal stripes have been deemed unflattering by so many.
I've always loved a horizontal stripe. It made my boobs look big and my waist look small. But now that "small" and "my waist" cannot be used in the same sentence I see everyones point. The stripes seem to create a very unflattering "illusion" that I am way bigger than I am.
So I get it and I will now be putting this shirt in the "not to be worn out of the house" pile.

The Little Bird Waved at Me!

I had an appointment today to follow-up with the weekend's bleeding. They couldn't find the heartbeat with the doppler so they did an ultrasound. It was scary when they couldn't find him, but it was nice to get an ultrasound. It turns out the little bird was laying with the top of his head facing my belly button - so they couldn't get a good read. Then he moved a round a little - which was so amazing to see. And then he waved at me! I saw his little are go back and forth and then he put it behind his head. The picture is wonderful because it looks like he is just kicking back and relaxing.
It was wonderful to get a peek at how much he has grown.

And no, I don't know for sure it is a boy. All the baby "parts" were out of view and they don't really like to make that guess until further along in the pregnancy - we are schuled for our 20 week appointment to find that out. But I did have a dream on Friday night that we found out the bird was a boy. I've thought that all along too. Of course his heart rate is still high 153 - which would lead one to believe the bird is a girl. Either way, happy, healthy baby is the goal. Boy or Girl.

The return of the two pink lines

All last week I waited for my period to start. Everything was telling me that it would be here any day, except for the fact that it didn't come. Then it didn't come some more. So on Monday I took a test and much to my surprise it was positive. Big, bold, right away positive. I was shocked and delighted. By Wednesday there wasn't any doubt in my head because I was starting to feel queasy all the time and waking up early for good reason. Friday I had a dr's visit and they said "Pregnant!" I'm waiting to hear what my HCG level is. Last time it was never higher than 156, so I'm hoping for a really high number this time. Come on 1000!

Crazy.
Exciting.
Wonderful.

Were are looking at the 1st or 2nd week of February, depending on whose "due date estimator" we use. Grandpa's birthday is the 6th of February so I've been told to aim for that day - and to have twin boys. I'll see what I can do. But no matter who we meet in February - Finnigan, Sullivan or Eleanore, we will be so happy to see them. Our family is just waiting for you.

Oh - this means I will be HUGE for Christmas. Wont' that be fun.

UPDATE: My HCG was 3600! So awesome.