I’m all over the place lately, which calls for a bullet point post. I know it’s supposed to me microblog Monday, but I just have way too much to cover. Soooo you get a maxiblog instead. Deal with it. :)
This whole working mom thing is my first experience with “doing what’s best for your child” and sacrifice and all that. Every morning when I drop her off I know that she’ll receive great care, plenty of attention, tons of kisses, lots of love. The only person who’s really suffering is me – I can’t help but miss her all day. But I know it’s something I have to do, and I know it’s for her benefit. So I do it. For her. And yeah, it adds a little bit of meaning/purpose to the daily grind, knowing that I’m working to provide for her. (Well… her and the student loan lenders).
Tomorrow Miss Molly turns three months old. Ahhh! She wants to talk to us so badly… she’s always cooing and making faces to go along with what she’s saying. She can have a whole conversation without saying a word. It’s seriously the cutest thing ever. I always try to tell her I understand, and to respond as much as possible. I think she’ll definitely be an early talker.
She’s currently in size 0-3 months clothing and I just switched her to size 1 diapers after stubbornly clinging to the newborn sized versions for a little too long. When I started noticing red indentations on her legs and she had a few blowouts (which is not typical), it was time to admit that she’s growing up, and her diapers need to grow with her. Not my little newborn anymore. *Sniff, sniff*
Her eyes are still brilliantly blue. My doctor said that if they’re still blue at 6 months, they’ll be blue forever, and it’s looking like that may be the case…so far they show no signs of changing. I’m excited! Her hair is red(dish), and now blue eyes? Somebody get this kid a modeling contract!
I’m a skeptic, especially when it comes to herbs/spices/oils/New Age remedies. I want things like that to work…truly, I do…but I never believe they’re really going to. So imagine my surprise with this whole breast milk thing. Basically, 3 weeks after returning to my full-time work schedule, my milk started decreasing dramatically day by day. Before long, even first thing in the morning (normally my most engorged time of day), my boobs were looking like two sad, flat little pancakes. I scheduled time with my lactation consultant, but then in an impatient fit of panic I ordered a bottle of Fenugreek capsules (the cheap kind) and six boxes of Mother’s Milk tea from Amazon. I figured I didn’t have much to lose, besides, like, $30.
Well. After just two days of use I noticed a difference. In four days I was getting more milk than ever. I just couldn’t believe it. Natural remedies for the win! Now it seems to have tapered off a little, but I’m back to where I was in terms of production, pumping anywhere from 11-12 ounces throughout the day and waking up good and engorged every morning. Leaking all over my pajamas used to irritate me to no end, but now that I’ve seen the other side, I’ll take it. Milk-soaked shirts? Yes, please!
I also started using essential oils because I know someone who sells them… a little dab of basil and a little dab of fennel on each side about 20 minutes before nursing. Somehow the combination ends up smelling like black licorice, which is funny, because that’s what the Mother’s Milk tea smells/tastes like…anyway, I literally just started this ritual, so we shall see if it helps at all. I do like how it smells at least.
When Eric’s sisters planned a camping trip for the weekend of September 26th, it didn’t sound that late in the year. The day that we talked about it the temperature was like 90 degrees and it was just one of those days that made it hard to imagine the weather getting chilly, ever. Now the time is upon us and I’ll admit I’m a little nervous about camping with a baby.
We just signed up for an auto-delivery thing with a new oil company at home and it took them three whole days to deliver the oil for some reason. Even just those few cold nights without heat – I mean 45 degree nights, spent indoors and under covers – were a little nerve-wracking with Molly. Yeah, she was swaddled and snug in her footie pajamas, and we have a space heater in our room, so she definitely stayed warm, but still. I am going to have to pack her snowsuit for this trip. Lord only knows how cold it will be in the woods. Bring on the hot chocolate! (Before you worry too much, understand that we are camping in a camper, not a tent, and it does have a heater. I’m probably worrying over nothing as usual).
Oh, you thought the dog bite saga was over? Think again, my friends! I kind of knew it was coming when I noticed the billboards going up all over town – this one law firm is aggressively advertising themselves as being THE dog bite lawyers in my area. Literally, they have billboard advertisements every couple of miles. Every time I passed one I thought, oh man, I hope the girl who got bit doesn’t see that. But apparently she did. And now I’m being sued.
I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to be talking about this on my blog, but whatever. No one has told me otherwise just yet. The thing that I don’t understand is how she maintains that she did nothing wrong, even though they have her on video doing it. I’m really thanking my lucky stars for the existence of that video. Here’s a bit of good news, though: if we win, we could potentially have Bird’s record expunged, so he wouldn’t have that black mark follow him around forever and he’d be welcome back at the kennel (not that we’d necessarily take him there again, but it would be nice to have that option). When we first found out he’d have a record, it never occurred to me that we could fight it. So not that it’s a good thing to be sued…far from it…but hey, that part is like the silver lining. Wish me luck winning this battle. I have a feeling I’ll need it.
Losing weight, that is. My family does a Biggest Loser competition a few times a year, and this go-round I feel like I have a distinct advantage (which I kind of do). Usually the other participants lose about 5-7 pounds total, so I wasn’t really trying too hard at first, but then all of the sudden people started losing 10 pounds or more and so far I haven’t even been in the lead! It’s inexcusable.
The first 15 pounds melted right off not long after she was born, but then I got stuck. Lately I’ve been pretty strict, and in 3 weeks I’ve managed to shed 9 more pounds. Remember, I gained 60 pounds while pregnant, and prior to that I was already heavier than normal from meds/stress eating. In a perfect world I’d like to lose 50 more pounds from where I am today. (Eeek – scary just to write it. Scary that I have that much to lose). It won’t be easy, but I want to say it here so you can all hold me accountable, and knock brownies out of my hand if you ever see me eating them.
I think dieting has probably contributed to my dismal milk production. That’s why I’m so glad that the herbal remedies have helped. I am attempting to eat healthily – not starving myself by any means – but I’m just trying not to go overboard with portions. The My Fitness Pal app is like my best friend these days, and even when I eat something terrible, I always, always record it. It’s like punishment, seeing it in black and white like that. It does help me pause before indulging.
I took lots of really scary “before” pictures, and I’m really looking forward to posting some inspiring “afters” before the springtime. My ultimate goal is to get into a bikini next summer without frightening any of the other beachgoers. Yes!
I think that about covers it for my life these days. Oh, and apologies for my lazy commenting lately. I promise I’m still reading, and commenting mentally, usually while hooked up to my lovely pumping machine. But then I get home and the thought of logging onto my computer and going back through previously viewed blog posts to comment is just exhausting. I’m sorry… I suck. But I still love you.