Well it seems that I cause quite a bit of buzz with my honest blog! So I guess I will keep on keeping on since none of you have de-friended me or egged my house.
I still feel like a hot mess when it comes to motherhood. Just when I think I have it figured out J throws me a curve ball. I had lunch with some fabulous ladies yesterday and Tammy asked me if I didn’t just long to stay home. Get out your judging hat, because GASP, I don’t! Motherhood is hard work... and if I am being honest it is WAY harder than working for Walmart/Sam’s. With work I know exactly what to do. While yes, there are some variables that I can’t always account for, I still know most of the time what I am doing and if I don’t there is always life lines I can use to get me to the right answer. If you know me, you know that I like to be in control…and I like to know exactly how things are going to go, which is why I love me job that allows me to check things off my list and make sure they are done to my liking. Motherhood is a whole different ball game and I feel like it is a learn as you go game that is always changing the rules. I love Julianna with every single fiber of my being and would not trade being a mom for anything, but when she was 6 weeks old and inconsolable I won’t lie, I wanted to go back to work just to be able to say that I knew what I was doing.
Now at 4 months I finally feel like I am getting a handle on things. I love that it is an adventure, but it has taken me a bit to learn to roll with the punches.
With all of this, I will say there are a few things I can say I did pretty well. One of those was feeding. Julianna has always eaten like and champ and never had an issue which I know is a huge blessing.
When I first talked to the lactation consultant she mentioned that the first few minutes of feeding is just to “quench the thirst,” and then comes the good fatty milk. So I have always nursed her completely on one side. I never did 5 min on right and then 5 on left. I would do right for the 9 amfeeding, left for the left..etc.
We introduced the paci at 3 weeks and she wanted nothing to do with it. That is until my friend Kathryn Ann saved my sanity and told me about MAM paci’s. She loved it and never looked back.
We did the first bottle at 4 weeks. When my good friend Ali had her son she told me that she would recommend starting to pump a while before you go back to work. I wanted to be able to have some stored up for the first bottle, so I pumped once in the am. If she ate right I would pump left. If you are wondering, yes this is challenging trying to hold her while you pump, but trust me… it will be worth it in the end.
I say this not to brag about my milk cow status, but just to tell you how well it worked. I have 2 freezers full of milk. When I say full, I mean so full I can’t buy ice cream because it won’t fit. Now that I am back at work our routine has changed, but right now I pump at 6- 10 oz total- place in freezer bags and freeze. When I get to work I pump 2 times a day and fill up 5 bottles for the next day (8, 11, 2, & 5 with the extra for the10pm feeding each bottle is about 5oz). At the 8 pm feeding I feed her. I then pump again before I go to bed. Again, I say all of this to let you know how well this worked for us. I have never had to take a supplement and I am now slowly trying to space out my pumping so I can slow down my production.
Another thing I used thanks again to Kathryn Ann was the pump bra so you can be hands free.. AHMAZING! Get one.
We also did baby wise. This seemed to work for us. From about birth I got her on the every 3 hours schedule to eat. I never once let her sleep through a feeding. If it had been 3 hours and she was still asleep I would change her diaper to get her good and awake and then feed her. This really helped us get through the nights too. Her standard schedule was 6am, 9am,12pm,3pm,6pm, 9pm,12am, 3am Around the 8 week mark she stopped waking up for the 3 am feeding. And by the 10 week mark we had moved the 12am back to 11pmand the 6am to 7am. As I wrote in my last post, she now goes to bed at 9 in her crib, last few nights I dream feed (she is pretty much asleep while feeding) at 1015 and she sleeps all the way until 715 when we take her to the “nanny” where she eats at 8 and we start the every 3 hour feeding. We also follow baby wise where we keep her up for 1.5 hours after the feeding. Here is our typical day:
wake up (turn off sound machine) go in car seat and get dropped off with Juju
8am Feeding and play until 915 ish
915-11am
nap time
11am feeding and play until 1230
1230-2
Nap time
2pm-330pm feeding and play time
330-5
Nap time
5pm feeding
6pm Kelly or I pick her up and take her home
We put her in her chair and talk to her about her day while we make dinner. Usually by 7pm she is rubbing her eyes and falls asleep in her rock and play.
This is when I go wash my face, brush my teeth and get ready for the next day.
8pm I wake her up to feed her
Change her and read her a couple of books while we rock.
9pm swaddle her with one arm out since we are weaning off the swaddle.
915 put her in the crib start the noise machine
1015 feed her and go to bed.
