November wrap up

Sorry for slow posts but I am just to busy and exhausted at home to post every week :)

Well first off so far so good on the dairy free diet. I have now been dairy free for 2 weeks and Max has been on his new acid reflux med for about a week and a half. So far only spit up 2-3times!! Also feeding times are much better!! He doesn't scream bloody murder anymore!! This is great news for us! Now it is time for me to wean Max from the shield....we have a successful latch on at almost every feeding but he gets mad and after a few sucks and won't latch back on unless the shield is there....errrr.


Well now that his reflux is under control let's see what else can happen to keep our lives interesting....How about let's have Max start to teeth and let's have my thyroid get all messed up? That's right folks our little max seem to be teething. He has been drooling like crazy for about a month and for the last 2 weeks chewing on his hands like they were crack and for the past several days he has been super fussy. The last 2 nights he has not slept well at all waking up at 1am, 2am, 2:15, 2:45-sleeping on couch with him, 4am, 5:30, and finally staying up at 7am. Needless to say both Scott and I are exhausted. His lower teeth are the one's that come in first and his gums don't look swollen or red yet. I even checked his ears but they look fine, so it has to be teeth. Yes almost 4mo may sound early but my baby book has my first teeth being in at 4 1/2mo. Also I have been loosing my hair like crazy(which is normal after having a baby) but I did some blood work on me anyways and low and behold my thyroid is all messed up! It looks like I have postpartum thyroiditis. Anyways I have a appointment with a thyroid Dr in 2 weeks to see if anything need to be done or if we just watch it.

Max's usual sitter left early to go on vacation for Thanksgiving so Max was lucky enough to go and stay at Ms. Melissa's for a couple days. She already watches Madison Claire and has 2 kids of her own so she had her hands full! They even did a art project...Max's first! Max truly enjoyed his time there......Thanks sooooo much!

Our friends Shannon and Aaron had their little boy Tanner so we packed up and headed to Martin to meet him. While we were there we met up with Scott's Cousin Jacob who goes to college there.

Max had some Christmas pics taken last week. you can go here and click on galleries. Username is Bolden, Password is Max.

My birthday was this past week. I have turned the big 28. I had the day off so Max and I hung out at the house(Which was a great idea because he cried alllllll day, gotta love teething) and that night we went to toots for dinner with some of our friends. It was the first time we have all been out with all of our kids. It was quite the group. Thursday was Thanksgiving so we loaded up and headed to see some of my family near Clarksville. We got to see Uncle Donnie(It was his first time to meet Max). After eating we headed back to Murfreesboro to eat with Scott's dad. Because it was just the 3 of us for dinner we went to Cracker barrel. We even got in a little shopping. I didn't want to use the stroller around in crowded stores so I put Max in my sugarsweet wrap. He did great and even fell asleep.

Friday night we had our last thanksgiving feast at Aunt Jackie's. I had to work so Scott and Max went early. As always Max was the center of attention

And last but not least Max is ROLLING OVER!!!!! He first did it on the 21st. I had him on his belly(which he hates) and the next thing I knew he was laying on his back. I tried to get him to do it again but he wouldn't. I called Scott freaking out, he didn't believe me. The next day on my birthday I put him back on his belly in front of Scott to see if he would turn over again and low and behold 2 more times! Now just about every time you lay him on his belly he rolls over! I am trying to capture this on video.

Crying over spilt milk

*Warning this blog may contain graphic content(well not really graphic but it is about breastfeeding and boobs so you if don't want to know don't read :)*

Max and I have been having some issues when it comes to him nursing. Day one in the hospital the lactation lady handed me a nipple shield(a soft flexible rubber nipple to put over my nipple) and Max went at it. We never tried to latch him on without the shield again. Once at home I tried to wean him(I guess not to hard) and we were unsuccessful. I though big deal, he eats well with it yeah it is inconvenient but if it works we will keep it.

I have always though Max had some acid reflux because he would get this cough that sounded like something was in the back of his throat and he would occasional gag on something. He wasn't the biggest spitter upper but maybe 3-4 times a day would spit up just a little. By the time of his 2 mo Dr appointment I knew I had to mention it to the DR. He aggreed that Max had some mild reflux and he started him on tagamet(very mild acid reflux med). Over the past month and a half Max has been spitting up more and more often, and has become very fussy when he eats. Sometimes he will only nurse for 2-5 min(on a good day he eats about 10-15min on each side) on one side then stop and scream and we can't get him to eat anymore. This past weekend was horrible, every feeding was a fight. It is a horrible feeling when your baby is hungry and you are supposed to feed him but all he does is scream. The only time he screams is when it is time to eat and I get him in position.

Pumping wise I thought I was doing pretty good. We had he eating 4oz bottles at the sitters because I would pump between 3-4oz each time. However this past Monday I had an IUD(birth control implant in my uterus- with me nursing an IUD or progesterone BC pills that you have to take within hour after sex are my only options so I choose the easy no hassle one) put in. I was unaware that one of the side effects of this is a possible decrease in my milk supply. I have noticed a decrease in my supple, I am now only getting 2-3oz when I pump.

Needless to say I was very flustered and very stressed, I also have no patience so this is a bad combo. Plus worst of all Max is unhappy and something is wrong and I didn't know what to do...sooooooooo Jackie Randolph to the rescue!! I came across her information while in the hospital. She is an independent lactation consultant and I actually rented a pump from her for the first 2 months. I know she did individual consults so I called her up and she came to the house for one of Max's feeding. She asked me a lot of questions and had a ton of great info for me. Her goal when she came to the house was to get him off the shield because the nipple shield prevents adequate nipple stimulation that is needed to increase my milk supply. Once Max woke up we attempted to feed. Max did great- he threw a fit! I was glad he did so she could see what exactly was going on. Well it turn out she believes Max has really bad reflux and the reason he is throwing fits is because it hurts him to eat and even when I lay him next to me to eat he knows what is about to happen and that it is going to hurt so he starts fussing. It took about an hour but he did successfully eat. We even got him to eat a little without the shield. She left me with some orders. I now have to pump 14min on each side no matter what, including after he eats. This will hopefully stimulate my nipples enough that I will start producing more milk. She weighed Max before and after his feeding(12lb 8oz before!!) and we found out that he only ate 2.8oz. By his weight and how often he eats he should be eating 4 1/4oz every 3 hours. But he is only 3oz below what he should weigh at his age so he isn't malnourished. She also suggested getting my IUD out but I do not want to get pregnant any time soon(or possibly ever again) so getting the IUD out is risky. Another big change is a dairy free diet. Dairy that I eat is expressed in my breast milk and could be a big cause of his reflux. Let me tell you, you will not believe how much dairy you eat until you can't eat it. Dairy is in everything! I con no longer eat milk, cheese, cheese flavoring, yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, lactose, whey, caesin, processed meats, margarine, butter, ranch dressing and the list goes on. Here is a great card that Scott found the really explains what I can't eat. We went to the grocery store and got me some things to eat but now we are label readers! I also called Max's DR and got him switched form tagamet to Zantac.

Well I have been dairy free for 5 days and Max has been on his new med for 3 days and he hasn't spit up once! However we still have fussy feedings and Sunday night he wouldn't even eat. I do think the diet is helping though. I am a bit sad though no good holiday dinners or deserts, but I found a cake mix and frosting that is dairy free so I can have birthday cake!

I have also started on a herbal supplement to help increase my milk and will be starting on a prescription med tomorrow that will hopefully also help. I have seen a small increase in my production and am hoping it continues! We are going to try to wean Max from the shield after his reflux issue calms down.

Wish us luck! My goal is to nurse for a year, lets hope nature doesn't work against us!

3 months

I can't believe Max is already 3 months old! He is such a good baby and captures everyone's heart! He has really grown and is changing everyday. He loves to chew on his hands. He drools like crazy. He has recently realized he has feet and likes to look at them when he kicks his legs. When I come home form work Max and I tell each other about our days, and boy does he love to talk! I also think it's funny that when I change his diaper he is already holding his legs up. Max can sit up really well when you prop him up against something. He had 3 nights in a row where he slept for 6, 6 1/2, and 5 1/2 hours straight! But it was only those 3 days. If we are lucky he will sleep for 4 hours between feedings at night. He still doesn't like to lay on his belly, but he is getting better about it. Here are a few pics I took on his 3 mo bday.

Hello Henry

My boss/co-worker Angela had her 1st little baby on Oct 26th. His name is Henry. Max and I went to visit and meet him on Wed. He is so sweet. I am amazed on how much hair he has. Not only does he have a lot of hair but it is thick! Henry was 8lb's when he was born and was already back up to his birth weight. It was so weird to think that Max was smaller than him. It already seems like so long ago he was that tiny.