Happenings for the week

I'm slacking big time this week on the blog. I didn't have time for Monday Memory and I have a short and sweet Tasty Thursday that I'll post.

This week has gone by pretty fast. We've had to deal with severe weather, fortunately nothing that required us to run for a tornado shelter. However, early this morning a round of storms came through and from these storms I have a few friends that had some pretty good damage to their homes, from what is suspected to be a tornado. Thankfully no one was hurt.

This week's new food was acorn squash. Bryce loves it. I didn't realize how sweet acorn squash is naturally. Tomorrow we're going to start carrots. Right now we're still just doing solids at breakfast, but in the next couple of weeks we're going to add lunch and/or dinner.

I have always been interested in 'babywearing', especially since I have a somewhat of high needs baby. After purchasing two cheaper carriers, Bryce didn't really care for, I had just about given up on the whole idea. Well I have learned, once again, that you get what you pay for.

After doing a little research I purchased a Bali Breeze Wrap from Gypsy Mama. This wrap is recommended for the summer time because of it's light weight material. There are various different carries you can use this wrap for. It also includes a DVD with instructions on the different carries. Last night I popped in the DVD and tried out the Hip Carry and the Wrap Cross Carry. I've still got to work on the Hip Carry, but the Wrap Cross Carry looks like it's definitely going to work out, Bryce was happy, it was pretty comfortable on me, and Nic felt it was more secure than the hip carry. I'm still going to work on perfecting the Hip Carry as it is considered one of the coolest holds, and I think it would be ideal for the lake this summer.

Here's a picture of Bryce and I in the Wrap Cross Carry. Sorry about my shirt being pulled up a little, it's one of those kinks I'll have to work out.

I have also ordered a custom Half Buckle Tai from Two Mommas Designs. It is currently in progress, so I should be getting it very soon. I have read many great things and am looking forward to receiving it. I hope Bryce will like it as well.

I'm always looking for something to keep my brain working, preferably something challenging. I enjoy logic puzzles, video/computer games, reading, and crafts. To satiate my appetite for brain exercise and doing something creative I've decided to start knitting. I'm going to try to teach myself...we'll see how it goes. If I'm successful, this is something I can do while I'm pump in the evening, because who knows how much longer I'll be doing that.

Yesterday I went to Joann Fabric and bought a starter kit and instruction book, a few extra needles, and some yarn. My first project is an afghan blanket. I believe I have already mastered the casting on stitches and I have completed two rows of actual knitting.

Here's my work so far.

This evening I was going through Bryce's closet and found a bag of clothes that my sister gave to me. I found this cute OU hat and I couldn't resist putting it on Bryce. Nic insisted on flipping the bill up so it looks pretty silly, but I still caught a cute shot of Bryce with it on.

This weekend I think we're going to stay home and not go to the lake. We have Bryce's 6 months pictures at 10am on Saturday, then Bryce and I are going to a baby shower at 2:00pm that afternoon. Sunday we have another baby shower at 3:30pm. It's set to be a busy weekend, but I'm looking forward to introducing Bryce to some more of our friends.

Here's one last photo I'm going to share, Fara decided to make her bed in Bryce's boppy.

Week in review

This week in one sense has gone by fairly fast, however in another sense it's hasn't. Either way it's been a rough week.

There's a lot of words in the beginning, but I promise there are a lot of pictures at the end.

For a while I have been saying that I would drop from 4 pump sessions to 3 sessions at the beginning of May. I hadn't really thought much about it and all weekend continued with my normal 4 sessions. However, on Monday I did think about it and decided to go ahead and try to drop down to 3 pumpings. Unfortunately when I made that decision I immediately felt sick to my stomach.

So instead of doing my second pumping around 11:30 or 11:45am, I decided to see if I could push it closer to 1:30 or 2pm. I was only able to make it until 12:45pm before I was in horrible pain on one side, so I went ahead and pumped. Unfortunately the pain did not alleviate after I pumped, however I did not feel any knots like I do if I have a clogged duct. I just wrote it off and didn't think too much about it except when my arm would rub up against the tender spot.

That evening I was still VERY sore, so sore that I couldn't hold Bryce in my normal left arm hold. I cooked dinner, then when I sat down to eat, I felt nauseated and didn't want to eat my dinner. I did go ahead and eat because I find if don't eat, it does affect how much I pump. After dinner I continued our normal evening routine, but noticed I had chills and my eyes were burning, they even looked a little bloodshot. I took my temperature to find I had a low grade fever. So it would seem that I might be getting mastitis.  

Instead of giving Bryce his normal nighttime 8-9 oz bottle, I decided to nurse him on the side that was sore just in case it was a clogged duct, then give him a smaller bottle afterwards. He nursed for a little bit but my little piggy doesn't have much patience for nursing when he's awake. However based on how much of his bottle he didn't drink and the amount I pumped afterwards compared to what I normally pumped in the evenings he probably got about 3 - 4 oz from nursing. I was also expecting him to refuse to nurse if I did have mastitis because the milk will have a salty taste if there is an infection, but that wasn't the case, however I discovered that it isn't necessarily true that all babies will refuse.  

Of course the night that I really needed the rest, Bryce slept horrible; therefore when my alarm went off Tuesday morning it took everything in me to get up. I got in the shower, and felt very light headed and queasy, so much so that I had to sit down in the floor of the shower. Once I was back standing I washed and conditioned my hair, then I grabbed my face wash to wash my face, but instead put it in my hair! I was definitely out of it.

I debated going in to work, but decided I would. I generally feel better if I force myself to get out of the house and distract me from what ails me. I did call my doctor as soon as they opened and they ended up calling me in a presciption for some antibiotics that I picked up that evening. However during the afternoon I developed a bad headache, so bad that it trumped any other pains and queasiness I was feeling.

Now my left boob feels better, it's still a little sore if I press on it, but for the most part I think I took care of it before it got really bad. However I'm still dealing with this darn headache after many doses of Ibuprophen.

Now I'm scared to drop to 3 pumpings in fear that I'll get an infection again, eventhough I'm on antibiotics for 10 days. Was it truly a sign that my body is not ready to quit breastfeeding just yet? Maybe. I figured after almost (can't forget about the nighttime nursing) exclusively pumping for this long that I would start to lose my milk supply because the pump will never be as efficient as the baby, but that's obviously not the case for me. I think I may just have to move the 2nd pumping back in 15 -30 minute increments.

But as a mommy, I couldn't let any of it get me down and I just have to keep on going. And so I did. Okay now that you're bored with me, it's Bryce's to be in the spotlight.

I have realized I haven't been really great about sharing our new food experiences. So far Bryce has tried Avocados, Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, Apple Sauce, and Green Beans. Green beans were new for this week. I'm not so sure Bryce really likes them as he would rather chew on his bumbo seat, but Fara likes them (and takes care of the clean up).  Beside the green beans, he's liked everything else.

Every evening this week despite myself not feeling great we have spent our evenings playing, especially tummy time and sitting up. Then after Bryce went to bed, I have worked in the garden until there was no sunlight...and as long as I felt I wasn't going to pass out.

Here Bryce is with Sophie, he scooted himself all around the blanket and kept Sophie with him. This was actually from Sunday evening, apparently I hadn't gotten them off the camera when I did my post earlier in the week.

I think he looks guilty here.

He's still obsessed with his feet.

A picture of his chunky legs!

We can't forget about Fara.

I recently purchased a new camera, and I've been trying to learn everything I can about it. One thing it does is give off a little green beam so you can take the picture without looking through the viewfinder. Here is one I took but I didn' realize I had the zoom on this one, at least it came out cute.

Here's Bryce sitting up all by himself of course he has the "I want you to hold me" look on his face.

Here's him sitting up last night. He didn't get his afternoon nap in last night so the paci was needed to keep him content.

We're off to the lake this weekend...of course after having 80 degrees temperatures all week,  the weather is going to be crappy. UGGGHHHH!

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Despite our highs being in the 80's for most of the week, the weekend called for cooler... actually way cooler...temperatures and rain. We decided if we were going to be stuck inside we'd rather be stuck inside at the lake. So Friday evening we headed to the lake. We prepared our shrimp kabobs/skewers, grilled them, and chowed down.

Saturday we got up, I decided to go ahead and give Bryce his first taste of solids, which I chose avocado mashed and mixed with breast milk.
Here he is sitting in his Chicco Hook On chair while I was preparing his meal. Of course he's chewing on it. He became a little fussy so instead of feeding him in it, Nic held him during our first feeding adventure.

Here's the first bite. Sorry it's not the greatest picture. I was trying to take the picture and feed him at the same time, apparently my finger was over the flash.

Despite the above picture he really really liked the avocado and ate more of it than I was expecting.

Smacking his lips.

It was a cloudy day Saturday and was starting to rain. We decided to go down to the covered docks and try our hand at fishing. Here's Bryce fishing for the first time...somewhat.


He napped a little, then enjoyed a bottle. Daddy lost a fishing pole when he had it just sitting on the dock and a fish took his minnow and dragged the pole in with it. That's what he gets for not paying attention. When I finally sat down on the dock with Bryce, I threw my line out with a bobber and a minnow and watched patiently. My bobber started moving and bobbing up and down a few times so with Bryce in one arm, I grabbed my pole and just hooked it slightly...sure enough I caught a fish...and it was a crappie too! I wish I had gotten a picture of us with the fish but I didn't. I'm sure this spring there will be many opportunities for us to get a picture with one of the fish we catch.

Saturday night the rain picked up and it rained pretty much all day Sunday. I guess it is April afterall...April showers bring May flowers.