Eggshell Green

Abby Update at 17 Weeks

What an exciting day Abby’s just had. Not only did she have her first solids she also got to play in her (nearly) new Jolly Jumper!

Not sure I like this 'food'...

She had exciting baby rice as part of her dinner – well, it was exciting for her. I took a taste and it was pretty bad. She managed about a tablespoon of very runny rice but did really well, without making a big mess like I expected.

Her Jolly Jumper is probably the best $25 we’ve spent. Got it off Trademe and it was such a good deal because it’s almost new (can’t even tell it’s been used) and she lovvvves it! I had to take a video of her jumping in it – she has the hiccups and she’s slipping around a bit on the wooden floors, then Fez comes along for a sniff which distracts her until he leaves, then she’s back to jumping before stopping to taste the harness straps.

Abby and cousin Bridget

Abby’s been out and about a bit lately including the second PIN catch up where she got to play with some other tiny people. I even managed a solo-parent shopping trip to get supplies for my paintings.

Playing on the mat

As for me, my breast milk has dried up so no more expressing – yay! It’s weird not having big boobs anymore, but it’s good.

Abby in her carseat

However I’ve been feeling a bit off lately. Tummy’s been playing up and feeling a bit nauseous … I am hoping that I’m just run down, or it’s a tummy bug, or it’s just my body readjusting back to what it used to be, before all those hormones related to pregnancy and breastfeeding. Does that sound right? I hope that’s all it is!

Tags: baby, breastfeeding, puppy

Abby Update at 14 Weeks

Stop the press – Abby can now settle herself to sleep!

We’ve been practising for the last few days, having to come in and settle her, and taking up to 45 minutes to get her to sleep without holding her. Today she has managed to sleep each time without having to be comforted. It’s taken her about 15 minutes the first couple times, and the last two naps took only five minutes before she fell asleep! It’s still early days as she will cry as soon as you put her down, but things are looking good. She’s getting heavy so the less we have to settle her in our arms, the better!

Also, we are finally settled into a routine. Abby goes to bed around 10:30pm, and wakes up around 7 in the morning (sometimes 8 or later if she’s extra tired). She feeds every four hours, four times a day, and a top up before bed if need be. Her daytime naps are still inconsistent where she might sleep for 3 hours, or it might be for only half an hour, but she definitely needs to nap in between feeds or she becomes Crabby Abby again.

Tasty teether

Abby is very interested in things around her, and her little hands are always searching for things to grab, including my hair. She’s at the stage now where she may start teething so we have bought her some teething toys to knock out two birds with one stone – keeps her hands and her mouth busy.

My Battle of the Boobs is going well also. I’m trying to express only three times a day (every eight hours) and only doing 5 or 6 minutes each side. I think my body is starting to get the message and milk production seems to be slowing down a little. It sucks that we are going to have to buy a can of formula each week once she’s comletely off breast milk – that’s almost $20 a week more than we had to spend up to now. Still, I am going to be much happier and I’ll be able spend more time enjoying Abby. Can’t wait to get back some of my freedom (sleeping in any position I want is one of those things as hard heavy boobs means I only sleep on my back these days).

Our first PIN (Parents in the Neighbourhood) group is next Thursday. Should be good to meet up with some other parents and have adult conversations! Abby is going to be an angel for mummy… lol!!

Cute couch potato

Tags: baby, breastfeeding

Stop right there

I am going to stop breastfeeding.

It might sound selfish but I need to feel like myself again and not like a milk truck all the time.

It’s depressing enough that Abby won’t breastfeed straight from the boob, so to have to spend valuable ‘free’ time expressing into a bottle, on top of the time it takes to feed her the bottle, it’s more than I’d like to deal with for much longer.

Question is – how do I stop?

I’ve been reading online and have tried to skip a feed (or in my case, an expression) so that I only expressed three times a day. I also reduced the time I spent expressing by limiting to 10 minutes each side (but I know I have to reduce this further).

This was fine for the first day but because the last expression of the night still left milk in me, I was so swollen and sore by 4am that I had to wake up just to express. Then, the next day I found myself back to expressing four times a day because I was carrying around extra milk from not emptying them properly each time.

I am guessing that I have to put up with the swelling and pain for a while before my body starts reducing the milk supply.

To those mothers who have stopped breastfeeding – tell me your story and give me some advice!

Tags: baby, breastfeeding