Almost 4 months old (random thoughts)

Little man is almost 4 months old and he is getting so big!  His personality is starting to develop. He laughs out loud when something strikes him funny. The other day it was my sneeze! Today it was his biggest sister T.T. when she opened the door after school. He has the best smile too. He can melt all my frustration/sadness with one of his toothy grins.

He is starting to coo and *talk* with us.  He is mimicking the sounds I make and T.T. swears when he cries he is wailing mama! Oh and is he ever ticklish!

He has really gained great control over his hands. He can now grab toys and stuff them into his mouth to chew/suck on. Speaking of hands. I was noticing today that his hands while pudgy and cute are a lot more meaty than his sisters were. Theirs were kind of soft and squishy. It made me wonder if the difference in muscle tone between boys and girls is already becoming apparent?

Tummy time, rolling over, eh I guess I'm a slacker

Well as I said, I am a slacker mom. I hate doing tummy time with babies because frankly they hate it, well at least mine do. I do not see the point of forcing a baby to lie on their tummy and listening to them scream their fool head off. All in the name of learning to roll over, crawl, ect... Well all three of my girls learned to roll, crawl ect just fine and we didn't devote hours to tummy time.

Well this morning I decided to put little man on his belly (only the fourth time since birth) to see if he could lift his head up yet. Lo and behold, not only can he lift his head up and look around, but also he can scoot his upper body around and he rolled over! At first I thought it was a fluke so I rolled him back onto his belly and voila he did it again, 3 more times to be exact! So it is official little man is rolling over and we did not have to torture him with tummy time either!


Before rolling over


Rolling over (caught just the end)

After rolling over

Breastfeeding

I have always been an avid supporter of breastfeeding. I try not to come off as Breastfeeding-Nazi. Breastfeeding my girls was a challenge at first and I expect nothing less from this go round. I'm glad that I prepared myself for trouble.




Little man was born very fast; he gulped a large amount of amniotic fluid that made him gaggy and very sleepy. He nursed like an old pro for the first hour right after birth, skin to skin in his birthday suit. Then he started to get sleepy and for the next 12 hours, I tried to no avail to get him to latch and nurse. Finally, the shift changed and my new nurse stopped in to see us and looked at my nursing journal and exclaimed, "He hasn't nursed in 12 hours! We need to bring your pump in right now!" I knew that but the earlier nurse kept telling me I'd get my pump upon discharge. So, she brought the pump in and I was able to express 25ccs (5 tsp) of colostrum! The nurse helped me syringe feed 15ccs (3 tsp) to him. She checked his suck reflex and decided that the fluid in his lungs was probably the reason he wouldn't eat and took him to the nursery to be suctioned. She returned him to me about a half hour later and he was wide-awake and ready to latch on.

 

In the hospital, he had a great latch, things were going great until we reached 5 days post birth and my milk hadn't come in. By this time little man was a ravenous beast desperate for milk and my body was not coming through. In a moment of desperation, I begged Scoot to pick up a can of formula so that I could have a break (he had been latched on for 10 hours straight). Scoot handed me the can of Similac and I frantically mixed up a bottle and placed the nipple in little man's mouth... He looked at me as if I had grown a third eye in the middle of my forehead and pulled away from the bottle. Drat. I drew a little up into the syringe and squirted it into his mouth and he freaked out. Double drat. I latched him back on and peacefully he nursed, while I cringed in pain. I was suffering from a terrible case of thrush and had cracked nipples. I treated them with vinegar rinses, Nystatin cream, and lanolin. However, the only thing I could to was bite my tongue and bear the pain when it was time for him to nurse. His suck was fierce, because my milk had not come in and he was working hard to get it to let down. I visited a lactation consultant and she discovered that after 3 hours of constant feeding him he had only taken in 2-3 ounces of milk...




I knew I had to do something because at 8 days he should be flooded with milk. I bought a bottle of Fenugreek from the local health store and started taking them. 3 tablets, 3 times per day. I took the first dose and an hour later, I felt a tingly sensation in my breasts. By the second day, I could feel my milk let down and finally after a week, I was beginning to heal and he was finally happy.



I share this not to scare people. I will be the first to tell people that breastfeeding can be very hard in the beginning. I think of it kind of like morning sickness. It sucks and luckily gets better. I always say that if you can grin and bear it through the first 6 weeks you will be rewarded greatly! I am happy to say that we made it through and I am reaping the rewards of breastfeeding.

I love the fact that I don't have to fully wake at night to feed him, I just pull him close and latch him on. I love that I do not have to carry bottles, water and a can of formula! I love that I do not have to wash all those bottles! I love that he never has to wait to eat! I love the fact that he can nurse in the sling! I love that we can side lie nurse! I love the way he rubs my side when he nurses! I love the way he grins at me when he's nursing! I love how he tugs at my shirt when he wants to nurse! I love the sparkle in his eyes as he gets excited when I unhook my nursing top! I love that it's our special time! I love his big toothless grin when you ask him if he wants some boobie! I secretly love the fact that he will not take a bottle! I love breastfeeding!

Tale of the rogue penis, cloth diaper love, and breastmilk poop mayhem (TMI alert)

Ok, so I "knew" adjusting to the bathroom aspect of having a boy would come with a learning curve and boy oh BOY has it ever!

First up cloth diaper love!

As you know from previous posts we decided to purchase a crap load of Bum Genius 3.0 pocket diapers.  We chose this option because quite frankly I am LAZY.  Hahaha, I knew I wouldn't keep up with cloth if there were a million complicated steps to cover his nakey butt. I can not tell you enough how much I freaking love these cloth diapers.  They are seriously bullet proof, as long as they are put on correctly, and changed often enough.  Ok I will admit, that was the first learning curve. Seriously though we have only had a handful of leaks, and you get leaks with sposies too, so I still say they ROCK!

Tiny butt in a blue Bum Genius 3.0

(He poos in BLUE)

Green 3.0 at the doctors office (2 month check)

Also if you remember I bought a ton of Chinese Prefolds, that I dyed with the intention of sewing them into fitteds... Well life got the better of me and I ended up using them as burp cloths... till one sleep deprived night when I realized I forgot to wash diapers... I learned really fast what a jelly roll, angel wing and bikini twist were all about. Now I still use them as burp cloths but snappi-ing them is pretty easy so I will also toss a prefold and econobum cover on him... I sometimes feel like I'm cheating on our fancy pockets with a cheap date... lol I have caught the cloth diaper obsession bug!  I have to keep reminding myself that I use cloth to save money and I am happy to announce that after TODAY we are actually going to start SAVING money on our investment!!! Whoo hoo!!!

Jelly roll with the rise folded down

Bikini Twist with the rise folded in

The tale of the Rogue Penis!

I told ya'll that I had some funny stories to tell and this is one of them. While pregnant for little man I dreaded the infamous "golden shower." I did some research and found the uncontrollable spraying is more common in circumcised boys, because the cold air hits the glans and activates the spray... Phew, I thought we're not circumcising him so I shouldn't have to worry too much... Hahaha!  What I didn't take into consideration is the length of time it takes to clean a pair of "wrinkly nuts." So in 3 short months I have gotten numerous "showers" while attempting to get those nuts clean.  Also, I have learned the importance of aiming for his toes when applying a clean diaper.  I've also learned to watch little man's face when changing him, that stinker grins ear to ear right before he unleashes the super soaker on me! Oh isn't it GRAND being a newbie boy mom? You betcha!

Lastly, breast milk poop mayhem.

This has been probably the GROSSest part of being a parent hands down... I don't know if it's a "boy thing" or a "little man thing" but man you gotta be more careful about what's flying out the back door, if you kwim.  I remember the look of horror on Scoot's face in the wee hours of the morning when he realized what exactly had just sprayed forth from little man's body... YUCK is all she wrote! Breastfed baby poop is pure liquid, 'nuff said!

The birth of little man

April 29, 2010 I was admitted to the hospital to a routine induction.  My little man was being a true blue stubborn Taurus and needed a little nudge to enter this world. 

Let me preface this by saying that I know hospital birth, induction, and epidurals are all non crunchy things... like I said I am only slightly crunchy... there is only so much a woman can do with a softie as a labor coach...

6:00am:
I was in my room all comfy and the came in and started my IV's and hooked up the pitocin.  I was already having regular contractions and had been for 2 days so my OB thought that I was probably in the early phase of labor. She said the pitocin would jump start my labor and get him here a little faster!  I asked about getting an epidural (I had already experienced a natural pitocin birth and didn't want to go there again).  My night nurse informed me rather harshly that they like moms to labor a while before they allow them the epidural. OK no biggie I've done natural childbirth 2 times and had taken several natural childbirth classes I could handle a few hours of pitocin contractions.

Early in the process

(notice the laptop power cord to my right, doing school work and updating facebook)

 
8:00am:
2 hours have passed and the starter dose of pitocin they gave me really jump started my contractions.  I was really having to focus on breathing through them.  Between contractions I worked on my Philosophy of Classroom Management paper for a class I was taking. (Gotta keep on top of school work).  By this time shift had changed and I had a new set of nurses that would be caring for me for the rest of the day.  Tasha (my nurse) came in and I noticed she was sporting a cute baby bump herself. We chatted and I discovered she was due in August, how exciting for her!  She asked me what my plans for pain management were, because the night nurse hadn't put anything in my charts yet. I told her that I had asked for the epidural, but was told by the night nurse that I had to experience a trial of labor and progress more before I could get it and that as soon as I had made enough "progress" I would gladly like the relief because I know how hard it is to have one inserted when you are contracting every minute or two.  She looked and me and said, "girl this is your 4th child, and you're on pitocin she could have gotten you the epidural before we even started the pit drip!  Let me put in a fast call to the doc and get you taken care of."  I knew at that moment I loved her!  She was my favorite person in that whole hospital.

9:00am:
The anesthesiologist came, and we shot the shit while he inserted my epidural.  We joked that he must be the best at them because I had to wait an hour for him to get to me, he was that busy.  He inserted the one I had for Cam too so I knew I wanted him this time.

10:00am:
Ahh not feeling contractions (or anything for that matter) allowed me to sleep, and I mean fall into a deep sleep.  However, I woke to feeling contractions again.  They were not super bad, and I thought maybe I was feeling pressure not contractions.  So I let it go.

11:00am:
The contractions were starting to get really bad again so I called for my nurse and she decided to check me to see if I was in transition and that's why I was feeling pain again. Nope only 5cm. So she grabs the really cold spray and tests my legs,  the epidural was not working on my right side except for my feet.  She called the anesthesiologist back and he adjusted my epidural and all was numb again.

12:00pm:
I enjoyed chatting with my FIL (Father in Law) and Scoot.  By this time I was STARVING, but couldn't eat anything. I decided to take a nap again.

1:00pm:
My nurse came into my room to adjust my position because they didn't like the way little man's heart rate was responding to the contractions.  I was still only 6cm.  My OB stopped in to say hello and I told her that I thought he wasn't in the best position to come down. She said well honey babies have to rotate and turn as they come down, it'll be fine.  That's not quite what I meant but ok.

1:30pm:
My nurse came back in to check me because my contraction pattern was changing so I might be really close.  Nope 7cm.

2:00pm:
My nurse returns again because little man's heart rate is taking big dips and not recovering very fast.  She sat me straight up in bed to see if gravity would speed things up.

From this point on I have NO clue of times at all:
Sitting up was bad, his heart rate dropped into the 80's.  My nurse turned me to my left side and his heart rate didn't budge.  I had been trying to tell her he didn't like me to sleep on that side. So she rolled me onto my right side and his heart rate bounced right back. She checked me again and I was still 7cm.

My nurse left.

I had a contraction and I told Scoot, "hmmm? I think I might be feeling pressure, but I'm not sure.  I think I'll wait for a few more contractions"

Another contraction and I say, "YES, that is pressure but it's ok."

Another contraction, "Scoot go find my nurse NOW! I'm feeling a TON of pressure!"

He rushes back with another nurse (not my new best friend), she tells me that my nurse is checking another mom who is close to delivery and asks if she can check me. I said ok. She checks and says "You're complete!"

She runs out to get my nurse and call my OB.  I experience a lull in contractions.

My nurse rushes in saying "so I hear you were gonna deliver this baby with out me"

My OB rushes in saying "guess you were right his head was off center, the rotating the nurses just did got him in the right position cause he is flying out."

There is a bustling of activity as they get the warmer on and all the "stuff" ready.

My nurse is prepping the foot of the bed and helps me lift up my legs into the stirrups and she exclaims "Oh he has hair! DON'T PUSH!"  Thank goodness I am numb as hell cause I can't not push if I feel the urge!

Finally everyone is in place and ready just as the next contraction is starting. I bore down with all my strength. I have been told I am a GREAT pusher.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10..... repeat

His head is almost completely out, I ask to wait for the next contraction to push again

With the next contraction I give a 3 second push and his head is out, they suction him and finally one more tiny push and his shoulders slide out and he is placed on my chest. 

PICTURES COMING SOON!!!!!!

I inhale all the wonderfulness that is the smell of a brand spanking new baby... Right then and there I am 100% smitten.  I didn't care how nervous the idea of having a boy made me. He was here and he was mine and I knew I loved him.

While I gaze at him floating on a cloud of endorphins his cord is cut and the doctor says, "wow look at that a true knot, that is so rare, and he has 2 of them." In my post baby high I didn't quite understand the significance of him having not only 1 but 2 true knots in his cord. 

This is not little man's cord

(Scoot didn't think it was important to photograph)

But this is an image from Google that shows what a true knot looks like.

One of little man's knots was tight like this and the other was more loose.

Looking at that picture and realizing he had 2 knots makes me thank my lucky stars that he is alive and well.  Having a true knot put him at high risk for fetal death because his blood supply was compromised.  I am very thankful that the only "issue" we had with the knot is that he was smaller than we had expected.  This also explains why his heart rate was going wonky towards the end.  Every contraction was bringing him down and pulling the knot tighter.  I am just so happy that he is here safe and sound.

I un-hooked my gown and slid his slimy body down to my breast where he took his very first feeding.  It was a wonderful feeling.  He was much smaller that I had "dreamt" he would be. As he nursed I examined him.  He looked so much like his dad it was kinda scary.  After 20-30 minutes of nursing they asked if they could take him to wipe him off a little and weigh him.  I handed him over and they took him a mear 12 feet away and my whole body ached for him to be back with me.  They announced 7 pounds 4.7 ounces which they rounded to 5 ounces.

They placed him back in my arms and I immediately brought him back to the breast.  I know how important it is for babies to nurse right away after birth when they are the most alert.  The nurses asked if he needed to be in the warmer and my OB (I love her) interrupted and said let them to skin to skin and he will be just fine. So that's what we did for the next 2 hours we snuggled and nursed skin to skin.  I was on cloud 9.

Snuggling skin to skin in recovery

Finally, my nurse comes back into the room and says "Is it ok if we take him to the nursery now? So we can get you cleaned up and moved to postpartum."  I agreed because I was starving and knew I wouldn't get food till I got to the other side.

WOW long time no posts!

Sorry that is has been so long since I last posted... in case you were wondering yes little man is here!  He is doing Awesome and all my butterfly jitters are starting to settle as I get more comfy in my new mommy of a boy skin!  I have some great stories to share and things that I have learned in the last 3 months!

Defeated

Today I am feeling defeated. I have been without a job this entire pregnancy. In the beginning I was too sick to even try to look. It killed me just to function for school. Then once I finally got over the sickness I was too pregnant for any places to want to hire me. They take one look at my belly and then call me later and say "we decided to go with a different canidate, who has more experience"... Whatever, I know it's because of the bump... and honestly while that is illegal I can understand. So today I got an e-mail from Career builder about a preschool position nearby. I am 2 weeks or less away from delivery and I only want 2 weeks off after baby, cause Scoot can take FMLA and keep the baby for a bit. I just really need/want a job. So I applied, they called me just a couple hours after I e-mailed my resume. I set up an interview for Saturday. I am hoping that they will allow me to wait 4 weeks to start. But most likely I will get "we need someone who can start right away.

So there you go, I feel defeated and I haven't even gone on the interview yet.

Hand dyed wool dryer balls

Ok so I bought the wool yarn for the sole purpose of making wool dryer balls. In a previous post I showed how I dyed that yarn using kool-aid. Well after 24 hours of drying it was finally ready to start making into dryer balls.

I used the entire 8oz skein to make one pair.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Start a core with your yarn

Step 2: Keep winding wool till the core starts to round out

Step 3: Keep winding, you're half way there

Step 5: At last 2 finished wool yarn balls

Step 6: Use a crochet hook to secure the loose ends of the yarn inside the ball

Step 7: Stuff the yarn balls into a knee high sock, tie off between each ball, toss the caterpillar into a pillow case, wash on hot water with regular laundry, dry on hot heat, rewet or wash , then run through a hot dryer again.

Remove from sock and enjoy your new fuzzy wool dryer balls. They will continue to felt with continued use in the dryer. No need for fabric softener sheets, wool contains natural oils that soften clothes.

Dyeing wool take 2

Alright so my first attempt at dyeing the wool batting didn't turn out so well. The green color was absorbed by the top of the wool before it even had a chance to reach the bottom of the batting.

Back to the drawing board I went....

What if I put all the dye into the crock pot with the vinegar and water BEFORE adding the wool?

Well part of the scientific process is trials, so here goes:

Step 1: Make a dye bath (hot water, kool-aid or food coloring, and 1/2 cup white vinegar

Step 2: submerge wool into dye bath

Step 3: Use spoon to gently squish wool into dye bath till fully submerged

Step 4: Wait about 45 minutes

Step 5: When a spoon dipped into wool yield clear water, wool is done

Step 6: Dump wool gently into a colander to drain/cool

Step 7: Once cool transfer to a towel to dry, you may have to unroll the wool batting to make it dry faster, re-roll once dry

TIPS: Handle wet/hot wool very gently, any agitation or friction will cause the wool to begin to felt.

Did it work?

Color is even on both sides of the wool!

YAY! Success!

Here is all the wet wool batting

TIP: I did end up un-rolling all the colors and laying them flat to dry because they were still damp after 24 hours and I am too impatient to wait...

This is the wool batting re rolled into bales.

Finally ready to take to the preschool on Thursday and teach the kids how to felt their toy balls!

First times a charm, right?

WRONG!!!

Ok so here it is TRIAL 1 of dyeing the wool roving.

So first you divide your dry roving into smaller sections

Next you place your roving section into a crock pot and cover with water and 1/2 cup white vinegar, turn the crock to high and allow to slowly heat up.

Next you mix your dye, you can use kool-aid, food coloring, or gel coloring. Use HOT water, because cold water will shock the roving and cause it to felt.

Ok so now you pour the hot dye into the crock with the wool. Use a spoon to gently spread the color throughout the crock.

Cover with an inverted lid, and allow to "cook" for about an hour or till a spoon dipped into the water shows clear water in the crock.

Once the water is clear, gently dump the contents of crock into a colander that is in a sink. Be careful to not agitate the wool too much or else it will felt. Allow to drain and cool. Once cool squish out the excess water and transfer to a towel to dry.

Hmfpt? The dye didn't make it to the bottom of the wool. Crap, back to the drawing board

Rainbow butts are just more fun!

After dyeing the wool yarn, I decided to dye my prefold diapers that just arrived in the mail from Little Lions! (Edit: Little Lions diapers are no longer available for purchase.)

Here are the finished prefolds:

 

(L-R) Bahama blue, Tropical green, Orange, Sunshine yellow, Lime green, Ocean blue (repeat)

Now for what I did:

I ordered 12 toddler and 12 regular. I bought a rainbow of Dylon and Tulip brand colors. I was told that they are fiber reactive and would not bleed or fade like Rit brand dye. I read the directions and it seemed a little excessive to mix the dye in a cup, and then add to a sink of water. So I just filled the sink and added the dye. Stirred till all the powder was dissolved.

Tulip red was more pink so I mixed that with Sunshine yellow to make orange

Then I added my prefolds. Set the timer for 15 minutes and stirred/swished constantly. Then reset the timer for 45 minutes and came back to the sink every few minutes to give the diapers a swish. Cambree said it looked like soup. lol diaper soup!

Bahama Blue

Lime Green

Ocean Blue

Orange

Tropical Green

Sunshine Yellow

This is what they looked like right after they came out of the rinse cycle:

Bahama Blue

Lime Green

Ocean Blue

Tropical Green

(It appears I forgot to take a picture of the orange diaper, oh well it was 4am when it finished)

Sunshine Yellow

dying... dyeing... dead

DYEING! Wool yarn that is!

I finally found 100% virgin wool yarn today! I was like a kid in a candy store at Michael's crafts!  I went in for Dylon fabric dye and came out with a $9 skein of beautifully soft wool yarn. I was jumping up and down squealing with joy! (Imagine some crazy woman 35 weeks pregnant jumping and squealing in the very back corner of the store; made you laugh, didn't it).

Lion Brand

Ok, so as soon as I pulled myself back together, hoping no one I *knew* saw me, I took my lovely purchases to the counter to check out. $9.61 later and I was on my way home with my bland wool yarn.

I have been planning on dyeing wool yarn for a while so I pulled up my saved sites and refreshed my memory of the processes I wanted to use.

I started by winding the wool around a folding chair.

My little girl Em wanted to help so I let her wrap for a few.

After you have all the wool wrapped around the chair you need to secure the loop with acrylic yarn

Here is the loop off the chair

 Next you will place your loop into a dry/cold crock pot.

 

Add water, and 1 cup vinegar. You need enough to cover the yarn. Press down with your hands to completely wet the yarn and remove all air bubbles. Once wet turn crock pot on high.

 

Now it's time to start thinking about colors. Choose colors that complement each other and can blend well. The colors will mix in the crock pot.

I call these colors "bottle of sunshine"

You need to dump 2 packets of kool-aid of each color into a tall glass

Add about 5-6 ounces of HOT water to each cup

SLOWLY pour your colored water into different areas of the crock

It's hard to tell in this picture, but there are 3 different colors in there

Set a timer for 1 hour. Come back and check the progress of your cooking yarn. It is VERY important that you do not jiggle or agitate the hot yarn, or else it WILL felt.

If a spoon dipped into the crock yields clear water, your dyeing is done. Turn off the heat and take your crock pot to the bathroom. Very gently dump, er glide, the contents of the crock into a clean bathtub. Allow to cool completely. Don't touch or move the yarn, to avoid felting.

I wonder how this would look knitted?

Once cool, use a little shampoo to wash the yarn, very gently, using luke warm or cool water. Be careful to not agitate the wool too much or else you will cause it to felt. Once the yarn is washed clean, gently squish out the excess water. Lay on a thick towel to dry. Drying may take up to 24 hours.

Once fully dry, you can rewind the yarn and now you are ready to knit, crochet, or do whatever it is you plan on doing with your yarn. I am planning on felting mine.