What goes around, comes around

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Everyone knows these three R's these days, but how many of us put this into action? I've been thinking (and reading) a lot about 'being green' lately, which has been sort of a by-product of choosing to cloth diaper Jaxon. It's nearly impossible to research or purchase cloth diapers without being inundated with other green products or propaganda. I've always recycled the basics; plastic, glass, aluminium and newspaper plus use CFL light bulbs. But I know there are so many other ways we can help the environment, our wallets and our lives. Today, two different companies promoting green living caught my eye, one on TV and one on the web. I wanted to share these with you.

This evening while nursing Jaxon, I was flipping through the channels and stopped on Sara Snow's show on FitTV. Though I often find her ideals a little high (I'm sorry I'm not ever going to take a 5 minute shower), I like to see if I can learn something new that is feasible for me. She visited a company called IceStone that makes beautiful durable surfaces (kitchen countertops, bathroom vanities, flooring, etc) out of recycled glass and concrete. It looks similiar to other stone products but is renewable. Besides the recycled content, the products emit no VOCs and are manufactured in a day-lit factory. Plus the company has socially responsible programs such as free ESL classes for employees and advocates for greener practices in the community and industry. I have no idea what this equates to in cost to the consumer but is definitely something I'll consider when we either move to our next home or remodel the current one.

After finally getting Jaxon to sleep tonight (last two nights he's woken up less than an hour after bedtime with screaming unconsolable crying), I noticed something my brother had posted online. Rock/Creek Outfitters is running a promotion this month giving a discount to customers who bring in old T-shirts to be transformed into reusable shopping bags. As an avid shopper (aka woman), this is one of the areas where I have lately been trying to reuse and as a result; reduce. I picked up a reusable shopping bag from Target (they sell ones that fold up into a tiny wallet-size packet for $.99) which I have been using at, of course, Target but also the grocery store, the library, baby consignment sales, and anywhere else I can remember to use it. I was surprised and happy to find another larger reusable shopping bag from StrideRite shoes in my freebie kit from the fertility clinic reunion this month. If you are interested in reusable shopping bags & not in the Chattanooga area, you can find diy patterns online or purchase bags from multiple places (Google 'reusable shopping bag'). Many places sell canvas bags which are fine, but I prefer the ones that you can fold up & fit in my purse or diaper bag. Now you can even get cute ones if you don't like having a store logo plastered all over your bag. Some I want to try: RuMe ($28.50/set of 3), Flip&Tumble ($12ea), Envirosax ($8-24ea), & Baggu ($8). Of course I usually need more than just two bags so I may just have to send some of my favorite old tees down to my brother!

Shhh.. Baby Sleeping

Jaxon slept through the night!

It took 4 months, 3 weeks and 5 days but he (we?) did it. Of course, I'll probably get the mommy jinx since I've told the whole world. But now when I get the dreaded question "Is he sleeping through the night?", I can honestly say yes. It seems like the last 5 months I've heard every story of babies that miraculously sleep through the night at 2 weeks old or have heard the pity in folks voices as they give me unsolicited sleep advice. The funny part is that since we started bed-sharing, co-sleeping, family bed.. whatever you call it, neither Jack or I have been particularly concerned about the night wakings (most nights). Those first few weeks, when Jaxon had his nights & days mixed up, were certainly rough! I won't lie. But once I started nursing him in a side-lying position, I was able to sleep pretty well even with him nursing every 2-3 hours all night. We were able to give up any nighttime bottle feedings so neither of us have to actually get out of bed, and Jack usually doesn't even wake up unless I ask him to change a diaper.

Over the last month, his sleep routine has been changing. He slowly was stretching out his nighttime feedings to a 5-6 hour stretch once a night. We moved up his bedtime to 7:30-8PM because he was getting too tired to stay up until his old 9PM bedtime. He was usually waking up around 2-3AM, and then every few hours after that. But last night he went down at 7:30PM and I didn't hear a peep out of him until 5AM!! (And that's even with Jack & I coming to bed at different times plus an accidental 4AM phone call we received). The good thing about the gradual change was that my milk supply was able to adjust slowly as well. Though the extra several hours last night still caused me to wake up sore. So you think he can do it two nights in a row? We'll see...

Playdates Galore

Jaxon and I have been keeping busy lately! Over the last two weeks, we have been running around town to various playdates and lunches.

Last week we went to Durham to hang out at the mall with AH and her two kids (3 & 2mos) plus JJ and her son (2 1/2). We spent most of the time at the food court playground where Jaxon loved watching the big kids run around. While walking through the mall with them last week I got a kick out of how different our lives are now. The three of us used to go to the same mall on our lunch break, sans kids, to hit up the food court or one of the nicer restaurants. And then make a run by a store or two before rushing back to work after being gone too long. Now here we were all pushing stollers and barely all fitting into the Nordstrom's elevator. From there AH & I took the kids up to work to visit (JJ no longer works there so she didn't join us). Our cube of cubicles looked & sounded like a daycare while we were there!

Later in the week we went to see one of my high school friends in Wake Forest and her 3 year old twin boys. They've moved into a new house they have built and are still finishing parts of it. It was such a great house! She's pregnant with another boy and due in a few weeks so I'd wanted to catch up before she's too busy with a newborn. The boys were adorable and rowdy. They warmed up to me quickly (last time I saw them they were still crawling) and were very interested in baby Jax.

This week we had lunch with SB & her beautiful little girl who is 11 mos. Jaxon just stared at her most of the time while I marveled at all the milestones AB has passed that will sneak up on me soon enough. We also went out to JJ's house in Pittsboro with AH & kids again. I think we're going to try to make it a regular routine until AH & I have to go back to work. JJ's house was perfect for the older kids to run around and we were still sitting around chatting when her husband came home. He's an avid mustang enthusiast as well, so he and I always swap car stories on the rare occasions we are together. I let him take the stang for a spin which I think won me a friend for life.

More pics here

Baby Reunion Pics

Carolina Conceptions posted the pictures from the baby reunion! Check them out at here. We're front & center right next to the twin stroller in the group shot :) It was so hot & almost everyone was holding their babies. Everyone (us included) kept running for the shade while they were trying to gather everyone up for the shot. Finally they just took one with those that were already together, lol. Oh, we didn't make it into any of the other shots that are posted so you don't have to click through all 70+ looking for us :) But they are really cute if you just like looking at babies. There's one that is so adorable- baby girl's shirt said 'product of hope, prayer, and Carolina Conceptions'.. some people are so creative.

Reunion Weekend

Jaxon & I went to two reunions this weekend which kept us pretty busy. I'd already planned to attend my mothers family reunion when I found out that the fertility clinic was holding the first baby reunion. Luckily, Mom & I were able to work it out to attend both.



Saturday morning we headed over to the fertility clinic and thought we were in the wrong place at first. It looked deserted as we rounded the corner to the clinic, but they had blocked off the whole parking lot for the event. I heard they had around 300 people show up! I've never seen so many strollers in one place. We were welcomed by staff and stopped by several vendor tables. Then we registered for the door prizes before going under the deck to chat & get food. I got a chance to quickly speak to both of the doctors that helped us and walk around looking at all the lovely little babies! There were mostly singleton babes like Jax but there were plenty of twins and pregnant women plus a couple sets of triplets! There were some fun things for the older kids like a moonbounce and a train. The event was catered so we had burgers and hotdogs. Best of all, I won one of the door prizes! A $100 Visa giftcard!!



From there, we headed to Pilot Mountain for the family reunion. We stopped at a scenic overlook to grab a few pics...






Once we got checked into our hotel, we headed over to Uncle Bobby's for a cookout. Jaxon is fully into the 'men are scary' mode now and would have nothing to do with any of my male relatives, even Grandpa and my brother. He let any of my female relatives hold him.. oh well. The actual reunion was on Sunday which had a lot larger attendence. I don't know exactly how many people we had at the reunion, but Bobby did say our family is now up to something like 108 living decendants on this branch of the family tree! Wow! It was great to see so many family members especially since I'd not been to the reunion in a few years. One of my uncles was already down in Texas for disaster-related work (and another headed down there on Monday) so I hated we missed seeing him. But those of us who could make it all had a good time. There was lots of food, a door prize (one of Bobby's carvings), tons of visiting, and nice weather. All in all, a great weekend.





Click here for more pics

Dog Day Afternoon

It might be an understatement to say I'm a sucker for animals.. especially dogs.

***pause for sarcastic comments from the peanut gallery***

Anyway, when I pulled into the neighborhood after lunch today, a stray lab mix crossed the street in front of me. By the time I got out of the car, the dog was out of sight. As I turned to go back in the house, I noticed another dog at about the same spot where the first had appeared. I grabbed the extra dog food out of Jack's trunk (leftovers from a previous car trip with one of the dogs) and headed off after it. I caught up to him a few houses down where he was pilfering cat food & water off a neighbors porch as an unconcerned cat stood by watching.

He was a big dog, a Rottweiler, and paid me no mind at all. I called to him several times while shaking the dog food, trying to determine his temperment before approaching. Once he had polished off the cat food, he searched around the porch & driveway for more food before noticing me. I threw a few pellets of food in his direction which scared him at first. Once he realized what I had, he came closer and in this fashion I led him down the street.. dropping pellets on the ground along the way. Out of habit mostly, I told him to sit for more food and he surprised me by doing just that. Certainly faster than any of mine would sit! I called Jack to bring out a water bowl and help me decide what to do. He was too covered in mange, fleas & dirt to take him to a shelter in our car so Jack called Animal Control while I kept an eye on the dog in the backyard.

He was a sweet and calm boy. I fed him treats which he repeatedly would sit for and take gently. He didn't mind being locked in the fenced yard at all and really just seemed unconcerned as if he knew he was safe. I led him on a tour around the yard, but after just one trip around he was satisfied and found a cool spot under the porch to hang out. He laid there quietly while I read a book (we were concerned about leaving him unattended as he may need to potty. Too many diseases could be passed to our pups that way so I had to watch for & clean up any poop).

When the officer came, the dog followed me to the gate but would not let the large man get ahold of him and retreated to the safety of the porch. As the man went for the grab pole, I coaxed him back out but again he retreated. The officer instead gave me the slip lead and a small can of cat food. With the food in hand, it was very easy to get him out from under the porch stairs (which he barely fit under as it was) and slip the lead on him. We took him out to the officers truck and with the aid of the food and the strength of the officer, he finally was safe in a crate. Mr. Officer said they'd had several reports of this particular Rottie but had been unable to catch him (not sure why, he was no trouble for me). He was being taken to the animal control center in Raleigh where hopefully he will be okay. I notified two of the Rottweiler rescues I know in the area and will call to check on him tomorrow. Once back in the house, I had to hand over all my clothes to be washed before leaving the foyer. With a baby and five animals, we can't have any fleas or other nasties getting in the house! And everyone, even the CAT, had to get an application of flea medicine. The dogs are used to it, but I had one angry cat on my hands!

10 Things I Love about Breastfeeding

With the introduction of solid foods coming up soon, I've been doing a lot of reading so we'll know what & how we want to feed Jax. One article refered to starting solids as the beginning of weaning. Oh gosh! Mama's not ready for weaning! This article forced me to face the fact that he is eventually going to have to be weaned and he is going to grow up on me (NOOOOOOO!). That got me to thinking about all the things I love about breastfeeding and I thought I would share some of them here. Especially since those of you following this blog have heard so much about all my issues with breastfeeding. If you've wondered why I kept going through all difficulties, here ya go.

In no particular order:

1. It's FREE! Out of curiosity for this post, I calculated how much formula Jax would be taking now and looked up the cost of that formula (top selling brands). $140+ a month! With us out of work, that's extra $$ we don't have. We do give Jaxon some formula on occasion if I don't have any expressed milk but we're still working off the all sample cans we received in the mail, docs office or at the hospital.
   
2. Healthiest choice! Even the formula companies admit that breastfeeding is best. Jack & I agreed early that our goal was to make it a year with breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics breastfeeding policy states "Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding and is species-specific; all substitute feeding options differ markedly from it." and "It is recommended that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired."


3. Only mama can do it! This one actually can be both a pro and a con depending on the day & time. But most of the time, I love that this is something that only I can do for my baby.


4. No Equipment! I've been almost exclusively nursing with only the occasional bottles over the last two months. Unless we are going to leave him, it's just easier to nurse him myself, even in public. So no worrying about bottles, bottle parts, bibs, coolers, and cleaning all those things.


5. Always have a meal ready! It's so easy to take the baby anywhere and I don't have to worry about whether or not I have enough bottles with me. One day I went to lunch with a friend and ended up staying at her house all afternoon. I fed Jaxon 2-3 times while I was out. I hadn't planned to be out that long and would not have had enough bottles with me.


6. Can fix anything! When all else fails, nursing makes him feel better. See my post on nursing after vaccines.


7. He loves it! Jaxon gets excited when he realizes I'm settling in to nurse. We usually nurse in the same spot and I lay him on the Boppy. Soon as he hits that Boppy, he opens his mouth, grabs my shirt & kinda grunts in excitement. It's funny & cute. By the time I get him in place & my shirt out of the way, he's latched on.


8. Bond baby! Of course all the books tell you how it's such a time to bond. Seems a little cliche. But it is a time for just the two of us (at home anyway). I hold his hand (to keep him from wriggling around but it's sweet just the same) and sometimes he hangs on to my shirt. Other times he looks up at me with those big blue eyes.. awww...


9. Laugh it up! Since he started smiling & laughing, he'll sometimes stop to smile or laugh. He lets go, leans back a little, looks at me & laughs or talks to me. Of course that sets me off laughing too.


10. Relaxing! It forces me to slow down. No matter what I was doing, once I sit down to nurse I am not going anywhere for at least 10 mins, usually more. Most times I end up relaxed & calm (lately I have not been doing anything else while nursing at home - no TV, books, etc).


11. Did i mention its free?

Are you ready for some Football?

Though this milestone means little to Jaxon now, it was a big deal for us. His first STEELERS game!! His Grandpop had given him the black & gold getup he wore today (except his Steelers diaper, I got that on eBay). Grandpop & Grandma joined us for the game and it was a great start to the season. Steelers won 35-17 against the Texans.

When it rains, it POURS!

Jaxon's update:
We started Jaxon on his new medicine yesterday. It's hard to tell yet, but it didn't seem like he was very fussy either day. He also has a little reaction from the vaccines - a large red spot about the size of my thumb that is still red today. He has been way off schedule the last few days though. He's gotten up at 7 (nearly 2hrs earlier than usual) even though he's going to bed at the same time. That then throws off our nap schedule. We still haven't adjusted really so we're just reacting to his sleepy cues more than putting him down on schedule. I don't know if this is going to be his new routine but hopefully not! With neither Jack or I working, there's not much reason to get up so early :)

Mama's update:
I woke up yesterday morning with some soreness and knew right away that it was a plugged milk duct. What else could possibly go wrong four months into breastfeeding?! I thought this was when it got easy. Luckily this is not a big deal compared to the other problems. Reading about plugged ducts makes it sound much worse than it really turned out to be. I had a tender lump on one side first thing in the morning. The only treatments are to keep the milk drained (nurse or pump) and apply moist heat (shower or wet cloth) so thats what I did all day. It was pretty painful & red by the evening but I could tell the lump was loosening up. Right now it doesn't hurt at all and the lump is nearly gone. The books say to call the doc if it continues past three days but looks like that won't be necessary.

What's up Doc?

One thing new moms dread is vaccines. Besides the debate on whether or not to vaccinate & when to vaccinate (my sister Steph already covered this one pretty good), there's the added dread of baby's reaction. The first time we saw Jax get a shot at his 1mo checkup (they take them away to do that in the hospital) we thought it was kinda funny. Sounds awful, but really he had a delayed reaction which cracked us up. He had been smiling & happy and then after the needle was out he scrunced up his face and screamed. Once we picked him up though he pretty much forgot about it. We gave him some Tylenol when we got home, just one dose, and never thought much about it again. Then after having 5 vaccines (1 oral, 4 shots) at the 2mo checkup, we were in for a rough day & night. He of course screamed with the shots and then he was so fussy the rest of that day, even with the Tylenol.

So this time we went in prepared. I gave him a full dose of Tylenol right before we left (ended up being about 1.5hrs before the vaccines) in hopes of heading off any reaction. This time he did the vaccines at the end of the visit after we'd covered everything else. So as the doc left the room, I put a screaming baby to my breast to nurse. It took about 5 seconds for him to forget about the shots! I didn't really plan that ahead of time, it more hit me on the spot. It happened to be roughly time for him to eat anyway & our doc is very encouraging that we take our time in the exam room. (No rushing you out so they can get another patient in). What a great idea it turned out to be!! All you new breastfeeding mamas out there - that's a tip from me!! Nurse after a vaccine! We left the exam room with a happy smiling baby with two big yellow bandaids on his legs. He even was calm enough to sleep through our lunch at Ragazzis. We kept up the Tylenol doses (doc said every 4hrs) the rest of the night and managed to have a only slightly fussy baby. Nothing like last time and really not noticably different from any other day.

So what about his reflux? We said we really didn't see much difference on the increased dose of Axid (see last post) so we're going to try a new med. Prilosec - the purple pill. I think it's funny (and surprising to me) that all these reflux meds are basically the same for babies as what you see on TV ads. Though it's the same med, for Jax it's a liquid instead of pill and we have to get it at a compounding pharmacy. (For my JoCo ladies - Medicap at 40/42 is a compounding pharmacy that files insurance! I wish I'd known that a couple months ago when I drove to Cary just for that & paid a fortune). I'll pick that up tomorrow & it only has to be taken once a day. He did say that it should be night & day difference. No wondering is he kinda better? He said we should be able to tell a definite difference if the medicine is working. So if it's still a problem in a week, we should call him back. *Fingers crossed*

With all his reflux, he sure is not having any issues whatsoever with weight! He's a whopping 15lbs 13oz which puts him at 70th percentile on weight! Length is 23.5 which is only 12th percentile and head circum. is 25th %. Ouch! So he's short, fat & has a tiny head. I'm sure glad those are cute stats for a baby. Doc showed us this on the charts and assured us it's all normal and no indication of his later size. Then added the gem that a baby's height comes from his parents and he'd likely be somewhere between our heights. (For those of you that don't know both of us, I'm 5ft nothing and Jack is about 6'2" - so it's a big range).

The only other interesting nugget out of his checkup was the discussion on solid food. He said anytime between now & 6mos is find for starting solids (pretty much what we'd read) and to start with cereal & move up from there. They gave us a handout with what to signs to look for indicating readiness, what foods & qty, etc. He also said that it may help with the reflux because it is not as easy to come back up.

So be looking for pics of his first food all over his face soon!