Milking it

It was time for dreaded "blood draw" to find out if Addison's sesame and shrimp allergies are still present. At the allergist appt, it was clear that drawing blood was going to be a challenge, considering Addison would hardly let the Dr. listen to her heart and look in her ears! So, he recommended that we have her blood drawn at Seattle Children's Hospital. Good idea. We were going to need a lot of bells and whistles to get blood out of this kid! As it turned out, the tech that drew her blood was a master...she sat on Chris' lap, he put the tourniquet on so fast and started thumping around on her veins with his finger, counting "1-2-3, 1-2-3..." She was so distracted by this, that when he did stick her with the needle, she didn't know what hit her and hardly had time to cry. It was done and over with in a matter of seconds! Genius. And now we wait for the results. In the meantime, our little drama queen has been milking her "injury." She whines to anyone who will listen "I-have-an-owwwwwie...." in a very pathetic, whiny voice. She wouldn't let us take the bandage off! We waited until the next day, and when she wasn't looking, I grabbed a corner of it, and OFF it came. Sorry, Addison. Drama is over. Not so fast, Mommy. She has a new owie on her leg, and she's milking THAT now.

Aloha!

Last night we went to the annual Harrington Luau...great friends, food, and a million kids running wild! Scott is a college roommate of Chris', so this crew goes way back with Chris. I'm not sure how many years Scott and Jeannie have been having the Luau, but it's definitely evolved over the years now that so many of us have 2+ kids! It was hard to socialize because each of us (Chris and I) had to be in charge of one of the kids, and it was hard with Addison because of her sesame allergy, and a house full of Asian/Hawaiian food! I was a little uptight, to say the least! Maybe it will be easier next year when she understands what she can and can't eat. Plus, maybe by then we'll know more about her allergy, and if it's still prevalent. We are scheduled to get a blood draw at Children's Hospital to determine how severe her allergy is. That's going to be fun. ;)

All in all, it was a fun night, and Will came home and slept for 7 hours straight! Yeah!

Update on the milk factory and sleep fighter

So far, so good! Will is generally taking about an ounce less of formula, so that means he's getting more from me! I'm still in the early stages of the herbs, so things might increase even more. Fingers are crossed.

Yesterday we had the WORST day ever with Will...he wouldn't sleep all day. He wasn't gassy, diaper was clean, he was fed, he just wouldn't sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. It was soooooo hard. Luckily, Nana came to pick up Addison for the day, so she was gone for a good portion of the chaos. Will finally went to sleep around 9:00 pm. He just wouldn't let his little body settle down! He was fighting sleep so bad. I have a friend who is a NICU nurse, and she said this is common around 6-7 weeks old. Whew! He ended up sleeping until 4:00 am! He must have been making up for his lost sleep during the day. Today he was back to normal, napping for a long stretch in the morning, and another long nap in the afternoon. Enough of the crazy sleep stuff, Will! Mommy needs a little more predictability out of you! ;)

More Milk

I'm currently taking extraordinary efforts to produce more milk. Chris jokes with me and says that I should go see a Witch Doctor. After seeing now how the extra formula we've given Will has affected him (constipated and gassy) I'm even more determined to increase my supply. Here is a picture of the herbs I'm taking....and believe me, I hate to swallow pills! The three bowls you see in the picture are for morning, afternoon, night. The jury is still out on whether or not it's working...I stopped taking the Fenugreek a few days ago, when I was told that it can cause gasiness in baby, but he continued to be gassy, so we're now thinking the formula increase (and kind) is the culprit. I'm now back on the Fenugreek. And I started two other herbs (Blessed Thistle and Shatavari) that are known to increase supply. I don't know why we haven't been looking back at our experience with Addison for insights...although they seem to be two different kids (Will actually SLEEPS) siblings can be very similar in many aspects as well. Addison had a lactose intolerance, so we're now wondering if Will does too. We started a new formula last night, called Baby's Only Organic Lactose Free Formula. I want the formula to be organic, and finding this specialized formula in an organic form wasn't easy. And it's not cheap. Similar to the Nutramigen that Addison was on. PCC and Whole Foods carries it. So far, so good. Will pooped this morning, after 3 days of straining and screaming. Now let's see if Mama can produce some more milk, which will help as well. GO MAMA!

6 Weeks!

I haven't posted for awhile...much harder to do so with two kids at home! We're doing fairly well, minus the case of thrush that both Will and I had! It's pretty much cleared now, thank goodness. TMI warning: Thrush is a yeast infection, passed between baby's mouth and mom's nipples. VERY painful for mom, not such a big deal for baby. It's been 3 weeks, and I think we're done with it. However, my milk supply seems to be down, and I'm not sure why. Thrush could be the culprit, but I'm not entirely sure. Will is going through the 6 week growth spurt right now, and he's eating like crazy. He nurses AND takes 4 ounces from a bottle, which is a crazy amount of eating. My body hasn't been able to keep up with him! So....I've taken matters into my own hands, and I'm taking tons of herbs that help with milk production. I did this with Addison as well, but at that time, I only scratched the surface in the world of GALACTAGOGUES. Yes, what a long word that is! It's the term used for herbs/food/medications that increase milk supply. I'm taking about 36 pills per day (all herbs) to help with my production. I just started a new regimen 2 days ago, so I should be feeling the effects soon. I'll post an update soon! :)

Will had his one month check up last week (we were a tiny bit late) and here are his stats:

Weight: 8 lbs 12 oz

Height: 21.5 cent.

He's gaining weight and doing very well! He's still a very good sleeper, which is still hard for us to fathom, but we'll take it! He does get fussy a bit more now, but this growth spurt has been the most likely cause. He wants to eat, eat, eat! Plus, I was taking an herb called Fenugreek that can cause gassiness in babies, so I stopped taking that one. I wish I would have known that with Addison, because I took Fenugreek FOREVER while breastfeeding Addison, and we all know her demeanor during those times!

Will is a sweet little guy....he loves to snuggle with Mama, loves to stare at his crazy sister, and likes to sit perched in dad's arms, facing forward. Doesn't want to miss out on what's going on! And there's usually a lot to look at in this household!

He continues to grunt, soooooooo loudly when he first goes down to sleep. It's at first sort of disturbing to hear, but we asked the Dr. and he said it's totally normal. Some babies do this, some don't make a peep. They're not sure why babies grunt like that, they think it might have to do with digestion. With all the eating he's been doing lately, there's a lot to digest!

Binky Anyone?

Last week during the heatwave, we took a drive to get out of the house, and into the cool comforts of an AC'd vehicle! We drove past a local horse, named Logan, who Addison feeds carrots to every so often. However, Logan was not out in his usual spot. We pondered "Where could Logan be?" I told Addison that Logan was probably in the barn because it was TOO HOT outside! Side note: Addison has been obsessed lately with crying. She sees pictures of people, animals, etc. and she says "Ohhhh, she's crying." Even though the person/animal is clearly SMILING. We apparently have some work to do on detecting feelings, huh? :) Back to the story....so Addison says "Ohhhh, Logan is crying!" Chris and I give each other a smile, and I said "Yes, he might be crying because it's too hot, you're right, Addison!" She proceeds to say "Maybe Logan needs a binky!?" Chris and I could not stop laughing, it was the funniest thing she's said lately, and she says some pretty hysterical things! The best part is her tone of voice. It's sooooo serious, and full of empathy. Addison's cure for all of the world's ailments is a BINKY. I guess we all could use a binky, once in awhile, huh?