Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our 7 week old monster, who is now 9.8 lbs!  He has come a long way from coming home from the hospital at 5 lbs 9 ozs!

Gifts to Grow-Pampers Rewards

Are you a part of Gifts to Grow?  If not, you need to be if you use or will use Pampers on your child.  They offer points for every Pampers product you purchase (see package for code), and you can use these points to order things from their reward list. 

Even if you don't have a child yet or are pregnant, you should still join.  You can get free codes all the time on the internet. 

Right now, they are offering all new member a free code worth 100 points.  Join Gifts to Grow and enter 453983270233478.

I'll work on putting this on the margin of the blog, and post new codes as I find them. 

Tillman-6 weeks (Wordless Wednesday)

Our little monkey is starting to crack some smiles.  He also is starting to fit 0-3 month clothing.  This is HUGE! 

Hope to be back to blogging regularly soon.  Taking a little break, but promise to be back to it soon.

Cluster Feeding...Growth Spurt...or what?

More email exchanges with the MUSC Lactation Consultant....
I wish I had more time to write about my experience, but figured sharing emails I have exchanged will give you insight to how Tillman and I are doing.  I really don't intend for this to be a lactation blog, but breastfeeding seems to be 90% of where my energy is going these days (this breastfeeding thing is not easy!).  As for the other 10% of energy, it goes to sleep!  Nick has been cooking, which has been awesome! 

Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 8:50 PM
Subject: feedings

I think Tillman is cluster feeding, but not sure I even know what that is. He has been feeding for the past 60 hours all the time...ever 20 mins or so. He has only slept for two 2 hour stretches during that time. He is always at the breast....exhausting.
Is there anything I can do better to get him more satisfied?
Does this mean I am not making enough to allow him sleep? Low milk supply? (I did purchase some milk thistle and red raspberry leave pills....are they ok to take? A friend mentioned these as helping with the quality of milk produced)
I have no idea if he is gaining weight since we haven't been to the doctor, but he has plenty of wet and soiled diapers.
How will I increase my milk supply to get ahead of him, so I can store to go back to work? I feel like he needs everything I make and maybe more.
Also, he seem mighty gassy. He doesn't really burp, but does have the gas. I often wonder if that is what is keeping him up. We did purchase some mylicon today and gave him his first dose tonight.
Thanks so much for your support!
Meredith

Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 1:59 PM
Subject: RE: feedings

Meredith,
Well, let's see. This sounds more like a growth spurt which does usually involve cluster feeding. He is a month. They are often at 2 and 6 weeks but can be anytime. If you can survive, I would watch it for the next 24 hours to see if there is a shift.
The capsules are fine. Blessed Thistle is what is in Mother's Milk tea which is what I used. You can also try fenugreek 1000 mg three times a day along with the milk thistle/red raspberry leave pills. They work well together. It does not seem to me to be a problem but watch it for 24 more hours and let me know. During growth spurts, infants are trying to cause your body to produce more milk to meet the growing needs of the infant.
Being able to store up extra milk can be challenging even for mothers who are making lots of milk. The infant is usually breastfeeding on demand, he empties the breasts and then when you pump it is only 5-15 ml. But this is just the way it is. Two weeks before you start back to work, pump for 10 minutes after 2-4 breastfeeding sessions per day. Then you will add them all together to make a feed. Just because you do not get much milk does not mean that you are not making enough.
Let me know tomorrow if he is still breastfeeding non-stop. I sure hope you slept for those 2 2 hours stretches! There is one drug we prescribe for low milk supply but I do not think you need that.
Rest when you can.
MUSC Lactation Service

Guess who is 1 month old today?

Tillman....of course.  Nick's cousin, Jennifer, from Georgia visited us this weekend and took Tillman's one month photos on Sunday, 10.10.10.  Below is a few she took, and believe it or not, these were all taken at our home! 

This week, I've not been able to post due to Tillman cluster feeding.  He has only slept 20 minutes at a time (sometimes feels like 20 seconds) for the past 60 hours.  I know it will get better, but stay tuned for more post to come.  I have lots to talk about, just need someone to type it!

Proud Parents

This is Tillman's birth announcement!

(click on the photo to make it larger...not sure why all the white is there)

He was born 9.12.10, Grandparents Day and the reverse of his due date (21st) at 11pm.  He weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces (really 2.9 ounces but the nurses rounded up in the chart). 

He was a c-section baby.  Due to the long labor and premature water breaking, I got a fever (sign of infection) the evening of 9.12, which caused Tillman to begin not to react well to the contractions (could tell by his heart rate going from 150 down to 70 bpm when the contraction released).   We made it to 7 centimeters from 2:45AM to 10:00 PM, so the c-section seemed to be inevitable given the circumstances. 

Tillman and I received antibiotics after deliver for 48 hours in case we had an infection.  Tillman was in the Level 2 nursery for the first 12 hours of life under observation.  That was hard for us, but I'm very thankful for my wonderful doctor, Dr. Villers, who wrote special orders for me at 3AM to get out of bed early (supposed to remain in bed for 6 hours after a c-section), so I could breastfeed Tillman in the nursery. 

Boys

"Boys are found everywhere -- on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.”

– Alan Marshall Beck

Flashback Friday

When people see Tillman for the first time, they are say "Oh, he looks just like his Daddy;" and he really does.  I do know that he gets his full head of hair from me.  Nick and I dug out some of our baby pictures this week to see what we looked like when we were newborns.  It was fun go through all the pictures!

Here's a newborn picture of yours truly 29 1/2 years ago today (to the date)!

Check out that HAIR!  Mom should have brought a pony tail holder to the hospital!  I can see some of Tillman in my picture.