Mooo-ooo-oo

Can I complain about this pumping milk thing? Well, yes, of course I can. I have to pump a lot for the interview process, since it's just not yet socially acceptable to bring a baby to a job interview and nurse. (Something I'd like to see changed, but that's another post.)

I think people have this idea that you just attach a suction thing to your bosom and, hey presto! A convenient bottle of nutritious milk for your baby. Nothing could be further from how it really works, even for those of us who can express milk with a pump.

If you're pumping in addition to feeding, you don't get as much per pumping session because (of course) your baby is still eating his usual amount, and you have to also produce extra for the pump. If you're like me (and I am), I can only get a few extra ounces per day. This means that I have to pump several times a day, every day, over a week, to get enough for a few hours' worth of feeding that Friday.

Contrary to what the public may imagine, the baby gets milk out not so much by sucking it out as by "stripping" it out (picture what a person does when milking a cow); the suction is secondary to the milk production. However, a milk pump can't really do that to a human breast, so it's stuck with pretty much just suction as its primary action.

Also, breast milk doesn't just flow constantly; the baby stimulates it to sort of flood out in bursts every so often (milk “letdowns”) that dwindle down to a trickle (like many other biological processes). Milk pumps try to approximate this stimulation, to greater or less success.

Me, I’m one of those whose milk doesn’t let down so easily for a plastic bottle. I tried it and really got some sore, bruised nursies and almost no milk at all. One technique in that case is to nurse your baby on one side while pumping on the other side. That way, when the baby stimulates the milk letdown by suckling from one breast, the “unused” side’s letdown can also be harnessed to pump milk from that breast.

This sounds fine in theory. And in practice it really does help me to actually get some milk out. However, there's this thing called "gravity" that takes the expressed milk from its source down into the milk container. And unless you have breasts that naturally point downward or can be bent downward easily--which I don't--you have to lean over to allow this to happen. Otherwise the milk comes out and then leaks out the pump opening and runs down your torso.

Add to this leaning over the fact that I have to hold a wriggling baby so that his head comes up to the opposite nursie, but without having his body interfere with the bottle I'm leaning over, and I have a real slapstick kind of situation going on.

What I usually do is to carefully arrange the baby on the Boppy on one side of my body so that he's sort of in the football hold, but propped up by the pillow, which leaves the other side open for the bottle. But I have to slide my leg (on the bottle side) down off the couch into a kneeling posture so that there's room for the bottle under my hunched-over chest.

It's pretty awkward, and Limelet doesn't like it nearly so well as the normal snuggly cuddling type of nursing. (For some reason!) It's also awkward because it takes a certain number of hands to accomplish the nursing and the pumping, and I seem to be short.

When I was first writing this post, the most recent pumping episode had gone like this: After arranging the boy on the nursing pillow, I started pumping and he started nursing. But he was unhappy with the arrangement and started fussing about the same time the milk let down. I picked him up with one of my arms and tried to put him over my shoulder while still pumping the precious, precious milk from that letdown. (Can't waste the opportunity, because it could be hours before I get the opportunity to do both at once again.)

Limelet, dejected with this very non-snuggly nursing experience that was focused on a plastic bottle and not on him, disconsolately grabbed the first thing he could find and hangs on for dear life. Unfortunately this happened to be a lock of exactly 12 hairs growing from the sensitive nape of my neck. As I shouted "Ow ow ow ow ow!" right next to his ear, of course he started wailing in startlement and fear--who wouldn't? I had one hand holding him up, and one hand holding the pump, so I didn't have another two hands to disentangle his little fist from my hair.

It was a fiasco and very frustrating for both of us. I wouldn't do it if I didn't have to get milk for him to have during my interviews.

The Poopfect Storm

Some breastfed babies go for long spells without pooping at all, and then have one big tempest of poop. The theory is that breastmilk is so digestible, there's just not much left over to come out very often. Limelet hasn't been one of these babies. He's been a pretty frequent pooper all along.

Until lately.

Recently he's started going for a couple days in between poops, and when he does, there's quite the diaperfull. And as TheLimey pointed out, he seems to be peeing a lot more instead. I think that the liquid that would have come out in the poop is being peed out instead. My theory is that his digestive system is beginning to mature, and is getting more efficient at digesting the milk.

It's been over two days, so now I'm awaiting the next poopicane. Probably tomorrow. Happy New Year!

Three and 1/2 Months

Limelet has been practicing grabbing things the past few weeks, and his aim is improving. He's started playing attention to his hands and feet wiggling, too. Yesterday he even played wonderingly with my hair for a while.

However, he reacts to its touching his face with the same gasping and squinting (mammalian diving reflex) as he would to the wind blowing on him. I guess they feel very similar to him. Since anything he grabs goes straight into his mouth, this makes playing with my hair a very dicey activity for him. His stuffed bear, Iorek, is much easier prey. (Especially with that attractive leathery nose!)

Limelet has also been very earnestly "talking" lately, and has added squealing to his vocabulary. He tries to "talk" before he resorts to crying. Usually the only things he gets upset about are being set down and getting hungry, neither of which happen very often. However, he still has those nightmares during which he emits that pitiful tiny "mousie-howling." Sometimes then he even wakes up crying, which turns into an actual cry, until a few moments later when he gets his bearings.

When he realizes he's awake and we're there with him, he always becomes so happy and excited. I love his little toothless grins. He also has begun laughing a lot lately, especially with Daddy. (Of course.) He's even begun to enjoy some roughhousing games like "airplane" now that he can hold up his head. He still likes the raspberry noise best as a joke, but he laughs at some other sounds, too, like a high-pitched "oo-oo." (The little monkey.)

There will be parent-baby swimming lessons held at the nearby high school beginning this March, just as he turns old enough to enroll. Signup begins Wednesday, so I hope I remember to do it in between all this interview business. I think it will be a blast and he'll really like it. I don't know how he'll take water that isn't bath temp, though. I have to get him some swim diapers. Hee.

I take back what I said about not losing my hair. It's begun coming out in wads when I take a shower--the drain looks like I'm on chemo. Hairnadoes whirl on the floor no matter how I try to keep my hair tied up and controlled. It's a good thing I already knew about that, or I'd think there was something wrong with me.

I think I've probably lost a little more of the pregnancy weight, though we don't have a scale so I don't know for sure. I found my pre-preg jeans and have been able to wear them, but just barely. Thank goodness for stretch denim!

We had a trauma yesterday for both TheLimey and his Limelet. Daddy was going to put Limelet in the front carrier, and lifted him up in the air in an airplane swoop as he did so--forgetting that he was standing under the part of the livingroom where there's a low ceiling overhang. I have nearly done this myself a couple of times while taking Limelet out of his wrap in the exact same spot--for some reason it's unexpectedly low there even when you're looking out for it. I'm sure you're already wincing as you guess the result.

Poor little Limelet--except for that stupid heel-prick test thing, he hasn't experienced much pain yet. This klonk on the head was a really big shock to him. And it was quite a klonk, too. I've never heard him cry like that before. Daddy flipped out too, because he really believed he'd broken our baby. Having experienced younger siblings, I felt terrible for the klonked baby and his pain, but didn't think he was actually damaged. At worst, a concussion--not great, but definitely recoverable. Whereas his father imagined that he'd crushed his skull and squashed his little brain forever or something.

I held the poor squalling baby close and channeled TheLimey's terror into calling the pediatrician's weekend emergency line in lieu of the ambulance that would certainly have otherwise been called. Actually, Limelet recovered from the klonk sooner than Daddy did--he (Limelet) stopped crying loudly within just a couple of minutes and then was willing to nurse for comfort, although he was still slightly sobbing with his mouth full.

The pediatrician basically confirmed my suspicion that Limelet was most likely okay. I had TheLimey tell her that Limelet was conscious and alert, his pupils were not dilated, and they were equal and reactive. She told us the usual symptoms of concussion to watch out for.

I've been giving him some baby Tylenol for a potential headache since then, as I know how that feels after a big bump. However, he's seemed fine since then, aside from more sleep-crying than usual in his subsequent nap. Both of them had a restless night, though, especially Daddy. I think he's still recovering.

I keep thinking of things I want to write in here, and now that I have the chance, I think I've forgotten most of them, of course. Well, hopefully later.

Pattern for No-Sew Sweatpants Baby Carrier

This is basically a Mei Tai-type carrier or Asian Baby Carrier (ABC). Needed: pair of sweatpants, scissors. No waste, either—it uses the whole pants, so there are no scraps! (Unless they have elasticized ankles, in which case those will be scrapped.)



1. Use a pair of heavy fleece sweat pants. (Anything else will probably be too weak and you’ll be wearing your baby down around your knees.) Make sure that the waistband of the pants is big enough to go around your waist. If the pants ankles are elastic, cut them off. Cut the front in the middle from the waist to the crotch.





2. Cut off the fronts of the legs as shown. (The pink areas.) Leave the inseam (the seam that goes on the inside of the legs) on the back of the pants (don't cut it off with the pink front part), as that seam will help it not to stretch too much when you’re wearing the baby. Make sure not to cut all the way to the waist of the pants when you’re cutting up the side. Stop about 4” before you get to the waist—you’ll be leaving those angled segments at the waist attached to the pants back.





3. There; that’s all the cutting you’ll be doing! The pieces should look more or less like this when you open the pants. The waistband of the pants is going to be the waistband of your carrier (but the pants will be upside down.)




4. Next, place the cut off pieces at the ends of the legs (leg ends touching). Tie the cut off pieces to the pants legs where the arrows are pointing.








5. That is IT! It should look more or less like this.

To wear your baby in this (inward facing), tie the waistband around your waist (inside of former pants should be inside of the carrier.) The legs go up over your shoulders, cross in back, and then forward around your waist to tie under baby’s bum.

If you want to get fancy, you can sew the ends of the legs together instead of tying them. It adds some useful length to the straps, too. But if you're in a hurry, you can just tie them, hence the no-sew.

My baby turned out to hate having his legs up and sideways in the classic Mei Tai posture. (He was used to a wrap where his legs dangled down more). So I cut small vertical leg slits near the waistband so his legs could hang out. Now he loves it. It's the one I use to nurse him to sleep each night.

This turned out to be my favorite and most comfortable of my carriers, and it only cost me $2 because I found some cheap sweats.

ABC Side View
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo.

I've since modded this a little by sewing the leg extensions on, but one could do it completely no-sew. Just a pair of scissors and a pair of thick sweatpants as above. In this picture the carrier was completely no-sew (see the knots at my back?) Here you can see his legs hanging down through the slits, but he could have had them around my waist in the classic ABC posture, if he would have tolerated that.

ABC Back View
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo.

Here you can see how I've replaced the knots in back with seams for a sleeker look. (But they were still hand-sewn quick seams, though double-threaded to take the weight.)







Here I am wearing it on my back, with his legs as they are supposed to be instead of dangling down through slits:

backwearing
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo

*Update: As of 8/30/09 (possibly before, but I wasn't looking) this page now comes up #1 in Google for the search "no sew mei tai." Cool! I'm famous in an obscure way! ;D

**Update update: have been getting a lot of hits from a forum in which people discuss worries about whether this is strong enough to be a) durable and b) safe.
a) I used this sling every single day (and night!) until my son was 18 months old. And I frequently washed it in the washer, dried it in the dryer. Clearly, it was as durable as--well, a pair of sweatpants.
b) Safety: you have to trust your own judgment when you make or use anything to carry your baby. First, go with that. If you make something and it feels unsafe, then for Pete's sake don't use it. As for this carrier, the baby's weight is held by the legs of the sweatpants (in some ways more like a podeagi than anything else), rather than by the bottom of the carrier around your waist (you could actually untie that once you have the straps tied) so you have to make sure you trust your own knots and/or stitching on the straps/legs to carry the weight of your baby.

ABC Back View

ABC Back View
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo.

Here I've sewn up the knots for a sleeker look.

ABC Side View

ABC Side View
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo.

I've since modded this a little, but one could do it completely no-sew. Just a pair of scissors and a pair of thick sweatpants.

No-Sew Mei Tai-Style Carrier

I like the comfort of the front cross wrap, as well as its versatility: Limelet can ride in front facing in or out, and theoretically on the hip or back as well. However, it isn't the simplest thing to put on, and if he falls asleep in it, it's nearly impossible to put him down without waking him up. Also, it's hard to nurse in it, especially if I want to nurse discreetly. This is all doubtless compounded by the fact that it's made of cotton broadcloth, so it's completely non-stretchy. However, I don't currently have 18 feet of a nice stretchy fabric lying around.

So I've been wanting to try making a Mei Tai, which would seem to have a lot of the advantages of the FCW but be simpler. I viewed various patterns for Mei Tais. I tried to improvise a simple sewed one out of a cotton shirt, but the needle of my little handheld "hobby" sewing machine broke. In the middle of the night, of course.

So I looked a little harder at the patterns for the no-sew kind, which basically consist of a big square of fleece with four long straps coming out. I don't have any big pieces of fleece lying around, and right now it's a pain to go to the fabric store (or anywhere for that matter). Besides, we're trying to save money right now.

So I looked through my clothing and found a pair of sweatpants that I bought accidentally last year. Accidentally, because I didn't go shopping for them--they were on sale for $2 when I was getting something else and I thought for $2 I could afford to not try them on. They turned out to be made for a giant frog with short legs. This was useless for a couple of months, and then I got pregnant. Then they were just short-legged maternity pants.

So anyway, I spent some time visualizing how the frog pants could be made into a Mei Tai, and then started cutting (with Limelet watching from the wrap, of course). I managed to use the entire pants, with minimal cuts, to create a stretchy front-carrier. It's actually working pretty great. Maybe I'll post the pattern if I ever can do something so graphic-y and time-consuming.

********************

Here's the pattern I came up with.

Stripes

00007.jpg
Originally uploaded by argotnaut.

Earnest baby!

Auntie

00010.jpg
Originally uploaded by argotnaut.

Snuggly baby!

Inter Action

00004.jpg
Originally uploaded by argotnaut.

Happy baby!

Toys!

zebra
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo.

Here's the evidence of his new interest in his environment. Enh! Must...eat...zebra! (Apparently his nemesis.)

Child-y Goodness

I know I complain a lot on this blog. After all, I said I was going to. But don't imagine that that's my entire opinion on the subject.


I do make a point of daily sucking up all the child-y goodness that I can. Especially now that Limelet's changing noticeably day to day--it's one of those things that makes the passage of time so very salient. I feel lucky that I can spend so much time with him every day and see each happy morningtime smile-and-wriggle.

Today I even found myself getting misty while listening to a Christmas Classics CD, as Connie Francis sang "Baby's First Christmas." The most maudlin, saccharine song ever recorded, as far as I can tell. Nevertheless, it became a tearjerker as of this year. I never even noticed it before!

Of course, every song Connie Francis sings sounds like someone's got a heartache a-comin'. I fully expected the song to explain how Baby's First Christmas was marred only by his/her parents' divorce.

Hee--apparently, fart noises are inherently funny, rather than learned in context of societal prohibition. Limelet actually giggles if we "raspberry" to him, and tries his best to do it himself.

I really don't understand why people are in such a hurry to get their kids on solid foods. Today someone was trying to convince me to feed Limelet solids. Just some little things here or there, you know? A little rice cereal or something.

For Pete's sake, he's only three months old! He's not supposed to be eating solids until at least five months, preferably six. I don't need him to have digestive complaints, food allergies, or even choking hazards. He's not starving--it's clear that he's a little chubby bub. And as far as that goes, I already know I'll miss his nursie time a lot anyway. So why on earth hurry it, when it's so beneficial for both of us to wait?

12 Weeks

I am way too excited about this, but Limelet is now old enough to be interested in toys. He tries really hard to make his hands contact them, especially the contrasty or brightly colored ones.

Today I got out the play mat that we purchased at a church sale. It has two stuffed crossbars that go from corner to corner and have little holes and clips from which to hang toys, and he lies on his back under them. I hear I'm supposed to dangle toys in front of him to get him to practice his motor skills, so I think that works perfectly.

In other news, it turns out he has a preference in slings and wraps. I spent a long time the other day trying to figure out why he was fussing about nursing, and finally tried putting him in his oldest sling. It worked immediately, and he nursed and went to sleep. From what I can tell by experimentation, he likes the wrap for walking around and for going to sleep, but he prefers the slings for nursing. However, his feet have to hang out or he gets upset.

Based on all this, we predict that he's going to be the kind of kid who screams when different kinds of food touch each other on the plate. Our plan is to always serve his food all mixed together from the beginning, so he never even gets the idea that food can be separate items.

Nearly 12 Weeks

Limelet has really begun to figure out that his environment (including us) is interactive.

He has begun trying to grab (or flailing, as I call it) some of his brightly colored toys. He's so darn serious when doing it. It takes some fierce concentration to whack that jingle duckie!

The first speech sound that he's chosen to purposefully imitate is an obscure one. I don't know when we might have used it for anything, but he's pretty delighted about saying it. The sound is kind of like the "ch" in "challah," but voiced. Ghghhghghghg! He can sit there staring at us and trading "ghghgh" sounds for solid minutes. It makes him laugh and smile when someone else says it. I still have no idea what meaning he may attribute to it; perhaps it's nothing specific.

I also think he's right-handed, and am beginning to suspect some possible redheaded tendencies. He has that same color of brown that my redheaded cousins had before their proper red hair came in. (Or maybe we'll all laugh at this entry years from now as he combs back his raven mop.)

11 Weeks & the Hair Fairy - a very TMI post

Did I mention that Limelet had already grown four inches by his last pediatrician visit? At least according to their highly unscientific measuring method that involves holding first his head, then his foot onto the paper covering the examination table, and making marks with a pencil.

I take back what I said about my hair not falling out. It's started falling out like crazy this past week or so...but that was kinda normal before I was pregnant anyway, at least after I went off birth control. I haven't seen those hairy drain devils after I showered for nearly a year now. It was nice! I guess this means my hormones are getting back to normal. Darnit! I liked having clear skin for no reason.

Now my hair is (or hairs are) starting to show up everywhere, and it's driving me nuts. It's like there's a hair fairy who drapes hairs all over everything in the house like Christmas tinsel. The worst part is that my hair gets all over Limelet, even when he's not grabbing handfuls of it for himself. Individual hairs get all twisted around each little grippy finger and toe, and inexplicably show up in his dirty nappies. (Not like they came out of him, but rather worked their way down into it from the outside.) I'm going to have to start braiding my hair to go to bed, or wearing a nightcap, 19-century style.

Another indication that my hormones are getting back to normal: apparently I've started my menstrual cycle again. Already. As I discovered when I went to the midwife yesterday. I couldn't believe it!

The number I keep remembering is 98%--if your baby is 100% breastfed (and doesn't use a binky much, or ever) then nursing is supposedly a 98% successful form of birth control for the first six months. We're not even at three months yet! I guess I did get my mother's highly fertile biochemistry after all, though I thought my advanced age would neutralize that a little bit.

I still think this was more of a "practice" cycle--it's certainly not like normal yet. Thank goodness. My body still feels beat-up enough as it is without that. And I'm not interested in eating any more frikkin' iron than I have to yet, due to its...er, side effects.

I can't believe I got talked into trying a diaphragm. My midwife is from the '70s, though, so I'm not surprised she's big on them. Those '70s women are very straightforward and comfortable about discussing all kinds of messy sexual and physical things, bless their little hearts.

I've been on the pill for nearly 20 years, but you can't take the pill when you're nursing, because (obviously) it dries up your milk. I guess the diaphragm is the obvious alternative (in a monogamous hetero relationship, anyway). It's really awkward to learn to use, though. Apparently I did it right during the fitting, but it was hard for me to tell. It's supposed to become easy with practice.

I guess if I can become comfortable carrying my baby using a front-cross wrap--which is essentially origami with 18 feet of fabric and a baby--then I can manage a 4-inch piece of latex with a spring, huh? Although--I forgot to get the accompanying jelly when I dropped off the prescription, darnit. I'd rather pick it out it myself than send my husband, but it can't be helped unless I want to take the (good) car for the whole day and take the baby out in the cold, just for that one item. And I don't want to.

Incidentally, the midwife mentioned that the fabric I used for the baby wrap is the exact same fabric she used for her daughter's curtains.

Moby Smile

moby smile
Originally uploaded by doctorlizardo.

Hey, guess I can still add blogs! Just couldn't find the blog configuration page.

Mobystyle

This may be it, folks. This may be the way I can work and have a baby hanging around.

I purchased just a big, long, piece of cotton fabric (6 yards, blue with clouds) and have been using it as a baby wrap, wrapped like a Moby wrap. (Funny that they have to be prepackaged for people to use them--it's just a big piece of cloth!)

It's the most hands-free thing I've tried so far, and Limelet actually sleeps when he's carried. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but this could mean that I could wear him and work. I could almost do it with the sarong wrap, but it wasn't quite hands-free enough.

Nursing is simply not going to be hands-free until he gets a bit bigger and can grab the nursie for himself. Or else, until I develop tubular breasts that can be extended like gas nozzles. Whichever comes first. As it is, there is a limited area where the milk can be had, so his head pretty much has to be placed right there to eat. And the ideal carrying position is way too high for his mouth to reach the nursie, unless perhaps I hang him upside down.

This won't help when he's awake, as he can't tolerate his carrier to be sitting, but if he's sleeping it's fine. And he sleeps lots longer when carried, of course. (That's been the whole problem--he won't stay asleep when I put him down; only when carried.)

Nursing Progress

The first week or so of nursing was difficult--not because of Limelet or me or the nursing itself, but because of the constant surveillance by several different organizations (including the alternative birth center [ABC] where he was born) trying to assess my nursing success by charts and numbers, but over the phone and with ambiguous questions. I think I probably confused the issue by trying to answer scrupulously honestly (correctly?) instead of just saying what I knew they wanted to hear.

For example, how was I really supposed to know if I was engorged, or when my milk let down? I've never lactated before--it's all new to me! To this day I really don't have any pain when engorged, as most people apparently do, and it took a week or so for the letdown to develop into a distinct sensation. So whenever I answered "I...don't know," to one of their structured-interview type questions, they took it as "NO, I have NO milk. Also, I am a milkless hag* who is purposely remaining ignorant in order to starve my baby."

Below, excerpts from an email I wrote at 10 days postpartum to a woman from my birthing class:

Limelet is doing very well, although I hate all the things that have to be done to him, like that terrible heel prick and all that. I am very pleased that his umbilical stump finally fell off today. It's hard to use the sling, but I'm trying. I feel like I might as well roll him up in a tight ball and stuff him in my purse.

Limelet's been nursing great since the beginning, thank heavens, but for some reason the ABC got it into their collective heads that there was some kind of problem, and tried to give us some really weird advice that I think would have greatly interfered with his progress had I followed it.

Pediatrician: "His weight is good; he's lost 10 ounces, which is actually less than the average for his birth weight."
ABC: "He's losing weight?! What we want you to do is to to go buy a breast pump tonight, and start pumping after each feeding, and then give him supplemental feedings with a bottle. Or a syringe. We'll call tomorrow to see how that's working out."

ABC: "It's day 4, and he's only pooped once ? [Not asking the volume, of course] He's not getting enough milk. Do you think your milk even came in yet? Are you engorged?"
Pediatrician: "Don't worry if he doesn't poop a lot. It'll start changing soon, and then he might not poop for long stretches at a time."
LLL: "At first they're supposed to have about 4 poops a day the size of a quarter, or the equivalent amount. Some babies do the whole day's poop at once."
Pediatrician: "Maybe it was a new nurse."

ABC: "Your bladder does feel a bit sore? Well, you need to call your midwife and get a prescription for antibiotics called in to your pharmacy just in case it gets worse and turns into an infection over the weekend."
(Just goes to show how suggestible I was still feeling, that I'd even consider doing this.)
Midwife Office: "Hell no, girl, we're not giving you no prescription just for a sore bladder. You call back when you got some real symptoms."

ABC: "Hi, we're just calling back to see how Limelet did over the weekend. We heard he had a rocky start, was losing weight, and wasn't nursing well."
TheLimey: "$@#*$%!!!" [but only mentally, because he's too polite to say it out loud.]

If we had done all of what the ABC wanted, I would have been on antibiotics and feeding Limelet with a bottle ("or a syringe"), by the time he was 1 week old. When in fact, everything worked out fine (and even within their prescribed parameters) within 12 hours of their calls anyway. Now I really just want everyone to leave him the heck alone.

... I'm still quite ouchy going to the bathroom. I'm impatient for that to be somewhat normal again ... At least I can bend over and pick things up, including the baby.

I have been alternately (or simultaneously) ecstatic, and melancholy and weepy. It varies by time of day, among other factors. Also, I have absolutely no patience with anyone besides Limelet and possibly TheLimey (not even myself). How are your emotions? Do you get anxious to feed [your baby] the absolute second he starts looking like he might be hungry? (As I do with Limelet.)

Does (did) [your baby] feed around the clock, too? I find I don't really care that much about the lost sleep. It's not like I have to go heat up a bottle four times a night. Maybe if I had to get up for work I would care more.

How are the cloth diapers working? You're using the Fuzzibuns, too, right? I find them very cute, but he kind of swims in them for now. Also, his little thighs got some prickly heat rash from how far they puff out (the waterproof area rubbing against his legs.) So I'm using disposies today while he gets some air time and some zinc ointment. I do find the Fuzzibuns easy to use and wash, and they're softer than the disposies, too.

Well, I better get to the three email tasks I set myself to do today while Limelet's still sleeping on my lap here. Who knows how soon he'll wake up ready to eat for three hours straight!


*Nothing against hags in general. But by the time you get to have hag status, you're generally past milk production. I may be almost 40, but I'm not quite there yet.