School, Work, & Schedules

Last summer, before I knew I was pregnant, I had began filling out my application to begin working on my Masters degree. I graduated from college with an Elementary Teaching degree in December 2005 and began teaching in February 2006. I was VERY lucky!

As a sophomore in high school, I enrolled in a Child Care class that discussed raising children but also working in child care facilities. My high school had a day care for teachers and school staff that accomidated about 6-8 infants in the "nursery" and probably 15-20 toddlers in the 2-4 yr old class. This gave us lots of experience and because of this class I was given a job opportunity at a local elementary school that September (1998).

Everyday after school I would ride with a friend, because I wasn't even driving yet, to work in the afterschool program at that school. I worked in the K-1 group and she worked with the 2-5 group. I, along with another adult, was responsible for 15-20 K-1 students from 3:00-6:00pm. We had snack, story time, free time, and sometime crafts each day. I loved it!

Throughout my high school "career", college, and student teaching, I remained at this same school. I also substituted at this school on days when I didn't have class while in college. When I graduated, a teacher left on maternity leave and I was able to step into her interim position. It worked out beautifully! I have no been at that same school for 11 yrs this coming September. It doesn't seem possible!

But anyways...I have always taught reading and language arts. This year I also picked up Science & Social Studies due to a "different" schedule. I have always wanted to get my Master's Degree in Reading and last year seemed like the perfect time...until I learned that I was pregnant. Being so anal and OCD like I am, I knew I would be too stressed in trying to get my class ready before leaving in December as well as preparing my room and students for an interim. I postponed my Masters, but have decided that now I'm ready again.

I have submitted my application in hopes of beginning classes with the first summer session in May. If all works out, I should be able to complete 9 hours this summer and 6 in the fall. I figure going back to school in August (with a new baby) will be crazy...but he'll be 6 months old and Ben, my husband, will be home to help. I'm only planning on taking 6 hours in the fall which will be an internet class and then an "elective". I think this will be do-able. PLUS...with the entire program being 36 hours, that will get 15 hours completed. Sounds good to me!

I had already planned on beginning to wean Aidyn from breastmilk and switch to formula gradually by summer, so I figure I'll just begin that process a little sooner. After talking with Ben, we've decided that feeding Aidyn his first morning bottle at 5:30am will work best for us when school starts back in August. For those of you that don't know, we are both school teachers. He teaches high school algebra at the local high school (where he attended) about 2 minutes from our house. I teach 4th grade at one of the elementary schools in the system I attended growing up, about 25 minutes from our house. So...5:30 is what we've decided.

Because of that "scheduling" and my master's beginning in just 7 short weeks, I've decided to start working on this schedule now. Some people don't believe in schedules, and I totally see their point. When Aidyn wakes up or becomes hungry before "time", if I can't get him comfortable, I feed him anyways. So...we'll see how this goes - but we're gonna give a good try. :) I am hoping by August we'll have some sort of schedule set up and a good routine established. I'll keep you updated on how its going. Wish us luck! :)

Smiles

Aidyn has been smiling at us when we talk to him or change his diaper for about 2 weeks now. In the beginning it was hard to get a "regular" smile each time we talked to him or would try to get him to do it again. But...not anymore! Now we can pretty much get at least one smile when we talk to him. Because my camera is so slow, by the time I try snapping a good shot of him, he's stopped. Luckily, my mom came over lastnight and brought her nicer, much quicker camera. While I talked to Aidyn and changed him, she stood beside us and snapped a million shots hoping to get a few good ones. These are my favorites:

8 weeks and 3 days old

2 Months Old Today

Happy 2 month birthday!

Check out the chubby thighs! He has been in size 1 diapers for quite a while now. They range from 8-14 lbs. Aidyn weighs 12 lbs and I'm beginning to wonder if we shouldn't move on up to size 2. They range from 12-18 lbs! I wouldn't worry about it just yet, but we've had 3 poopy "blow outs" in the past 24 hours. I think maybe the diapers are too tight around his legs and not giving enough "coverage". We'll see how the rest of the day goes. :)

He definately has outgrown ALL his newborn clothes...they are already put away in a box. Some of his 0-3 month things are also too small! I hope he can hold off 2 more weeks until Easter...his Nonnie (Ben's mom) bought his outfit and the shirt is 0-3 months. I'm beginning to seriously worry it may not fit by then!

Most of the clothes he wears now are 3 months...including the shirt he has on in this picture. This was one of our purchases when we went "winter" shopping. We bought just a few items for now that we couldnd't resist. :)

Tummy Time

Aidyn has been working on his "tummy time". In the beginning he would fuss and so our tummy time would only last for about 5-10 minutes. Because the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends putting babies on their backs to sleep, they don't have time spent on their stomachs. Tummy time is supposed to help babies began practicing to hold their head up and to support themselves with their arms.

A friend of mine who is a pediatric nurse suggested putting Aidyn on his tummy for a nap. She suggested this because I can't get Aidyn to nap during the day because he startles himself and wakes up. By sleeping on their stomachs, babies don't startle as bad and are able to sleep better. Aidyn actually falls asleep every time I lay him across my lap to burp him.

So, this afternoon for his nap I layed him on his tummy (on a blanket on the floor). Please know that I did not leave him there. I had warmed up my lunch and sat down beside him while I ate. In all reality, it was no different than "tummy time" except that I was hoping he would go to sleep. Well, he didn't. :) Although he did lay and rest very well without fussing like he normally does when put down for a nap on his back. We'll try again tomorrow...

8 Weeks Old

It's hard to believe Aidyn was 8wks old on Monday. His "official" 2 month birthday will be tomorrow, March 26th. In just 8 short weeks he has gained a whopping 5 pounds and started smiling at us. I keep trying to get a picture of him smiling, but they aren't that "regular" yet. He smiles when I get him out of the bed in the mornings and when I talk to him while changing his diaper. By the time I flash the camera, no smile, haha. But here are some 8 wk pictures. He is growing so big so fast!

Winter Clothes Pictures

Below are picture of all the winter clothes we bought for Aidyn for next year. Remember, we bought 12 months clothes. He will be 12 months old on January 26th. We decided even if he's in them earlier than January, and chances are he will be, it's still cool/cold by the end of October all the way until March. So the way we see it, we'll definately get good use of these awesome deals.

The Children's Place

This was the best place! They didn't have many pants...as you can see we didn't buy any. However, everything in this picture was either $1.99 or $2.99 and we only got a few items!

Old Navy

GAP for kids

Nike

Carter's

Tommy Hilfiger for kids

In all we bought:
Coats - 2

Sweaters - 3

Sweater Vests - 1

Sweatshirts - 8

Short Sleeved Shirts - 8

Long Sleeved Shirts - 8

Pants - 11

I think it's safe to say he doesn't need any clothes for next winter! He'll be better dressed than both of his parents for sure, haha.

Weight Gain...

Oh yeah.

I meant to add that one of their other concerns was his weight gain and dehydration because of his spitting up. When I explained that his diapers were still regular and "normal" they said, he wasn't dehydrated. And after weighing him, the nurse said said...

"Well, there definately isn't a problem with weight gain! (laughs) He is definately getting enough to eat."

The child weighed 11 lbs 3 oz when he was at the doctor 8 days ago. Today...he weighed 11 lbs 14 oz. He has gained 11 oz since last week. OH MY GOSH! Haha...so we know that isn't an issue. :)

Acid Reflux

Over the past 2 weeks or so Aidyn has began spitting up clear liquid (like water almost) about an hour after eaitng. He also got to where when we would feed him in the evenings, around 5-9pm, he wouldn't want to finish his bottle after burping midway through. He would turn his head and push the bottle out of his mouth only to cry because he was still hungry. This only happened a time or two before our 2 month (actually 7 wks) appointment. It hadn't happened frequently enough to really catch our attention or be of a concern...

until AFTER his appoitnment.

We went to the dr on Monday, March 16th and his reflux began to "pick up" and get worse on Wednesday. By Friday he was spitting up quite a bit, only it had began to be formula also. He wouldn't cry when he would spit up, he just spit up. Usually when we burp him he'll spit up a little bit...every now and then what seems like more. But about 30 min to an hour AFTER eating, he started spitting up clear. It was like I had been feeding him water instead of milk. Weird.

By Friday he was doing this clear spitting up pretty regularly. It didn't seem to bother him as much as it did us between it just being a nuisance (sp?) by getting on everything and not being able to figure out what it was. The part that did bother Aidyn was the reflux in the evenings.

He would eat his bottle good, but when it was time to burp he would scream and cry. When we finally got a burp out of him, he would want his bottle until it reached his mouth. At that point he would spit it out, turn his head, and began to cry. It was like he was still hungry...but knew if he hate his stomach would hurt more. So we would take a 15-20 min. break to let him relax and calm down, and then he would finish the rest of his bottle. On several occasions he has also began screaming/crying right in the middle of his sleep.

When he "dreams" he'll whine or make a little cry noise, but nothing like screaming and totally crying. He has also started doing that...which the doctor said was his reflux (burping up the acid) coming up. It hurts and he wakes himself up by crying.

So I called and left a message on Sunday about our concerns. The lactation consultant, Gloria, called me back on Monday and I explained the situation and his symptoms. She said it sounded exactly like reflux and made us an appointment for this afternoon.

The doctor said to put a wedge or something under Aidyn's mattress to elevate his head a little when he sleeps. We have been using a pillow, but I'd rather put something under the mattress that way he is sleeping on a "flat" surface. Or he said that we could "put him to bed" in his car seat. He said that sitting upright would help with the reflux. Personally, I would rather raise the mattress. I can't imagine sleeping all night in a car seat would be too comfortable. He also gave us a prescription for Ranitidine for stomach ulcers and to help prevent as much acid production in his stomach.

According to everything I've read in books and online about reflux, we should be able to see improvements within 48 hrs. I plan on giving him his first dose tonight at his 8pm feeding. Hopefully this medicine will help.

First Family "Trip"

This past weekend we took Aidyn for his first "Family Trip".

In order to take Aidyn with us on this trip, we knew that we would need a hotel room...even though Pigeon Forge is only a short car ride from our house (about 2 hrs). And since I have to pump in order for him to eat, this was also another reason we needed a hotel.

We got lucky by finding a hotel right across the street from the shopping center and they let us check in as soon as we got into town (about 10:30am). We got up early Friday morning and while I took a shower Ben fed Aidyn. Then while Ben got himself and Aidyn ready I pumped so we could leave. Luckily, we made it to the hotel right when it was time for Aidyn to eat again. We checked in, got into our room, and once again Ben fed him while I pumped. Our room was nice with 2 queen beds, a mini-fridge, and even our own personal balcony on the back over looking a nice field with horses...and Damon's restaurant up on the hill, haha. The room worked out great. We needed the fridge to store the milk I was pumping. We slept in one bed and put Aidyn on the other.

Originally we were going to take his pack-n-play, but for just one night, Ben didn't want to bother with it. At first I wasn't sure about that decision, but it really worked out better. Instead of the pack-n-play, we took the blanket and pillow out of Aidyn's crib with us that he normally sleeps on. We put the blanket on the 2nd queen bed (in the middle) and laid him on it with his pillow. He actually slept GREAT! Not through the night, but good enough. :)

So we didn't go far, but it did require planning and a hotel room. I have been wanting to go to the Tanger Outlet Shopping Center in Pigeon Forge (about 2 hrs from our house). I knew they would be putting their winter clothes on clearance and for once I wasn't wanting to shop for me. :) Although, I did end up with a pair of jeans, nike shoes, and a t-shirt polo dress.

Before I started teaching, all I ever worse were jeans and tshirts. Since teaching, where jeans aren't allowed, I only have one pair. It's sad, I know. :( But my one pair of jeans do not fit anymore thanks to my post-pregnancy belly and my favorite pair of athletic shoes are falling apart. I know I'll still wear them, but I was definately in need of some new ones.

Anyhow...Ben got a couple things as well, but the trip was to "stock up" on winter clothes for Aidyn next year. Now, both of our parents said, "DO NOT buy him clothes NOW for next year. You have no idea what size he'll be in and they may be too small!"

We didn't listen and here is our rationale for buying 12 MONTH items:

Aidyn will be 12 months (or 1 yr old) at the end of January. Even if he ends up in 12 month stuff say 3 months early...that is still end of October. Everyone knows that it's cool and sometimes down right cold in October. It also continues to be cool/cold through March and April. So the way we see it, we are "safe" in our purchases.

The hotel worked out great because we were able to shop for an hour or two, go back to the hotel to pump and feed him, and then return to shop some more. We actually only shopped twice. Once in the morning after we got there (around lunch) and then again in the evening (around dinner). Inbetween those two trips we hung out at the hotel, took a nap, and watched the ETSU Buccaneers play in the sweet 16. Even though they played GREAT...they were the 16th team and had to play the 1st team. The game was close, but they ended up losing by ten.

We found TONS of great deals for Aidyn...too many actually. :) But he will definately NOT need anymore winter clothes except for maybe a few pants. We bought mostly shirts, sweaters, and sweatshirts. I'll post pictures later of our excellent purchases!

I took my camera so I could take his picture on his first family trip, of our nice balcony view, and other "firsts" for Aidyn...but I left the camera in the car and kept forgetting to bring it into the room. That is until we were packing up to leave Saturday morning and I found it in the diaper bag where apparently I had put it "so I wouldn't forget"! Ugh!!!!

Breastfeeding Update

Well, the lactation consultant didn't quite agree with my desire to start supplementing with formula today. :( Because of Aidyn's excellent growth and progress, she really wants me to stick with it as long as possible. When I explained to her about my reasoning of wanting to be able to go places, she understood but said I would still need to pump to keep up my milk supply.

She did however agree to atleast one bottle of formula a day. At our 2wk appointment she said I could stop pumping at 3am (the middle of night feeding) since I was gettting so much extra at all my other pumping times. At that time, I was probably pumping 2-4 EXTRA ounces of milk at EACH pumping. The milk we were able to start storing was amazing! So, do to his extra amount, I was thrilled to know I could quit that 3am feeding. This meant that I could get up to feed and change Aidyn and go right back to feed. What a relief!

Unfortunately, after about a week or 2 of doing that, my body must have realized I didn't need that extra milk and slowed down the production. :( Now when I pump, I MIGHT get 1-2 ounces extra per pumping...if that. With Aidyn eating 5 ounces at each feeding, I am having to save all the extra I can during the day just for that one feeding. It's exhausting and worries me when there isn't any extra in the fridge. A few times last week I didn't even get enough for a complete bottle and had to actually thaw out some of the milk in our freezer from those earlier weeks.

After talking to Gloria (the lactation consultant) about the amount Aidyn is eating, I'm pumping, and my "shortage"...she said I do definately need to supplement with one bottle of formula. She said my body is producing the equivalent of a mother with a 4 month old and is probably "maxed out". She said by lengthening the pumping time, or trying to "squeeze in" an extra pumping would totally exhaust me and is not necessary.

So, hopefully by using formula for his one morning bottle, we will be able to save up what little bit extra I do have. This will help for times when we are out and need a bottle that I am unable to pump for. But as for supplementing with more and only doing a few breastmilk bottles a day, like I had wanted, we will be waiting a while for that. :(

Aidyn's 2 month Visit

Today was Aidyn's "2 Month Well Check-Up"...even though he is only 7wks old today. I guess they just scheduled it a little early. He actually won't be 2 months old until March 26th - ten days from now.

Aidyn was born 7lbs. When we brought him home at 2 days old he weighed 6lbs 10oz. At his 2 week check up, he was back up to 7lbs 14oz. Today, only 5 wks since his last appointment, he weighed a whopping 11lbs 3oz! I would say we were totally surprised, but we've been weighing him the past two weeks because he is growing so much! We knew he would be somewhere between 10 and 12 pounds.

So here is his growth so far:
BIRTH weight: 7lbs
7wks weight: 11lbs 3oz

BIRTH head: 33 cm
7wks head: 38.4 cm

BIRTH length: 21 in
7wks length: 22.25 in

The doctor and lactation consultant were very pleased with his progress and said he is doing great. While at the dr today, he also got his first round of vaccinations. They gave him one liquid immunization and 3 shots. He did surprisingly well.

They laid Aidyn on the exam table and Ben held his arms. To begin, the nurse gave him the liquid immunization which he loved. Next, our nurse and one other gave him 2 shots - one in each thigh at the same time. He did scream when they gave the shots, but only for a second. He cried for maybe a minute like he does when he's hungry or fussy in the evenings. Next, his nurse gave him one more in his thigh and they were done. Luckily, it was feeding time so Ben got his bottle and fed him while we waited on the dr. This helped him to relax and he didn't cry anymore.

The dr said Aidyn is looking great. He does have some red bumps on his tummy and back which are cauesd from dry skin. The dr recommended Aveeno Baby Cream for his dry skin and said the bumps will fade away the older he gets. He also looked at Aidyn's cradle cap. It isn't bad and looks better when we wash it or wipe him down with a wet wash cloth. He said it will also improve with age.

Aidyn goes back the last week of May for his 4 month appointment. He will get another round of shots at this appointment.

6wk Post-Op Check-Up

Last Wednesday I went for my 6wk post-partum doctor visit.

My appointment was first thing in the morning, which I meant I got up at 5:30am with Aidyn and stayed up. Normally, I go back to bed at this time until Aidyn's next feeding at 8:30am. After feeding and pumping at both feedings, I usually go BACK to bed once more until 11-11:30 for his lunch time feeding (unless I wake up sooner). The first time I did this I felt like I was being lazy...but after calculating my total hours of sleep, I didn't feel lazy anymore.

With Aidyn on a 3hr schedule...I must feed him, change his diaper, pump, fix his next bottle, and clean the pumping pieces before going back to bed. This means that within his 3hr routine, I usually get between 1 and 1 1/2 hr of sleep. If I make it to bed by midnight, this means that by 11:30am the next day, I've actually only slept like 4-7 hours total. I don't think that's too lazy.

So anyways. After waiting at the dr office for probably 30-45 minutes, I finally got to see the dr. I was going on only about 3-4 hours of sleep since and was exhauted. While waiting on the dr, I started to lay back on the exam table but was afraid I would fall asleep, haha.

The appointment went well. I only need to lose 3-4 more pounds to be back to my pre-prego weight and my dr said that everything looked good and my stitches from the episiotomy are healing well. We talked about different birth control options which I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of now. After deciding on an option, I hopefully won't be going back for the OB appointments for a quite a while. :)

Just Because...

After feeding Aidyn his lunch yesterday, I was trying to work on the blog and update it a little. Aidyn was kinda fussy, wanting some attention, so I put my legs up on the desk and sat him up against my knees in my lap. Here are two pictures I took of him while he was sitting in my lap:

HA HA HA!!! I love this picture! Although, I can't wait until he outgrows the stage where his eyes randomly go cross-eyed on their own. It's goofy looking, but kinda weird all at the same time. Isn't he cute?!?!

6 wks told Today

Aidyn is 6 weeks old today. Since he had the same pajamas on that he wore his first night home, I thought I would take a picture to compare.

3 days old - Wed, January 28th.

He weighed 6lbs 10oz when we came home.

6 wks old - Mon, March 9th.

He weighs between 10 - 11 lbs now.

Notice how loose his gown is in the first two pictures compared to now! We already had to switch him out of Newborn diapers a week or so ago into size 1! The newborns were way too tight on his chubby little legs and he was beginning to poop out the sides. Yuck!

I can't wait for his dr appt next Monday to see how much he has grown!

AWESOME Weather in TN!

Wow...the weather for the past several days has been wonderful!

After snow last Sunday evening and Monday, and really cold temperatures, it was almost 60-70 degrees on Thursday! I decided to put Aidyn in his stroller and go for a nice walk. We didn't have much at the house for lunch and so I decided to walk to McDonalds. Now...those of you that know where I live will know that McDs is pretty far away. We made it there, walking, in about 20 minutes. If I drove, it would've taken like 2 minutes probably. I felt a little strange with traffic going by as I was crossing the railroad tracks, haha, but I didn't care. It was too nice outside to be driving when I just as easily could walk. Needless to say though, after walking there and back, I was sweating like a pig!

Here is Aidyn ready for his first trip to McDonalds. He was 5wks and 3 days old.

On Saturday it was even warmer! 75 degrees...it was amazing! Ben and I decided to walk to lunch again on this day. Ben wanted to walk to Carolina Deli which is a little sandwich shop not far from our house. Once we got there...CLOSED! Ahh, haha. I could have died. Not only was I starving but it was sooo hot outside! So what did we do? We kept walking. We ended up walking about 3-4 more blocks to another little restaurant, Dolly's. It was pretty good. It's fairly new and we hadn't even eaten there so we thought we would give it a try.

We used our "jogging" Jeep stroller for the first time on Saturday. Ben went up to the attic and brought it down. It has an iPod dock on the top handles so I think that's whay Ben wanted to use it. We were able to listen to his iPod while on our nice walk to lunch. It was great.

Here is Aidyn in his new Jeep Stroller. He was able to lay back and relax the entire time.

Breastfeeding vs. Formula

Aidyn is 5wks and 2days old today...and I am still pumping and doing bottles.

As I reflect on this issue of breastfeeding vs. formula, I'm going to have to share a little TMI (too much information). I am doing this, not to share my waaaay to personal information, but so the whole issue and my opinions regarding my decisions will make sense. Feel free to stop reading here; I won't be offended. :) If you continue to read, be prepared to know a little more about me than you probably wish. :)

When Aidyn was born he was tongue tied and apparently earlier than we thought, or atleast according to the doctors. And, my nipples don't "stick out" far enough like they should. (TMI, I know...sorry) Because of these reasons, he was unable to successfully latch on and nurse. Seeing how I still wanted to breastfeed, I was able to begin pumping with a hospital pump ASAP. This was a huge factor in my milk coming in so quickly. For the next few days we would use a syringe to feed him. We did this at the dr's recommendation so that he wouldn't get used to a bottle and then not want to nurse once he was ready or learned to latch on successfully.

The lactation consultant at our ped's office suggested trying a time or two each day with nursing. I did and he was still unable to nurse. Aidyn would latch on but then release when he began sucking. At our next visit the lactation consultant suggested going ahead with bottles, for now. She (we) made this decision based on: getting rid of Aidyn's jaundice and getting his weight back up where it needed to be. She said we would continue to work on nursing, if we wanted, once those issues were solved.

Well, Aidyn's jaundice cleared up and he is growing like a pig! At our 2wk appt I talked with Gloria, the consultant, about bottles. I had continued trying to nurse him with each attempt being unsuccessful. Without pumping, my nipples just don't stick out far enough for him to latch on. He gets frustrated and cries. I told Gloria that for the time being, I had decided to just pump and use bottles. My biggest concern was that I wanted Aidyn to have the breastmilk...and he is. As far as being able to nurse or use bottles, that I didn't really care one way or the other. She agreed with my decision and said if I changed my mind, to please let her know and we could work on nursing again.

That was 3 wks ago and we are still pumping and using bottles. Aidyn eats every 3hrs (although sometimes 2 and sometimes 4) during the day. After each feeding, I pump in order to get his bottle ready for the next time. For a while this was working WONDERFULLY. I won't say I enjoy pumping, it's annoying, but well worth it. I was getting sooo much extra, Gloria said I could stop pumping after his 3am feeding. This was music to my ears! Between feeding him, pumping, and cleaning the parts...I was averaging 60-90 min of sleep between each feeding at night. Not fun! By eliminating the 3am time, I was adding 30 min to my sleep.

This worked out well since I was still pumping extra at all the other times. I have been able to store over 200 oz for future use. At each pumping I was getting enough for his bottle, plus an extra...about 200mL each time. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less, but still great! This worked until about a week ago. For whatever reason, even though he is still eating the same amount, my pumping has decreased. I no longer am getting enough for extra. I may get a little, but it takes several pumping "extras" to add up to one bottle. This has been frustrating. I never really enjoyed pumping, but seeing all the extra I was able to store away and freeze for future use made me feel great and made the pumping worth it. Now that I seem to be struggling to get enough extra just for the 3am bottle, I'm beginning to "lose faith".

I have already paid for the pump for the month of March, so I plan on continuing to pump through his month. After talking to a friend that did the same, she gave me some great advice. She said, "I also wanted to quit, but I would set goals for myself and re-evaluate my decision when I reached that point." She ended up pumping for 3 months. If I go through March, that will be 2 months.

I am going to continue on this "path" until Aidyn's 2 month appt which is on March 16th. This is actually a week earlier than 2 months. At that time, I plan on talking to Gloria about supplementing that one 3am bottle with formula. Here is my reasoning:

I could go ahead and just thaw and use the extra breastmilk I've been storing. Then Aidyn would still be getting 8-10 breastmilk feedings a day. The problem here is that I will be using the milk I had planned on saving for when my milk totally runs out or I just end up deciding to stop pumping...either because of work, personal issues, etc.

Or, I could hang on to the stored milk, and use one bottle of formula a day. This way, he is still eating mostly breastmilk, but I'm still able to save the extra. I like this option better. Why? Because when we finally do have to switch to formula, I will be able to provide breastmilk bottles for a little while longer. When that time comes, my plan is to use both (breastmilk and formula) before completly switching to formula. Even though 200 oz sounds like a lot, or did to me at first, he eats about 4-5oz a feeding right now. If we take 5oz into consideration, that really only comes out to 40 feedings = 5 whole days.

I have "given up" on trying to nurse naturally. The reason is that in order for my nipples to be out enough for him to latch on, I'd have to use the pump for atleast 5 min. That would be fine at home...but when in public or every day life am I going to want to carry a pump around to first pump 5 min and then let him nurse? That just doesn't seem reasonable. So instead, I am able to go out and do things for a limited time before needing to pump again either for his bottle or so I don't begin "leaking" - that's fun! When we go out or run errands, I can always take a bottle and it not be an issue should he get hungry while we're out. No matter where we are, I can just feed him. This I like. Also, others are able to help feed him which is helpful as well.

My original plan was to nurse as long as possible with the goal being that I would start "weaning" him in May. This would give me 2 months to work on that before having to return to school in August. Since we are using bottles, there really isn't any weaning necessary except for teaching my body to gradually stop making the milk. I hate to say that I won't make it to May, but I'm pretty positive I won't. I plan on pumping through March, and hopefully longer, we'll just have to see how it all goes.

Right now we pay $67 a month for the pump and that's it. No formula, bottles needs, etc. If we use the premixed liquid formula, that comes to about $1.50 a bottle. If we did that exclusively - we would be paying almost $400 a month! I know the powder formula is cheaper, but still! This is another reason I'm trying not to get too discourged with pumping and just keep it up.

Thanks for letting me "think outloud" about this whole issue. I'll let you know what we decide after our next appointment.

Aidyn meets his Great-great-Papaw

It's hard to believe Aidyn was 5wks (35 days) old yesterday! Wow!

Last Thursday, on his one month birthday, my mom and I took Aidyn to my grandmother's house. My great-grandfather, Papaw Roberts, has been staying with my grandmother for a while now. His wife has been sick and in the hospital and he cannot be at home alone. So, before he returned home or went to stay with one of my great-aunts, we wanted to be sure he got to meet Aidyn. And ofcourse we took some pictures!

They were so cute together! Aidyn was 4wks and 3days old...Papaw will be 96 this month!

Papaw just held him and talked to him and Aidyn would just look at him as though he was listening so intently to everything Papaw had to say. It was like they were studying each other and getting to know one another. Below are three of the better pictures my mom took while we were there:

We also took a 5 generation photo, but I don't have it yet. Soon as I do, I'll also post it.