McFatty Monday Week 24

Last week was a good one, or so I thought. I'm not thrilled with what the scale said this morning but I really won't know the bottom line of my weight loss (or gain!) until tomorrow morning--a lot can happen in 24 hours, right? Today I will drink only water and eat only iceberg lettuce. Not really though.

I trained once last week, ran once, walked once, and boxed once. It wasn't as cardio-heavy a week as usual and I know that makes a huge difference. And let me not forget that yesterday was Father's Day complete with a barbecue fit for our Kings, which just might have something to do with it too!

Roscoe enjoys food as much as I do, and unknowingly offers a delightful show when in the midst of an eating frenzy. Yesterday he plucked some grapes right off the vine and crushed them in his mouth while I watched quietly to see if a choking fit would ensue. It did not. Maybe he has graduated from sliced grapes.

After two weeks of great progress, I eased up on the details and slacked off. As Blair said, it's the small things that count. The baby steps that, when added up, get you to where you want to be. Whether it's eating like a big kid or dropping those last pesky pounds.

There are only a couple weeks left in June, and I hope I can meet my goals in time!!

Edit: I'm up 1.4. bummer.

Feed me!

I haven't been to a La Leche League meeting since I returned to work in October. It was my goal to attend one meeting this Spring, but the timing of Roscoe's second nap made it impossible this afternoon. Looks like I'll have to try again next month.

For all the breastfeeding challenges that I encountered in the early months of new motherhood, LLL was my respite. Me and my marathon-nurser were just one pair in a varied group of moms with babies in all stages of nursing. No matter the topic of discussion, it was relevant to my experience; and in the company of women who had been through it and lived to tell about it, I was both encouraged and empowered to continue down the nursing path.

As Roscoe gets older, our nursing dynamic continues to change. He's practically phased out night nursing, and continues to nurse five times throughout the day. He sometimes still nurses for comfort, and I'm ok with that. He has two teeth and I think his recent interest in biting (youch!) is an extension of his exploration of cause and effect. If he wasn't so genuine in his innocence I might not find it so endearing.

It's been my hope to nurse him at least through his first year. And EEK! that's just two months away! Roscoe's pediatrician informed me at Roscoe's last visit, that milk after 9 months is actually secondary to solids, which brought a little frown to my face. But it also brought me some relief to know that nutritionally, Roscoe is becoming more independent.

Picnic!

Grub? CHECK! Sun hat? CHECK! SPF 75? CHECK!

This little piggy...

Roscoe had an official weigh-in today: 17lbs. 11oz.

Our "little" guy gained almost 4 pounds since his last appointment on December 9th, and now he rocks the 20th percentile! He's still in the 3rd percentile for height so he technically qualifies for overweight. No worries though, the Pediatrician believes Roscoe will slim down again once he starts to move (i.e., crawl), and as long as we continue to let him be the boss of how much food he eats.

Operation "solids & sleep" has paid off in more than one way, and the doctor even used the coveted term thriving to describe Roscoe's current state. The affirmation that all is going well in the world of Roscoe pretty much made my day.

On an unhappier note Roscoe received five shots, two of which were the second doses of H1N1 and Influenza. Roscoe seemed to recover more quickly from the shock of this round of vaccines. Aided by a quickie nursing session he was smiling and laughing within a few minutes.

Unfortunately, the appointment and wait time took almost three hours so Andy and I didn't have time afterward to treat ourselves to gelato like we had hoped to. Instead, Andy went back to work and Roscoe and I made our way home for a nap.

Here's a photo from earlier today:

Cool Guy

Found!

I finally found a great way to transport Roscoe's homemade baby food to and fro. I first discovered Innobaby's Packin' Smart dispensers years ago in one of my favorite Richmond maternity stores. At the time I thought the concept was a cool one and noted the brand for future use. The Innobaby line has since expanded to include a product called Packin' Smart Stack-N-Seal, which is designed to store items both dry and wet. They come in stacks of two or four and have the capacity to hold a volume of a half cup in each container--perfect portions for Roscoe's banana and mango fruit puree, cheerios, or even water.

I love their versatility. Each container can be used individually, or when more storage is needed, the containers interlock and stack into a neat tier. The lid on each container creates a natural dispenser great for sprinkling dry snacks out onto a surface, or pouring into another dish. Each lid can also be twisted off entirely and then you have a nice open-mouthed container from which to spoon out the contents. Oh! And they're dishwasher, microwave, and freezer safe, as well as BPA, and Phthalate free.

I just fill 'em up and toss them into the diaper bag, and we're all set. No leaks so far, and they make for convenient portability of healthy food when we're out and about.

Keep'n Fresh Baby Storage is also made by Innobaby. The glass containers hold a half cup serving. These too are microwave, oven, and freezer safe. They are adorable in person--way cuter than I ever thought baby food storage could be--and they have lids that snap on to create an airtight seal to keep food protected. Leftover bananas, avocados, and apples always turn brown if I just cover them with saran wrap and store in the fridge. Not the case with these! Additional sizes offer smaller portion sizes for babies new to the foodie world, though they are not available in glass.

Both products have a long list of nice features. But what I love best is that they are functional, and make it simple and easy for me to feed Roscoe the way that I want to, even when we're not at home.

More zzzzz's please

When we first decided to stage a sleep intervention, our primary goal was to improve the quality and quantity of Roscoe's sleep in any way we could. The No Cry Sleep Solution has been my handy reference ever since.

For babies like Roscoe, who wake frequently during each sleep cycle, a trick we read in the NCSS is to intervene with whatever means typically used to soothe the baby (nursing, pacifier, etc.) just before he wakes up in an effort to prevent him from fully waking--now I always have an ear out for the smallest little squeak or rustle, and I've perfected my sprint on tip-toe between his room and ours, which is connected by a long hall. We found that pushing the white-noise button on his swing usually does the trick. As the theory goes, the baby will become accustomed to sleeping for longer intervals and will eventually do so without any intervention. I definitely see this happening at night, but his nap time sleep still requires a lot of button pushing.

Roscoe's naps are much more predictable and he's naturally gravitated toward a schedule of two naps a day, one each at 9:00 and 1:00. Consistent nap times not only offer great structure to the day, but they are a sanity saver since I can count on having a specified chunk of time to get out of the house without worry over disrupting his routine.

Thankfully, putting Roscoe to sleep is no longer a struggle. Gone are the days of efforts greater than two hours to convince him to sleep. I'm more effective at reading his "I'm sleepy" cues, and we've created a calm predictable routine that lets him know that it's time to wind down and prepare for sleep. A big (and awesome) improvement is that he no longer needs to be nursed to sleep. Nursing is often the last step to our routine, but most of the time he is awake or drowsy when I transfer him to the swing. With a better appreciation for timing, there is little to no fussing involved.

For now, Roscoe takes his naps and sleeps during the night in his swing. Luckily, we didn't have to transition to this arrangement because he was already comfortable sleeping in his swing during nap time. Andy and I have changed our sleeping arrangements as well, and we're currently camped out in our guest bedroom, which is next-door to the nursery, in order to be closer to Roscoe. We also hooked up our baby monitor to help decrease our response time. While I miss my baby's body curled next to mine, and the little dance he does with his toes on my belly, I don't mind the chance to share a bed just with Andy, or to sleep on my back again.

His night wakes have improved dramatically from once every hour and a half to once every 3 to 4 hours, and the past two nights he woke only twice: once at 11:30 and once at 3:30. Andy and I have been side eying each other over this all day. We don't want to get too excited, but this is pretty major!

Overall, Roscoe logs about 13 hours of night and nap sleep, which still falls about an hour short of the range for his age. And he does continue to stir frequently, but I no longer nurse him at every transition--hurray!--and with the help of the button (which isn't needed all the time) he is getting better at falling back to sleep on his own.

In addition to a new sleep routine, we now feed him solids after he wakes from each nap. This gives me a small break, since other people can feed him, and it ensures he gets a larger (hopefully more satisfying) milk meal when he does nurse. Amazingly, in less than three weeks he actually gained 2 pounds which is a big deal for him considering his average weight gain has been about one pound/month since birth.

Most importantly, Roscoe seems much happier. His attention span is greater, and he doesn't require constant cajoling or distraction. He seems to have more energy to invest in reaching milestones, and giggling. I do feel like we've accomplished a lot and I am proud that my effort has made such an impact. Despite feeling miserable much of the time, the payoff is worth it.

Of course, there is still room for improvement so looking to the next 10 days we're going to focus on being even more consistent with a formal nap and bedtime routine, work on transitioning Roscoe from the swing to his crib (because at 7.5 months, his mobility poses a safety hazard), and eliminating the button pushing.

I can't say that Andy and I feel like new yet, but our hopes are high and our fingers are crossed for more zzzzzzzzz's.

Finders Keepers

For several weeks we had a trip to North Carolina planned for this weekend. We intended to visit Andy's sister and her family, and to meet our newest nephew, Noah. In the trenches of sleep deprivation and ever committed to seeing Roscoe through his sleep challenges, we canceled the trip at the last minute. In the end, a snow storm dumped 2 feet of snow that would have ultimately prevented us from making the drive, which did make me feel better since I was so looking forward to new baby snuggles.

In preparation for our weekend getaway I considered how best to feed Roscoe while away. The food that I've made for him is frozen and perishable, and we don't yet have any containers suitable for packing his meals. While grocery shopping this week I perused the baby food aisle and found these cool bpa-free pouches of certified organic baby food made by Sprout.

There are almost 20 different varieties, with combinations like baked sweet potatoes and white bean, roasted apples and blueberries, and roasted bananas and mango. Each 3.5 oz. pouch is resealable, and you can spoon feed right from the pouch--no heating necessary. I bought several for the road, and also packed an avocado and a banana--both of which can be eaten raw.

Snowed in yesterday, and with a batch of baby food in production, I decided to give Sprout a whirl.

Roscoe devoured the pasta with lentil bolognese. I couldn't spoon it in fast enough. In fact, after that, he ate the entire 3.5 oz pouch of roasted butternut squash--a vegetable I haven't yet been able to find organic at my local grocer. I had to grab my own spoon to try out both flavors for myself--Roscoe and I agree that they are delicious.


These are an awesome alternative to homemade--and they don't include any ingredients that I wouldn't add to his food myself. The flavor combos are appealing, and the format is so convenient and portable. At 99 cents a pouch, I'll definitely be stocking up for future day trips, outings, and road adventures.

A breakthrough at 6 months, 3 weeks: The No Cry Sleep Solution

Roscoe's Pediatric office has three locations. The one closest to us happens to be the oldest, the busiest, and the most run-down. We also haven't yet found a provider in the practice who we really like. On recommendation we made an appointment with Dr. Kaplan at the Lorton office which is sparkling new, but because he has such a loyal following, the earliest appointment we could snag was today.

Roscoe's "6 month" appointment (at 6 months, 3 weeks ) was quite eventful.

Roscoe was vaccinated against H1N1 and Influenza (yay!), as well as DTaP, and PCV. They don't like to give more than 4 vaccines at any one visit, so we made another appointment six weeks from now to complete the original 6 month immunization schedule, and the second doses of the two influenza vaccines.

Roscoe now weighs...wait for it... 14 pounds (!). First the 8th percentile, then the 5th, then the 3rd, and now the 1st--which led to a lengthy discussion that covered nursing, solids, and sleep.

The bottom line is that there is value in encouraging Roscoe to go longer between nursings. Specifically, the doc suggested Roscoe nurse approximately every 4 hours--which seems like a stretch to me--but it's a goal that we can work toward, especially now that he is eating solids regularly.

The idea is to feed him solids in between nursing so that he eats every 2 hours, but nurses only every four. This will hopefully translate to Roscoe ingesting a greater quantity of milk (particularly hind milk) at each feed, which will help him stay satisfied for increasingly longer periods of time. And if we are very lucky, this may also facilitate fewer night wakings and subsequent feedings, and result in better sleep for everyone.

Also, the fact that Roscoe wakes up approximately every hour means that his sleep cycles are being cut way short and that he may in fact be overtired much of the time, which could explain his high maintenance tendencies. If we can help him learn to nurse less frequently we may ultimately alleviate several of our problem issues.

Our visit today with Dr. Kaplan was the very first in which we felt respected and supported by our provider, and engaged in a dialogue that had our family's best interests at the heart of it.

The past 6 months have been pretty exhausting and we're the first to admit that we haven't had the energy to implement change even when we wanted to. Our eyebrows are raised with anticipation for what this new approach might mean and we're looking forward to getting started.

Can't fight this feeling

As we begin to incorporate solids into Roscoe's feeding routine we take our first step toward weaning. So far our nursing relationship has been a challenging adventure that continues to exceed my expectations. It is sad to realize that reaching this milestone marks the beginning of the end.*

My mom breastfed me, my sister, and my brother. It never crossed my mind to feed my kids any differently. Reinforcing the innate and animalistic nature of mother and child, Roscoe latched on within minutes of being born, but it didn't take long to find out that in this day and age breastfeeding often requires more from both parties, than putting mouth to boob.

The beginning was awkward, and intimate. I was self conscious nursing in the presence of visiting friends and family. Abruptly, the circumstances necessitated a new mindset: my breasts, once a largely sexual--and private--part of my body, were now a means to nourish this tiny, pink, bundle. Anytime. Anywhere. All the time. Everywhere.

Nursing was the one thing that I had not given much thought or research, the only thing I simply trusted would come naturally. With an ex-lactation consultant midwife, and a theoretical community of support via our birthing class, I assumed that if we did happen to run into trouble, certainly someone would know how to fix it.

It took less than 7 days and I was braving the challenges of new motherhood with bleeding, burning nipples.

I cringed with every hunger cry belted from Roscoe's ravenous mouth. At times I wanted to grab my breasts and run far, far, away--in fact, I imitated this very act many times to offer humor to an otherwise emotionally conflicted situation. In one arm I had Roscoe: 7 pounds of newborn with a belly the size of a marble, and an appetite to rival his own mother's. He needed food to grow, and I wanted so badly to feed him. In the other arm I had growing feelings of inadequacy as the task of serving his meals became more difficult and less appealing. I wanted an out, and started looking for the exit.

But what I really wanted was for our breastfeeding relationship to be easier. In truth, I'd never actually watched a baby breastfeed, but from the looks of it didn't babies just open their mouths, latch on, and begin to eat? Why was this so hard for me?

I persevered with the assumption that our problems would resolve on their own, but two weeks went by with no relief, and I was desperate and determined to make this work. La Leche League to the rescue! I wasn't alone after all. My take home message: This is common. Stick with it. It may take as long as 6 to 9 weeks, but eventually breastfeeding will become effortless.

I kept that truth in the back of my mind as I searched the internet for more functional advice. With time I did get the hang of nursing, and Roscoe got the hang of it too. By week six both Roscoe and I were fluent in the art of breastfeeding.

In those early days I did not "recognize" Roscoe, he was so new to me. The only time I felt I truly knew him was when I nursed him. His facial expressions, his grunts, the way his body curled into mine--it was when I nursed that he became familiar. There are qualities of nursing that are difficult to put to words but even in our first days together, breastfeeding inspired me in ways that I had not expected. Never in my life have I gazed into another's eyes as long, or etched so clearly into my mind the features of another human being. The frenzy of feeding is sweet. The rhythmic breaths and gulps come in spurts and I'm completely captivated. My needs as his mother--to ensure his health, and contentment, to meet his need for touch, comfort, and undivided attention, to nurture him, among other things--is largely satisfied during our time spent nursing. Never has his dependency on me been as obvious, or his need for me as blatant.

My body is capable of not only growing and carrying a human being, but also nourishing him exclusively for the first 6 months of his life. I'm a proud momma knowing Roscoe has thrived on my milk alone.

Which brings me back to earlier this afternoon when Roscoe ate with gusto the sweet potato, dates, and brown rice dinner that I prepared for him. I was delighted by his appetite and the apparent pleasure he expressed as he ate. I'm happy knowing that I will still have a role in nourishing my little babe, even after our nursing relationship has ended. And I'm especially pleased that even after he ate a large helping of dinner, he demanded to nurse shortly after.

* Don't worry, I have no intention to truly wean Roscoe any time soon :)

Bulk Baby Food Batch #1: Complete!

In the coming month Roscoe can look forward to filling his belly with:

• Organic Carrots
• Organic Peas
• Brown Rice
• Bananas
• Dates
• Sweet Potatoes
• Organic Apple
• Organic Chicken
• Oats

I mashed the fruits and vegetables after steaming when appropriate, and used a food processor to chop the chicken and carrots.

I bought the Beaba Freezer Trays, but I just wasn't patient enough to wait for them!

Instead I lined two baking sheets with wax paper, evenly spaced tablespoon-sized scoops of each food, and put the sheets in the freezer. Tomorrow morning I'll combine two to three scoops in Ziploc bags and store them in larger freezer bags.

Think of combinations like banana/date, sweet potato/rice, and chicken/apple/oat. . .YuM!

UPDATE: Here is the result!



I wasn't sure how easy or difficult it would be to make Roscoe's food from scratch, but after going through the process once, it really could not be easier. While I love to buy baby gear, I learned there is no need for special containers or apparatus. I canceled my Beaba order and saved myself 40 bucks!