His First Bottle

I have been breastfeeding Alex ever since he was less than an hour old. He really took to nursing like a pro and I have had no need to suppliment or give him the bottle at all! I was really thrilled about this, especially since nursing Mia didn't go so smoothly.

Though breastfeeding has been a breeze with Alex, its not without its challenges. Sleep is the number one thing. Since I am the sole provider of his food, I am constantly on alert for his feedings and when I try to nap or go to bed I am constantly being woke up to feed him. At first I handled it pretty well, but after time it started to really wear on me. I think if Alex was my only child it would be easier, but chasing around a high energy 2 year old during the day, plus taking care of a newborn AND breastfeeding just became too much. My energy level was always EXTREMELY low, my mood was very bad, I was feeling overwhelmed, my post-partum depression kept rearing its ugly head, and just overall worn out. So the time finally came where an important decision needed to be made... Either I stop breastfeeding altogether, get Alex on formula and a bottle... or pump and give Alex the bottle at least once a night every other night so I can catch up on my rest (get more than two 2-3hr periods of broken sleep). Continuing like I was, wasn't cutting it and something was going to give... probably my milk supply (which was Mia's breastfeeding downfall).

So I finally decided to allow Alex to try the bottle last night with pumped breastmilk. It was bitter sweet since I have been breastfeeding for 3 full weeks now and I was proud that I didn't need to resort to the dreaded bottle, but again I had to look at the whole picture. I was beginning to be no good to either Alex or Mia... I desperately needed rest.

So during Alex's final feeding before I went to bed (10pm) I nursed him while I pumped the other side. It sounds so much easier than it actually was!!! Being able to accomplish that, in itself, was an amazing feat to pull off! I literally felt like a cow! haha Actually I am surprised in my ability to balance the two to be honest. Unfortunately, I was only able to pump 1.5 oz and we know hes up to 2 (well at least the internet said he should be up to 2) so we knew he might not get satisfied after eating... but it was the chance we were willing to take.

Once he was done I prepared the bottle for Adrian (he was on baby watch overnight). Breastmilk can be left out in the open for up to 6 hours by the way... I didn't even know that. Anyway I prepared the bottle and off to bed I went... feeling conflicted about the whole thing.

I had a pretty decent night sleep. Though I still woke up every 2-3 hours (force of habit I guess) it didn't take me long to fall back to sleep. I was later woken up by Adrian at 6am letting me know Alex was waking up and was going to be REALLY hungry. I felt pretty refreshed, although still sleepy, alot more rested than I have been in MONTHS!

I asked Adrian how the feeding went and he said really well. Although, Alex didn't quite understand how to use the bottle and was struggling at first.. once he tasted the milk he latched right on and chugged it! haha The only bad thing was, he was still hungry after the bottle was gone but was still able to fall asleep.

When I got Alex for his feeding, Adrian was right... he was hungry! He latched great (another fear of mine... that he would get nipple confusion after using the bottle) and ate good. Now hes asleep and I am here.

I am so proud of my little man, though I still feel a bit conflicted about the use of the bottle....HOWEVER you can't argue with results.. I do feel much more rested, better, and my mood is good again. Not sure how we will work in the bottle or how often we will resort to it, but so far I am happy. We will see what the next few days are like...

3 weeks old!

Happy Saturday Everyone! Alex is 3 weeks old today! He is getting closer and closer to that big 1 month! YIKES! My little baby newborn won't be a newborn much longer!

Its a cold rainy morning today and I am so tired. I did get some rest over the night shift (Adrian was taking care of Alex and would only bring in him to wake me up during feeding time which is only twice a night 3-4 hrs apart), but I am still tired. Once I took him over this morning hes been wide awake and fussy. Luckily my Dad is still here and he comforted him for a bit and he went to sleep in his little pack and play, however, he just woke up again recently and though I managed to get him to fall back asleep I don't think it will be for very long so I don't have much time.

The days get away from me so much that blogging is becoming more and more difficult. I try my best to keep it up but it just seems impossible at times. I do manage to write something but they are very short, but hey short blogs are better than none right?!

This week has been pretty decent. I have had my Dad here since Tuesday so hes helped a TON! Especially with Mia. Though he hasn't spent as much time with Alex as he would like, he does help out when he can. They even watched the World Series game together which I thought was really cute!

Alex is growing and changing so much. He is filling out more and more and starting to look like a baby rather than a newborn. His eyes are still dark blue and I am wondering if they will stay that way or if they will change like Mia's. Mia had light greenish/hazel eyes for a few months before they settled on brown... only time will tell what color Alex's will be. His cries are changing too! Though they still sound "all boy" some times when he cries alot he actually loses his voice!!! Its a weird horsey windy cry but I know hes ok, but it does sound startling. He is sleeping a bit more between feedings (mostly at night) and one day this week he made it up to 5hrs! He took his first bath in the baby bath tub this week and the first day he didn't like it but the next two times he actually did! He let me wash him up and enjoyed it, it wasn't until I pulled him out and he got cold did he start to cry. I am thinking I might pick up the bathing routine I had with Mia (bathing everytime and using the bedtime lotion) to help him sleep better and longer. This will be very helpful for when I take him over for the entire night once Adrian goes back to work officially.

He took his very first pictures at a studio this week as well, he took them with his big sister and though it was a slight disaster they didn't come out to bad. He did better than I thought he would.

We also got to go to the pumpkin patch as a family. Though I wasn't to comfortable with taking Alex out so young, it was still pretty warm and he was bundled so we went anyway. I was glad I did we all had lots of fun.

Hes also a POOPING MACHINE!!! Good grief we are having SOOO many issues with him pooping out his diaper and making a HUGE yellow mess! Literally!! At first I thought it was just because of his car seat and how he was sitting when he went but he had another blow out just being home! We NEVER had this issue with Mia so its new to us, hopefully we will find the remedy soon.

Well both the little ones are awake so I need to get going! We will see what this next week will hold for us, it will be Halloween tomorrow so I know I will have lots of stories to share!

Alex liked his bath!!!!

Current mood: shocked

If you read the previous blog you would know that Alex had another diaper malfunction incident after the pumpkin patch. He was a mess... literally!!! So I had no choice but to bath him. I wasn't sure how we would react since his first real bath in the tub didn't go so well.

This time, however, he actually enjoyed it!!!! As soon as his little butt hit the water he stopped crying and quieted down. He really enjoyed it this time! I was so shocked I asked Adrian to bring the camera. When he came back, Mia followed him in the bathroom. Once she saw her little brother in her old blue tub she wanted to join him!! I had to literally get Mia to put down her leg because she was trying to climb in!!! haha

Alex did great as I cleaned him and didn't cry once, not until I pulled him out and as soon as the cold hit him he was screaming and crying again.... oh well.

Well now I have hope that maybe... just maybe he will start enjoying his baths now. I just have to find a way to warm him up faster because he HATES being cold.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Current mood: accomplished

It's that time of year again! PUMPKIN season!!! WHOOHOO!! We have been trying to make it to the pumpkin patch before Alex was born (I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable taking him out as a newborn) but it never worked out. Then Alex came early and it was too late. So now that Halloween is this weekend, time is running out to hit the pumpkin patch! Its one of the family traditions of ours to go and I hated the thought of not going. Especially since I couldn't decorate the house like I normally do this year. So when a warm day happened I made it a point to try to make it out to the pumpkin patch regardless!

My Dad is down for a visit so he got to join us! It was a huge treat for all of us, and though I was a bit nervous about taking Alex outside, I knew he would be ok as long as we kept him bundled, with his hat and mittens and it was still really warm outside.

We went to the pumpkin patch Adrian and I have been going to since we moved here back in 2005. It isn't the most fancy patches in town, infact its pretty small but its our own little special place and since this is the final year we are here in Riverside, Alex's first trip to a pumpkin patch and Mia's 3rd time going... we had to go to the same ol' patch.

We got there a little later than expected but it was still ok. I had Alex in his Orange Giants shirt and pumpkin hat with matching mittens I made him. Mia wore the same shirt she wore last year (which was to big on her then and to small on her now) but it had a pumpkin on it and the only Halloween type shirt I had.

We got the kids out of the car and off we went. Mia was scared at first, no sure why, and since she needed a nap BAD her mood wasn't the greatest. She wasn't listening, a bit whiny and refused to pose for any pictures. However, Grandpa did work his magic on her a bit and soon she was running around, throwing hay in her hair and tossing pumpkins everywhere! haha She was having lots of fun. Alex slept the whole time and only woke up a couple of times to cry but then knocked out again.

We went all over that patch looking for the best pumpkins, however, since its so late in the season there were no big/medium pumpkins left so we ended up coming home with two little pumpkins, one for Mia and one for Alex. We posed for some pictures here and there and when it got dark and cold we loaded up the kids in the car and went home. Unfortunately, Alex woke up MAD and screamed and cried the whole way home. Once we got home I ran him in the house to check his diaper and sure enough he had another poopie blow out!! OH NO!!! So off went his clothes, and into the tub he went for another bath, oh well haha

I am glad we managed to make it out to the pumpkin patch this year. It really did mean alot to me. Although, it was kind of a bittersweet goodbye to the patch we always went to, I was happy that I was able to take Mia AND Alex there at least once. Plus having my Dad there to experience one of our little family traditions was an extra treat. We will see what patch we go to next year when we are in Sunny San Diego!

Go Giants!

Current mood: blissful

Alex is our little "Rally Baby"! Ever since he was born he has brought luck to Daddy's favorite baseball team, the San Fransisco Giants! Not only did they make it to the playoffs but all the way to the World Series! You better believe Daddy is so excited about this, he even bought Alex some SF Giants' onesies!

Alex always makes sure to wear his lucky onesies during the game and so far they have been winning like crazy! Last night they shut out the Texas Rangers in a 0-9 game! Alex was happy sleeping in Grandpa's arms at the time but he sent his baby luck their way anyway and it worked!

We will see what the rest of the series looks like but so far so good! I love my little Giants baby!

* VIDEO* Alex on the couch

Alex on the couch almost 2 weeks old

Alex's First REAL bath

Current mood: accomplished

If you read my previous blog, you will know that Alex had TWO major diaper malfunction times today, not to mention all the other regular poopie diapers. So needless to say he was not the most pleasant smelling baby on the block. Even the lotion wasn't working to cover up the smell... he needed a bath and BAD!!!

Though I don't mind giving him sponge baths, I really don't like doing it. They take forever AND are nerve wracking for the BOTH of us. So since his belly button fell off last week I decided he was healed enough for a REAL bath in Mia's old baby bath tub.

So I got the water all nice and warm and the soap all ready. I brought Alex over and when I got him undressed I noticed he had ANOTHER poopie diaper!!!! ACK!!! So I cleaned him up then in to the tub he went... kicking and screaming.. literally!

He really didn't like his bath AT ALL! He screamed the entire time and was not a happy camper. Luckily hes so tiny it didn't take long before he was all clean. I quickly ran him to the room and got him all set up with his lotion and jammies. I fed him and laid him down, now hes out like a little light!!!

Phew... well the bath didn't go as smoothly as I would have hoped but at least he smells better now! No more burnt peanuts! haha

Family Picture Day!!!

Current mood: exhausted

I have been meaning to take Mia to get her pictures taken professionally for a VERY long time, however, we either never found the right time or just didn't have the money. However, after getting Alex's hospital pictures taken (professionally), I was HOOKED! and really wanted to get the kid's pictures taken together again. Then Adrian came across a promotional coupon from Sears which allowed us to get their pictures taken (no sitting fee) AND a free Halloween collage!!! NICE! I thought, what better time than now to get their pictures taken together in their Halloween costumes so I quickly made an appointment.

Well the original appointment was for yesterday but that day ended up being CRAZY so I rescheduled for today. Plus my Dad was in town for a few days and he would get to go with us which would be a HUGE treat for him.

Our appointment was at 1 but we still ended up running around at the last min. Alex decided to have a poopie diaper that ended up as a "blow out" aka Diaper malfunction! Mia refused to get her clothes on and Alex needed to eat. Then our printer broke down and we couldn't print the coupon, so Daddy came to the rescue and got that up and running. Soon we were all on the road and headed to our new adventure. (Two cars I might add!!! Since Mia and Alex took the backseat... it was the very first ride we took with BOTH of them in the car). It was cute, both of them did great on the road and Mia seemed all excited to have her little brother back there with her. She kept telling us about his feet or when he sneezed! haha... ok I am getting side tracked a bit.

We finally made it to Sears and checked in. I quickly got Mia dressed in her Wonder Woman outfit, then worked on Alex (who had ANOTHER poopie diaper and I had to change him right there in the middle of the floor!)

Mia was up first, and REFUSED to listen to any directions, but I don't blame her... shes only two and they expected to have her pose?!?!?! pfffffffftttt.... ya right! We were lucky enough to get 1 good picture out of her whole session. All she wanted to do was run around, get into their toys, pick at their props and not stay still. If she did stay still she refused to smile! Even as the lady practically beat her with a purple teddy bear tying to get her to laugh!

Next up was Alex. He too was not the happiest baby. He was hungry and moody, so we had a hard time getting his picture taken as well. We would have him suck on his binky then when the photography lady counted to three I would quickly remove it and she would try to take a picture before he would cry. It only worked a few times before he got wise to the whole gag and refused to stop crying.

Then came time to have the kids pose together! That was a disaster in itself! Either Mia was falling off something or the baby was crying. We tried bribing Mia with EVERYTHING to get her to listen to directions, and once in a while she would listen but would do the action so fast the camera person couldn't capture it. My Dad, in the meantime, sat back watching the whole spectical and thought it was the cutest thing ever! Adrian and I were practically out of breath taking turns with the kids trying to get them set up right.

By the end of the photo shoot I was EXHAUSTED! Mia was only dressed half way in her costume (she was peeling off parts the whole time) and Alex was MAD! he wanted to eat! The lady told us to come back in 15 mins to look at the pictures so we walked around Sears for awhile to kill some time.

EVERYONE thought Alex and Mia looked so cute in their costumes and we were beaming with pride... especially Grandpa! He carried Mia around the TV section while Adrian carried his little superboy! It was picture perfect, but unfortunately, I left my camera in the car.

After killing some time, and getting Mia back into her regular clothes we finally got to see the pictures. Out of the 20-30 pictures they took only 3 came out decent! and I am so happy for that much!!! We got a good one of Mia alone, Alex alone and one of them together! I was pleased. So after the photography lady tried to sell us some insanely expensive packages we opted for just buying 3 8x 10s which came out to a total of $32 which isn't bad at all!!! The pictures will be done by Nov. 10th.

After we paid for the pictures we all went to the mall to eat some lunch... including Alex!!! there is a nice family restroom there where I could nurse him in private in my own little stall with a rocking chair! So we both were pretty happy about that. After we were all fed we managed to make it back home in one piece. Of course Alex had ANOTHER blow out which was not fun to clean but at least he did it on the ride home and not during the pictures!

So will I continue to get their pictures taken... ummm..... probably not any time soon they are just to crazy for me! haha but I am glad I did it though!