First of all, Dan's parents came to visit for a week, which was wonderful! We loved having Zack and Donna here, and I think they equally enjoyed spending time with their grandboys, and maybe Dan and me, too. ;)
Eland's One-sided Nursing Strike
Their timing was perfect, because just about as soon as they got here Eland decided to go on a one-sided nursing strike. In the middle of the night he quit nursing on my left side. And thus the nursing chaos began–and endured–for the entirety of Zack and Donna's stay. I am so thankful they were here so that I could deal with the Eland's nursing issues without having to keep Auggie entertained at the same time.
Apparently my left breast is a bit of a fire hose when it comes to let-down. (For those of you without kids, let-down is when your milk starts coming out, typically about 30-120 seconds after your baby starts nursing.) Eland decided that it was too much for him, which I could understand because he was literally choking on and spitting out milk for the week or two prior. But I still tried to get him to nurse on my left side because if he didn't I wound up quite engorged and in pain. ... But he refused to nurse in the typical 'cradle hold' on that side. Which meant that I had to fuss around with him in the 'football hold', not a position that comes naturally to me, or I had to lay down to nurse him. It was such a mess..
I did some middle of the night research (aka, nursing while surfing the net on my iPhone around 3am) and discovered that Eland was having some bad reactions to my incredible left-sided let-down. Apparently he was getting too much foremilk. (Once again, for those of you who don't know, breastmilk changes as the baby nurses. What comes out first is called 'foremilk' and is more watery than what comes out later as the baby finishes the breast, which is called 'hindmilk'. Hindmilk is fattier. You can actually see the difference if you pump and refrigerate the milk. The fattier hindmilk separates and floats to the top.. Pretty interesting.) Little did I know that babies who are drinking too much foremilk end up being gassier, and thus fussier, and they have green, watery, foamy poop. Eland had all of the above symptoms. Basically this means that he was only drinking my foremilk because he would get too filled up before he got to any hindmilk. Poor little guy!
I called the lactation consultants at our hospital the next day and was relieved by their response. The woman I spoke to recommended that I just let Eland nurse on the side that he liked best - my right side. I could pump or hand-express as necessary on my left side for relief and to keep my supply, but she assured me that he was about to hit the 6-8 week growth spurt and would likely prefer my left side by the end of it. Phew!
Putting her recommendations in to action worked wonders. Eland nursed more often, but he was happy with nursing primarily on my right side and was finally finishing the breast every time. Hello, happy baby. :)
And now I know that I was contributing to my problem in a HUGE way. I had completely forgotten that oatmeal helps milk production, and was recently reminded by an email group that I'm a part of. I hadn't been eating oatmeal for breakfast, as I often do, so no biggie, right? Wrong. I was devouring the amazingly delicious cookies my Aunt Elaine made for us–chock full of oatmeal, and I was eating Oatmeal Squares for breakfast every once and awhile. Whoops! I stopped eating both and now am creating a normal amount of breastmilk. Sure, Eland will be 7 weeks tomorrow and has probably increased his capacity to consume breastmilk, but he is also able to finish on at least one side per nursing session, and oftentimes nurses on both sides.. And that, my friends, is a stinkin' miracle after what we have been through in the last two weeks.
The Sickness
Auggie caught a wicked runny nose the day before Zack and Donna arrived. (Thank you, church nursery.) Dan promptly caught it in the form of a sore throat, Zack got the cold big-time, I caught it this Tuesday, and even poor little Eland has a mild form of it. Hopefully my antibodies are keeping the full-blown version at bay for the tiny man.
When Auggie was exactly 6 weeks old I caught a pretty nasty cold. He never got sick, but I am reminded this time since I caught the cold when Eland was 6 weeks old. Perhaps after 6 weeks of newborn related stress and lack of sleep my immune system kind of gives up and can't keep me healthy anymore. Uggh.
Auggie, The Big Brother
I have written so many posts about Auggie in my head. I am so due to write about him.. Without a doubt there will be an official Two Year post in October at the very least. (My little boy is going to be Two?!?!)
Auggie is a fantastic big brother. He has truly not shown any jealousy towards Eland at all. About once a day he wants to be held while I'm holding Eland, but that is only when we're walking downstairs after Auggie wakes from his nap, and sometimes Eland is already downstairs sleeping. Anyway, I can hold both boys if we're only walking down the stairs. :)
Auggie talks about "E-and" all the time. He tells me about E-and's play mat, shown above, and even lays with him to show him how to press the button on the fish to turn on the music. Auggie talks about E-and's baby swing, E-and's baby blankets, and even tried to put on Eland's Cubs outfit since the pattern is the same as one of Auggie's onesies. (Dan suggested we dress them both in their Cubs clothes for our Christmas card, or at least for a picture to send to Uncle John, a die-hard Card's fan. Teehehee..)
Auggie is a stinkin' chatterbox! He talks nonstop, and there is simply no point in trying to write up the words in his vocabulary. It is daily growing by leaps and bounds. Auggie's friend Nora came over to play on Wednesday morning and taught him how to build a tower with blocks. That afternoon after his nap, he awoke, and began building "twowers" with blocks. I had not repeated this word at all and I'm sure Nora only said it once or twice. It takes Auggie one exposure to a word and the word's context for him to remember it. Nana (aka Donna) taught Auggie how to say, "Oh my goodness!" and he now says this anytime I open up his diaper and find it filled with poop. Haha.. I was saying, "Eight O'clock" yesterday at dinner, and Auggie immediately repeated, "Eight cock".. Yes, he says some things that are pretty funny. Hope I don't regret typing that one up for the memories. ;)
The "twowers":
Auggie is developing some new fears, and is getting over them, too. He is now completely freaked out by the garbage truck–a truck that he once adored watching as it made its way through the neighborhood. He is scared by a book that was given to him as a big brother gift. The funny thing is that it's a book full of flaps that make noises for vehicles. (Hmmm, maybe I'm figuring out the pattern..) And, he was completely freaked out by a power wheels ATV given to him by friends of his Aunt Jenni and Uncle Matt. Zack and Donna brought it out here when they drove out to visit, and Auggie shockingly wanted nothing to do with it. It took some coaxing by Dada and Papa, but Auggie finally warmed up to the idea of getting on it and has been loving it ever since. Sheesh, one fear down, and I'm sure many to go. Here's Auggie and Dan on the "Geen truck!"
And here's Auggie's impression of Bret Michaels.. I call it, Rock of Auggie:
(Btw, who else is convinced that Bret Michaels must have a wicked receding hairline under his trademark bandana? Why else would he wear it constantly?)
Eland at 6 Weeks
And now, Mr. Cutiepants Eland at 6 weeks:
(Yes, this photo needs some major Photoshop action, but that requires work. And he has some cradle cap.. I'll do something about that eventually. I never bothered scrubbing it off of Auggie's head and just noticed that if you dig through his hair you can still see a tiny bit of it lingering on his scalp. Oh well.)
Eland is really plumping up. He's also batting at toys while on the activity mat, and now that he's eating well, he's sustaining quite a bit of awake time without crying. He's turning into quite the happy little boy! And, thank the Good, Good Lord, he's not a bad sleeper at all. He tends to go down around 10pm, wakes at 2:30 or 3am, wakes at 5 or 5:30am, and then is up for the day between 6:30 and 7am. (He poops and fusses in his sleep at 6am.) I really can't complain. Although now that I put this in writing he's bound to get worse. :P
And I can't remember whether or not I've mentioned this, but Eland is about 70/30 disposable diapers to cloth. Yes, I am disappointed. But the kid can go through 12-20 diapers in a day! I seriously cannot keep up! He will be a 99% cloth-diapered baby eventually, but not until he starts going through fewer diapers. Right now I try to do cloth during the day and disposables at night. And that is just the way things are.
Remembering Life Without Kids
While Dan's parents were here we got a chance to get out of dodge for an entire day (which required lots of pumping in the week building up to it, and pumping during said day in the wilderness.) We remembered what life was like Without Kids and had a climbing day. We actually hired a friend from the outdoor center to teach us how to place gear for trad climbing. It was so much fun! I have a picture on my phone that I have yet to download, but those of you on Facebook have probably already seen it. Though I didn't do any of the gear-placing myself, I did lead a climb which was great! (An easy climb, mind you.) We really enjoyed getting out for a day and didn't worry about the boys for a second–they were in great hands.
On the flip-side, this day was actually slightly depressing because we remembered what life was like Without Kids, and that we no longer have access to that life. But on Labor Day we headed north for a hike, and believe it or not, got both boys to overlap napping–while outdoors next to a cliff–and managed to squeeze in three climbs combined. Maybe we can keep having fun. ;) (And before we know it, Dan and I will be belaying Auggie and Eland.)
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