Noah :: 7 Month Update

Dear Noah,

Today you are 7 months old. For some reason, I am having a harder time coming to terms with you turning 7 months, than when you turned 6 months. I think it's because you are now officially closer to being a toddler than a newborn. Your baby days are flying by so fast. This month was filled with lots of small developmental milestones, but perhaps the most exciting news of all this month was the appearance of your 1st tooth! Your 1st tooth (bottom, left) popped through yesterday morning, and your 2nd bottom tooth is on it's way up as we speak. Mommy and Daddy thought for sure you were teething around Christmas, but boy did you prove us wrong...here we are, 3 months later, and your 1st tooth is finally here. Hooray!

You continue to be such a good eater. You love your solids, and can't seem to get enough most days. You now fully understand our meal-time routine, and while you're drinking your bottle, you constantly look around the room to see if you can find your bowl (with solids). You know that your bottle comes first, followed by solids for breakfast and dinner. Sometimes I think you leave a little milk in your bottle on purpose, so you can fill up on yummy fruits + veggies instead ;) You've worked your way through a variety of stage 2 foods, and you even tried yogurt this month, which you love! Next month we'll introduce you to meats and maybe even finger foods like Puffs and Cheerios as well.

You've been babbling for a few months now, but this month we've seen a noticeable increase in your vocal capabilities. Your favorite "words" to say are  "Ah", "Boo", "Gah", "Hi-ya", "Mmm", "Oohh", "Da", and a variety of others we can't quite make out. While we do have a "Ma-ma-ma" and a "Da-Da" or two on record, we're not counting those as real "Mama's" or "Dada's" quite yet ;) In addition to your babbles, you are now shrieking and squealing when you get excited. I absolutely adore watching you "talk" to your toys. It's always fun trying to guess what you're saying. Mommy and Daddy are anxiously awaiting your 1st real word when the time comes!

Your personality continues to come out more and more each month, and it seems like you are almost always smiling lately. You've turned into quite the ham, even showing off for the camera when you're in an especially good mood. We think you are aware of strangers now and that you recognize familiar faces, especially your friends and teachers at Gymboree. Speaking of Gymboree, this month was the big graduation from Level 1! You've officially advanced on to Level 2, and we now attend class 2x per week. It's pretty obvious that you love it there, which makes Mommy very happy.

You are working on some pretty big motorskills right now, including getting into a seated position on your own and pushing up on all fours. You can get yourself about 75% of the way into a seated position, so I know you are almost there! These days it's pretty hard to keep you on your back for very long, as you pretty much always want to be on your belly (or sitting up). You have mastered "crawling" in a circle by pivoting with your hands and knees, and can get pretty far using that method of movement right now (you surprised us with how far you can move and actually knocked over Mommy's cup of water last night). We can tell you want to move forward so badly, but you haven't quite figured out how to do so yet. Soon, buddy...soon! 

You, my little boy, are growing up before my eyes, and even though it makes Mommy a little sad to know you won't be a "baby" for much longer, I am so amazed at watching you learn new things every day. 

Until next time, here are some of my favorite snapshots from your 7th month. 

6 month check up...looking a little unsure about things

"What shots?! I'm ready to play, Mom"

You & your 1st teacher, Ms. Jana @ Gymboree

 The big graduation from Gymboree!

Cruisin' in your stroller on the 1st warm day of the year!

You've almost outgrown your swing!

Happy boy :)

Excited for bath time!

Starting to cut your 1st teeth and still as playful as can be :)

Look at that HAIR...finally!

Best smile in the whole world :)

No height/weight stats this month, but you are wearing 9 month clothes and just transitioned into size 3 diapers.

I love you, 

Mommy

My Breastfeeding Journey

Our breastfeeding woes started almost immediately after Noah was born. Long story short, Noah would not latch properly and was barely getting any milk in his first few days of life, which resulted in a 10% weight loss from his birth weight (basically, right at the point the doctors were growing concerned) and a mild case of jaundice.

After seeking help from my postpartum nurses at the hospital, along with a lactation consultant, Noah was still not latching correctly; therefore, I made the decision to pump. My decision was not a popular one among the nurses, nor lactation consultant, but after talking with Noah's pediatrician, I knew this was the best way I could ensure Noah was actually getting food. After making this decision, we decided to rent a hospital-grade pump (we chose the Medela Symphony) since I'd be pumping exclusively, and needed a pump with a strong motor that could keep up with 8-10 sessions a day.

Once I started pumping, Noah took to a bottle right away, and was discharged from the hospital on time, with follow-up weight checks throughout the next week at his pediatrician's office. In addition to pumped breast milk from a bottle, we supplemented with formula for a few weeks and Noah quickly put back on all of his lost weight, plus a little extra. We were given the "okay" from the pediatrician to stop supplementing, and I went about my normal pumping schedule. In the weeks following his birth, and after my milk "came in", I had been able to build up a nice little stash of breast milk in our fridge and freezer. All was going well. 

Fast forward about 6 weeks, and I was having major supply issues. My milk stash was depleted and my stress levels were on the rise. By this time, Noah was sleeping longer stretches at night, and after sleeping through a middle-of-the night pumping session here and there, I ended up with a plugged milk duct, which then resulted in mastitis (translation: icky, awful breast infection).

After a round of antibiotics and a week of marathon pumping sessions to clear up the infection and unclog the milk duct, I was back to my normal pumping schedule, but still with supply issues. I could barely keep up with Noah's daily feeding schedule and soon had to come to the realization that we'd have no choice but to supplement with formula again.

We started supplementing, and as the month went on, my supply continued to dwindle and my stress levels were growing increasingly higher and higher by the day. I recall one day spilling a bottle of freshly pumped breast milk all over the kitchen counter and breaking down in tears after having pumped for 20 minutes and barely getting an ounce. I think it was soon after this that I made the decision to wean myself from the pump and switch Noah exclusively over to formula.

This wasn't an easy decision to reach, and I had many doubts about what I was choosing to do, but luckily, I found that several friends had gone through very similar experiences, and received some really great support and advice from them. Rob rallied behind my decision as well, and....guess what? After about 8 weeks of slowly weaning from the pump, I was SO.MUCH.HAPPIER as a mom. I was no longer tied to my pump for hours a day stressing over whether I'd get enough to even feed Noah one bottle of breast milk that day. Truth be told, I was pretty darn miserable while I was pumping. While I certainly won't argue that breast milk does provide invaluable nutrition for your baby, my personal belief is that it's also important to be happy, and give your absolute best to your child. I came to peace with my decision to switch to formula knowing that I had tried my best, and was ultimately able to give Noah breast milk for his first several months of life, which many others are not always able to do for one reason or another. 

I will admit that while I was pregnant I had made up my mind that I'd be exclusively nursing Noah for at least 6 months, and possibly up to a year, if things were still going well. Feeding him formula in the early months never really crossed my mind. I had made my decision, taken a breastfeeding course, and had done the "proper research". So, when I had struggles, this came as a pretty big surprise to me.

Up until now, I've really only shared my breastfeeding journey with close friends and family, but I felt the need to put this out there for other new moms to read. In my opinion, formula gets too much of a "bad rap" out there. Contrary to what some extremists may think, formula is NOT poison. Breastfeeding/pumping does not always "work" for everyone, even with the help of lactation consultants and fancy milk supply boosting supplements. To those moms who are having, or, have had trouble with breastfeeding, please know you are NOT alone. From one mom to another, please don't let ANYONE make you feel bad for your decision to breastfeed or not. We, as moms, are all in this together, and there needs to be more support for formula-feeding moms. 

Couponing for Baby Food

First, I have to admit that I have a slight obsession with baby food. Now that Noah is eating solids 2x a day, we have progressed to the Level 2 pureed foods that have new + interesting flavor combinations for him to try. It's sorta strange, but I actually get a little excited every morning when I plan his meals for the day. Weird, right?! Ok, moving on... ;)

When I first started thinking about baby food for Noah, I really had no idea what was out in the market besides good ole' Gerber. After a little research, I soon found there were a wealth of options to choose from, so we tried a little bit of everything. With the recent news of companies like Gerber using GMOs in their products, I set my sights on organic baby food companies. There are quite a few organic brands out there, but we primarily use Plum Organics, Happy Baby, Earth's Best, and Gerber Organic. I also use Beech-Nut products on occasion too (Side note: Beech-Nut is not an organic company, but I haven't seen any concrete information that they use GMOs in their products, so I'm pretty comfortable purchasing their food, especially when deals come up).

We all know that organic products are typically priced higher than non-organic products, but I've made it my mission to find savings for these products. The good news? There ARE savings to be had. In fact, there are actually a ton of coupons out there if you just take a few minutes to look around. Here are the best ways that I have found to find baby food coupons: 

1. Simple Google Search - Seriously. Just type "Happy Baby coupons" and you can usually find a printable coupon or two floating out there on various coupon sites. 

2. "Like" on Facebook - Often times if you "like" a company on Facebook they'll have exclusive offers for their "fans". If they release more coupons, you'll also be updated of those offers in their newsfeed updates, so it's always a good idea to keep up with their FB pages. 

3. Sign up for newsletters - Many of the large baby food companies offer a monthly newsletter via email that you can sign up for directly on their website. The newsletters are actually kind of interesting to read since they are targeted for your child's age AND they frequently include coupons as well.

Don't forget to do a price comparison on your favorite baby food brands at the stores you shop at most, and remember, often times many grocery stores (like Giant Eagle, here in PA) will double your manufacturer coupons up to $1.00. Be on the look out for sales, too! If you wait for sales, combined with your coupons, you can save even more by simply planning ahead.

Happy shopping, Moms!  

Becoming a "Mom Blogger"

I've been blogging since I first started my wedding planning company back in 2008. In 2010, I started my personal blog in hopes it would become like a journal of sorts that we could share with our family and friends. Up until recently, this blog has primarily been used to document our pre-baby travels as a married couple, the building of our home, my pregnancy, and now, life with our 6 month old bundle of joy. I've recently talked with a few friends that have encouraged me to continue blogging, and perhaps expand this blog into a lifestyle/mom blog. So, that's what I've decided to do! 

I recently made the decision to put my business on the back burner and focus my attention on being a stay at home mom while Noah is still a baby. It was a tough decision, but ultimately, the right thing for our family. As a stay at home mom, I think it's absolutely essential to have your own thing, separate from baby, that you can focus on when baby is napping or playing independently. You know, like a hobby. In a way, blogging has become my hobby. It's something that I can easily put down or pick up, and I find it to be a nice stress reliever when my days get chaotic. 

I don't have a fancy journalism degree (my degree is in finance, of all things!), but what I do have is a love for writing and sharing my journey as a first time mama with other first time mamas. I was talking with a girlfriend the other day about how we "do it all" some days, and then other days we count the minutes until our husbands come home from work. As moms, we're all in this together, and while I certainly do not have all the answers, I like to think I've learned a thing or two in my (short) six months since becoming a mom. What I've learned may not be groundbreaking, but I truly believe we can all learn from one another. Some of the most simplest things I've implemented into our daily routine have come from simply chatting with other moms.

I'll still be using this space to write Noah's monthly updates, but I'm hoping to expand this blog to include topics that are relevant to other new moms as well. I've been brewing up various blog topics in my head for months now, and I think it's about time I put these thoughts onto paper. So, what exactly will this blog entail? My hope is to share simple recipes for the novice cook (I'm no expert in this department, but I've recently taken an interest in cooking in the last several months), meal planning tips, craft projects, how I stay organized, and just in general, my daily adventures of life as a stay at home mom. 

So, moms, I'm curious, what do YOU do to help keep you sane amongst the chaos of every day life? Do you have any hobbies or interests that keep you occupied when your little one(s) is napping?