Bottle Bootcamp!

Little miss has been rejecting the bottle for the past couple of months. I am breastfeeding Sadie... but when I want to go on a date with my hubby, have some time on my own, or go back to work I need my bambino to take pumped milk from the bottle.

I first gave her a bottle at 3 weeks, and she took it so well this first time. But since then...it's been a battle (fought with snuggles, gentle urging, and every product available on the market, of course). She chokes on most bottles' nipples. We tried Advent, Green to Grow, Evenflow, Playtex Drop-ins...nothing worked. Her resistance has been quite a challenge. Mark has given it to her when I've been gone, and she's cried and cried, unwilling to take milk from a bottle. Let me remind you, this is the same milk she gets from me. She usually has waited until I returned, and then has breastfed ferociously. In Tahoe we tried putting sugar water on the nipple...and this worked for 1 feeding (after hours of crying)-- when it was new and interesting. Then she went back to rejecting all bottles, even yummy bottles coated in sugar water. Lately, I have tried to give the bottle to her after feedings, when she's not even hungry, so she can get used to the silicone nipple. All these attempts have been futile.

So today was the day--Bottle Bootcamp. I left the house from 9:30am-5:30pm, the longest I've been away from Sadie (I missed her so!). The goal was for Mark to get her to take the bottle contentedly. I bought a new bottle for the occasion, The First Years' Breast Flow bottle. It's made for breastfed babies to go back and forth between mom and bottle without confusion. I spotted it at Target this week, so I thought I'd give it a try. It worked!!! Yeah!!! Sadie fussed a little today, but didn't cry and cry, and she took 7-8 ounces from this bottle (before she took only a half of an ounce to 2 ounces after a lot of tears). I'm so glad we found something that works for our little sadie. She had a great day with dad too! Lots of bonding time!!

Thank You Breastflow!!! Kisses after a long day!

And smiles after a long day, too! That's impressive.

Thanks dad for being patient with me! Love, Sadie

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Pocket Diapers and Such

It's past 10:30pm already, and I really should high-tail it to bed (Where did high-tail it originate from anyway?). Sadie has been asleep since 8:15pm...I need to sleep when she sleeps to ensure that I'm sleeping. But...we have some exciting news to share! Little miss has graduated from disposables (don't fear--they were earth-friendly) to pocket diapers!

Pocket diapers? you may wonder...

Pocket diapers are the clever marriage of disposables and cloth. You buy a set of 20-30 diapers and you can use them again and again, child after child (washing them after each soil of course!). They are cloth diapers with an absorbent fleece lining, and have an exterior cover that stops seepage. They also have either nifty snaps or Velcro closures for convenience (no bothersome pins!). We bought a little less than 30 diapers in all--half Fuzzibunz and half BumGenius. I'll keep you up-to-date on how life with the pocket diapers go. So far, we've had some leaking issues, but (I think) that was solved with slight adjustments. The best thing about these pocket diapers is that they give your baby the biggest, softest tush!

Okay, now I must be off to bed!

Bradley Method Reunion

Mark and I took Bradley Method birthing classes before our little one was born. Bradley Method emphasizes natural births--discouraging epidurals or unneccessary interventions and encouraging healthy eating, exercises, along with teaching various positions and calming methods to cope with labor pains. We pretty much threw the Bradley Method out the window during labor. We tried the positions and relaxation (which made me tense!). After 26 hours of irregular (and painful) contractions--I was glad to be put on pitocin. And then, at the 40th hour labor--I was begging for the epidural. And finally, after little miss was stuck on my pelvic bone after 3 hours of pushing---I was resigned to a c-section.
In the end it seems like the Bradley Method is certainly idealistic, and maybe slightly delusional.
I was dreading the reunion (where we meet all the babies) because we had to get so much intervention. I didn't feel like a failure, but I was bitter at the Bradley Method. The reunion was great! So many of us moms got intervention. 3/4 had c-secs. 3/4 had epidirals. None of the births was intervention-free. And, after telling our birth stories I realized that I didn't have it so bad. It was tiring, painful, and very very long--but we had great support from the nurses, doctors, and family. It was nice to debrief with new parents, and encouraging to talk about our experiences. It was also wonderful to see our babies together- all happy and healthy!