Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Well.....
It's been a while since I posted an entry here I thought it's about time I caught up. We have moved to Illinois. Zach started law school last week here at soothern Illinois University, or SIU. The Salukis are the mascot and EVERYONE has a SIU shirt on here.
The drive out here was horrendous. I entered my story in a housewife awards contest at mommasaid.net and I won! It will be posted this Sunday, 9/3/06. It was a crazy three-day and well over 22 estimated hour drive. I will NEVER drive cross-country with a baby/child again. Having Naomi nursing made things even more complicated since we had to stop ALL the time it seemed and it took forever and she didn't like nursing in the car AT ALL. In fact she was taking at least one bottle a day on the drive out here just because she wouldn't take enough in nursing. And then there was Cheetah- our cat. That's a whole other story by itself.
So, we've been here in Murphysboro in our big 'ole trailer for almost three weeks now. It feel like home more and more each day. Although some days I miss the mountains so much it hurts. The humidity here is kinda awful, it's so sticky sometimes but even that I think I'm getting used to. We have visited the library and taken advantage of their video and book resources. We have tried out a few different grocery stores and decided that Kroger is the closest and a good price with a sweet 10cent off per gallon of gas discount when you spend $100/month on groceries. We have been to WalMart WAY too many time to call ourselves not white trash and we have frequented the mall as many as 4 or 5 times! All in all not bad for the new kids on the block. I have made a few friends and will do my best to keep them and get to be great friends.
When I say "WE" I mean me and Naomi. Zach is super busy at school. He's out of the house be about 5:30 a.m. and then is home for the night and if lucky done with reading ect for the night by about 7p.m. It's been so far so good with Law School. Zach seems to enjoy it and is really putting 200% into his work. I'm proud of him.
Well, time to sound off. Naomi is sleeping and Zach and I are going to go to be early tonight.
-Trisha the mommy of one (and she's super cute too!!!!)
It's been a while since I posted an entry here I thought it's about time I caught up. We have moved to Illinois. Zach started law school last week here at soothern Illinois University, or SIU. The Salukis are the mascot and EVERYONE has a SIU shirt on here.
The drive out here was horrendous. I entered my story in a housewife awards contest at mommasaid.net and I won! It will be posted this Sunday, 9/3/06. It was a crazy three-day and well over 22 estimated hour drive. I will NEVER drive cross-country with a baby/child again. Having Naomi nursing made things even more complicated since we had to stop ALL the time it seemed and it took forever and she didn't like nursing in the car AT ALL. In fact she was taking at least one bottle a day on the drive out here just because she wouldn't take enough in nursing. And then there was Cheetah- our cat. That's a whole other story by itself.
So, we've been here in Murphysboro in our big 'ole trailer for almost three weeks now. It feel like home more and more each day. Although some days I miss the mountains so much it hurts. The humidity here is kinda awful, it's so sticky sometimes but even that I think I'm getting used to. We have visited the library and taken advantage of their video and book resources. We have tried out a few different grocery stores and decided that Kroger is the closest and a good price with a sweet 10cent off per gallon of gas discount when you spend $100/month on groceries. We have been to WalMart WAY too many time to call ourselves not white trash and we have frequented the mall as many as 4 or 5 times! All in all not bad for the new kids on the block. I have made a few friends and will do my best to keep them and get to be great friends.
When I say "WE" I mean me and Naomi. Zach is super busy at school. He's out of the house be about 5:30 a.m. and then is home for the night and if lucky done with reading ect for the night by about 7p.m. It's been so far so good with Law School. Zach seems to enjoy it and is really putting 200% into his work. I'm proud of him.
Well, time to sound off. Naomi is sleeping and Zach and I are going to go to be early tonight.
-Trisha the mommy of one (and she's super cute too!!!!)
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
travel with a baby
WOW
Traveling with a baby is HARD! I knew it would be but it was difficult:)
Ok, so I knew it would be HARD but I didn't realize how exhausted I would feel.
Zach and I traveled to Carbondale, IL to search for housing for the next few years. Zach will be going to Law School at Southern Illinois University. We sold our house here in Utah in just 6 weeks and we were looking to buy a home/condo in Illinois. Well, we got there, looked around, called a realtor and started looking at houses. The cheap ones we saw online were definatly yucky up close and we ended up falling for a more expensive house than we had planned on. It was new but very reasonibly priced and we made an offer. The house is less than a year old, ranch/rambler style and had 3 beds, 2 baths, fenced yard. Anyway, it was great. They were asking $116,000, yes I know, that's cheap, so we offered 113 and they countered at 114, we accepted and went home. THEN we stared looking in to financing, which wasn't bad but the closing costs (high for the price of the home) and the taxes (outrageous 2100/year) and what those factors did to our "low monthly payment." Welllllll. We backed out, lost our earnest money and we are renting a new mobile home on a 9 month lease. That way we can leave for summer internships and not pay mortgage and rent elsewhere. OK, so that's the story. Our home here is just over a year old, and I love it. We put it under contract for $220,000 and are scheduled to close July 10th.
That's the story of our travel- kinda or at least the results.
Traveling with a baby is HARD! I knew it would be but it was difficult:)
Ok, so I knew it would be HARD but I didn't realize how exhausted I would feel.
Zach and I traveled to Carbondale, IL to search for housing for the next few years. Zach will be going to Law School at Southern Illinois University. We sold our house here in Utah in just 6 weeks and we were looking to buy a home/condo in Illinois. Well, we got there, looked around, called a realtor and started looking at houses. The cheap ones we saw online were definatly yucky up close and we ended up falling for a more expensive house than we had planned on. It was new but very reasonibly priced and we made an offer. The house is less than a year old, ranch/rambler style and had 3 beds, 2 baths, fenced yard. Anyway, it was great. They were asking $116,000, yes I know, that's cheap, so we offered 113 and they countered at 114, we accepted and went home. THEN we stared looking in to financing, which wasn't bad but the closing costs (high for the price of the home) and the taxes (outrageous 2100/year) and what those factors did to our "low monthly payment." Welllllll. We backed out, lost our earnest money and we are renting a new mobile home on a 9 month lease. That way we can leave for summer internships and not pay mortgage and rent elsewhere. OK, so that's the story. Our home here is just over a year old, and I love it. We put it under contract for $220,000 and are scheduled to close July 10th.
That's the story of our travel- kinda or at least the results.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
It's over
Date: May 24, 2006
Time: 11:27 a.m.
Naomi is sleeping, she will be up any second.
Just a quick post to let the world know that her nursing strike is OVER and we survived!!!
We are flying to Carbondale IL to look for a place to live- today. I hope traveling with Naomi goes well!
Keep ya posted later
Time: 11:27 a.m.
Naomi is sleeping, she will be up any second.
Just a quick post to let the world know that her nursing strike is OVER and we survived!!!
We are flying to Carbondale IL to look for a place to live- today. I hope traveling with Naomi goes well!
Keep ya posted later
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Breast-fed BABY!
Naomi and Daddy
Date: 5/17/06
Time: 9:36 p.m.
Feeling: Relaxed
Hearing: my fingers typing...
Ok, so today went sooo well I can hardly believe it. Naomi nursed so very well. I was more confident and that really helped with my ability to 'let-down' quick enough for her. It wansn't perfect, and what day could be, but anyway- Naomi nursed the last time at 7:40 p.m. and right after she started on the second side she started pulling away and acting uninterested. It was like she suddenly remembered half-way through her feeding that she dosen't like to nurse after 5 p.m.! I encouraged her to feed a little more, but she was done. I let Zach change her diaper and get her ready for bed, she was still hungry- we could tell by the way she was acting so I decided to try once more, she refused, arched her back and wouldn't even latch on at all. I made her a 1/2 bottle of formula and tried to pump the rest out. I wasn't able to get much with pumping, I still need to purchase an electric pump.
I had Zach feed her, which he was glad to do, he dosen't get to participate much with feedings when she nurses. She took the whole bottle and then we put her down for bed. She's sleeping now but she struggled a little getting there tonight.
I hope tomorow goes as well, maybe we are getting through this nursing hitch...
Sleep baby, sleep
Date: may 17, 2006
Time: 10:53 a.m.
Feeling: Energized
Hearing: same-old construction across the street.- it's getting closer to being finished!
I put Naomi down for her morning nap at about 9:20 and she had been struggling to get past the 45 minute mark in her naps. Until lately. With everything in the nursing sense going wrong it's nice to have so many other things going well with her. For example with slepping, and naps. Naomi has been waking a little after 45 minutes into her nap and then going back to sleep on her own to finish off the full nap, anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours. It's been helpful for her schedule and also she has been sleeping pretty well at night. We put her to bed (usually) around 9 p.m. and she gets up only once to eat during the night. But besides that, Naomi will go to sleep in her crib. We put her down, swaddle her (yes I know, we can't do that forever, she's 3 months) and then we give her a binkie and she's sleeping after a few minutes. It's not alway perfect, she like to go to sleep with her binkie and sometimes we need to go back in a few times and give it to her but that's better than rocking her for every nap and going to bed, she's able to go to sleep on her own!
So right now Naomi has been asleep for about 1 1/2, good for her :)
Time: 10:53 a.m.
Feeling: Energized
Hearing: same-old construction across the street.- it's getting closer to being finished!
I put Naomi down for her morning nap at about 9:20 and she had been struggling to get past the 45 minute mark in her naps. Until lately. With everything in the nursing sense going wrong it's nice to have so many other things going well with her. For example with slepping, and naps. Naomi has been waking a little after 45 minutes into her nap and then going back to sleep on her own to finish off the full nap, anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours. It's been helpful for her schedule and also she has been sleeping pretty well at night. We put her to bed (usually) around 9 p.m. and she gets up only once to eat during the night. But besides that, Naomi will go to sleep in her crib. We put her down, swaddle her (yes I know, we can't do that forever, she's 3 months) and then we give her a binkie and she's sleeping after a few minutes. It's not alway perfect, she like to go to sleep with her binkie and sometimes we need to go back in a few times and give it to her but that's better than rocking her for every nap and going to bed, she's able to go to sleep on her own!
So right now Naomi has been asleep for about 1 1/2, good for her :)
Bottle Baby
Date: May 17, 2006
Time:9:48 a.m.
Feeling: Good
Hearing: construction next door- eternally!
Ok, so last night was so crazy I don't even know where to begin. First of all Naomi woke up from her afternoon nap cranky, I thought maybe she didn't quite get enough sleep, but she was uninterested in going back to sleep. Then we tried to nurse, she would latch on for about one suck and then arch her back, pull away, push away and cry- a mad, angry cry. This sure is fun... From that description is sounds like maybe I ate something that she dosen't like and it's making my milk taste funny. Well I don't think so, she took from a bottle what I pumped for the next feeding. Anyway, So right in the middle of this my mom drops in to visit, Zach was home and he chatted with my mom for a few minutes and she held Naomi while I make a bottle of half formula and half pumped breast milk. I would do all breast milk but I can't seem to pump that much.
So then told my mom I was going to nurse Naomi, or at least try, so I went into Naomi's room. My mom talked for a few minutes more to Zach about our house selling and when we are moving etc.
Meanwhile I tried to nurse again with the same results. So I gave Naomi the bottle- with the slow flow nipple on it, I don't want the bottle to be sooo easy and attractive for her. Well once she had eaten she was super happy, and so sweet. It makes me wonder why I'm trying so hard when we could both be just as happy bottle feeding. I don't know...
Well she was happy and loving life, took a short night nap, like she always does before her last feeding before bed and she woke up hungry but again- wouldn't nurse! This time I just took a deep breath and gave her a bottle like she wanted. I only did 4 oz, allthough I know she can take up to 6 sometimes.
Well here's where things got crazy and I probably made some lame decisions. Ok, so it's about 8:20p.m. and I decide I am going to buy a breast pump. I want an elecrtic one, I rented one from the hospital before and it worked great so I know that the problem is probably me with the stupid hand pump. Ok, so Naomi and I head off to WalMart, about 15 minutes away. She decides she HATES the car tonight and cries the whole way there, won't take her binkie either- which she usually loves. Ok so now we are at WalMart and guess what, all of the sudden they don't carry electric breast pumps anymore, like as of today. AHHHH. I was frustrated and Naomi could tell, she was unhappy too. Mostly it was because she was now tired and ready for bed. I had dropped Zach off at an appointment that he should be dont with by 9:15. I decided to quick check ShopKo a block or so down, no luck there either.
Ok, so now we headed back home with NO breast pump and both of us very tired and upset. Naomi had spit up an insane amount of milk on our way to WalMart, she does spit a lot but she was soaked by the time we got there.
Once at home Naomi had fallen asleep in the car, I transfered her to her crib but she woke up and wouldn't hear of going back to sleep. In fact she was acting hungry. I decided to try it again. I sat down with her in the rocking chair to nurse and WOW she nursed! My let-down was taking forever so I switched sides so she could get more foremilk before she got too impatient and then it came and she nursed a full feeding, both sides and then went to bed. - A little late to bed but it ended ok just the same.
The middle of the night feeding, at 4:30 this morning went great and so did the 8:00 a.m. feeding. So just 3 or so more feedings to go today and hopefully she will nurse!
Naomi just seems to like the bottle especially for the late afternoon feeding and sometimes for the last feeding. I'm going to order a breast pump online today, wish me luck!
Here's a link that has some interesting and helpful breastfeeding/pumping info. http://niyafsbfgroup.blogspot.com/
Time:9:48 a.m.
Feeling: Good
Hearing: construction next door- eternally!
Ok, so last night was so crazy I don't even know where to begin. First of all Naomi woke up from her afternoon nap cranky, I thought maybe she didn't quite get enough sleep, but she was uninterested in going back to sleep. Then we tried to nurse, she would latch on for about one suck and then arch her back, pull away, push away and cry- a mad, angry cry. This sure is fun... From that description is sounds like maybe I ate something that she dosen't like and it's making my milk taste funny. Well I don't think so, she took from a bottle what I pumped for the next feeding. Anyway, So right in the middle of this my mom drops in to visit, Zach was home and he chatted with my mom for a few minutes and she held Naomi while I make a bottle of half formula and half pumped breast milk. I would do all breast milk but I can't seem to pump that much.
So then told my mom I was going to nurse Naomi, or at least try, so I went into Naomi's room. My mom talked for a few minutes more to Zach about our house selling and when we are moving etc.
Meanwhile I tried to nurse again with the same results. So I gave Naomi the bottle- with the slow flow nipple on it, I don't want the bottle to be sooo easy and attractive for her. Well once she had eaten she was super happy, and so sweet. It makes me wonder why I'm trying so hard when we could both be just as happy bottle feeding. I don't know...
Well she was happy and loving life, took a short night nap, like she always does before her last feeding before bed and she woke up hungry but again- wouldn't nurse! This time I just took a deep breath and gave her a bottle like she wanted. I only did 4 oz, allthough I know she can take up to 6 sometimes.
Well here's where things got crazy and I probably made some lame decisions. Ok, so it's about 8:20p.m. and I decide I am going to buy a breast pump. I want an elecrtic one, I rented one from the hospital before and it worked great so I know that the problem is probably me with the stupid hand pump. Ok, so Naomi and I head off to WalMart, about 15 minutes away. She decides she HATES the car tonight and cries the whole way there, won't take her binkie either- which she usually loves. Ok so now we are at WalMart and guess what, all of the sudden they don't carry electric breast pumps anymore, like as of today. AHHHH. I was frustrated and Naomi could tell, she was unhappy too. Mostly it was because she was now tired and ready for bed. I had dropped Zach off at an appointment that he should be dont with by 9:15. I decided to quick check ShopKo a block or so down, no luck there either.
Ok, so now we headed back home with NO breast pump and both of us very tired and upset. Naomi had spit up an insane amount of milk on our way to WalMart, she does spit a lot but she was soaked by the time we got there.
Once at home Naomi had fallen asleep in the car, I transfered her to her crib but she woke up and wouldn't hear of going back to sleep. In fact she was acting hungry. I decided to try it again. I sat down with her in the rocking chair to nurse and WOW she nursed! My let-down was taking forever so I switched sides so she could get more foremilk before she got too impatient and then it came and she nursed a full feeding, both sides and then went to bed. - A little late to bed but it ended ok just the same.
The middle of the night feeding, at 4:30 this morning went great and so did the 8:00 a.m. feeding. So just 3 or so more feedings to go today and hopefully she will nurse!
Naomi just seems to like the bottle especially for the late afternoon feeding and sometimes for the last feeding. I'm going to order a breast pump online today, wish me luck!
Here's a link that has some interesting and helpful breastfeeding/pumping info. http://niyafsbfgroup.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
nursing....what's the problem?
Date: may 16, 2006
Time: 12:36 p.m.
Feeling: rushed
Hearing: construction next door and my baby's sleep sounds
Wow, here's my first blog. My baby girl Naomi Natalie is three months old now, she is really a very pretty baby. All wonderful things considered-- lately I've been struggling a little with breastfeeding. Thats why I decided to start a blog.
Naomi has been feeding like a champ since day one, latching on wonderfully and eating great but the past week and 1/2 has been hellish at times. She started to refuse to nurse about once a day and I would get so worried that she was starving that I would cave and give her a bottle of either formula or breast milk that I managed to pump (I'm not the world's best pumper). Anyway this continued and I had been racking my brain to figure out what was going wrong. Did I eat anything new or weird that was irritating her? No, Did I smell different? No, no new deoderant or shampoo or soap or lotion. What I have finally decided the issue has been and still kind of is, is that she is dropping a feeding session, she has gone from 6 to 5 a day and also she had been a "nursing strike". That term, as unhelpful as naming the problem is did seem to make me feel better, basically because other moms have encountered the same breastfeeding problems I am now dealing with.
So because of all my worring I would pray that she would nurse so she would be happy and able to sleep and not start this vicious cycle of being hungry and tired and refusing to eat of sleep. Well, that's not entirely true, she will ALWAYS take a bottle but I have been tring to get her to nurse exclusivly, I think she prefers the bottle because it's easier- who doesn't like things to be easy. Anyway so with all this stress and worring I started to have trouble with my milk let-down which made the problem worse, she would latch on and then get impatient when working for a time and the let down wouldn't come. I just need to remember to relax, have confidence and my let-down will come naturally quickly.
So, each feeding I try to be calm and confident. I really want to nurse her for at least a year and would rather have the trouble to deal with later when I actually WANT to wean her.
So, there's my blog for the day- I'll keep updating with my nursing status. I love my baby and you know, as important as nursing is to me, it dosen't mean I will be a bad mom if Naomi wants to be bottle fed instead- so with that out on the table here's to nursing, wish me luck, I'll probably need it, if not I'll appreciate it:)
Time: 12:36 p.m.
Feeling: rushed
Hearing: construction next door and my baby's sleep sounds
Wow, here's my first blog. My baby girl Naomi Natalie is three months old now, she is really a very pretty baby. All wonderful things considered-- lately I've been struggling a little with breastfeeding. Thats why I decided to start a blog.
Naomi has been feeding like a champ since day one, latching on wonderfully and eating great but the past week and 1/2 has been hellish at times. She started to refuse to nurse about once a day and I would get so worried that she was starving that I would cave and give her a bottle of either formula or breast milk that I managed to pump (I'm not the world's best pumper). Anyway this continued and I had been racking my brain to figure out what was going wrong. Did I eat anything new or weird that was irritating her? No, Did I smell different? No, no new deoderant or shampoo or soap or lotion. What I have finally decided the issue has been and still kind of is, is that she is dropping a feeding session, she has gone from 6 to 5 a day and also she had been a "nursing strike". That term, as unhelpful as naming the problem is did seem to make me feel better, basically because other moms have encountered the same breastfeeding problems I am now dealing with.
So because of all my worring I would pray that she would nurse so she would be happy and able to sleep and not start this vicious cycle of being hungry and tired and refusing to eat of sleep. Well, that's not entirely true, she will ALWAYS take a bottle but I have been tring to get her to nurse exclusivly, I think she prefers the bottle because it's easier- who doesn't like things to be easy. Anyway so with all this stress and worring I started to have trouble with my milk let-down which made the problem worse, she would latch on and then get impatient when working for a time and the let down wouldn't come. I just need to remember to relax, have confidence and my let-down will come naturally quickly.
So, each feeding I try to be calm and confident. I really want to nurse her for at least a year and would rather have the trouble to deal with later when I actually WANT to wean her.
So, there's my blog for the day- I'll keep updating with my nursing status. I love my baby and you know, as important as nursing is to me, it dosen't mean I will be a bad mom if Naomi wants to be bottle fed instead- so with that out on the table here's to nursing, wish me luck, I'll probably need it, if not I'll appreciate it:)
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