Galactagogue

It's a funny word, Galactagogue. Probably a word most people have never heard of. Only dairy farmers and breastfeeding mothers most likely know what it is.

galactagogue

noun

agent that induces milk secretion

Producing food for another person with your own body is no small task. And I've never given it much thought. But being in this situation I've made some interesting observations:

1. I'm very tired by the end of the day. This could be partially due to waking up in the night to feed Trent, but Brian spends about the same amount of time awake as me and doesn't seem to be plagued with passing out on the couch.
   
2. Taking Fenugreek (my galactagogue of choice) makes me and Trent smell like a Indian food and maple syrup. There are worse things to smell like.
   
3. There is a definite increase in production after 24 hours of taking Fenugreek, 2 caplets 3 times a day.
   
4. Supply wanes so easily if you are not religious about pumping on schedule when you're away from your baby. Even with the Fenugreek.
   

We're almost to the 4 month point. Our pediatrician would like to start Trent on solid food at 4 months because of his acid reflux. I have mixed feelings about this because I've read several articles that state that food allergies are associated with early introduction of solid foods, and very good evidence and explanation to support it. On the other hand, I want to do what's best for Trent's comfort, and of course, it would be nice to not have him throwing up every day. Of course, breast feeding wouldn't stop completely. The solid food would just be a supplement to that, but it would ease my burden of producing so much. So as appealing as it is to start him early, I need to make sure that it's the right thing for him and not the most convenient thing for me. Is it really that big a deal for me to go 2 more months chained to my pump??

I guess I'll talk to our pediatrician about these concerns before making a decision.

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Baby steps...

yesterday I took the day off to hang out with the two loves of my life :-) Trent and I spent time on his activity gym gazing up at all the dangling toys and feeling all the different textures. Trent discovered cause and effect yesterday with a little help from mummy. I took his feet and kicked a toy to make the bell inside tinkle. We did this for about 5 minutes then moved on to something else. Later, when Trent was playing by himself, he very deliberately kicked the tinkle toy and giggled when it made a sound!

4 months ago if someone had told me I'd be excited about something seemingly so small I'd have been like "whatever". But it just made my whole day to see him developing right before my eyes.

Since we were both taking the day off, we had lunch at a new place over by the mall called Spicy Pickle. It was delicious. Then we bought Trent some new socks because he's already outgrown the ones I just bought him only 2 weeks ago. Speaking of outgrowing things, I've had to retire quite a few of his cute little outfits that my mum sent. He's already too big for them. It's a little bit heart breaking that he's growing up so quickly. This sentiment has caught me completely by surprise. It's funny how Trent is teaching me so much about myself and he doesn't even know it.
We finally have some cool weather here so Later on, Brian and I put Trent in some fleece PJs to keep him warm and went for a run in our neighbourhood. Then the three of us spent some time cuddling on the couch, Trent napping, while we caught up on all the stuff we recorded on our DVR.

I think Brian and I have enough vacation time to take every Monday off for the rest of the year. I think we might just do that. We had such a nice day :-)

That hubby of mine

I can't believe I forgot to mention Brian's little "accident" last weekend. He went to soccer. I can't remember what day it was, but Barbie and I were hanging out with Trent when Bri returned from his game, and he opened the door and said "ok... when you see me don't say"OH MY GOD!". Then he came in. I looked at him and couldn't really see a reason why I would say that, until he turned his head to the left and I saw a HUGE egg on the right side of his forehead! to which I said "OH MY GOD!" (exactly what he told me not to say). He had gone in for a header during the game and his head connected with another player's head who was also going for the ball. I wonder what the other guy looked like. After he iced it the swelling went down and after a week it's turned into a nice yellow/green bruise. Thankfully he didn't have a concussion.

Yesterday (Sunday) Brian went to an autocross, something he hopes to do more often because he just loves it. As I understand it, it's a bunch of car enthusiasts that get together and set up a track with cones in a large parking lot, then do timed laps. There are several divisions such as stock, street, etc. Brian came in third in his division and has won his first car racing trophy! He's extremely happy with the results and thinks that he can do better. You can see the results here: https://axwaresystems.com/axorm/files/SPOKES/2007e11driveway_fin.htm

Thanks to a specialized camera mount, he set up a video camera in his car to record his laps so that he can see where he can make improvements. His next racing experience will be in mid-November when he and Nick will go to the Texas Motor Speedway. I'm looking forward to taking Trent to see his daddy race when he gets a little older.

Wellness check

Our company does a great job of providing us with the tools to live a healthy life. We have great insurance, even free insurance if you're willing to pay a little more out of pocket for your actual visits. They give us incentives to exercise by giving us money if we complete 6 weeks of physical activity, they give us money to quit smoking, or if you simply certify that you do not smoke. And every year, possibly twice a year, they bring in a bunch of medical people to the site cafeterias to take our blood pressure, measure our body fat, check our bone density, cholesterol, and blood sugar, coach us on what the results mean, and even give us a stress relieving chair massage. Who wouldn't want to work for this company?
Some days I'm really down on my job. I love my immediate team, and my development team is awesome, but I just hate all the extra bullshit that we have to do. Frequently these days I think about looking for a new job, possibly with another company, but when I weigh all the things this company does for us, in addition to very competitive pay, I realize just how good I really have it. I guess I can put up with a little bullshit if it means I get to live the way I want to when I'm not working. And besides, there's bullshit in every job... I know... it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself. Maybe I am. Whatever.
Anyway, at my wellness check, I discovered that my usually low blood pressure was rather high. High enough to be of concern. My good cholesterol was great, but the total cholesterol was way too high. High enough to be a risk factor. High enough that the wellness counselor told me to add more fiber to my diet. I checked my results from 3 years ago and discovered that my cholesterol has crept up by over 70 points! WTF?? So what's changed between then and now? I developed a sweet tooth during pregnancy... I'm sure the crap I eat is partially to blame. I also don't eat as much fish and vegetables as I'd like, so I'm sure that as some part in this. The good things I found out was that I have less body fat now than I did 3 years ago, though I weighed 2 lbs less back then. So obviously I've added some lean mass and given up some fat. The way my clothes fit confirms this, also. So it's not all bad. The blood pressure, well, I think the results are a little skewed because I had just mauled that huge breast pump bag from the south parking garage to my office along with my laptop bag and purse. I feel like a pack mule when I go into the office these days and it stresses me out. In addition to that, I'm having a hard time keeping up with the demands of breast feeding. That's stressing me out.
So what does all this mean? well, I need to take measures to correct the negatives, and use the positives as encouragement to not give up. So I'm going to add more vegetables to my diet, increase my fiber intake, and drink more water. That should help with the cholesterol. I'm not sure what to do about the stress. Deep breathing doesn't seem to do it. I exercise a lot so I can't add anything there. Massage? what I think I really need is the wisdom to know when to say "I've done my best" and just let go of something. I also need to learn to not handle my stress internally. I need to let it out. Explode. Get mad. I don't do that. I just deal.
So I guess even the negatives have a positive side... it's opened my eyes to a few minor adjustments I need to make.

Weekend Update and Baby Schedule

We had a great weekend hanging out with friends. We hosted a somewhat impromptu barbecue on Saturday evening. I made chicken and beef kebabs with Jamaican Jerk seasoning, and invented a new fried rice with only the ingredients Brian likes, which included pineapple, fresh ginger, and bamboo shoots. The recipe is, of course, a secret ;-). Everyone brought something to contribute, and Tiff made a yummy carrot cake for dessert to round it all out.

Incidentally, Saturday (Oct. 13th) also marked another important date... The date that Trent came into being as an embryo. Of course, we didn't know it yet this time last year. I still remember our "Oh shit!" moment when I took the test in early November. Of course, by this time we kind of suspected because I'd been nauseous for the tail-end of our honeymoon, so this was just confirmation.

We've been working on getting Trent settled into a new routine. It's been a little tough here and there, but we think it's starting to pay off. I got the info from the book "On Becoming Baby Wise". We have him on a relative feeding schedule now, which means we don't do the on-demand feeding, but rather we have him eat when we say so. Sometimes he gets hungry a little early and of course I feed him, and other times he doesn't want to eat, which is why it's a relative schedule, rather than a rigid one. On this new schedule, his bath time is between 8 and 8:30, and he eats and goes to bed right after his bath. Which gives Brian and I our entire evening back! We love it!
Last night he slept through the night... somewhat. We woke him up for his final feeding at midnight, and he did wake up and cry a few times in the night, seemed like every two hours or so, but we didn't feed him... Brian went in and comforted him so that he'd go back to sleep, and he made it to almost 7am without feeding! that's almost 7 hours of sleep for me. Granted it was interrupted sleep, but I tend to wake up a lot anyway, so it sort of counts as a full night's sleep for me.
Poor Brian was pretty beat this morning, though. He was the one hiking to the nursery every few hours. After Trent's 7am feeding, I snuggled with him for another hour and then took him downstairs so Brian could get some more sleep. I just couldn't resist cuddling with him this morning. He's just so happy in the mornings and looks so damn cute in his PJs that I just can't stand it!

Today was picture day at daycare. Can't wait to see them.

Horsing around

Yesterday I went out to Manor with Dana and her daughter, Meg, to take some pictures of Meg with her horse, Luca. Having been kicked by a horse once, I was a little bit intimidated when Dana's other horse, Van Helsing, came right up to me and gave me a friendly nudge. But you can't show fear. They can sense it! So I just looked him square in the eye, put my hand out, and pet him on the nose. Not so bad. He's a young horse, not ready for riding yet, but he's sooooo pretty. Here's a picture of him:
http://picasaweb.google.com/keylimeypie/Horses/photo#5120455069632342082


Meg rode Luca all around one of the practice fields and jumped him over all of the jumps. I was so impressed, especially when they put me on Luca for a ride and I realized how big he is, and how unstable you feel up there at first.

Here's a pic of me on Luca:
http://picasaweb.google.com/keylimeypie/Horses/photo#5120455095402145874

Dana and Meg are totally fearless around the horses. I suppose that comes with being around them all the time. I just made sure not to get to near to their back legs. It made for some great photo opportunities with my Nikon. You can see more pics here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/keylimeypie/Horses

Grusome!

Two old ladies were sitting in a bar having a few drinks when a Scottsman walked in wearing a kilt. Having had several totties the ladies were feeling rather bold. One said to the other "I dare you to ask him what's under his kilt". Never one to back down from a dare, the old lady marched up to the Scottsman and said "my friend dared me to come and ask you what's under your kilt". The Scottsman replied "och, lassie, I'd show ye, but are ye sure ye can handle it?". To which she replied "Young man, I'm old, I've seen some things in my time. Nothing surprises me anymore". So the Scottsman said, "I'll tell ye what... you bring your friend over here and I'll show ye!".

The two ladies gathered around the Scottsman and he lifted up his kilt to show them what was underneath.

"oooooh! look at that!" said one of them.... "It's grusome!"

To which the Scottsmand replied..............


"Look again, lassie.... It's gru-some more!"


LMAO!!!

Ass and Abs

So as most people know, breastfeeding = faster pregnancy weight loss. It's probably the one redeeming quality about it. Sure there's the "bonding" with the baby, but let me assure everyone, I would have bonded just fine without having to whip out my tits every couple of hours. Anyway, back on track... after the initial 30 pounds or so in 2 weeks I've been slowly losing weight. Nothing aggressive, not even noticeable, right. Maybe 1/2 lb a week if that. However, a couple of days ago I realized that my arse is turning into a back-crack. Oh I can hear you all now - "Poor Mandie, her ass is shrinking, booo-frikin'-hooo". But it IS a problem. All my favourite jeans and trousers don't look good. Where I used to look like "one of those rap guy's girlfriends", I now look like one of those rap guys. you know the ones, with the trouser crotch that hangs to their knees and the undies popping out the top? it's unflattering to say the least.
Some people might think that the solution is to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. And wouldn't that be nice? but I'm a new mother. Firstly, I don't have the time to shop for a new wardrobe, and secondly, I have over 30 pairs of jeans and trousers that are super cute!

So yesterday I started working on the solution. An ass and abs workout at the gym. When you work out muscles, they get firmer/bigger, right? so that logic dictates that all I need to do is work out my ass and it'll fill up the back of my trousers. I did lunges with weights, squats with weights, and some leg extensions (I think that's what they are) when you push a weight straight backward behind you and extend your leg. I threw in my usual set of ab work to the mix, too. Then I did 20 minutes on the stair stepper at level 10 and sweat like crazy. I left the gym hot, sweaty, but feeling really good.

Today I am NOT SO GOOD. Today I am walking like I have the world's largest hemorrhoid, and don't even get me started on going DOWN the stairs. OUCH! Why can't your body tell you DURING your workout that you're doing too much and should perhaps take it a little easier?

Anyway, needless to say I might have to rethink the ass and abs workout and try a gentler approach, or maybe after the pain goes away, and I do it again it won't hurt so much?

In other exercising news, Andi and I are going to start training for a half marathon. We're not sure which one we'll do yet, but we need a goal to motivate us back into our regular running routine, so this is it. 13.1 miles and not a step more. Imagine my shock when Barbie committed to joining us on our first training run on Sunday morning! not that's she's committing to a half marathon, mind you... let's just see where this goes ;-)

Breakfast in bed

Just a quick brag on my hubby. Yesterday he took Trent downstairs so I could get some more sleep, which isn't unusual, we do this for each other in the mornings depending on who is more tired looking ;-). This weekend, though, Brian not only baked us cornbread muffins for breakfast on Saturday, he also served them to me, along with a nice cup of English tea, in bed on Sunday :-)

Brian's on track to receive a #1 dad, and world's best hubby mug in the near future. hehe.