Bonjour February!

I’m proud to announce our very first sponsors. Take a look and discover some great local talent, a fun playgroup or a tasty blog and be sure to let them know the Reno-Sparks Mom sent you. 

Read an account of a local single Mom’s adventures with her beautiful daughter at The Adventures of Ash & Rowe. Be sure to check out Roweyn’s closet, where you can get great deals from her daughter’s closet.

Looking for a photographer in the Reno-Sparks area? Look no further. Stop by their blog and you will surely be smitten and booking your session before you can say Lemaire Photo.

As the mother of a daughter who happens to need bows to ensure everyone knows she’s a girl I know the importance of a cute one. Pretty Bow Peep has you covered. She also has beautiful embroidered matching outfits.

 Stop by and read all about Ashley, her cute daughter and her gluten-free creations at Sugar Mama Bakeshop.

This group of moms are all different ages, from all different backgrounds, and come together to have a wonderful time. You can read more about them in our “Meet Other Moms” section or visit their website to join.

::We’re currently accepting sponsors for the month of March. It’s simple! Just  fill out a simple form here to get started::

• I came across Play Create Explore via a Facebook fan and am so glad I did. Be prepared to have your mind blown with a ton of great ideas. Start with this listing of links for activities for children ages 1-3.

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• This is a straightforward list of 101 Indoor Activities for Kids from Six Sisters’ Stuff.

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•  And then there’s Pinterest. I stumbled across this amazing Kid Blogger Network Activities & Crafts. Follow this board and you’ll never be at a loss of ideas again!

• And a favorite standby that you can always count on, One Pretty Thing . This blog has been a constant staple in my daily internet browsing. I strongly suggest bookmarking it.

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What about you? Where do you go to find ideas of things to do with the kids?

Sunday marked the end of our breastfeeding journey. You know what the weird thing is? I had a brief moment of sadness.

Sure I’ve hated every last minute of pumping: The stress that accompanies milk supply issues, taking three fenugreek pills three times a day, having to excuse myself from fun social situations to sit alone in a room with a pump.  But at the end of the day, my baby girl needed that milk and depended on me to make it for her. And I couldn’t help but feel important.

As silly as it seems, when Gwyneth finally gave into the whole milk (by the way we wound up mixing it with the breast milk and within days she was weaned) I couldn’t help but feel mixed emotions. Joyful that the pumping is over but a little sad that as disconnected as it may be, we’re not going to have that connection of breast milk.

With that being said it was a fleeting moment of sadness that has already dissipated as I pack away the pump supplies and return the rental pump. It’s really hard not to pull an Office Space beating of the old pump, but I digress. We made it to one year and 16 days and I can bookmark it as an experience I’ll never forget. Neither will anyone who actually got the experience of witnessing me pumping or everyone who’s heard me whine and talk about “pumping.” I’m glad that won’t be a part of my everyday vocabulary any longer and I’m sure our family and friends are too.

1.) We baked some brownies

2.) Someone really likes books and likes to deliver them to her Daddy to read

3.) We went to a lot of playdates that were spread across the city which meant lots of driving which meant lots of snacking while driving.

4.) I wore sweats a lot and feel great about that fact.

What’d you do this week?

After reading our breast-feeding story I’m sure some of you are wondering, “why didn’t they just use formula?” 

I can plain and simply tell you one simple reason: cost.

We had planned on breast-feeding since it was for all intents and purposes, free. All the other benefits were mere bonuses. It was even more of a great plan seeing as I got laid off when the baby was five months old.

I had no real passion or experience in regards to breast-feeding.  The closest I had come to it was a girlfriend who had a baby three months before me. I didn’t even take the breast-feeding preparation class. Maybe that’s where we went wrong? If only I had taken the class!

This got me to thinking about the ultimate cost of pumping. The equipment itself didn’t come cheap ($250) and it seemed as if we were constantly having to purchase something for it throughout the year. Not to mention that towards the end we wound up renting a hospital grade pump since I used mine beyond its limitations.

I wrote it all down to compare to the price formula would’ve cost.

Cost           Supplies
$239         Medela Pump And Style Breast Pump
$108        Lactina Select Hospital Grade Pump Rental – 2 months
$10           Replacement tubing
$20           Replacement membranes x 3
$10           Replacement valves
$30          Pump Bra
$100        Nursing Tank Tops x 5
$517  Total cost of excusively pumping

From the research I did (a la Google) it looks like formula on average costs $1500-$2000 for the first year.

So there you have it ladies and gentleman, it was cheaper. I can now sleep a little better because that was a legitimate concern of mine. Imagine! A year of my life spent slaving over breast milk under the notion that formula would be more expensive to have it not be? I am proud to say this is not the case.

Sweet dreams!

Last January I sat crying in a rocking chair in our bedroom. I sat there with my breasts hanging out and leaking, as my newborn 6 lb. daughter screamed. My husband sat across from us, helpless on the bed after making sure we were as comfortable as possible, scrambling to help in anyway he could. As I put the hungry baby to my breast she nuzzled, hungry, in search of the food she needed so dearly. She would suck as I positioned my boob this way or that, held her like a football, behind me, in front of me as her frustrations grew as she was unable to get the milk she needed. A wave of hopelessness washed over both of us. How could my child not breastfeed? What is wrong with her? What is wrong with me?

This went on since the day she was born. When Gwyneth and I were reunited in the recovery room, 45 minutes after she was delivered via c-section I placed her to my breast. She wasn’t interested in it the least bit. No nuzzling, no suckling, just a content little baby absorbing the new world around her. I was concerned, but the lovely recovery nurse calmed my fears by saying that most babies aren’t all that interested in feeding at first. For that first day of her life Gwyneth was content and happy, until she began to get hungry.

As I placed her to my breast throughout the day it became evident she was frustrated. We immediately asked for the assistance of a Lactation Consultant only to be told we were too late, they had gone home. We tried and tried to put this fragile life to the breast, only to have her latch, fall off and begin screaming. We paged the nurse on duty to come in but she was clearly busy and didn’t have the time to hang around to make sure the baby stayed latched. Throughout the entire night we had several nurses get her to latch, only to have her fall off immediately after they had already fled the room. It was a long night of an exhausted and clueless Mama, Daddy and baby with no help whatsoever.

Finally, after persistent pestering first thing in the morning the Lactation Consultant could see us. She came in, grabbed my boob and shoved the baby onto it. The baby would latch, suckle, become frustrated that there wasn’t any milk, unlatch and scream. The lactation consultant went through her entire bag of tricks. Nothing worked.

I was instructed to pump my colostrum and feed the baby via a syringe placed next to my nipple. God forbid we give the child a bottle (gasp!) to avoid the baby getting nipple aversion (which is basically what we were dealing with although she never had a bottle).

So imagine this, a frustrated, terrified mother, holding a screaming/hungry newborn, while her husband shoots milk into the baby’s mouth with a syringe at just the right moment to get her to try and latch. It. Was. Terrible.

This quickly became our only way to get the baby to latch. I finally moved onto a Nipple Shield which is exactly what it sounds like: a latex nipple that goes over your nipple, giving the baby more nipple to latch onto. This was the only way the baby received any nutrition in the first weeks of her life.

But have you ever used a nipple shield? While it was helpful and necessary, it was a major pain in the ass. It had to be put on just right, cleaned and warmed with water before each use. After I painstakingly applied it just the right way and would place the (screaming, wailing) baby on it, it’d freaking fall off. I may or may not have cursed and threw that damn thing across the room on more than one occasion.

Meanwhile I went to the breastfeeding support group the hospital offered. I went two days after we came home from the hospital because we knew it had to be something that could help our situation. Barely able to walk, I hobbled in with my screeching newborn and sheepishly whipped out my boob with all the other moms. The same lactation consultant who had helped me in the hospital was in the support group. She was sweet and encouraging but sadly didn’t take notice of the severity of our situation.

Gwyneth’s weight dropped drastically. She was below the normal range newborns were supposed to lose and gained very little. Our pediatrician gave us the instruction to give her at least two bottles a day to ensure she was getting the milk she needed. This was the only reason Gwyneth maintained her weight. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I went to the same group when Gwyneth screamed in hungry frustration that two other lactation consultants recognized what was going on. They gave me the card to a lactation service (Starfish Lactation) and instructed me to go home at once to give that child a bottle and get a private consultation.

I did just that and met with the lactation consultant, Robin, the next day. Robin was the breath of fresh air I needed. She watched Gwyneth latch and gave us the prognosis of a dwindling supply due to the baby not nursing. I was told to go home and pump my brains out, which I did until there was milk coming out of my ears. I pumped 8-10 times a day, every 2 hours.

My supply was up, Gwyneth was back on track with weight and we were still making unsuccessful attempts at putting her to the breast. Everyone kept saying, “It’ll happen, just wait.” “One day it’ll just click.” We tried everything, the re-birthing in the bathtub, lots of skin-to-skin contact, you name it, we tried it. And every time it brought back an entire flood of emotions. Failure, defeat, worthlessness, and disconnect.

As I sat in the middle of a support group several months later with women nursing their babies I explained how we tried to breast-feed again and failed. I cried. I cried in front of 10 strangers and cried even more when I saw their complete lack of understanding from our situation.

I stopped going to breastfeeding support groups because of how difficult it was to connect with the women who were breastfeeding. There was an unspoken pressure to not give up and continue to put the baby to the breast. Meanwhile pumping and giving her bottles worked great. It was the solution to all of our problems. Putting Gwyneth to my breast only brought back all the emotions of failure, so I finally gave up trying and embraced an exclusive pumping lifestyle, which lasted 10 and a half months.

I am proud to say that Gwyneth received her recommended one-year of breastmilk. As awful as it may have been, pumping made it possible for Gwyneth to get that year’s worth. It may have been unconventional and not the way we had planned, but the end result is the same, Gwyneth will most definitely be a genius (it’s true, I’ve read what the statistics say).

It was equally as difficult on my family. My husband helped in anyway he could, watching his wife and baby go through a struggle he could do nothing about. Not to mention how he had to listen to my incessant whining about pumping for an entire year (and never snapped once). The dude deserves a medal for this alone. Had it not been for his support and dedication to the cause I would’ve thrown in the towel during the first week.

There was a time when I was completely heartbroken that my baby wouldn’t nurse. I cried many tears of frustration and self-doubt over what I thought would be second nature. But in the end it all worked out and I couldn’t be more proud of myself. Also you can bet your bottom dollar we will have a paid lactation consultant waiting upon our next child’s arrival.

::Check out our breast-feeding page with tons of great local resources::

::Have a breast-feeding story you want to tell? Share it here and be featured in our upcoming series::

::I’m linking up to these parties::

Photo by I Spy Photography

When this week’s photo challenge over at I Heart Faces was “By the Book” that requires a photo which includes ”some kind of a book as a prop,” I knew exactly which one to submit. This photo didn’t make the Christmas Card cut so it didn’t get it’s appropriate amount of sharing it deserves.

If you’d like to see hundreds of beautiful photos or learn a thing or two about enhancing your photography skills I urge you to click on the button below and visit the i heart faces website.

What has your child reduced you to to get that one photo?

Over the weekend we decided to buckle down and wean the baby off breastmilk. We had discussed what the process should look like with our pediatrician earlier that week. “Most kids do fine cold turkey,” he said. Jake and I looked at each other and thought, “those probably aren’t the kids in the 5^th percentile for weight who refuse to breastfeed.”

And boy were we right.

To no surprise Gwyneth refuses whole milk. We learned this when she was given tastes throughout the week leading up to the “milkocaplyse.” She takes a sip, gives it time enough to linger in her mouth only to realize that she has been tricked. A look of disgust and overdramatic gagging and the apparatus with which the imposter was delivered is tossed aside.

So we decided she’d have to get used to it whether she likes it or not. We rolled up our sleeves and gave it everything we’ve got. We used every single different sippy cup, straw cup, bottle and cup in our ammo. We tried adding banana and vanilla extract to it, we even gave her some 1%. By the end of the day we gave in and provided her with the nectar of the gods, a sippy cup filled with warmed breastmilk.

To which she refused.

She wasn’t about to be fooled again into drinking some cow’s milk bullcrap.

And so, we all went to bed defeated. Word on the street is that the process can take weeks. Have you ever tried googling “how to wean your baby off breastmilk?” Don’t, it’s not helpful and it just makes you feel like a bad parent for not wanting to breastfeed your child for entirely too long. All I know is that the poor thing won’t have a choice in a few day’s or week’s time.

But we will soldier on and bookmark this in our parenting adventure/torment documentary we’re so grateful to be a part of. And I’m sure one glorious day Gwyneth will get the hint that her mother won’t be making her milk any longer. I just hope it’s sooner than later.