Ding Ding Ding... Round 2

Well for those of you who follow my facebook page you have already heard the good news!

Sean and I are expanding our family yet again! We waited until 13 weeks to tell most people about Ella when we were pregnant with her, but this time we broke the news a little earlier. I will be 11 weeks tomorrow. This time around has been much different than my pregnancy with Ella. I have had really bad morning sickness and food aversions. I get so hungry that it makes me want to throw up , but the thought of putting food in my mouth makes it even worse. Luckily some of that is starting to subside and I am really looking forward to my second trimester and the boost of energy it will hopefully bring!

Sean and I could not be more excited! We tried to conceive for over a year with Ella and had started to think that maybe it just wasn't going to happen for us, then God decided to bless us with her during a time when we did not have insurance coverage for maternity . But as He always does, He provided abundantly for us and we truly learned the joy that comes with trusting in our Father! This time around we got pregnant in a flash. We decided in February that we would start trying again, so I made the appointment and had my IUD ( Mirena) removed and we were pregnant by March lol. I was in a complete state of shock for a few weeks. I couldn't believe that it happened so easily and the pessimist in me thought that surely the floor would fall out from under us and we would get some sort of bad news eventually. So far that worry has been for nothing!! The baby is growing the way it should and we got to see the heartbeat at 7 weeks 3 days.



I had purchased an at home Fetal Doppler when I was pregnant with Ella and I so around 9 weeks I busted it out and started looking for babies heartbeat. Sure enough I could hear it!!! My doppler said the heartbeat was 156 (which is lower than Ella's ever was). Of course that makes everyone say that this one will be a boy! OH how I would love to have a son, but truthfully I couldn't care less what the sex of the baby is. AS long as I know the baby is healthy it doesn't matter to me.

I hope to have more updates soon. My next appointment is in a week. NO ultrasound this time, but the doctor will listen to the heartbeat.

I still can't believe this is happening again!

Book Review

Ella loves books. She normally chooses to sit in her giraffe chair and surround herself with books for most of the day. She loves flipping the pages and pointing to the animals and making funny little noises. She loves to have me plop down beside her read the books to her. She really just loves anything to do with books. Which is great for her growing little mind, but not so great for most of the books themselves. She is only 15 months old and a lot of her books are already missing pages or the binding is coming undone. That is why we love board books!

I first saw this book in paperback form and thought it was very cute, but didn't pick it up because I knew Ella would rip it to shreds in no time. I was so excited when I saw that they also have this book in board form! Ella took to it right away. She loves turning the pages and growling at each of the bears on the page. She likes the part of the book where the mothers belly gets bigger and everyone is looking at it. She will pull up her shirt to look at her own belly :) Super adorable! She loves this book for the pictures of the animals and the vibrant and bright colors.

I love this book for the message it brings. It tells the story of a Mother polar bear who is teaching her child about how God gave her a baby. I love that the book talks about how the parents wanted a child and God answered their prayers. I was also very happy that it shows that the child is growing in the mother's belly and how happy the parents are! This is a very cute book with a very positive message! I would recommend it to any parent out there! Beware though, you may need a tissue when you read it!
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

A post about boobs... well technically breastfeeding

 There was a time where I didn't think I would write this post. Ella's first week  home was soo rough and I thought I would have to give up on my idea of breastfeeding her for the whole first year. We endured the frequent weight checks and trips to the lactation consultants office in tears and here we are... Ella is approaching 15 months and she is now fully weaned.

I wanted to wait until she was completely off the "tap" before I wrote this. Truthfully this whole weaning process has been emotional for me. I tried when she was 12 months and then felt guilty for turning her away so we went back to 2 feedings a day. I tried again at 13 months and decided that I wouldn't force it, that I would just feed her when she asked for it. Slowly the feedings dwindled down. From 2 a day to 1 a day to 1 every other day and eventually she started going 2-3 days without it. I can honestly say I don't remember the last time I nursed her. That makes me a little sad because I felt like it would be a memory I would always cherish. That last time I would share such an incredibly special bond with my daughter. But life just sort of happened and we got busy and she just stopped. 

We had her sleep in our room for the entire time she was nursing. It was just sooo much easier and I have to admit I could probably count on two hands the number of times we were up with a crying baby more than once at night. Ella was a cuddler and we really enjoyed having her with us. I thought she might put up a fight when we switched her to her own room. But truthfully I think it was harder on me than it was on her. Each night we read a book, sing a song, and she plays quietly in her crib with this little lantern toy until she drifts off to sleep. SO that has been a huge blessing to go along with weaning. I don't have any guilt about kicking her out of our room and taking the "tap" away at the same time lol.

So this post was supposed to turn out to be some tips of mine from our year of nursing. So here are a few products that I could not have lived without while I was breastfeeding!

- Lansinoh HPA Lanolin! This stuff is a life saver for cracked and sore nipples. I was afraid of using too much at the beginning and I paid for that mistake. Its safe for baby to ingest so cake it on after each feeding!





- Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads! I never really had a huge problem with leaking but when you are caking the lanolin on all the time its better to have a pad to keep from sticking to your bra. I really liked these because they had the most cushion.

- Medela InStyle Electric Breast Pump! If you are going back to work or you just want to give hubby a chance to feed the baby I really recommend this pump. I actually borrowed it from a friend who used it for her two children and it still worked great! Medela makes a smaller version now that still comes with a nice carrying case I believe it is called the Freestyle.


 
If you decide to pump you will need these handy little bottles to pump into. I only used them for pumping the milk and then I would put the expressed milk into freezer bags. When it was time to feed I would just put the thawed milk back into these bottles and Ella took to it very easily. I found that the Medela nipples were as close to the real thing as I could get. Ella tried other bottles but they seemed to have too fast of a flow, but the Medela slow flow nipples really worked great for us. 

 
I always used the Lansinoh breast milk storage bags. They were normally the best value at the store and they stand up on their own which was very handy when thawing the milk. 



Something that no one warned me about was how bad nipple damage could be. Ella had a very strong latch which made things very difficult for us in the beginning, but then I went to the lactation consultant and she gave me one of these handy little things. It is a shield you put over your nipple before you nurse. It protects you from further damage during feedings and lets your nipples have time to heal up. Another tip I used for cracked nipples was to put wet tea bags in my bra in between feedings. I know it sounds weird but the tea really does work and it helps you heal so quickly! Just place the wet tea bag directly on your nipple then put a nursing pad over that and then put your bra back on.


The last thing I will list in the Hooter Hider! It has a funny name, but it works like a charm. It has a rigid rim around the top so you can see your baby when you feed her but no one else can. It sure beats fidgeting with a blanket in public. I fed Ella in restaurants, stores, and even at church using this baby! There are lots of products similar to this but I found that Hooter Hider had the cutest prints.











So there you have, my own personal arsenal of breastfeeding must haves! I also used the website kellymom for a ton of advice. It has a lot of really good articles and tips for you to read. My own personal advice to is to pump some even if you are going to a be a stay at home mom. It is so nice to be able to let someone else feed the baby once in a while and I know that my hubby really enjoyed sharing that time with Ella. I hope that someone somewhere can find these little tips helpful. I know that breastfeeding turned out to be quite the journey for me, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!!