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Maternity & Parenting Center

It still talks!

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I’m sure you will all be happy to know that my pump still talks. Ever since the baby arrived, I have been fairly torn about whether or not I should pump. I struggled with milk supply when I had Micah, and one of the mistakes I made was letting things go too long before I began to pump. I swore that this time, I would not make that same mistake.

In the hospital, before we even arrived at our room, I requested a pump. I had everything set up and ready to go “just in case.” Much to my surprise, the baby latched really well at her first nursing session. She fell asleep for about 6 hours after that, but the lactation consultant said that they advise moms of preemies who will be exclusively pumping not to begin pumping until the 6 hour mark. She further suggested that if the baby latched well again and stayed on for 20-30 minutes, that she felt that I should hold off on pumping and only pump if the baby refused to latch or nurse.

Right at the 6 hour mark, we had another great nursing session. The baby continued to latch at least every 3 hours for 20-60 minutes each time. She had the requisite number of wet diapers (and stools, too), and by morning everyone was telling me how well she was nursing and how perfectly everything was going. In the back of my head, however, I kept wondering if it was just too good to be true. I mentioned my supply issues and my concerns, and most felt that if I were to face supply issues, it would likely not crop up for a little while as I should easily be able to meet the baby’s early demand…I just might start to fall behind later. It made sense to me, so I decided to trust the “experts.” Besides…I always hated pumping, and in the early days, you pump and pump and NOTHING comes out until after your milk starts to come in – who needs that frustration?

At the end of day two, I began to get nervous again. It was our first sign of trouble…salmon colored urine in the diapers. It is a sign that the baby is passing uric acid and not getting enough fluid. Once we saw that with Micah, everything went downhill quickly, so I was fairly concerned. We spoke to the nurse and to the doctor, and everyone pretty much told us it was “nothing” – just feed the baby more often. I asked about supplementing and I asked about pumping, and everyone felt that the baby was doing a great job on her own and I should just trust that it would be okay.

The salmon-colored diapers continued all day on Sunday (and even this morning). She is supposed to be passing 3 stools a day, and she has barely been doing one since Saturday (she did 3 on Friday, and then 1 on Saturday morning, 1 on Sunday morning and none since then). She is definitely hitting the requisite number of wet diapers, but I think my supply might be the issue. we called our pediatrician and we are going in later today for an appointment, but over the phone they said I should start supplementing.

So, this morning, after she nursed on one side, I bit the bullet…and got cozy with my pump. And yes, it still talks. I think it is still pretty salty, too. It started out telling me to “Let it go” and then it called me “Whacko.” When my pump switched to the faster pumping setting, it started to tell me to “back up” – since it was hurting, I decided the pump was asking me to turn down the tempo to a lower speed, and I happily obliged. Then it started to say “back hoe” – I’m thinking it was trying to make conversation about our upcoming renovations?

After all of that pumping…I barely got 5ccs. I hate pumping! I know that I did breastfeed shortly before pumping, and that the pump does not do as good a job getting the colostrum out, but I just find the whole process so discouraging! I ended up giving the baby all 5ccs, and I called the pediatrician to discuss her salmon-colored diapers. The pediatrician who had answered the phone read me the riot act about not supplementing yet, and how it was necessary and the baby would get sick and dehydrate…so after giving her the 5ccs, I caved and gave her another 10ccs of formula. I decided that maybe that would be all she would need to “get over the hump” and I would wait and see what they said at her doctor’s appointment.

At 2:30, we headed to her appointment. We saw a different doctor, and he thought she looked great and maybe put on an ounce or two. I was just thrilled she is no longer losing weight! We discussed the salmon-colored diapers, and he thought that it was not a big deal before my milk came in, especially since she was gaining weight. He thought her color looked good and everything else was perfect. Naturally, after our long discussion about her lack of normal urine, he checked her diaper and…you guessed it – a beautiful yellow-colored urine-filled diaper! The little stinker made me into a liar…or at least one of those crazy, hypochondriac parents. I am pleased to report she has had two more normal diapers since our appointment, so it looks like all the extra nursing (or perhaps the touch of formula this morning) did the trick. Now, we just need to get her pooping again…she has not pooped since about 5:00 am on Sunday morning. I’m sure when we have a nasty diaper, I’ll be regretting WISHING for more poop, but what else can I do? We will return to the doctor on Thursday for another weight check. Hopefully, she’ll continue to do well.

In the meantime, Micah shows absolutely NO INTEREST in his sister. I did manage to snap a few photos of him nearby – I’ll try to post them soon. We’ve been doing well during the days – she is nursing easily and so far I’m trying not to worry about my supply. Elliot and I have been trying to take turns caring for each of the kids, and my parents have come by a few times to help out with the baby. She seems to get very sleepy in the late afternoon/early evening, and then is wide awake from about 10:30 until 3:00 am. Last night, she just did not want to be put down, and I was exhausted – since Wednesday night, I had only had 5 hours of sleep – TOTAL. I finally just latched her on, propped myself up in bed, and the two of us took a 3 hour nap together that way. Yes, I know it is a bad idea to sleep in bed that way, but we needed our rest, and I just could not figure out another way to make it work because she wanted Mommy and no one else to hold her. Hopefully, tonight will be easier, but we shall see.

She has been nursing VERY frequently all day today. The little lady has such sensitive skin – she has completely scratched up her face with her fingernails, and every time she rubs up against something she gets these terrible abrasions/rashes that can last 3-12 hours.

Okay – that is our update for now!

Playmat Possessed

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I am not one who generally believes in possession. I’m not even talking the demonic kind here, just simple possession by an inanimate object of some type of spirit. There have been two times in my life I believed an object was possessed – my first car (a 1984 Chevy Cavalier) and my son’s playmat.

My Chevy Cavalier was undoubtedly possessed. I would drive to school in the mornings, and very bizarre things would happen. Sometimes, the car would just decide to accelerate. All of the sudden, the accelerator would depress, and car would speed up and attempt to slam into other vehicles. For those of you wondering, I did not have cruise control on the car. I also noticed that on Thursdays, if I put the turn signal on while the radio was playing, the windshield wipers would turn on. What was particularly difficult about this is that the wipers were in the OFF position, so I had a hell of a time getting the wipers to stop! Also, if it was raining and you hit the brakes while turning left and the windshield wipers were at a certain speed, the blinkers would start flashing. Yes, the car creeped me out. I came home from school a number of times telling my mother about my possessed car. At one point, she was so irritated by my insistence that she agreed to take my car for a week to check it out. Her prognosis? My car was possessed! We took it to the car dealership, and after running a complete assessment… they informed me there was nothing wrong with my car. A few years later in college, my entire electrical system crashed and it turned out that Chevy recalled the computer chip because of similar problems. They also had to install the cruise control stick on my car . . . because the manufacturer default setting inadvertently had the “inactivated” cruise control feature set to on, so every time I hit a certain speed, the cruise control would try to “resume.” Regardless of these logical explanations – I still firmly assert that my car was possessed.

My son’s playmat is one of those Tiny Love Gymini Lights and Music playmats. It has all kinds of animals on it, and there is a little section of the mat that lights up and plays music if you turn the switch. Well, there enlies the problem. You see, it still plays music (randomly) when it is in the off position. Late at night when we are all upstairs (and the mat is off) it will suddenly start playing. Sometimes when Micah is sleeping or playing on it and it is off, the music and lights will start up again. At times, when the dog walks across the mat and it is off, the music and light show begins. In fact, we rarely turn it on anymore – the randomness of the mat when it is off is FAR more entertaining! The only logical explanation I have? Possession, of course!

Have you ever believed an object was possessed? If this entire post worries you, don’t bother to call the authorities. They already know I’m nuts – remember my talking breast pump?

New attitude?

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I woke up this morning in Atlanta, here for a conference. Micah was a good boy last night . . . he went to bed around 8:30, and he slept really well. He did not quite enjoy the flight as much as our previous flights. He had several short crying sessions, and his ears seemed to bother him. He has been quite congested, so it is possible that the congestion was the culprit. Around 4:30 or 5 this morning, he woke up talking. He was so cheery, and he just rolled around in the crib and chatted. He didn’t sound hungry at all, but after about 30 minutes, I decided to pick him up and feed him. He ate well, then fell back asleep.

I got up and showered, and at 8:30, I decided to pump again (rather than wake Micah). This time, I was pumping and dressing/applying makeup. Surprisingly, my pump appears to be a morning pump (and for those of you who know me, you know I am NOT a morning person). This morning, the pump did start off mocking me with its usual chorus of “wacko.” The mantra slowly morphed into “get a clue.” Then . . . perhaps just to mock me with morning cheer, the pump said a few nice things to me, such as “radical,” “way to go,” and “go for it!” I was so touched that maybe my pump is starting to like me . . . until it decided to call me a “ho’ bag.” This disturbed me . . . my pump has always been snide, but it descended today into name calling. I must also say there was a brief chorus of “asshole” before the pump remembered it was trying to be nice to me, and went back to singing “ragu” and “get it going.” All-in-all, a decidedly improved attitude, and I will forgive it for its brief rudeness today.

Micah will be hanging out with Elliot today – I hope they have a fun day together while I sit here in meetings all day. And, yes, I should be paying attention, not blogging. Back to work . . . .

The pump that really does talk

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As many of you recall, I have blogged a few times about my talking breast pump (click here to see the original post). A friend of mine sent me this link . . . apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks her breast pump is talking to her! And now, there is an EnDeare Breast Pump that actually WILL talk to you. . . it features a special button that “can record your baby’s voice or other sound to enhance your breastpumping experience.”

Hmmm . . . perhaps I’m not as crazy as you thought!

Still talking . . . but a new message

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As you all may recall, my pump and I don’t exactly get along. Nevertheless, we’ve been operating under a truce for the past few months. Generally, I use it as little as possible, and when I do, it works as little as possible, producing only the bare minimum of milk. Many of you may also recall that my breast pump talks to me. For the most part, it has continued to mock me, but it occasionally has had neutral messages for our pumping sessions.

Well, a few weeks ago, my pump stopped articulating well. Seriously . . . I think it was talking, but I couldn’t understand it. I slowly realized that it was sick. Not just a passing cold, but perhaps terminally ill. I called up Medela, and after going through their rigmarole, they declared there was nothing wrong with my pump. I insisted that there was, and they agreed to send me out a new motor.

While we were out of town, the new pump arrived. I was supposed to open the box and re-package it with my old pump. UPS, however, in their infinite wisdom, delivered the pump one day . . . and picked it up for return the next day, before I even had a chance to get home and use it! Today, the new pump arrived (for the second time). I swapped out the parts, and here I am, pumping away.

I was excited to meet my new pump. I turned it on tonight, fully expecting a new dialogue. Several of my friends have informed me that their pumps say wonderful things like “you’re pretty” and “you go girl” while they pump. I was looking forward to this new conversation, and I eagerly awaited the message from my new pump. As expected, this pump also talks. It has spent the entire time repeating the phrase “Wacko” over and over again. Apparently, Medela sent me another pump in need of a serious attitude adjustment. I was hoping for a nicer pump this go around . . . any tips for improving communication with a pump?

My Breast Pump Talks

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Once I tell you this, I am certain you will think I am crazy (well, even crazier). Apparently, I am now officially delusional. This morning, when I woke up at 5:30 am to try and pump, I became convinced that my breast pump talks. The motor makes this grinding noise that actually sounds like a word. Well, really a phrase. I kept hearing over and over again while I pumped:

“GET AWAY!”

I woke Elliot up to make him listen. He thought I was nuts and it wasn’t saying “Get away.” I then thought maybe it was saying “Natalie.” At my next pumping session, the “Get away” mantra melded into “Oedipus” at one point before doing a chorus of “Natalie” and then returning to “Get away.” This last pumping session, it pretty consistently chanted “Get away” at me (with a few “Natalie” lines thrown in). I have to say, I think I hate my breast pump as much as it hates me. I’d like nothing better than to throw it through the big picture windows in our dining room . . . but we did just pay to replace them all, so that would be foolish.

So . . . who is planning to be the first to call the crazy authorities on me?