Baby | HoneyBear Lane

Breastfeeding at Two Months

January 27, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 25 Comments

Miss E is two months old now. And I’m still breastfeeding! Doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment but I’ve overcome a lot.

Finger feeding to nipple shield with tube.

Nipple shield with tube to nipple shield with formula squirted in the tip and supplementing.

Nipple shield with formula to Nipple shield alone, still supplementing.

Nipple shield to nothing, no supplementing!

Well to be honest, I have to give her an ounce of supplement in the evening because my milk supply is always just low in the evenings. I’ve had rough spots here and there with some very painful clogged ducts. But overall I feel like a normal breastfeeding mom now. And that is huge!

At six weeks she went from taking an hour to eat to taking 20 minutes. And now she takes less than 10 minutes.

I want to say thank you to all of you who encouraged me or sympathized with me because it HAS gotten easier and it’s SO much better. But it definitely wasn’t easy.

I know that sometimes it just doesn’t work and a mom shouldn’t feel guilty for doing her job, which is just to keep that baby fed. But having been in the position of feeling like a failure/judged for giving my baby formula, I feel like this is preferable. And now that I can do it without any props, it’s so much easier than worrying about going out and running out of formula or whatever. And it’s free (you can’t beat that!) And I feel more part of the ‘club.’

When I had a C section with my first baby, I felt so left out when moms started sharing their labor stories. I didn’t go into labor, I barely remembered the birth. And after I had my second vaginally, I finally had something to share. It feels like that now with breastfeeding. I have something to contribute. I can sit in the Mother’s Lounge at church with all the other nursing moms and chat about our crazy lives. I can ask my friends my questions about it. And I can act all cool about nursing like it aint no thang. Oh yeah!

But seriously thank you, my friends. I read and try to respond to all your comments. They give me so much encouragement.

And now that she’s getting older, I have found some time here and there to start sewing again. I got some fun tutorials coming up!!

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Filed Under: baby, breastfeeding Tagged With: baby, motherhood

To Have a Baby. Or Not.

January 23, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 19 Comments

Have you ever seen a mom who is toting around what seems like a million kids, all who are whining/crying about something? And maybe you said to yourself, “Wow–why don’t people wait a little longer to have another child?!” Because clearly this mom is in over her head. Clearly she is not doing a good job because her kids are unhappy. And obviously you would do much better. Your child would NEVER scream in a store. Or run away from you. Or pee in the corner.

Or how about the opposite scenario: A young couple has been married for six or seven years. “Why don’t they have any kids? Are they just so into their careers that they don’t want to bother with kids?” a person might think to themselves. Maybe that couple has been trying to have kids for years and years and haven’t been able to. Or maybe they were pregnant but miscarried. What if they are trying to adopt?

Everyone has or doesn’t have kids in their own timing for their own reasons.

And the reason might simply be “Because God told me to.”

That’s the reason Miss E is here so soon. I was dead-set on not having another baby while my husband was in school. I was so overwhelmed with my two energetic boys I just didn’t think there was any way I could survive. I would look at those moms who kept having kids 18 months apart and wondered how on earth they could do it (I still think that, btw.)

I had dreams about a baby girl. And as months went by, I just kept feeling so strong like I needed to have another baby soon. And here we are, folks.

There are sometimes pitiable moments of hiding in the bathroom and wondering what possessed me to even want kids in the first place. Often these days I long for the days of just going out to eat or a movie without a babysitter. At the store I am a traveling circus, juggling a newborn and a toddler who likes to run away while my three year old begs for everything sugary in sight. But not one day goes by when I don’t thank the Lord for my miraculous little girl. The love that I have for this little baby pushes all those thoughts out the door. For all my children.

And when they say that motherhood is the toughest job you will ever do, that’s true. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

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Life With Three Kids

January 12, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 9 Comments

Life With Three Kids…(a few thoughts)

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Life with Three Kids is…not always picture perfect…

But filled with lots of funny and memorable moments.

Life with Three Kids can be a little tense at times…

But filled with boundless amounts of love and kisses.

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And Life with a new baby is as good as it gets.

Cherish your kids today.
Hug them twice.
Speak words of encouragement.
Tell them, “I love you!”
Get on the floor and just play.
Be their friend as well as their mom.

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Breastfeeding Miss E

January 6, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 43 Comments

Can I just title this post “Breastfeeding Sucks?” I mean literally, yuk yuk. But then I’d get the crazy LLL ladies knocking down my door yelling “IT SHOULDN’T HURT IF YOU HAVE A PROPER LATCH!!!!”

Truth be told, breastfeeding doesn’t suck. It’s actually an awesome miraculous thing, that a woman’s body can just magically MAKE food for another human person. But it sure ain’t easy. Breastfeeding is bar none, the hardest part of having a baby. Even if it’s easy for you. Because you have to do it usually about every 2 hours, day and night. And it yes it WILL make you sore. Your little nips will be so tender and sensitive that you have to lube them up with lanolin just to take a shower. And I’m not going to even get into the real pain of clogged milk ducts and mastitis.

Breastfeeding has still been incredibly hard with Little E, but it’s actually working. I had a plan of attack because I knew my problems: My milk takes like a week to really come in and even the colostrum takes about 3-4 days. So I always end up giving my babies bottles in the hospital so they won’t starve. Not this time.

I decided to do those little tiny tubie thingys with formula running through. I tried to tape it to my breast but that was a nightmare since she was barely latching on anyway. So I finger-fed her for a couple days until I relented to using a nipple shield. After my milk came in I still had to use a syringe to put a little formula in the shield to entice her to suck. It took several tries after about a week to get rid of the syringe.

Week 3 I was using solely the nipple shield. But I was going on vacation and didn’t take a breast pump, so my supply was iffy for the next couple of weeks. I got her to nurse without the shield several times but I had to supplement even more afterwards so I realized she wasn’t doing a proper latch still and my supply dropped like a rock. Finally I resumed using the shield and pumped and pumped to get it back up. Then we flew home and I didn’t pump that whole day or barely eat the next day (no food in the house.) So finally, at 6 weeks old, we are reaching normalcy. Which means using a nipple shield.

And truth be told, it’s not that bad. My nips aren’t as sore, I can occasionally walk around the do things while nursing, and I’m basically a pro at using one. I’m tired though. I’ve never had to be up every two hours at night breastfeeding. It’s exhausting and I get so antsy waiting for her to finish. She drinks so slowly when she’s sleepy that it feels like the nighttime feedings last forever. I would love to hear tips or stories from you about nighttime breastfeeding. Seriously.

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Part 3: Home At Last

January 5, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 18 Comments

The first week home with a new baby is unpredictable. It was incredibly difficult with both my boys, but incredibly easy with E. Yes, that’s right–the first week with E was easy. I naively wondered why my mother had thought three was the hardest adjustment. E slept all the time and only woke to eat. Husband was home that whole week mostly and friends brought us dinner nearly every night. I was so grateful that it had been going so well.

But that was short-lived. E was growing older and sleeping less. She was having lots of gas and pooping problems from her immature digestive system and crying a lot. We soon learned that if she wasn’t tended to immediately, she would be screaming bloody murder within seconds. Husband had to go back to school and I was left alone with three little kids. Will decided he was not going to have naps anymore, resulting in a horrible tantrum every evening. Many tears were shed by all of us.

I used to say that things were going pretty well if I hadn’t bawled in the shower. Well, forget getting a shower, I bawled in the living room, the car, the bedroom. Life with three is just hard. I feel like I never knew what motherhood really was until I had three kids. But then again, any number of kids is made much more difficult with a newborn, right?

I couldn’t wait until we left to Utah for Christmas. And the trip was good–we had lots of people to entertain the boys and hold the baby. But one of the hardest parts for me is breastfeeding, which I will write in more detail about later. And I couldn’t wait to get back into the privacy of my own home. No more hiding under a blanket to feed the baby!

Now that I’m back, things are SLOWLY improving. E can sleep in her own bed for at least part of the night which allows me more restful sleep during that time. I would like to transition her out of the bedroom in the hope that she will sleep better not smelling Mom and I will sleep better not hearing her little grunts and cries while she sleeps.

I’m super happy to have my healthy baby girl. Really in love with her. I mean seriously, isn’t she absolutely gorgeous? But of all the stages of babydom, the newborn stage is probably my least favorite. I hate to admit that, since they are still such precious miracles. But it is just hard, hard, hard.

I really appreciate all your comments and suggestions via this blog and my Facebook, really. It’s nice to know I’m not alone!

Read Part 1 Here

Read Part 2 Here

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Part 2: The After Birth

January 4, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 46 Comments

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I checked into my hospital room where I’d be staying for the next couple of days. And by ‘checked in’ I mean was wheeled in by a wheelchair where nurses helped me stumble into the bed. Because as anyone who has give birth knows, you’re not usually itching to run a marathon hours after pushing a human bowling ball through a 10 cm hole. Which by the way, has most likely either been torn or cut open and then stitched shut.

There’s a lot of things no one really prepares you for when you’re going to have a baby. So here’s a few nuggets for ya:

1. You bleed…and bleed….and bleed…

The after birth situation is not pretty. Not that giving birth is exactly pretty (although it IS beautiful), it’s full of fluids and nudity. But afterwards, well…blech. You bleed. A lot. Why? Because your placenta which was attached to your uterine wall was ripped away, leaving all those blood vessels wide open. And you bleed for weeks to come. And no tampons allowed! Yay for us!

So the nurses give you these pads the size of a sleeping bag (NOT exaggerating) and you shove them and an ice pack into these weirdly shaped mesh panties that leave little to the imagination and make you realize just how far you have to go in your upcoming weight loss journey. And here’s a little bonus…that bleeding is probably not going to go away for the next 3-7 weeks. Longest period ever.

2. Your downstairs is a mess.

I have never been brave enough to actually check out the situation down there after giving birth. I’ve had friends recommend strongly NOT to–there’s no coming back from that. So I just use the little squirter bottle (think mini-bidet) to keep it all clean for the first week or so. Some people like the sits bath, but it’s too much work for me even though it really does feel nice. And ps, it will definitely hurt to sit if you’ve had stitches. Sit on your Boppy pillow–it will be your best friend.

3. You keep having contractions.

I had had stitches for tearing, which of course hurt, but the worst pain after having a baby is the contractions. Yes, you still have contractions, you lucky girl, you. Because your stretched out uterus is not going to just magically shrink back down. The contractions help it to get there and they hurt a lot. And be prepared for every single person to tell you “They get worse with each baby.” Thanks, that’s comforting. Bonus: they are also worse when you breastfeed!

4. You have gas…

It was about 3 am. I was alone in my hospital room sleeping. Little E was in the nursery and Husband was at home with our boys. Suddenly I awoke to a very sharp pain in my abdomen. I thought it was maybe a contraction, but it wasn’t going away. It started getting worse and worse so I buzzed the nurse. She spent the next hour or so with me, trying to help me get rid of the pain. Here’s the pathetic part–it was just gas! But it hurt SO. BAD. And I had some serious sympathy for Little E when she would be crying in pain from her gas over the next few weeks.

Finally it was time for me to take the heavy drugs, my percoset. I took two and finally fell asleep for hours. But my abdomen hurt to the touch for hours after, and I cried when my OB came in to feel my uterus. So embarrassing.

5. …And pooping is just downright terrifying.

As for doing the number 2, the big BM, taking the Browns to the Super Bowl, etc. It takes awhile to get normal. The first time you do it after giving birth is super scary because you just know it’s gonna hurt. And I’m not gonna lie…it might. But it might not. But it might. And it might hurt for the next month or two as your bowels try to figure themselves out again. Take those stool softeners they give you!! After I had Will I was guzzling two water bottles a day of Metamucil to try and make my experience less painful, but it still wasn’t. It would hurt so much and I bled so bad that I would be physically wiped out for the next several hours. (Not that bad this time, btw.)

6. You are still huge.

You’d think that your baby being on the outside of your stomach would make your tummy virtually flat, with a fun little fat flap. Nope (well, you do get a fun fat flap.) After I have my babies, I still have a giant tummy, only slightly smaller than I was 9 months pregnant! Very depressing when getting dressed. I mean I seriously get sick of my maternity clothes and the second I am unpregnant I do NOT want to be wearing them. But they really are the only things that still fit. I specifically bought some cute maternity jeans this time around that I knew I would wear mostly after the baby came. And guess what? I’m wearing them right now.

Here’s a secret and if you should happen to do this too I will give you a hug. I wear a girdle thingy every day. I bought it the first week I was home. And the main reason I wore it at first was because my tummy was so lose, it felt practically detached from my body. So I bought a $12 body shaper thing at Wallys and sure enough, it sucks that baby belly right in. It really helped me feel more together, as well as look a lot thinner. And it allows me to wear more of my non-maternity clothes! I’m going to keep wearing it for as long as I need and will probably buy a smaller size as I lose the weight.

7. Breastfeeding is pretty much a nightmare.

So maybe it’s not a nightmare if you are, oh lets say every woman in my family except me. (Yes, sisters I know you will resent me for that comment. It’s just the way I feel sometimes!) Y’all can read my story of breastfeeding and know that I have never been able to do it right. My mantra this time around was “I’ll try it–if it’s a struggle, I’m not wasting my time and energy.” But what about if it kind of works? I’ll detail this in an upcoming post, but you can rest assured that it’s not all easy peasy for many women. And even the women who seem like it’s super easy struggled at first with the pain and such. A proper latch does make it more comfortable but there is no way it’s completely pain-free in those early days. Expect pain and expect difficulty and if you don’t have it, woohoo!

8. And a couple other things:

-Your hair will fall out in droves. Definitely consider getting a hair cut.

-Your tummy will look alien as it shrinks down. The saggyness, the wrinkles, the unstretched stretch marks…oh the humanity!

There’s much more to the after birth that I could detail but I’m not gonna. I’m just going to say this: I was incredibly glad to leave the hospital and go home. Because with all the discomfort of post partem, it was just better to deal with it at home.

Read Part 1: Meeting My Daughter

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Part 1: Meeting My Daughter

January 3, 2012 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 15 Comments

I was 40 weeks and one day pregnant. I had spent many nights wide awake with contractions, wondering “Is this is?” But no. Almost as if my body was like, “I think I can, I think I can..” and then chickened out at the last second. I’d tried tons of the ‘natural’ methods–had my membranes stripped FOUR times, tried sex, spicy food, walking for miles and miles, pineapple, that weird cumin drink…all but castor oil which I was wary of. Nothing was working.

My first baby was a C Section. My second was a vaginal (VBAC) and I wanted this one and every other one after to be also. Not that C Sections are the worst thing ever but I just prefer VBACs in every way possible…except the waiting. The waiting is just killer. Due to my circumstances, I wasn’t allowed to be induced with Pitocen, since it could cause problems and lead to emergency C Section or worse, scar rupture. And I didn’t really want to be induced, since I liked having the excitement of going into labor on my own.

More circumstances: We live away from all my family and I was due the week of Thanksgiving. This would be a good time for my husband to be around since he wouldn’t have to work at school. My mom was planning to come, but we decided to not have her come due to OTHER circumstances (lots of circumstances going on here.) And well, I was just sick to death of being pregnant. I needed to have this baby.

We decided to try induction by artificially rupturing my membranes…(having the doctor break my water.) I was a little nervous about it and almost backed out, but the nurse calmed my fears and I trust my doctor. I have a GREAT Ob-Gyn. One of the things I will miss the most about Arizona is my amazing OB. I know how hard it can be to find a good one! He wouldn’t let me try this method of induction before with Lukey, so I knew that he was a cautious man. But I was dilated to 4 cm and 80% effaced. So basically I was nearly there, I just needed a push.

The Night Before

The induction was scheduled at 8 pm. I was to call the hospital an hour before to see if they had room. We scheduled babysitters, packed our things, cleaned the house, and were ready to go. I called them up: ”No room at this inn,” the nurse told me. ”We’ll call you when things slow down.” Great. Now I was to spend the evening waiting, like a school girl waiting for her crush to call. At 11 pm, I gave up hope. I got ready for bed and went and laid down. And then I cried. My little pregnant self with tears always on the surface just cried and prayed that someday I might just have this baby. And literally one minute later, the hospital called and told me to get my booty down there. Hooray!

The Birth

After doing all the paperwork and getting all strapped down and IV’ed up, the Dr. came in. He took one second to check me and break the water. Done and done. He was there for 2 minutes. I forgot how messy this all was. Now I just got to wait. The contractions started in slowly, not hurting too much and I could breathe through it fine. We watched a movie, and as I laid there, I realized I wasn’t mentally ready to push this baby out just yet. I think I just wanted to labor for awhile. The contractions started to really hurt and I decided it was a good time for the epidural!

I hate getting epidurals…I am a huge baby about it and it hurts me so much. The nurse anesthetist (which, small world, was a girl from my hometown!) was really nice about it but seriously…it sucked. Picture sitting on the side of a hospital bed all wired up with a giant belly, oozing fluid (from my water) and hunching over trying to hold super still while they poke an enormous needle into my spine. Seriously, if I wasn’t such a baby about pain, I would skip the epidural. After that whole mess was over, the wonderful numbing relief seeping over me, I just laid there, loving life. But there ain’t no pretty way out of my situation…

Pushing

The nurse told me it was time. What! It was only 4 am. The doctor broke my water at 1. I just thought that was super fast. She started coaching me through pushing, which was super annoying. She kept saying, “Go harder, push harder! You can do more!” and every time I wanted to scream “NO I CANT!!!” because really, I couldn’t. I mean I was holding my breath and just pushing and straining and it felt like nothing was changing. Like it was just a fruitless waste of my precious energy. I was so tired and bugged and started to get nauseous. Finally she noticed a drop in the baby’s heart rate and had me rest on my side, breathing oxygen from a mast. That was all I needed, a little break and some O2 to get me through. I stayed on my side and pushed when I felt the urge. Much better. I even made the nazi nurse proud. Maybe even enough to forget that I, yes, vomited, peed, AND pooped in front of her. Three cheers for nurses willing to discretely clean that all up.

With Luke, I was so exhausted I thought I might die. I remember wanting to just faint and let it all go black. I just wanted to give up because all my pushing was doing squat. Finally the doc sliced me and sucked him out. So I was very proud of myself when I pushed the baby out by myself. I was finally doing so well that the nurse ran out to grab my doctor and he just made it in time to catch her. I tore a little. But with that finally giant push, her slimey little body wriggled its way out of me and into the bright light of that hospital room. And I let out a cry of relief and happiness when I saw her.

Pregnancy is a very emotional thing, and the birthing of your baby is even more so. Every experience is different, even if you’re in the same hospital at the same hour with the same doctor, the way you feel is always different. I was so excited and happy and relieved, but I was SO. FREAKING. TIRED. They handed my baby to me, all gooey, and I cuddled her cuteness for a second, very happy. But I also kind of wanted to be like, “Can you just take her and clean her so I can finally rest?” And I think they caught the hint and did that a moment later.

They cleaned her up in my room and once I was ready, I nursed her. I have horrible experiences nursing my babies, so when she latched on right away I was relieved. I knew it was not going to be easy or perfect, but it did give me hope that maybe she would actually be able to nurse. And I had a plan.

Most importantly, she was here. After all those months being pregnant and miserable, it was hard to believe that she was actually here, living on this world with us. We named her Ellie. And we love her, so very much.

Stay Tuned for Part 2!

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Filed Under: baby, giving birth, going into labor, Motherhood, Uncategorized Tagged With: baby, Family, motherhood, slider

Booty Buns Cloth Diapers

December 28, 2011 By Heidi @ Honeybear Lane 2 Comments

Hi! My name is Shannon & I am one of Heidi’s cousin-in-laws. I am one of Amy’s crime partners over at Amy’s Craft Bucket. I am a mommy of two beautiful girls that keep me on my toes at all times.

When I was pregnant with my second daughter, Aarilynn, I became super interested in cloth diapers; and, its true what they say ~ the fluff addiction catches you quick!

I spent countless hours researching cloth diapers so that I could make sure that I bought the best product I could for my little one’s sweet little bottom. I found though, that there was no diaper that is truly a one size fits all. Most claim to fit at around 7-8 pounds, though the reviews said that many didn’t actually fit until their babies were closer to 10-12 pounds. These same diapers stopped fitting at about 30-35 pounds, and a lot of babies with Michelan Tire legs out grew their CD before they were ready to potty train. Basically, no diaper company offers a diaper that will fit the smallest to the chunkiest babies. . .

Until now!!!!

I designed, developed & obtained a patent pending on the The Original Booty by Booty Buns Cloth Diapers.

Our Original Booty Diaper, is a ONE-SIZE POCKET DIAPER, which means that it will grow with your baby all the way from birth to potty training. Our OS is unique in that it it fits both smaller and larger than any other OS diaper on the market.Our patent pending design fits from 3 pounds to 45 pounds. Our Original Booty comes with 4 rows of riser snaps to give you 5 levels of height adjustment; 7 rows of double waist snaps, including 2 rows of crossover waist snaps to find the best fit for your baby’s booty. We also have a hip snap on either side to help prevent wing droop. The amount of snaps we use along with their strategic placement allows our diapers to mimic the sizing found in conventional disposable diapers from preemie to potty training pants. Please see here to find out which snap settings compare to each size.

The outer layer of the shell is made from waterproof polyurethane laminated fabric {PUL}. The inner layer of the shell is made from super soft microfiber. Microfiber is known for its ability to wick moisture away, keeping baby drier. We sew 2 gussets into the microfiber and another elastic strip at the back to better contain explosions. Each diaper comes with 2 inserts {newborn and large size}. Each insert is composed of 3 layers of microfiber terrycloth These super absorbent inserts can be used alone or as doubler for night-time or heavy wetters. The diaper and insert snap together to keep the insert in place. We also include a 100% cotton flannel liner to place between your baby and the diaper. The cotton flannel makes clean up from a BM easier and helps babies with sensitivities to microfiber. Every part of our diapers 100% machine washable ~ shell, inserts and liner.

My favorite part about these diapers is that for each one we sell, we will be donating one to a baby in need. Many people in third world countries are too poor to pay for disposable diapers since they cost $1800-2000 on average. They are too poor to afford any kind of diaper really, so they wrap their babies in old t-shirts or sheets to catch the solids. The diapers that we donate with your help will improve the quality of life for these families and their babies, since they will stay drier