Nursing in Public

Within the first 7 months of K's life, I haven't done much of nursing in public. Reason? There are two: the nipple shield and leakage.

The nipple shield was introduced to me at the hospital right at the first breastfeeding. As an inexperienced feeder, I remember mentioning to the nurse about some pain sensation while breastfeeding to which the nurse came to the rescue with the nipple shield. At that time, I thought of it as a life saver. However, what I didn't know was that the baby could quickly get used to it and would be unable to nurse without it.

I still seem to have the love/hate relationship with it which brings me to my next point - the leakage. Besides the fact that the nipple shield is a hassle to use in public (it's hard to put on without exposing the whole boob), it's great if a woman is a leaker. When K needs to nurse, my body (OK, boobs) is more than ready. If it wasn't for the nipple shield, K's face and clothes would be sprayed with milk at each nursing. (I apologize for those raw facts.) The nipple shield holds the excess of milk without getting anyone dirty. Summing up, my pros for using the shield are:

1. It eliminates any pain associated with breastfeeding
2. It protects things and people from being hosed

and cons:

1. The baby becomes quickly addicted to it and doesn't recognize the actual nipple causing nursing without the shield impossible
2. It's a hassle to use in public - it has to be cleaned with soap and hot water after each use and boiled once a day; plus, it's hard to put on without getting half naked.

After 7 months worth of worrying, I've decided to stop it (the worrying, I mean). K and I were both hooked to using the nipple shield; it was time for others to get used to it. Until now, I would pump at home to take the milk with me to wherever we went. This required tons of planning on my part - pumping in between feeding to collect enough milk and at the same time keeping the milk supply for K at the right level to satisfy her hunger every 3 hours. Then freezing and thawing the milk, carrying all the bottles, nipples, etc. - was all doable but how annoying.

The first time we tried the nursing in public (actually in my car) was at IKEA. I was very ready for it - a nipple shield and boppy in place; K didn't notice we were anywhere other than at home. Then, we tried a couple more places, in some even without the boppy (I keep forgetting to bring it with us). K was perfectly OK with it; I was just OK (there is nothing better than nursing on our couch at home) but happy we didn't have to rush home only for the 10-20 minute breastfeeding session.

Last weekend Len, K and I decided to go to SF. We left early in the morning and didn't plan on coming back until late at night. Again I forgot the boppy but did bring my collection of nipple shields - one for each feeding; this way there was no need to worry about washing them.

When we were at the Pier (F.isherman's Wharf), K started showing signs of hunger. We found a place - a tall curb way behind some benches, got comfortable and started nursing. I had Len on one side, a stroller on the other, and bushes behind me blocking the view of anyone who'd dare to lurk at me. Everything was going well, I was happy with the new nursing in public experience, K was getting full, even the fact that a couple joined us at the curb 6-8 feet from us didn't bother me much. Everything was going well until I tried to find my nursing pad. (I still wear nursing pads, as I mentioned earlier - I am a leaker).

Right before starting nursing K, I put my pad on my lap and put K on top of it, so that it wouldn't get lost. But when we were done nursing, the pad was absolutely gone. Len and I checked everywhere - even K's pants and diaper; there was NO sign of it. We knew it couldn't disappear, so we kept looking for it knowing that we'd eventually find it, and it was better to find it there and then, than somewhere else and be embarrassed about it. Again no luck. When we finally gave up, I noticed IT! My pad was sticking out from underneath the man's shoe (Yes, the man that was sitting next to us!!!) I wasn't sure if I should laugh or run. I knew one thing - I wasn't going to claim it.

A Confession

I'd like to discuss something that for a while now I have been very reluctant to admit to - my addiction.

It started a while back; actually Len introduced me to it. At first, I only tried it a couple of times but soon after was hooked. I tried to quit but couldn't; it was stronger than my will. I tried to stay away from it during the pregnancy but I have to shamefully admit: I wasn't strong enough.

Right now, I have to have it every day. I even tag K along with me to get it. I love it; it's my best friend; it makes me feel alive: the milk tea with pearls.

Keeping Us Smiling

August 24th...

We moved from the second floor to the third and from one building to another. Each building has a couple of staircases and elevators. When I was moving some boxes, I tried to use the same staircase or elevator each time I changed the floor. Fortunately I didn't have to do it too many times - my main job was to pack and unpack the boxes, my dad and Len were the ones to move the boxes from one apartment to another.

One day when we were all still in the old apartment packing up boxes, my dad came in to pick up more stuff. He had a smile on his face. He explained that he used the other building's staircase thinking that it was ours and without thinking twice entered the wrong apartment.

He said the door was unlocked, so my dad let himself in and noticed a man sitting on a couch and watching TV. Thinking that it was Len's friend visiting us, my dad approached him fast and shook his hand. The guy returned the shake and that's when my dad realized that he was in a wrong apartment. He explained to the man in Polish about what had happened, apologized and left. And that's what kept him smiling when he came to our apartment minutes later to pick up more boxes.

When Len heard the story, he admitted doing a similar thing. He entered the wrong apartment (one would think the guy would learn his lesson and lock the door) but having realized he was in the wrong place, he apologized and left.

And, on the day of my parents' departure, Len went to the new apartment where my parents were staying to pick up their suitcases, and load them in the car while I stayed in the old apartment to nurse and get K ready to go to the airport. It was about 4 am. On the way back to our apartment, Len made a mistake again choosing the wrong building, wrong floor, wrong apartment. When trying to open the door and realizing it was locked, he started knocking gently, so that i could let him in. When I wasn't answering the door (I was waiting for him in our apartment), he started knocking louder and louder thinking I fell asleep. He said it took a while and he believes he saw a light being turned on when he realized where he was. That's when he ran.

The Food Update

When introducing solids to K, I made a commitment to make it the healthiest way possible. I'd like her little body to be as strong and healthy as it can be.

I inherited a great book from a friend of mine, "S.uper B.aby F.ood" by R.uth Y.aron. The author explains step by step how to prepare /feed/store many different homemade meals for babies. So, instead of buying for example rice cereal, I make it. None of the recipes from the book so far has taken me more than 15 minutes to prepare. K loves the food I make, and I'm having fun making it especially knowing how healthy it is.

I'm following the 4 day rule described by Y.aron where I give K a new kind of food for 4 days and check for allergies. And now because she is used to so many different veggies and fruits, I mix them together which creates a whole new taste for K. I absolutely love watching her reaction to different foods. So far only the avocado didn't agree with her (she loved it but kept throwing up in the evenings; we stopped giving it to her, she stopped vomiting) although we'll try to give it to her again soon to see if her stomach is ready for it (again, she loved the taste of it).

Here is the latest what K has been getting (so far only once a day, although I'll try twice a day starting this weekend). And, since the breast milk is still the most nutritious meal for her, I always nurse her before giving her any solids. And because she doesn't like the water, I nurse after the solids - it's supposed to be good for her little kidneys. Also, I add breast milk to those solids that are too thick for K to eat. So, here we go:

• sweet potatoes + carrots
• brown rice + carrots
• brown rice + sweet potatoes + carrots
• white potatoes
• tofu
  
• peas
• bananas
• apples
• melon
• mango
  
• squash (I have to admit, I gave it to K from the jar, only because I don't know what it looks like)

Next week we're starting asparagus, egg yolk, peaches, apricots, and some juices, too. I can't wait to see K's reaction.

Life After My Parents

1. Although we're very excited about our new place, we all really really miss my parents.
2. There is less homemade food at our place. When my parents were here, they took K for a walk every night so that I had enough time to cook up some dinner.
3. K developed a "stranger anxiety". We're not sure if it has anything to do with my parents' departure or with her age but she didn't have it when my parents were here and now she has a major melt down when people show interest in her.
4. K is not getting her walks. I try to go out with her as much as I can but will never catch up with what my parents did.
5. The trash is not taken out as often as it could; my dad did such a great job taking care of it.
6. Len is back at ironing his own shirts; my mom didn't let him do it for as long as she was here.

The Story of the Other Klaudia

Once in a while after coming back from the evening walk with K, my mom would talk about the other Klaudia at the playground. Supposedly, there was this other blond baby girl with big blue eyes coming to the playground with her mom or dad. And, according to my parents she looked just like Klaudia - again blond, blue eyes and chubby.

One evening when I joined my parents and K for the night out at the playground, my mom introduced me to Amber, the other Klaudia's mom. Sure enough K and her little friend Shiloh were the only blond kids there and surprisingly looked alike. Amber told me that random people come up to her and her daughter and say: "Hi Klaudia."

By the way, the reason why everyone knows K so well is because my dad told everyone her name. This is how he'd do it (I witnessed it myself - pretty cute!)
Whenever someone looked at my dad holding K, my dad would say:
Dad: Klaudia.
Stranger: Oh, her name is Klaudia. Hi Klaudia. So, (looking at my dad), where are you from?
Dad: (showing 6 fingers)
Stranger: Oh, she is 6 months old?
Dad: No speak English. Poland.
Stranger: You're from Poland. Welcome.

My dad would say his spiel to everyone (and I mean everyone) who simply glimpsed at K. That's how EVERYONE knows K's name, and how old she is, and where my parents are from.

Anyway, while talking to Amber, I found out that Shiloh, the girl who was many times mistakenly called Klaudia, was born on the exact same day as K was! Amazing because what are the odds?!

I'm so glad my parents helped me meet them.

The Water

Before introducing solids to K, I had not given her any water. I read that if the baby is only breastfed, the water is not needed since all the food the baby is getting is in a liquid form and the breast milk is all she needs. Also, giving her water could decrease the milk intake and that's not what we needed/wanted.

However with the introduction to solids, giving K the water was necessary to ensure a good digestion and the proper work of kidneys.

Since day 1, K was not crazy about water. I don't blame her, there is nothing to be crazy about, but somehow I had to make sure that she gets her proper water intake (up to 4oz. a day, at least 1 tablespoon after each feeding of solids). Each time I gave her a bottle of water, she was excited to take it thing it was mild, but once she tasted it, she'd spit it out fast and make a face as she was asked to drink bleach. I was happy with even that one sip.

Well, I'm excited to report that we've found the way to get K drink more water. Using a plastic bottle with a nipple (a regular feeding bottle), instead of waiting for K to suck on it, we squirt the water in her mouth. She absolutely loves it. She swallows all we squirt into her mouth and quickly opens it again waiting for more. We're all having fun with it.

And the Friendship Continues...

Before my parents left, they had introduced me to their park/playground friends. I got to meet the Asian lady, her son and his baby, the Indian lady with the broken stroller, the Polish neighbor and her son, the Indian guy with the dog who used to work in Austria, and the other Klaudia and her parents. I am still on a look out for another Polish lady who according to my parents also lives in the neighborhood but somehow our paths haven't crossed yet.

The day of my parents' departure, I took K to the playground the way my parents had done for the past 2.5 months. I was greeted by the Asian guy and his son (I apologize for the ethnic labeling but that's all my parents could do with knowing no English and the inability to ask for a name - I"ll be doing that part soon), the Indian guy from Austria, and the other Klaudia and her dad. I was so amazed to find everyone knowing Klaudia's name and knowing that my parents had departed that day. My mom had even gotten a "good bye" gift from the Indian lady right before they left. Plus, my dad had taken her address so that he and my mom could send her a card from Poland. I really hope to continue the friendships my parents had started.

The Moving Ordeal

Mid August...

We've been trying to move to a bigger place for a long time now. We were hoping to get something new in January this year when our lease was about to expire; however, the prices of bigger places almost doubled and with that went out our chances.

So, right before leaving for Tahoe, when we found out there was a bigger apartment available fro the price we're paying right now, we didn't think twice and signed the papers to start the moving process. At that time my parents were to stay with us for another 2 weeks, so we were hoping to move before they leave, so that they could help out with K.

Little did we know, our leasing management here at our apartment complex had other plans for us. Those plans were called RULES. One of them was that we would not be able to to move this month because of the 30-day notice rule. Since we signed the papers on August 2nd, we could change the apartments no earlier than September 2nd. It was disappointing, and a bit discouraging because without my parents being here, I couldn't imagine moving in one day (we'd be charged for 2 places for such long time as we take moving), so we were hoping to do it within 24 hours) and taking care of K at the same time. Secretly I kept thinking that if we talked to someone in the management and explained our situation, they'd understand and let us move in earlier (I am blond for a reason!). We never talked to the management face to face, it seems impossible to do so since they hired someone new there. Each time we spoke with our leasing agent, she'd say: "I've just spoken with my manager...", or "I was just on the phone with my boss's manager, and she basically said NO." She added that if they let us move in earlier, they'd have to do it for everyone else.

Anyway, after a couple of attempts to change their minds, moving in before September was out of the question. The leasing agent said NO, her boss said NO, and the boss's boss supposedly said NO. We decided to proceed with moving in September anyway since it really was a good deal. I even emailed the travel agency in Poland trying to find out if we could postpone my parents' departure for a month. They said they'd work on it.

This all was happening on the day before we left for our vacation in Tahoe. On Sunday right before we left, we got a word from our agent saying that there is a chance we could move earlier but she wouldn't know until that afternoon. She'd call us. She never did, so on Tuesday, I decided to check in what was going on. She claimed she had left a message but we never got it. Supposedly her message was that we could NOT move before September 2. However if we still wanted the new apartment, we were asked to come to the office right after Tahoe to sign more papers and claim the "special" since as of that day the prices went up $200 extra a month.

On Friday right after Tahoe, we signed some more papers. We again were told our move wouldn't be possible until next month. On Saturday on the other hand we received better news - we COULD move in the following day in the morning (my parents were leaving in 4 days - they could still help out!) Also, we were able to sign the lease for 12 months instead of 9, which just a week before was a big NO NO.

On Sunday, the following day, we got up early and started packing so that by the time the office opened half of our apartment was in boxes. When we went to pick up our key, we were told our new home was not finished yet, but would be in 2 hours. We waited - there were no more empty boxes left thus we couldn't continue packing.

2 hours later we were asked to come back at 5pm since they were short of maintenance people and our apartment was still not ready. Our sitting on boxes continued. We were all disappointed because getting the keys at 5 pm would give us only a few hours or work before the night came and Len was going to work the following day which would leave me and my dad only and I'm not too good at moving heavy furniture.

Well, the leasing management had more surprises for us. At 5 pm they told us to come and pick up the keys the following morning. And, that was a bummer because we had to organize the boxes so that we could make our apartment livable for the night - just extra unnecessary work.

On Monday, they did exactly the same thing as all day on Sunday - "come back in 10 minutes", "2 more hours", "5pm for sure." We finally got the keys at 5.30 pm on Monday. My parents left on Wednesday morning and we were moving until Wednesday afternoon.

We absolutely love our new home but had we known what we'd be put through, we wouldn't have moved. It was not fair to put my parents through this chaos right before their departure, although they were very happy to help. We're still partially in boxes but we have 2 weeks before I start school again. Hopefully this well be enough time to get settled here.

PS. The reason why they had us wait for so long for the keys was, as our leasing agent said, because they wanted us to move in to a perfectly clean and with no problems apartment. It sounds like a good reason. When we moved in (after having us live on boxes for 2 days)

1. the fridge and freezer didn't work; had to be replaced
2. shower didn't work
3. front door still needs a repair
4. the mailbox keys don't match our mailbox (we've been here for 8 days now and still don't have the right key)
5. the balcony screen doens't close all the way

Common people! Who is running this place?

This is the view from our new place:

Fun at Tahoe

1st week of August
Sunday

• Arrival. K is such a traveler; she slept through most of the trip.
• climbing the staircase for the very first time (the house we stayed in was wonderful; we had no clue about the monsterous stairs prior to our arrival)
• walking near the lake
• K slept through the night 8.30-6.30!!

Monday

• riding bikes and gondolas at N.orthStar
• lunch in North Tahoe
• playing cards in the evening (Polish game; Len won; beginner's luck)
• trying the preprepped solids for K for the very 1st time (we went with the organic Earth's Best sweet potato). K loved it.
  
• K's 2nd peaceful night

Tuesday

• trying luck at the local casinos
• shopping
• getting used the staircase
• trying to feed K the Earth's Best Winter Squash from a jar - a success!
• K woke up once for nursing

Wednesday

• Visiting the Emerald Bay
• lunch at Sunnyside
• K woke up once to nurse and a few other times but after getting a pacifier, she went back to sleep

Thursday

• Len's waterskiing with his school buddies
• H.arley D.avidson in Carson City for the rest of us
• trying out the new badmington set
• K - wide awake from 1-2am

Friday

• Time to head home to face the REALITY (* my parents are going back home in 5 days*we're moving to a bigger apartment*we're going back to work - Len in 3 days - Kate in 21)
  

Back in Business

Our computer is up and running again! This was the longest 3 weeks ever. Although our main means of communication was down, the saga of our family has continued. The next few blog entries will reflect what went on.