At a Dollar Store

A short conversation between a young mother of two and me.

Woman: You look so cute! How far along are you?
Kate: I'm not pregnant.

The rest of the conversation was about her apologizing for her gaffe and my explaining my belly.

Bad Diaper Rash

Our little Maya has had a bad diaper rash for a few days that got way out of control. I've tried different things, but it started looking painful, so we went to see the local pediatrician. It turns out it's a yeast infection.

Before we saw a doctor, a nurse checked Maya's measurements. Even though she had her diaper and pj's on, Maya weighed 9 lbs 4oz, and it looks like she grew an inch, too! We're seeing our primary doctor next week, so we'll get more accurate measurements then.

Heart Melting

Maya has been giving her first smiles away - so precious!!!

Breast is Best

On our way home one day, Klaudia kept saying: "Misiu milk" (misiu - a teddy bear in Polish). Without looking at her, I would ask: "Is misiu thirsty? Does he want milk?" K would say: "Yes". But when I finally turned around and looked at her sitting in her car seat, I saw K with her shirt lifted up 'breastfeeding' misiu.

Here she is nursing misiu again at home:

Back To Baby Food

For the last few weeks, maybe even months, K hasn't been eating any veggies. She loves her fruit (any kind) but will not put any sort of vegetable in her mouth. And, even though she doesn't look sick or anything, I worry. I worry weather she's getting enough vitamins. The doctor told me not to stress about it, but that was almost a year ago and she said to offer her broccolli, carrots, etc. I have, but again, K will not even try them.

I remembered the other day that K always liked the baby food. So, I bought some little jars full of organic veggies, and K has "inhaled" (that's how much she likes pureed stuff from the jars) some carrots and sweet peas. Hooray!

First Bottle

My goal is to breastfeed as long as I can. I did it with K for 1.5 years, and I'm hoping to do the same with M if not longer. This time I'm not using the wonderful/troublemaking nipple shield, and I'm very happy about it. It was awesome for sore nipples but what a hassle to use. It always had to be sterilized. Although I had a few of them, going on even small trips or feeding in public was simply difficult. The positive thing about it was that K had no problems with switching between the breast or bottlefeeding.

With Maya I'm hoping for the same thing. I'll be working soon two full days a week. I'll be pumping in between classes to keep the milk supply going. So last week, at two weeks of age, we tried the bottle for the very first time. Len did the honors of feeding her, and she had no problems - no problems drinking from the bottle and no problems switching back to breast!

Yeast Infection

Before going to the hospital, Len and I had made a decision not to take the antibiotics for the Strep Group B bacteria during labor. I was taking probiotics daily, so chances that I'd still have the bacteria during labor and that the baby would get it were very small.

It took just a few seconds though for the nurse to change our minds. She convinced us that the bacteria are deadly for the newborn. And that's how the chain started. I got the antibiotics; Maya got the yeast infection in her mouth (my milk took care of it though); Klaudia played with M's pacifier; K got the infection.

So, last Friday I went out with both girls all by myself for the very first time. We went to see the local pediatrician who prescribed some medication for K that has already helped her infection since. The trip went very well - Maya did sleep through the whole thing which was very helpful. We saw the same doctor who in my opinion wrongfully prescribed the antibiotics to K last time. This time the appointment went much better - although he kept calling K a "he" instead of a "she".

So Grateful!

Maya will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. She's been here for only 3 weeks, but it feels like she's been with us forever. We're all doing very well, and it's all thanks to our friends and neighbors.

When we came back from the hospital, I was in a lot of pain because of the spinal fluid puncture I experienced while getting an epidural (details to follow - I'm still working on the birth story and will post it as soon as I'm done). Our friends and neighbors organized meals for us every night for over a week. K's friend Olivia, her mom Emily and sister Luna would come over to play with K while I could lay down and rest (THANK YOU EMILY!).

This all made our first 3 weeks bearable and so much more enjoyable. Not having to worry what to cook and when to cook made such a huge difference. Thank you dear friends from the bottom of our hearts!