Beco Carrier (similar to an Ergo, but has a built in infant insert and safety panel) $90
Robeez slippers ($5)
Peg Perego travel stroller ($200)
I think this could get addictive!
Lilypie tickers
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Swap N' Shopper
I'm getting to be a shopper! A Swap N' Shopper that is. I've never been a shopper, or keen on malls, but this online second hand shopping bug has bitten and taken hold. I can browse new listings on my mobile while breastfeeding. Here's my latest purchases:
Beco Carrier (similar to an Ergo, but has a built in infant insert and safety panel) $90
Beco Carrier (similar to an Ergo, but has a built in infant insert and safety panel) $90
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
F Cup
I had a woman come to my house to do a nursing bra fitting recently. I've been wearing these nursing tank tops for the first few weeks and while they are comfortable enough, they don't provide much support.
So, as it turns out I am now an F cup! Yes 36 F. I used to be a nice B cup before I was pregnant, then went to a C & D during the pregnancy. Wowsers!
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Final OB Appointment
I saw my Obstetrician yesterday for my 6 week follow up. This was another fond farewell visit.
It looks like all is well downstairs. My stitches have healed nicely, cervix is closed and uterus has shrunk back down to its normal size. I got the official go-ahead to resume all "activities". So DH will be happy about that one. It also means I can get back to exercising again and work off some of the pregnancy & fertility med pudge. Onward and upward.
It looks like all is well downstairs. My stitches have healed nicely, cervix is closed and uterus has shrunk back down to its normal size. I got the official go-ahead to resume all "activities". So DH will be happy about that one. It also means I can get back to exercising again and work off some of the pregnancy & fertility med pudge. Onward and upward.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Visit to VFC
Last week we made an appointment to go to the fertility clinic. Nope, not for ourselves, for the baby. Our clinic encourages bringing the fruits of their labours in. They have a special time reserved each week when there are no patients there.
Anika charmed them all with her chubby cheeked smiles. They nicknamed her the "little egg that did". My RE had time for a quick cuddle too. They all remarked at how perfect and cute she was -of course they only transfer perfect, cute embryos, so what do they expect?
When the subject of having a second child came up, we told them that our plan is not to pursue any further treatment. We will not use birth control, and if we managed to get a natural surprise we would not be disappointed in the least. My RE was a bit taken aback (almost offended) by this. I guess he assumed that we'd be back at it again as soon as possible? Honestly, that is not a chapter of my life I would like to repeat. Emotionally it was such a roller coaster. There were all the procedures, the surgeries, the heartbreaking bad news, so many tears. No thanks. We feel so incredibly lucky to have Anika in our lives and are very happy just as a family of 3. My ovarian reserve was the pits at 32/33. I only yielded 2 eggs on my best attempt at IVF. The odds were not stacked in our favour, but we got the happy ending that many people don't. I love breastfeeding and plan to continue for at least this year while I'm off work, and by the time I'm ready to fully wean, I'll be over 35. There is the financial factor as well. We are so content to let that rest, and move on with raising a happy healthy daughter.
For us it was a fond farewell and opportunity to express our gratitude to the people that made it all happen. We brought them a framed print of my husband's photography as a parting gift. Something to brighten up the clinic a bit for future patients. I don't think they've found a spot to hang it just yet, but I really hope they put it in the small exam room. There is a poster of the life cycle of the ovary there that I spent way too many hours staring at (remember we had 32 visits to the clinic). I think this print would make a lovely replacement for that.
Anika charmed them all with her chubby cheeked smiles. They nicknamed her the "little egg that did". My RE had time for a quick cuddle too. They all remarked at how perfect and cute she was -of course they only transfer perfect, cute embryos, so what do they expect?
When the subject of having a second child came up, we told them that our plan is not to pursue any further treatment. We will not use birth control, and if we managed to get a natural surprise we would not be disappointed in the least. My RE was a bit taken aback (almost offended) by this. I guess he assumed that we'd be back at it again as soon as possible? Honestly, that is not a chapter of my life I would like to repeat. Emotionally it was such a roller coaster. There were all the procedures, the surgeries, the heartbreaking bad news, so many tears. No thanks. We feel so incredibly lucky to have Anika in our lives and are very happy just as a family of 3. My ovarian reserve was the pits at 32/33. I only yielded 2 eggs on my best attempt at IVF. The odds were not stacked in our favour, but we got the happy ending that many people don't. I love breastfeeding and plan to continue for at least this year while I'm off work, and by the time I'm ready to fully wean, I'll be over 35. There is the financial factor as well. We are so content to let that rest, and move on with raising a happy healthy daughter.
For us it was a fond farewell and opportunity to express our gratitude to the people that made it all happen. We brought them a framed print of my husband's photography as a parting gift. Something to brighten up the clinic a bit for future patients. I don't think they've found a spot to hang it just yet, but I really hope they put it in the small exam room. There is a poster of the life cycle of the ovary there that I spent way too many hours staring at (remember we had 32 visits to the clinic). I think this print would make a lovely replacement for that.
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Passport
Wow, it feels like forever since I last blogged. I think it's been just over a week. There is so much to write about, where do I begin? This might be long.
Well, I'll start where I left off. The thrush. I think it is gone after two weeks on the medications. Lets hope it never comes back.
My father in law was out to visit for 6 days. This was night and day different from my MIL's visit. My kitchen and floors have never been cleaner. Still, it's always busy trying to pack in so many things during his stay. Now that I have no visitors in the house, there is some time for other things. Its nice to have some time to myself with the baby.
Anika is now 6 weeks old and has had some 3 hour stretches of sleep at night this week. This seems dreamy compared with what she had before. OMG, when she gets to 4 hours it will feel like nearly a full night's rest. She's plumped right up. I don't know her exact weight, but the rolls on her thighs tell it all. This is a thriving baby, there is no mistaking it.
DH and I have long talked of traveling in Europe. We decided that if our baby wasn't a fussy variety, we'd take the opportunity to travel while I had the time off work and she is at a good age for porting around.We started a savings account (for something other than fertility meds) and low and behold with that combined with the tax return from the medical expenses, we had enough to book our flights.
We took a trip to Victoria the other day to get her a passport. Silly really that a young infant needs her own passport, but they do. The form was fairly simple, but the photo requirements are very strict. No smiling, mouth must be closed, eyes open, and expression neutral. The face must be square on with no shadows and nothing visible behind the baby's head. Have they ever tried to achieve this with a newborn? It took us three sessions and several different attempts. We went with the bottom right one.
Well, I'll start where I left off. The thrush. I think it is gone after two weeks on the medications. Lets hope it never comes back.
My father in law was out to visit for 6 days. This was night and day different from my MIL's visit. My kitchen and floors have never been cleaner. Still, it's always busy trying to pack in so many things during his stay. Now that I have no visitors in the house, there is some time for other things. Its nice to have some time to myself with the baby.
Anika is now 6 weeks old and has had some 3 hour stretches of sleep at night this week. This seems dreamy compared with what she had before. OMG, when she gets to 4 hours it will feel like nearly a full night's rest. She's plumped right up. I don't know her exact weight, but the rolls on her thighs tell it all. This is a thriving baby, there is no mistaking it.
DH and I have long talked of traveling in Europe. We decided that if our baby wasn't a fussy variety, we'd take the opportunity to travel while I had the time off work and she is at a good age for porting around.We started a savings account (for something other than fertility meds) and low and behold with that combined with the tax return from the medical expenses, we had enough to book our flights.
We took a trip to Victoria the other day to get her a passport. Silly really that a young infant needs her own passport, but they do. The form was fairly simple, but the photo requirements are very strict. No smiling, mouth must be closed, eyes open, and expression neutral. The face must be square on with no shadows and nothing visible behind the baby's head. Have they ever tried to achieve this with a newborn? It took us three sessions and several different attempts. We went with the bottom right one.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Thrush Chronicles Chapter 2
Well, the carpet tongue is still sticking around despite 4 rounds of purple dye. I also began feeling more pain in my nipples and breasts rather than less. At today's doctor's appointment he prescribed Nystatin solution for her and the All Purpose Nipple Ointment (antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antibiotic) for me. Let's hope this does the trick.
At least we don't have to do any more violet treatments. Yesterday at one of the stores a man was obviously quite concerned my baby wasn't getting enough oxygen or something because he came up to me and said in quite a panicked tone "excuse me ma'am do you know your baby's lips are blue?" LOL!
On a brighter note, Anika is in fine form health wise. She tipped the scales into the double digits today weighing in at 10 lbs 3 oz. All systems are in check and running like a well oiled machine. Back in 1 month.
At least we don't have to do any more violet treatments. Yesterday at one of the stores a man was obviously quite concerned my baby wasn't getting enough oxygen or something because he came up to me and said in quite a panicked tone "excuse me ma'am do you know your baby's lips are blue?" LOL!
On a brighter note, Anika is in fine form health wise. She tipped the scales into the double digits today weighing in at 10 lbs 3 oz. All systems are in check and running like a well oiled machine. Back in 1 month.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Thrush Chronicles
We've been battling the thrush monster at our house for the past 3 weeks. My doctor noticed that Anika's tongue was a bit white at her one week check up. We thought it was just milk residue but he told us it was likely a mild thrush or yeast overgrowth in the mouth common in young babies. He advised not to do anything unless it was interfering with breastfeeding. He gave us a prescription just in case.
10 days later I began to get itchy nipples. I dropped into the breastfeeding centre at the public health unit and the nurse gave us an information handout about treating thrush. It outlined four possible treatment regimes. We decided to start with the least invasive one -antifungal cream applied to my nipple before and after every feed. It sounds simple enough until you start counting the number of feeds in a day for a newborn. We were quite diligent with the cream and missed only the odd feed on the fly when we were out. I also started washing all the clothing and towels in hot water and using vinegar on the ones that could only be done in cold. I also cut out most sugar from my diet and started taking grapefruit seed extract capsules. The only recommendation I was not able to follow through on was exposing my nipples to the sunlight -a little hard in January on the west coast.
After a whole week of that, the thrush just got worse. Anika's tongue looked like it had a carpet on top and my breasts and nipples were now quite painful. On to step 2, I guess. I consulted the pharmacist and she advised trying gentian violet next as did the leaflet provided by public health. Everyone warned us it is messy stuff and stains everything in sight purple. They did not lie!
Armed with that knowledge we decided to apply the purple potion in the bathtub with both of us unclothed. We searched the house for dark coloured towels -preferably navy blue, and got some baby clothes from the bottom of the pile that I made sure were not loaners. I got in the tub and filled it with a little bit of warm water. DH undressed the baby. I soaked a Q tip with the violet and DH swabbed her mouth with the medicine. Well, the aim was her mouth at least. Of course babies don't like having medicine, so she wiggled and fussed, and meanwhile purple stain was going all over the baby and all over the bathroom. By the third try she had figured out that if she pursed her lips it would be impossible for us to get the Q tip inside her mouth. The only way to get that mouth open was to make her wail. Heartbreaking. After managing to get her tongue and mouth covered, it was my job to put her to my breast. She was so upset it took a while to get her to latch and in the process purple was going everywhere. The baby`s face now had a big round bright purple mug like something out of a horror movie. I was also now painted from top to bottom on one side of my torso with purple splotches.
After she did settle in for the feed I heard the sound of baby fart and felt a warm gush on my leg. I knew it, she had pooped into the bath water. Not only were we both covered in purple die, we were now also sporting a lovely mustard yellow to complement it. After a rinse, we dressed her in the old sleeper and settled her down to bed with old blankets lining the bassinet to catch the royal drool. Treatment day one was complete.They recommend 4-7 days of this... sigh...
The second day we did a little more reading up and one suggestion was to coat her cheeks in Vaseline before the treatment so that only the inside of her mouth and lips would get stained. Good idea. We did the same procedure again with the added Vaseline, and viola, far less mess. Unfortunately DH decided to wash the Vaseline off her face and she got a purple face again from the very next feed. I also placed a hand towel over my lap to catch any poopies.
By the third day we were smarter with the application of the Vaseline, but she had also gotten smarter too and clamped down on the Q-tip as it entered her mouth. That meant more crying for both baby and mommy. We`ve now started using all white clothing that can be bleached later. The progress so far -my nipples are less itchy but her tongue is still white (well, white that`s been stained light purple!)
Tomorrow we follow up with the doctor. Hmmm... what will we try next.
10 days later I began to get itchy nipples. I dropped into the breastfeeding centre at the public health unit and the nurse gave us an information handout about treating thrush. It outlined four possible treatment regimes. We decided to start with the least invasive one -antifungal cream applied to my nipple before and after every feed. It sounds simple enough until you start counting the number of feeds in a day for a newborn. We were quite diligent with the cream and missed only the odd feed on the fly when we were out. I also started washing all the clothing and towels in hot water and using vinegar on the ones that could only be done in cold. I also cut out most sugar from my diet and started taking grapefruit seed extract capsules. The only recommendation I was not able to follow through on was exposing my nipples to the sunlight -a little hard in January on the west coast.
After a whole week of that, the thrush just got worse. Anika's tongue looked like it had a carpet on top and my breasts and nipples were now quite painful. On to step 2, I guess. I consulted the pharmacist and she advised trying gentian violet next as did the leaflet provided by public health. Everyone warned us it is messy stuff and stains everything in sight purple. They did not lie!
Armed with that knowledge we decided to apply the purple potion in the bathtub with both of us unclothed. We searched the house for dark coloured towels -preferably navy blue, and got some baby clothes from the bottom of the pile that I made sure were not loaners. I got in the tub and filled it with a little bit of warm water. DH undressed the baby. I soaked a Q tip with the violet and DH swabbed her mouth with the medicine. Well, the aim was her mouth at least. Of course babies don't like having medicine, so she wiggled and fussed, and meanwhile purple stain was going all over the baby and all over the bathroom. By the third try she had figured out that if she pursed her lips it would be impossible for us to get the Q tip inside her mouth. The only way to get that mouth open was to make her wail. Heartbreaking. After managing to get her tongue and mouth covered, it was my job to put her to my breast. She was so upset it took a while to get her to latch and in the process purple was going everywhere. The baby`s face now had a big round bright purple mug like something out of a horror movie. I was also now painted from top to bottom on one side of my torso with purple splotches.
After she did settle in for the feed I heard the sound of baby fart and felt a warm gush on my leg. I knew it, she had pooped into the bath water. Not only were we both covered in purple die, we were now also sporting a lovely mustard yellow to complement it. After a rinse, we dressed her in the old sleeper and settled her down to bed with old blankets lining the bassinet to catch the royal drool. Treatment day one was complete.They recommend 4-7 days of this... sigh...
The second day we did a little more reading up and one suggestion was to coat her cheeks in Vaseline before the treatment so that only the inside of her mouth and lips would get stained. Good idea. We did the same procedure again with the added Vaseline, and viola, far less mess. Unfortunately DH decided to wash the Vaseline off her face and she got a purple face again from the very next feed. I also placed a hand towel over my lap to catch any poopies.
By the third day we were smarter with the application of the Vaseline, but she had also gotten smarter too and clamped down on the Q-tip as it entered her mouth. That meant more crying for both baby and mommy. We`ve now started using all white clothing that can be bleached later. The progress so far -my nipples are less itchy but her tongue is still white (well, white that`s been stained light purple!)
Tomorrow we follow up with the doctor. Hmmm... what will we try next.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)