Pumpin Mamma!

Some of you may know and some of you may not, but I have been feeding Will breast milk. I attempted to breast feed but since he is a little monster, he eats a lot. I would nurse him for 40-50 minutes and he would still want another 2-4 ounces. I would then have to pump after in order to give him the 2-4 ounces. I just figured that it was better time spent just pumping and feeding him a bottle. Knowing that breast milk is the best for a baby really isn’t my main motivation for trying so hard to breast feed, the cost of formula is. In my short 2 ½ months of exclusive pumping I have learned a lot about breast feeding. I would love to share those things with you in case you know someone who is having trouble breast feeding or pumping or just wants some advice.

One thing I have learned is that it takes a great deal of work to make milk! Drinking a gallon of water a day is a bit hard. This and rest is the best way to keep your milk supply up. Here are other tips to increase your supply:

If you are more like me and not blessed to be a “cow” then there are natural and safe herbs to take. Fenugreek is an herb that was recommended to me by my doctor so it is so very safe. (This increased my supply by about 2-3 ounces a day.) There is a tea that is called Mother’s Milk Tea. I have yet to do this as it takes 3-5 cups a day to work, but I do have a box at home I plan on using. More Milk Plus or More Milk Special Blend is a mixture of herbs that is recommended by many lactation consultants but not known by too many. (I have just started taking this and so far has increased my supply by yet another 3-5 ounces a day.) If none of this works for you, there are certain prescriptions that increase milk supply.

Eat- this sucks because now you are trying to lose that baby weight but it takes an extra 700 calories a day to produce milk! Can you believe that? 700 calories!

If you are nursing alone, keep baby there eating. He/she has to completely drain you for your body to trigger the hormone that produces more milk. Have the baby eat from both sides as well. If you are like my sisters and I, keep pumping. At least five minutes after you get the last drop of milk, this will do the same thing as having the baby nurse. As funny as it sounds but then do hand expressions. If I do this after I am done pumping, I can get yet another ounce! That is a lot if you don’t get much to begin with.

Cabbage leaves help with mastitis and when you are done breast feeding for engorgement.

Tips for exclusive pumpers:

If you are pumping alone, pump 10-12 times a day for the first few weeks/ months. Your milk supply will be established at 12 weeks post partum.

Olive oil your horns. It causes less friction which is awesome!

Pumping while baby is sleeping does not last long! So, you have to figure out how to entertain your baby while pumping. Somehow you can feed your baby while you pump. I haven’t figured this out yet as it is a challenge to burp Will because he is so strong that I can’t burp him sitting up, he has to be on my shoulder. I sit Will up like a big boy on our chair as I sit on the ottoman with books and toys on the chair so he has my full attention. Some women pump on the floor with their little one lying down with toys all around. When Will becomes mobile I plan on putting him in the pack and play with a bunch of toys in the living room.

You can refrigerate your pump parts so that you don’t have to wash them every time. I do but with middle of the night pumps it would be nice to just go back to bed instead of washing parts.

Massaging your breasts while pumping will get the milk out faster and more efficiently.

Rotate your freezer stash, in standard freezer it is good for 3-6 months and in a deep freezer it is good for 6-12 months.

Power pumping increases milk supply. What is this? Watch an hour long show and pump during commercials. I’m not sure why it does just that it does, or at least I have read that it does.

Apparently pumping sometime in the middle of the night (between 1 and 5) interrupts your deep sleep which releases a different hormone to produce more milk.

There are more tips and advice on pumping and storing milk that I could list but this post would be an epic post. I do hope that this will help someone who is struggling with this. If you do have another question and you know me, just ask, if you don’t know me then look it up on the net. There is so much information out there that it is sad for women who desperately want to breast feed but cant for a number of reasons. This was something that I have wanted for the cost more than anything. I will leave you with one more piece of advice:

It IS okay to cry over spilt milk!

Crazy Life.

It has taken quite a long time for me to get back to feeling normal. As nine weeks few by I am finally feeling better. Ever since our little monster was born I have loved looking at the big guy just wondering what life will bring for him. Will he follow his Dad’s dream for him to be a farmer or will he decide to go to college to do something amazing. I know that we will think that whatever he does is amazing but will he save lives, teach children, build buildings, or anything else that takes a college degree? I love thinking about Will’s future. Who will he marry? How many children will he have? Most importantly, will he be happy? These are the questions that I think about when I look at him. As I do so, it makes me think about Dennis and my past and how we met. Just the other day, Mark (Dennis’s Dad) said something about the wedding dance that brought Dennis and I together. Who knew that going to that wedding dance that night would bring the fate of Will and all the other future children we may have?

It’s funny how things work out in life. Knowing that day that it was that cute blondie from Baileyville’s sister’s wedding, I did want to go. Not for any other reason but to maybe catch a glimpse of this cutie again. Now, five years later we have a son together, three years of almost all blissful marriage, and countless other blessings. I say almost because we are human and like every marriage have had our ups and downs. The saying that goes “The first year is the hardest” I believe holds true. He may get on my nerves some but I know that I get on his and he is so good to me. He has helped me out in so many areas of life. I guess what I am getting at is how life has panned out for us is just interesting. Do you ever sit and wonder how things would have turned out if you hadn’t done something. I wonder, had we not gone to that wedding dance that night for any of a number of reasons, would we have gotten together and started dating? I thank God every day for what He has given me and the people that he has put in my life. I say many times that I am truly blessed for the people that around me. I tell Will that he has no idea how many people love him. He was told that before he was even born.

I am rambling on at how amazing life is but I guess what I want to get across is that I will always wonder if Will, will find someone as amazing as I have. If she will support him in ways that Dennis has supported me. Will she make him grow up in some areas and teach him to always be a kid at heart? Even though Dennis really doesn’t even know that I write this blog I just want to thank him for putting up with me. I know some of you may think I have to put up with him but I do my fair share of complaining and whining. So, for the five years of togetherness, I thank you Dennis, for loving me, for being my husband, and for giving me our son.

William Leroy Deters!

As you have probably noticed I have not blogged for quite some time and you have probably put two and two together to come up with the fact that we had our baby boy!

William Leroy Deters was born at 11:31 AM on March 15th. He weighed a whopping 9 lb. 5 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long. I guess mothers instincts are right, I knew he was more than 9 pounds! There is so much I would love to share about how amazing he is!

He is named after two of his great grandpa's. William Buessing is Dennis's grandpa who passed away shortly before Will was born. He is the one who guessed that he was a boy (at a time when he could barley say yes or no said that we would have a boy.) Leroy is of course my grandpa. Both Grandpa's have been very hard working men and have a heart of gold. This is part of the reason why we wanted to name him after them. Dennis had said once that if Will turns out to be half the man that either one have been that he would one proud father. Of course there are so many other men in our lives that we would be proud to name our children after but it just happens to be that William Leroy is named after the two Grandpa's that we are not named after. As I am named after Gene (Jean) and Dennis is named after Lawrence, our other Grandpas.

As for a quick story of the day he was born, we went in on Sunday night (the 14th) to be induced. We started the induction slowly by just starting Cytotec (spelling not quite sure on) and we had anticipated on sleeping some that night. We were wrong. My water broke at 12:45 AM and then came back labor. If anyone is interested in knowing, back labor sucks! Dennis and I were then up trying to find a comfortable position for the rest of the night. I started begging for an epidural at 3:30. With no luck of getting one, I just was trying to find the best position to get pain off of my back. The only way that was not to bad didn't work because the water had miconium (sp?) in it they had to watch Will's heart rate the entire time and in this position the monitor would slide off of my belly. Fast forward to 6:45 when I finally got the epidural I had been begging for, we were suddenly in heaven! Dennis and I were able to catch cat naps up until it was time to start pushing. We were so out of it at times that we would both wake up to having 3 people standing around me looking at the monitor. At 10:30ish I had made it to 10 cm and started the hard work. Next time that we have a child, I will make sure that they do NOT turn the epidural off until the baby is out, NOT when it is time to get the baby out! 20 minutes after it was time to start pushing I started to feel things. 11:31 Will came into this world with me feeling it all... So, note to all you women, one word, EPIDURAL!

We ended up staying two nights in the hospital after that. It was full of visitors, nursing, and sleeping. Since we have gotten home, Will has made his eating times from 2 hours to only 3! He is quite the little piglet. He will nurse for an hour and still want fed another 2-4 oz. after. Because of this, I have practically given up nursing and only pumped. This is good because I know how much he is getting and it takes half the time to feed him.

At his 4 week check up, he weighed 11 lb. 8 oz. and was 22 inches. We are very excited to see what he will weigh at his 8 week check up. He is just an amazing little baby. The day he was born he was able to lift his head and look at you. He has done nothing but amaze me at how strong he is. At 5 weeks, he was able to stand on your lap if you hold him steady. He has also out grown most of his 0-3 month clothes. Nikki thinks that I think my son is a prodigy. She isnt too far from the truth but what parent doesnt think that about their children?

Now at 6 weeks, I am back to work, still recovering, and we are loving every minute with Will. Even when he is screaming his head off and I am pulling my hair out, I still love it. Dennis was fantastic the first few weeks we were home. He got up and changed Will's diaper while I got ready to nurse him. When he went back to work I didnt worry about waking him up. Now he is back getting up with me to feed him while I pump to make more food for our big guy. (Of course he is still amazing with him!) I will post pictures as soon as I get the CD from our newborn pictures.

5 DAYS...

Until due date....

Yep, that's about the update I can give. There was a little change this week. He did drop and I was dilated just a little, not even one centimeter. She then wanted to check one more time on Friday since she is on call this weekend and may strip membranes. In order for her to do this though I have to be dilated more. That is the update that I have for this week. Hopefully next week, I will be able to post a picture of a beautiful baby boy!

11 Days to go!

Yesterday's appointment was pretty uneventful. There wasn't much change except in my weight :( But Doctor Glynn said she is leaning towards inducing me on the 15th if we haven't had him yet. Next Tuesday we will go over what we will do for sure. She wants to see the baby a little further down and would love to see a little dilation going on before she would 100% induce on the 15th. Either way, we are so ready to have this little boy. He has been kicking and punching me like crazy. I keep saying that I have the next Ultimate Fighter in me! Anyway, here's to the last full week of being preggers!

Oh ya, work has been sucking! I am so tiered and just want to be home. I cant take any time off until the baby gets here though because it is a short month and will not have my hours that I need even using sick time for the days that I have used! So, I am hoping that the next couple of work days goes fast!!!

18 Days to go!!!

Well, the doctor's appointment went well. Not a whole lot more to say. I am not dialated any, not that I thought I would be but sure did hope she would say so. There is a little progress being made but not much. Not enough that she would definetly induce on the 15th. She said we will just have to wait and see how things progress by the next time that she checks me to see if that could be a possibility or not. So, in the mean time, I will do my best to make progress by doing some of those 'old wives tales'!

Jaelynn Rene 2/15/10!!!

*The AMAZING crib that Dennis made!!

I will update you all a little earlier this time, as I probably will every time until this little guy makes his big entrance! At the doctor’s appointment on Tuesday she really didn’t say much just that if he can stay in until Sunday then she will deliver us in Sabetha. 37 weeks is the cut off for being transferred to Topeka as a Just-in-case. Now that it is Friday I keep telling myself only a few more days, then he can come out!!! I know he loves me but punching my pelvic area and bladder is not the best way to say “I love you Mom”. In fact, I would say the opposite but, none the less, he is growing rapidly and healthy. (I do like him letting me know he is okay though)

Monday, Lacy and Jere had some great news! They had a baby girl, Jaelynn Rene Engelken. She weighed 6 lbs 5 oz. and is very healthy and doing great. All three are now home and hopefully getting the rest that is needed. She is very beautiful but who would have thought anything differently with those two as parents! I now want this little boy out even more so to meet everyone and his new little girlfriend. ; ) This summer will be very fun having the two little ones camping with us. I look forward to all the fun times we will have!