Checking In

I feel like it has been forever since I have had an update on Reagan. Time just slips away because I now have an 8 month old, like seriously!

She has learned to pull herself up onto everything! The sitter said on Friday she came back to her standing up in the crib just smiling away. Reagan has added her fingerprints to the collection on the back door at the sitters as well. After seeing her standing up in her own crib we lowered it way down so now when she stands up in it she can't topple over.

We are babbling, talking and yelling and sometimes all at once. Baba is the favorite word followed by Mama (not being biased at all!). I still have not heard Dada (Matt says he has) though so I just told him we know who the favorite is!

We have 4 teeth coming in all at once. Poor girl has been a champ through it. There are times when she is fussier and doesn't know whether she wants held or to be left alone. At those times it is best to give her a cold chew toy, lambie (her favorite blanket), binks and put her in her crib.

She will take a few assisted steps but nothing major yet. Getting anything done around the house with her crawling everywhere is darn near impossible. When I am trying to get things done she spends time in baby jail (aka the play pen). She also manages to find everything that the sweeper or swiffer has missed and feels that it needs to go into her mouth.

She understands the word No but doesn't always like to abide by it. The first time you say no she smiles, the second time she giggles and by the 3rd time I have moved her away from the object and usually a tantrum ensues. Lord help me when her terrible 2's come along.

Hey new friend!

After swimming bottle with Aunt Nikki

Blueberries-1 Brutus-0

Um Mom please let me out

Calling All Ladies!!!

Because I have been feeling so awesome since starting on advocare I decided to do another 24 day challenge. I'm inviting all of you (if you want of course) to join me.

All you have to do is order by tomorrow to get your product and we are starting on the 3rd. If you click on the tab at the top that says My Advocare Site then click on shop. The 24 day challenge button is at the bottom.

If you are still nursing, shoot me an e-mail at mefredritz at gmail dot com and I can help you order the correct products.

Hopefully some of you decide to join me!

Feeding a Baby-Working Mama Style

**This is my post for the PAIL Bloggers monthly theme. 

The theme for August is Feeding Your Child**

There is a country song that has a line in it, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plan," and at first I never paid attention to that line but as time has gone on, it really hits home. I had a plan when it came to feeding my child, yet like so many other things (our journey to get pregnant!) it didn't work out how I wanted it too...

Even before I was pregnant, actually before I ever thought of becoming pregnant I knew that I was going to breastfeed and my hope and goal was to breastfeed exclusively. I would like to tell you that I did a ton of research on the benefits of breastfeeding for mom and baby but I didn't. My knowledge of breast is best came from something I knew about, my cows. When our cows calve we prefer to leave the babies with the mama's for at least 6 months because it is better for the calf and helps the mama breed back easier. In my eyes this was enough of a reason to know that I was going to breastfeed. Then as my pregnancy continued I learned of other benefits of breastfeeding, weight loss, quicker healing, cost, etc. Again, enough of a reason for me. 

The first bump in my breastfeeding road came when we had an unplanned c-section. Everything went smooth but I didn't get that immediate skin to skin like I had wanted. However, it didn't seem to bother Reagan since she had no issues latching. This made me excited, made me think that this breastfeeding thing was going to be a breeze! Then the jaundice issue arrived. Her pediatrician called it breastfeeding jaundice and suggested that we give her some formula. Not news to tell a new first time mama who had post partum hormones running rampant! Thankfully I was keeping her satisfied and she hardly took any formula. The only other hiccup we had was that she would not nurse underneath a blanket or nursing cover which made it difficult with all the doctor appointments so Reagan learned to switch back and forth from a bottle to breast with no issues. Again, we knew we were so lucky! 

Then I went back to work at 7 1/2 weeks and that is where the issues started. This is also the point that I wish I would have done some research on pumping and storing. As I went back to work my actual nursing sessions became less and less frequent and my supply fell off. I tried everything, oatmeal, mothers milk tea, power pumping, beer and nothing would make a lasting difference. I had told myself that if I had to supplement I would and I wouldn't get upset about it when I started shopping at the formula section of Wal-Mart. However, there was a piece of me that felt like I failed. I know there are tons of working moms who are able to exclusively pump/nurse and I would compare myself to them. I felt like well if they could why couldn't I? I even felt that green eyed jealousy monster towards the moms who were able to stay home longer with their new babes. Not right but I swear once you have been pregnant your hormones are never the same! Then after awhile I let it go, knew I was doing the best thing for Reagan but every once in awhile I will see someone talking about breastfeeding exclusively and it still stings.

Then we started on foods and I have been making her food for her, nothing fancy by any means. However, it does save money and it makes me feel like a good mom. The only things that I have been buying have been the gerber puff and yogurt melts but as soon as I get some time and a recipe I will be making those myself.

I'm still pumping but it is getting to the point I should hang it up. It takes me 3 days or so to get 6 oz so she isn't even getting a bottle a day anymore. I knew this day would come I just wish it would have came on my terms. Once again, I had a plan of nursing/supplementing till she was a year old and it just isn't going to happen. This move may be just as hard as moving Reagan to her crib from our room a few months ago. Pumping, no matter how little made me feel like I was doing something good, I was being a good mom. I also feel that if I quit pumping that I was just that, a quitter. I know crazy right!? So I tell myself, when the bag of storage bags is gone I'm done pumping...but we shall see.

Being a working mama and trying to breastfeed is hard but it is just as hard to be a mom and breastfeed period! Through all this though as long as baby is healthy, happy and growing then I'm doing my job just like every other mom.

Echocardiogram

Yesterday we had Reagan's echo done. It was nothing invasive and took about a half hour-45 minutes. However, keeping a 7 month old on her back and entertained for that long is no easy task. Especially a little girl who does not like to lay on her back anymore and would rather sit up! Now we wait for a call from the doctor and if all is good we go back in 2 years.

Other exciting news, Reagan is officially mobile. I'm hoping to catch her crawling on video because it is quite comical. Although you can tell she she wants to get up and walk. She can pull herself halfway up on you when you are sitting or she grabs onto your pants. All this growing up makes me sad but so excited to see what she learns next. She also says mama and dada ahh melt my heart!!

We are going camping tonight through Sunday just a quick getaway nothing exciting. However, I will finally get the chance to go check out the amish that live around there! Plus there are some cool looking antique shops which I've always wanted to go look at.

Cardiology Appointment

Yesterday we saw the pediatric cardiologist for Reagan and her heart murmur. To say this mama was scared would have been a huge understatement. This appointment has been on my calender since her 2 month check-up 5 months ago (umm how is my child already 7 months old?). I really had no idea what was going to happen at this appointment, what tests if any would be run, how long it would last etc etc. The nurse called me Monday to inform me that they would be taking blood pressure from both arms and legs, an ekg and her pulsocs (?)  plus get her weight and height. She said that most babies end up having a few meltdowns when one or all of these thing occur so I needed to bring her favorite toy, a bottle and pacifier. Cue another moment of sheer panic. I did try to keep reminding myself that if her pediatrician thought there was a big issue we wouldn't have waited the 5 months and she would be such a growing girl.

We arrived to the hospital and went up to our appointment which was on the 2nd floor where L & D is and that made a little nostalgic! We were quickly taken back to our room where we got her completely naked and of course with my child she peed all over the bed! She was so happy though to be naked because here lately putting clothes on her has become a struggle! She weighs 18lbs and is 28 inches long. So in a month she has put on 10oz and grew and inch and a half. Then we had to do the blood pressure which started out fine but then the machine didn't want to read so we had to redo a couple and she was not a fan. The EKG was next and to see all those wires and such on your baby was just too much for me. I'm still surprised that I was able to keep it together.

The cardiologist came in and went over a bunch of stuff like what a murmur is, abnormal versus normal, her history, our history etc etc. Then he listened to her chest which she wanted nothing of anymore. She was tired of laying on the table and she just wanted me to hold her.

Turns out that baby girl actually has 2 heart murmurs. One is softer and I for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it but it is the kind that is gone by the time she is 2. The other one is called an innocent murmur. These kind have no bearing on anything and it is just something she will always have. We are doing an echo cardiogram (?) on Tuesday just to ensure that it is what he believes it to be. He will call us after we do that and talk to us. As long as that is good we don't have to go back and see him for 2 years. Phew, this mama can now breathe a lot easier knowing that Reagan is just fine.

Her First Fair...

We survived the fair! Taking Reagan out of her routine for 7 days straight made me a tad nervous especially since she has been teething (although we don't have any yet!). However, Reagan took it like a champ! She kept her same sleep schedule, loved all the stroller rides, loved all the sights and sounds and loved being around all the people who absolutely adored her. She was quite the attraction and a lot of people remember her from being the first baby of the new year. While I did have a lot of work to do we got some great family time in. Usually every night we would walk around just the 3 of us and call me crazy but I have always wanted to walk around the fair pushing a stroller with my little family.

Hanging with her new bff Zaine

Who needs a horse when you can ride a calf

Dairy Feeder day so we had to rock our dairy bib

Checking out the goats. Matt is now convinced that we need to have some goats.

Just being a rockstar

I let my food standards fly out the window last week so we are back at this week. I am going to start taking an exercise class 2x a week starting next week. Wish me luck!

6 Month Pictures and Farmers Market Goodies!

The fact that I have a 6 month old just blows my mind. Seriously, she is a half a year old and it seems like just yesterday Matt and I were bringing her home! She is growing and changing everyday it seems. She does get up on all fours like she wants to crawl but is only able to go backwards. She has lunged forward a few times so it won't be long before she will be all over the place. We still have no teeth but she is just working away at chewing. She can now sit all by herself for extended periods and hates to be on her back about as much as she used to hate tummy time. We have "conversations" and we are working on mama and dada, nothing yet. I have told Matt that if she says dada first that doesn't mean she is his favorite! She had her 6 month appointment Friday and she weighed 17.6lbs and is 26.5 inches long. For the past appointments she has been right at the 50th percentile but this time she jumped above it. Both the doctor and I were pleased with all the progress. He did still hear her heart murmur so we are still going to see the cardiologist on August 6th.

Saturday I had to work at noon due to wheat harvest but I was able to run into the farmers market in Tiffin and get some good produce. Matt and I planted a garden but the only thing that has been growing is the lettuce and sweet corn. Call me crazy but I have been making all of Reagan's baby food and frankly, it is really easy. So having a variety of fresh vegetables for her food was the main reason for the garden. Anyways since the garden isn't growing I've been relying on the farmers market for items and I got some yummy goodies! Peaches, blueberries, green beans, cherries and since our sweet corn isn't ripe I bought some sweet corn as well. So my goal this week is to make the cherries, peaches, green beans and sweet potatos for Reagan. She has ate everything so far (carrots, peas and squash) and loved it. We try a food for about a week before moving onto the next.

Since it's been a while I apologize for the picture overload!

The professional 6 month pictures. To view the rest go to www.photographybyluann.com and click on view images.

This picture finally happened after many many many attempts.

She loves going for walks!

Aunt Katie thought it would be fun to spike her hair after her bath.

First pony tail!

Aunt Katie was showing her the chickens, Reagan was intrigued!

  Also if you notice up in the corner I added an Instagram feed. I would love for you to follow me! My username is mefredritz.