Sick Baby Survival Kit

We've had a rough winter with a lot of pretty bad colds and viruses. The pediatrician office all knows Luke by name and joke he's going to get his own room there. For awhile, we were there every week (between his allergies, breathing issues, regular colds, etc).

So, here is the sick baby survivial kit...

• saline spray
• nosefrieda
• humidifier - we usually use a cool mist humidifier but when he's sick I think the warm works better. I also really like the ones you can pour vicks stuff in
• baby vicks
• thermometer
• pedialyte
• tylenol and baby advil (for over 6m)
• shower steam

That's really all you can do for babies. Unfortunately, they aren't allowed to take anything so once their cough gets really bad all you can do is use steam in the bathroom.

Weaning from the Pump...

the slow process of weaning from the pump... it's an emotional experience for someone like me who has been tied to the pump for 9 months...

In the past 9 months, I have pumped a lot. I've pumped for 3+ hours a day, I've pumped in weird places, I've pumped trying to entertain a baby, I've pumped as alone time, I've pumped at work in an office, I've pumped in the car, I've pumped while driving, pumped on the plane, pumped at airport gates, pumped in the movie theater, there was a lot of pumping going on.

It was very important for me to give Luke breastmilk. After having two sets of breast reduction surgeries, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to produce but once I realized I could I was determined to give it to him as long as possible.

Just after New Years I decided I was going to start stocking my freezer stash so I could give Luke at least one bottle of breastmilk a day until a year. When there were 99 days til his birthday, I put my 99th bag in the freezer. By the time I stopped pumping I ended up with over 105 bags of frozen milk. Once I put that 99th bag in the freezer I felt a sense of relief and wanted to quit pumping.

Around 9 months I decided it was time for me to stop. Our family needed the time back, it was another source of anxiety I didn't need, and I was becoming obsessed with the numbers (I tend to do this so I wasn't surprised).

I slowly began weaning from the pump and it surprised me that it wasn't nearly as emotional as I expected. This was good. It confirmed that I was ready. Luke took really well to the formula we chose (Earth's Best) and I slowly dropped pumps. I was very nervous about mastitis but over about 1 week I was completely done (I also ended up with a RX for sudafed because I was having sinus issues so that helped).

 With the next baby, I'm not sure I would exclusively pump again. I can not imagine trying to care for a baby, a toddler, and pumping. Despite my surgeries, I know I have the supply, so I'm hoping our next baby will nurse successfully.

SO, I'm FREE!!! And I'm thrilled about how the whole thing ended.