800 oz of Milk On The Truck

When Little Man was diagnosed with food allergies, my first reaction was to be happy that we knew what was causing his problems and could easily fix them. My second was what the heck am I going to do with all the milk in my freezer that he can't have. Well, it took me about two months to find somewhere to donate it, get the blood test, and get all the other approvals like doctor's signatures, phone interviews, and more but I finally shipped all the milk down to the Mother's Milk Bank in Austin, TX. They were fabulous to deal with and it's a good feeling knowing that all that milk will go to help premature and/or sick babies. Milk donation is really something that should get more attention. I couldn't help but post a picture of all that milk on it's way out the door. With the dry ice, it was a total of about 70 pounds! And there's another 250 ounces in the freezer already that are safe for Little Man. I may find myself donating even more...

Sick Little Man = Extra Milk (Weekly Tally)

I haven't posted in a few days because my Little Man was really sick. He had a fever and threw up all over his dad. It was lovely. We also kept him home from daycare for a few days. It's the first time he's really been sick. Fortunately, he perked back up yesterday afternoon and we expect him to be fine this morning. While he was sick though, he was drinking about 5 ounces less milk each day so we have an abundant surplus this week. My average per day also went up for the first time in about a month. Not by much, but I'll take. And, I finally got approved to donate all the milk that Little Man can't have because of his allergies so I'm excited about that. I'll post more once I pack it all up to ship.

7/26/09-8/1/09
Total Pumped: 238.5
Total Used: 273.5
Surplus: 35
Average Per Day: 39.07

Where is it going?! (Weekly Tally)

My milk supply has been decreasing for the past few weeks and I have no idea why. I'm drinking enough, eating extra, and getting enough sleep and nothing seems to help. I've gone from 43 ounces a day to about 38. I'm still outpacing Little Man by a few ounces but it's frustrating. Fortunately, he's now eating some solid food although a few ounces of rice cereal or a veggie doesn't really have many calories anyway. But, at least we're on our way to me not being his only food source. He's doing very well so far with the food. We've tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and carrots and he sits nicely and eats very well. I've been making my own baby food which is surprisingly easy. We put a Cuisinart hand blender and I highly recommend it. Yesterday I made peas for him. I put the frozen peas in the container that comes with the blender, added some water, microwaved them, drained them a little, and then blended them. Aside from the time in the microwave, it took less than 5 minutes and made about 6 meals for him. Very easy and much cheaper than buying the little jars.

7/19/09-7/25/09
Total Pumped: 249
Total Used: 272.25
Surplus: 23.25
Average Per Day: 38.89

Rethinking Pumping as the Ultimate Weight Loss Plan (Weekly Tally)

I posted before about how I've lost more weight than I gained when I was pregnant. This is supposed to be a good thing. But, after losing another pound this week, I seem to be losing about an ounce a day for each pound I lose. My all time high was 44 ounces a day and now I'm down to a little over 39. Little Man drinks about 36 oz a day. I'm still ahead of him but this doesn't leave me with much of a cushion. I'm still pumping on the same schedule that I've been on for the past two months and I even increased how long I pump lately since I'm not getting as much but that hasn't really made a difference. So, my husband and I decided that I may just need to stay a little plump to maintain my production. Ah, the things we do for our kids.
Part of why I've been losing weight is because of the foods we can't have. Before we found out about Little Man's allergies I would eat trail mix with nuts or hard boiled eggs or gluten free cookies as sources of protein and fat but I can't do that anymore and I don't think I replaced those snacks with anything except fruit. Great plan for losing weight, not so great for milk production. We bought me whole milk (I usually use skim) and cheese to see if that makes a difference. I'll keep you posted if this week's tally goes up. Here's the stats for last week:

7/12/09-7/18/09
Total Pumped: 278.75
Total Used: 252
Surplus: 26.75
Average Per Day: 39.82

Our Week of Doctor's Appointments and Starting Solid Food

Yesterday we went for our follow up at the allergist. He was thrilled with how Little Man looks. His skin is perfectly clear and he spent the appointment checking out the doctor. He's a very curious little thing. We go back in a year and will do blood testing to see how severe the allergy is. The doctor was optimistic that Little Man would grow out of his egg allergy at least because apparently babies that whose main reaction is their skin are more likely to grow out of it. So that's good news.

We also started solid food this week since he's officially 6 months old and we got the all clear from the pediatrician. We've given him rice cereal twice now. He did really well with the spoon and seemed to like it. But, last night he woke up around 4:30am when he usually sleeps straight through to 7am (and has for a good two months). We're not sure if he had a stomach ache from the cereal or if he's teething. I think teething is more likely and I do feel some bumps on his gums. Now, at 6am, he's back in the crib asleep. Of course, we're visiting the in-laws today so it's a great day for all of us to be exhausted!

Have Crock Pot, Will Eat

When you have a new baby, are pumping, working, and feeding the family allergy free, the crock pot becomes your new best friend. Thank goodness I discovered the Crock Pot Lady's blog shortly after Little Man was born. She has tons of awesome, easy, gluten free recipes that allow us to put dinner in the crock pot in the morning and have it ready when we're ready. On days like today, I don't know what I would do without it. Today we're taking Little Man for his 6 month check up (6 month's already - I can hardly believe it!) and won't get home until close to his bed time. Plus, just a hunch, but I don't think he'll be his usual happy self after his appointment since he's getting a few shots. (Yes, we vaccinate. We feel the good outweighs the bad especially considering he's in daycare and therefore exposed to more. )

So today we made our very first roast in the crock pot. It's not one of Crock Pot Lady's recipes although she's taught me so much that now I can be a little more creative - not that a roast is creative. We prepped everything last night so all I needed to do in the morning was throw it all in. We added onions, carrots, and potatoes. My husband and I always laugh because people will say to me constantly "it's ashame you can't eat anything." My allergy free food is ten times better than what I used to eat before. If they only knew...

Making Baby Food

Little Man is almost six months old. We've been holding off on starting solid food until he's officially six months and we also want to see what both his pediatrician and the allergist say at appointments we have with both in a few weeks. But that means we need to start getting ready. I always knew I wanted to make my own baby food but now that we know he has allergies, I'm even more motivated to do it. I'm not against jarred food and will always have some on hand, but I make all my own food and use very little processed food so why should Little Man get anything less. Anyway, I figured I should probably dig out our food processor (it's an attachment for our blender and had never been used so no risk of cross contamination) to see if it would work. I boiled a bunch of carrots and then put them in the food processor. Well, it took about a half hour to get them pureed and that included me mashing chunks by hand. No good. We definitely need a new food processor if we're going to do this. The end results came out pretty good but it took way too long. I'm thinking it should take about 30 seconds to puree about a cup of carrots. Now I need to go hunt for a decent food processor.

Summer Summer Summer Time

That's my ode to Will Smith. Today we took little man to the pool for the first time. The water was way too cold for a baby but it was nice to get outside and he was fascinated with all the people and noises. And of course he looked adorable in his swim gear. I, on the other hand, was pretty uncomfortable in my swim suit by the end of the day since I pushed my afternoon pump back an hour so we could be out longer. Worth it though.