11 months old!

Yikes! Parson is going to be 11 months old in 5 days!

He is getting crazy curls like his Daddy!

Uh oh...look who is standing 

Parson goes to the doctor tomorrow to get his ears checked. He has had fluid in his ears since November, his first ear infection. He has not had another infection since then, but the constant fluid can cause scarring on his ear drums hindering his hearing which will slow is speech development.

I am a nervous Mamma wanting, hoping, and praying that the fluid is gone so he does not have to get tubes in his ears.

We will see what the doctor says tomorrow. Boy am I thankful that the only thing we have to worry about is a little fluid.

Patty

Visit

We have had some family in town this weekend so my posting as been low since I have been getting Hotel Chez Jones ready for their arrival...we have been doing a little home improvement to so the next post will be all photos :)

P

Dad N Lad

Every night after dinner Aaron and Parson have what we call "Dad N Lad Time" one of the things that this time usually includes is a story...in this picture the story happens to be one of our favorites...Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Chicka chicka boom boom, will there be enough room?

Patty

Daily Bread

Here are a few verses that are my daily bread when trying to balance being a women after Gods heart, a wife,  mother, and working women:

"Motherhood is a ministry, an opportunity, a calling and a position of great influence. Mothers shape the next generation and impact society more than any other profession. There is no other career so important, so precious, so urgent, so rewarding." Linda Dains

"Blessed is the house that is clean enough to be healthy, messy enough to be happy and where love abounds"

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matt. 11:28-29

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor. 12:9 

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

"The wise women builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." Proverbs 14:1

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" Hebrews 13:5

This is the song I sing Parson every morning now:

Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory

Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory

Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory

Children of the Lord

Patty

Breastfeeding...Opinion

***This post is my opinion about breastfeeding. This is what I think is best for me and my family. Each family is different and has different needs. This is not intended to belittle women who choose breastfeeding is not right for them***

When we found out that I was pregnant I knew right away that I wanted to breastfeed. At that point I did not know why I wanted to, I just knew that is what my natural instinct. After much reading before and after I gave birth confirmed my natural instincts...breast is best.

Since I have had a taste of formula feeding and breastfeeding I feel like I have a pretty solid opinion about both options.

Breastfeeding is not only better for your baby because it contains antibodies that help prevent many illnesses...these antibodies cannot be recreated and put in formula. Breastfed babies also have a much lower risk for ear infections and diarrhea. Research also says that breastfed babies have a lower risk for type 2 diabetes, asthma, and obesity. Breast milk is also significantly easier for a newborns tummy to digest. As a baby grows they need different nutrients. When your babies saliva meets your breast it sends signals to your body on what and how much of it to include in your breast milk. It is also very hard to overfeed a (nursing) breastfed baby. Your baby eats until they are full...depending on the amount of milk your baby drank and the time period between feedings signals your body how much milk to make for the next feeding...God made our bodies so amazing!

Breastfeeding has soo many nutritional benefits but also has so many emotional benefits for Mom and baby. The bond that breastfeeding creates between mother and baby is beyond anything man made. Breastfeeding releases hormones in babies brain helping them feel comfort, love, and safety. Moms brain also releases hormones to make her uterus contract which helps shrink it back to normal size after birth. Moms brain also releases hormones that help ward of Post Pardum Depression and the baby blues.

When I was struggling with breastfeeding I asked Parsons pediatrician what the best formula choice would be if I had to stop breastfeeding. He simply said "there is not one, breast milk is what is best for your baby" After he told me that, I called my doctors office and spoke to a midwife about what to do to make it happen, and after some practice, water and lots and lots of patience...it did.

Formula feeding is not really easier just different. Instead of wearing a nursing bra and a cover you carry bottles, water and formula. Instead of being the primary source of nutrition for your baby, anyone can feed your baby. Formula feeding is much more expensive. Formula is harder to digest and it can take awhile to find the "right" fit for your baby.

Everything I have said above makes breastfeeding sound so wonderful and amazing..which it is. But it is also painful, hard, and stressful. No one tells you that breastfeeding takes practice and may not go as planned. So here is my little list of tips and tricks that have worked best for me...

Take a breastfeeding class, I really wish I would have
Nursing bras and tanks - buy them and stock up
Nursing sleep bras - perfect for at first when your body is regulating its milk supply when you may become engorged.
Buy a Medela pump. I know they are expensive BUT it makes pumping so much quicker. Especially if you are going to be pumping when/if you go back to work.
Have patience

Here it is the question all of you want an answer to...how long do I plan on breastfeeding. The original plan was breastfeeding until Parson self weaned. Yes that's right self weaned. Now, keep in mind 95% of babies who self wean when they are ready do so between 12-18 months. Most times when children nurse beyond that its not for nutritional reasons but for emotional reasons for Mom or baby. After Parson is a year we will drop down to two nursing sessions a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. After 12 months the main source of nutrition for toddlers needs to be solid food. This is another instance where it is up to each family to decide what is best for them. This is what we have decided is best for our family.

People thought I was crazy when I did not just give up when Parson and I were having challenges and people still are amazed that I pump three times a day at work so I could continue to breastfeed. I choose to do these things not because they make me a better mom, women, or person but because it is what is best for my family.

So if you choose to breastfeed know that it will be challenging, hard, amazing, and worth it. Don't let anyone else tell you what is best for your family and baby. Do what you know and feel is natural and best for you.

Patty

A Day In The Life Of Me

When I was in college I thought it was hard...
When I got married I thought working and being a wife was hard....
When I stayed home with Parson I thought it was hard....
Then I started working full time while being a wife and mother.......

Here is what my day looks like Monday through Friday.

6-6:30am- I hear Parson on the monitor saying "Mom I am starving!" I (still half sleeping) go up stairs an am greeted with coo's, "maamaas", and little smiles. I nurse Parson.
7:00am- Change Parsons diaper, wash his face, and get him dressed
7:15am-We go down stairs and make breakfast. He has gluten free french toast sticks and fruit while Mommy has oatmeal and coffee.
7:30-While Parson is still in his highchair I finish getting things ready for work and daycare, lunches, pump parts, and take care of breakfast dishes.
7:45-8-Wake up Aaron so he can watch Parson while I get myself ready for work
8:20-Leave for daycare/work
9:00- Start work
10-10:30am- Pump break
10:45- Back to work
1-1:30pm- Pump Break
2:00- Quick eat lunch
2:30- Back to work
4-4:30- Pump Break
5:30- Leave work and pick up Parson
6:00-Get home, kiss my hubby and fix Parson and Aaron dinner
6:15/30- Eat...quickly
6:45/7:00- Aaron plays with Parson while I clean up dinner dishes
7:15- Bedtime routine. Bath, diaper, lotion, jammies, stories, prayer, and then Parson nurses and I rock him to sleep (I know, I know...I am terrible)
7:30-11pm-Wash diapers, laundry, finish cleaning kitchen, prepare bottles for the next day, pack our lunches, clean bottles/pump parts from that day, go to the gym, and shower.
11:15pm- Devotions and prayer with Aaron
12:00am- Sleep
2-3am-Parson wakes up hungry. I find my way up the stairs and nurse Parson trying very hard to not fall asleep in the rocking chair.
40min later- Realize I fell asleep in the rocking chair with Parson in my arms. Put him back in his crib and stumble back down the stairs and try to relish the next few hours of sleep before it all starts again.

That's my day, its hard, its exhausting, and I love it for what it is. I can dream how things would be different if I stayed home. That is not going to make my day raiser. So I have a glass of wine and relish in the little moments that make my day worth it.

Kisses from my hubby
Smiles from my son
Realizing that I was saved by grace by the biggest sacrifice ever made

Patty

Breastfeeding... Experience (Short labor story too!)

These breastfeeding posts are going to come in two separate posts. One on my experience and one on opinion.

***Let me start by saying that this is all my opinion about what I think is best for my family. Each women, child, and family is different and will do what is best for their family situations.***

Lets start from the beginning. On April 4 I went to the hospital to be induced (which is a whole other story). Aaron and I got to the hospital at 2pm to find out I was already in labor. I figured as much because a few hours before I had my bloody show and figure that this induction would not be as planned. Since I was already having constant weak contracts but was still only dilated to 1 we skipped the cerdavil and went straight to a folley catheter to help me dilate. Well the folley did its job my contractions got intense...fast. Still no dilation....so they added pitocin to the mix. At this point I was dilated to 3 having contractions every 2 min for 4 min long. This continued until about 10pm and still only dilated to 5 and 80% effaced. Midnight rolls around and I get my epidural because things are taking forever. I get the epidural and sleep. I wake up at 6am and we break my water because still almost no progress. I sleep more. Fast forward to about 1pm...I start feeling again...by feeling I mean back labor and contractions...yep that's right I was the lucky one where the epidural stopped working. Still not ready to push I get through this very last part of active labor by breathing and encouraging words from my hubby and nurse. 2:20pm....its time to push....2:47pm Parson Dean Jones is born! The one thing that went planned in Parson's birth was pushing...er breathing Parson out...I attribute his fast arrival to the way that I pushed/breathed birth.

Anywho...he cried and was weighed, a whopping 9.5 pounds and 22 inches long. He was a lot bigger than any was anticipating since at the end of my pregnancy I was measuring small/normal. Then the scary part happened, as I am nursing Parson for the first time my nurse comes over and says they need to see Parson again. My thoughts are why? Then I see it...the nurse picked up the white phone calling the NICU nurses down. But why? My baby cried, is huge and is eating fine. But his blood sugar is low...really low. They want the sugar levels to be at 40 and Parson was at 41. Since babies lose weight usually at the hospital this was a concern. They finished cleaning/sewing me up and said it was time to get Parson up to the NICU for further evaluation.

His sugar kept dropping low...really dangerously low and he stopped nursing well. I nursed him in the NICU as best as I could but since my milk had not come in, they had to supplement with formula. This is where things get harder as far as breast feeding is concerned. Parson had nipple confusion like crazy. I was nursing him the best I could, they would test his sugar and if it was not high enough we would have to give formula. On top of all of this he was jondice so we had to keep that in mind to. Since the nursing was not giving Parson the nutrition that he needed, I started to pump to help my milk come in while supplementing him with formula. After a few days we got his sugar under control and we were able to go home....with to my dismay again with a formula fed baby.

Here is a pic of our sweet boy in the NICU...he was the largest baby in care in the NICU nursery :)

After one day of being home my milk came in and we could get rid of this formula that was hurting my new baby boys belly. Challenge one conquered...no more formula. But now I was exclusively pumping. Breastfeeding is hard... exclusively pumping is exhausting. Since my milk came in Parsons blood sugar got to a healthy point and he gained back the over a pound he lost at the hospital in just a week.

Now that I had a healthy baby...I so wanted him to learn to nurse. Because I was pumping and not nursing it was very hard for my body to regulate how much milk to make and what to put in the milk because Parson's saliva was not meeting my breast to send my body the signals it needed. This all added up to me not producing enough milk for Parson a few weeks into his life. So again we were back to supplementing. I went to my OB and she gave me a prescription for Reglan, told me to drink tons of water, mothers milk tea, to eat oatmeal.

Thankfully, when Parson was about 4 weeks old...he (well we) figured out how to nurse. Praise God! Challenge two conquered. Now on to challenge three....production. After about a week of following my doctors instructions we were 100% breastfed, no bottles, no formula and we have been 100% exclusively breastfed since Parson was 5 weeks old and we are still going strong at 10 months!

Overall breastfeeding has been one of the hardest and most rewarding decisions I have ever made. The bond that Parson and I have is something that can not be replaced or built by anything other than breastfeeding. It has been the cure for so many things including the baby blues and offering comforts to sickness, shots, and teething. The experience that I have had breastfeeding has been wonderful and I will most definitely breastfeed all of our future children.

So that's my experience with breastfeeding. The next post will include my reasons, opinions, and advice on breastfeeding.

Patty

In Sickness and In Health

"In sickness and in health" was a line in our wedding vows that we have been living out the past few days. We has some company over on Thursday evening, I had to work that day, and it was grocery shopping day. So we decided that we should just pick dinner up. I wanted to grab some Chinese food but our company was not familiar with our restaurant and he and Aaron decided that Taco Bell was a better choice. If you know me and Aaron we don't eat fast food often. Aaron and I both got Fresco tacos...NEVER again. By midnight Thursday night Aaron and I were both sick...very sick and unable to even keep water down. 

Aaron and I called into work the next day and I made a doctors appointment. I would not have been to worried about the bug since they run their course in 24-48 hours, but I am still breastfeeding. So the next morning Aaron brought Parson to daycare and I pumped for the first time that morning and to my surprise got 7 oz.  Still unable to keep food or let alone water down, I knew I was going to have production problems. Three hours later I only got 2 oz. 

I went to my doctors appointment at 2:15 to find out not to my surprise that I was super dehydrated. So they gave me two bags of fluid, a shot of Fenergran and a prescription for Zofran . Nearly 48 hours later we are MUCH better and almost back to normal. 

So even though our weekend has not been as all as we planned it would be, we are all now healthy and have been able to spend some family time together. 

So today I am so thankful for a healthy hubby and baby boy and especially for health insurance.

No worries that post on breastfeeding is coming soon. :)

Patty

Cloth Diaper Update

So I know you are all curious as to how the cloth diapering is going...it is going GREAT!

We have been using the cloth diapers for 5 days full time and we have only ever had one or two leaks. The reason for these leaks were not the diapers fault but the fault of my wiggly and mobile nearly 10 month old that sometimes makes me think diaper changes are an Olympic sport.

When I was researching this whole cloth diapering adventure I spoke to a few moms in my family who have done this from day one with their children. The thing I heard most was double at night and get a good was routine in order, so I did just that. I was concerned about daycare, working, washing, ect but it all has been great. Here is what my washing routine looks like:

Night before: Rinse, wash, double rinse liners and covers. Dry liners in dryer and hang dry covers. Once the liners have dried I lay them out for the next morning and stuff them in the covers once the covers are dry. I stuff the daytime diapers with a regular liner as well as a newborn liner because Parson is a heavy wetter. At night time I use two standard liners for EXTRA protection. I have never had a night time leak...even after 10-12 hours of sleep.

Morning of: Pack diapers and laundry wet bag in diaper bag and go!

Now I know what your thinking....dirty diapers. I was REALLY scared at the thought of dirty cloth diapers. To my surprise it is really easy. I just spray the diaper with the diaper spray in to the toilet, flush and toss the wet diaper into the wet bag. Daycare cannot spray or rinse the bm's out of the diapers so they just fold up and toss it in the wet bag. My diapers have not stained and always clean nice and easy since I wash them the same day.

SO EASY!

If you ever have thought about giving cloth diapers a chance...don't fear it is one of the best decisions we have made!

My next post will be on breastfeeding...this could stir up some good discussion.

Patty