Positive Birth + Postpartum Care + Food

Diaper Surprises

I was just talking to my sister…she doesn’t have any children yet…and she said that she was bored by the breastfeeding talk and wanted a post about something exciting…like poo! So Auntie D, this one is for you!

While Baby C’s poos amaze me on a daily basis…how can something that little produce so much poo…there have been two times that I have been truly shocked and awed.

The first time was when Baby C was just a few weeks old. I had him up on the changing table and was in the middle of changing his nappy when he started to pee…this unfortunately has become routine but this was one of the first times he had attempted this trick. So I let out a little scream and grabbed the washer that I kept on the change table exclusively for the purpose of catching errant urine. I was trying to contain the pee when he started to poo. So I had a dirty diaper on the change table, one hand on the washer, one hand trying to get the new diaper under him, pee everywhere and this is the moment he chooses to poo…you will find there are many times when you wish you had more hands.  Anyway, add a nice dose of baby poo to that equation and you get a huge mess. Of course at this point I was really yelping so my mother rushed into the room…and just started laughing. I think it was Baby C’s way of saying welcome to motherhood.

The second time was on our way back to Brisbane from a visit to the USA. We were about an hour and half away from landing in Brisbane and so I thought to myself that I would go and take care of Baby C’s nappy one last time before we landed. At this point we had logged about forty hours of airplane time so we were seasoned travelers. Anyway, I changed Baby C’s diaper and was letting him hang out in my seat when he did his poo smile…a very cute little half grin that usually indicates he has dirtied his diaper. I picked him up and gave him a sniff and sure enough it was a poo. So I gathered up another nappy and my wipes and went to wait in line for the bathroom. As it was a long haul flight and it was almost landing time people were using the bathrooms to brush their teeth, to change, to do who knows what, so the line was long. And as Baby C and I were waiting in the line I could see the poo start to escape from his diaper and creep up his back. By the time we were actually in the bathroom there was poo everywhere…from knees to shoulders.  I should mention that this occurred during a time when Baby C was pooing only once every three days and so when he went, he went big.  It was rough.  I used every wipe I had.  His outfit wasn’t salvageable…those sniffer dogs at the airport would have been traumatized.  I managed to get his new nappy on…although at this point it had some poo on it too.  I did the best that I could do.  Then I had to get my now nearly naked baby back to the seat so I could grab more wipes, another diaper and a fresh set of clothes and start again.  Welcome to the nappy changing mile high club!

List-mania – Part 4 – All Things Boobs

I found the first three or so weeks of breastfeeding to be bit challenging…and based on talking to other moms I think I was one of the lucky ones. You think to yourself, you have these boobs, you have a baby…surely they will just go together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong. WRONG. Breastfeeding is a skill. And it is all about the latch. As you might have gathered I tend towards being uber prepared so before Baby C was born I spent hours reading about breastfeeding, looking at diagrams of breastfeeding and watching youtube videos of breastfeeding. So I knew going in to it that it is all about the latch. But knowing that it is all about the latch doesn’t actually make the latch any easier.

So here are my secrets of the latch.

Basically you do not want your baby sucking on just the nipple…they should be sucking on as much boob as you can get into their mouth. The goal is to get the nipple to the far back of your baby’s mouth…for those who appreciate anatomy this is where the hard palate meets the soft palate. Of course this is easier said than done.

Let’s say you are going to offer your baby your left boob. You hold the sides of your left boob with your left hand. At this point your baby has no head control so you have to hold your baby’s head with your right hand. Line up the baby’s nose so it is next to your nipple. Use your nipple to tickle the baby’s upper lip. And then wait, wait, wait until your baby’s mouth is open wide, wide, wide. When the mouth is open wide…and keep in mind their mouths are tiny so wide is a bit relative here…you scoop as much of your boob into their mouth as possible. This is the kind of exercise where it would be really nice to have four hands.

I found that even when Baby C was latched on correctly the first few seconds of breastfeeding stung…like little needles in my nipple. But if he wasn’t latched on correctly it really hurt. And the worst part is if the baby isn’t latched on correctly then you need to break the suction and start again…and this can really, really hurt. You have to stick your pinky finger in the corner of the baby’s mouth and kind of slide your nipple out…and your baby does not want to let go! Now your nipple will be sore, your baby will be crying…time to take a deep breath and start again.

Like all things for a first time mom with a newborn, when you are trying to master breastfeeding, your baby will be likely be crying, your hormones will be insane and it will all seem overwhelming. So get help. Have the midwives at the hospital watch you every time you feed. If you are still not feeling confident ask for a referral to a lactation consultant. If you find you develop problems once you are out of hospital try your local community child health centre (http://www.health.qld.gov.au/rch/professionals/cchs_0-12.asp). And I can’t say enough about having a partner who understands that breastfeeding is important to you and to your baby, who supports you and who is willing to help as much as someone without mammary glands can.

Choosing whether or not to breastfeed is personal decision and one that has become very political. I am not here to tell you what to do…just to share my experience. I found breastfeeding to be easy…at least eventually…and rewarding. If you can get through those first few difficult weeks there seems to be a point where it all just clicks. For me it was when I could nurse like the women in the videos. At the beginning when Baby C would latch correctly I would not want to move a muscle lest I somehow disrupt him so I would nurse in some contorted positions…hunched over with my hand still wrapped around my boob. But one day I found I could nurse him with just one hand…in the traditional craddle hold. Now I just hold him near the nipple and it is go time! Breastfeeding is definitely a learning process…you and your baby will learn!

Okay…now things you need to help you and your boobs out.

1. Boppy Pillow

I haven’t seen too many Boppy brand pillows here in Australia…I bought mine on amazon.com…but I have seen similar things in Target and Big W. Basically the Boppy is horseshoe shaped pillow that you put around your waist to lift the baby up closer to nipple level. But it has a zillion uses beyond breastfeeding…your baby can take a nap in the Boppy, they can practice tummy time in the Boppy, you can use the Boppy as a pillow for yourself when you get to take a ten minute nap on the couch. After about four months you won’t need a Boppy because your baby will be big enough to nurse without a pillow…you can retire it from it’s nursing duties and put it to use helping your baby practice sitting!
One word about nursing pillows…they are great but you don’t want to get too attached to them if you ever want to nurse outside the home. Unless you want to drag the Boppy with you to the cafe I would practice occasionally nursing without one.

2. Lansinoh Cream
The best for sore or cracked nipples. When Baby C and I were working to master breastfeeding my nipple wouldn’t always make it to the back of his mouth…I could feel it chaffing and when I took the nipple out I could see a little red sore on it…Lansinoh to the rescue. I would just smear a little cream on there and it would be better. I had tubes of Lansinoh everywhere. I am actually still finding tubes around the house…I even found one in the car the other day. It is also great for chapped lips…which you will likely get because breastfeeding can dehydrate you like ten days in the dessert.
A midwife did warn me not to coat my nipples too heavily with this stuff as it could lead to a clogged duct…a little goes a long way.

3. Nursing Bra

These are not sexy. These are the bras you promised your teenaged self you would never buy. But then you went and got knocked up and as a result have big knockers and you need one of these over the shoulder boulder holders. Before Baby C was born I went to Big W about bought two Bonds nursing bras. I just guessed on the size…I think I went up one cup size from my pregnant boob size…so probably up two sizes from my original boob size. After Baby C came I went back and bought two more nursing bras and two nursing tanks. The nursing singlets are especially fantastic…you can get your boob out easily without having to undo buttons or lift up your shirt so they are easy for being out in public…plus an added bonus is they kind of suck your stomach in. Anyway, you will live in these bras for months…at the beginning I was even sleeping in them because my boobs were so sore and having them contained made them feel better…so get something comfy and don’t worry about them being ugly. These are the work horses of lingerie.
I never used nursing pads because I found the cotton cups of these nursing bras and tanks to be absorbent enough for my day time leaking…nothing could stop my night time leaking but that is a story for another time. And I had enough nursing bras that if one got too damp or started smelling too much like milk I could just change.

4. Formula, Bottles, Pumps
Knowing that I wanted to breastfeed and being in a sort of denial that it may not work for me I didn’t buy any formula or bottles or a pump before Baby C came along. I figured I could buy them if and when I needed them. And that is exactly what I did…or rather my husband did when I ended up in hospital. Most of the moms I know who didn’t start off with feeding accoutrements did end up buying them for one reason or another. But there is so much to buy before the baby comes that if you plan on breastfeeding you could probably leave formula, bottles and a pump off your list.

Boobs are crazy and amazing things. Did you know that the milk you make in the morning is different from the milk you make in the evening? The evening milk has a secret ingredient in it that helps the baby to relax and start to feel drowsy. Did you know that milk from a full boob can literally squirt across a room? Despite all the potential difficulties and dramas associated with breastfeeding I think there is no better feeling than when Baby C is crying and I put him on the boob and he sucks his way to contentedness.

And speaking of sucking, have your husband put his finger in the baby’s mouth to get a feel for how powerful that suck is…if watching you give birth didn’t make him think of you as a wonder woman, feeling that suck will!

Pregnancy Memories

I actually wrote this when I had just started maternity leave…before Baby C arrived…I thought it might be interesting to
record some experiences from my pregnancy. Plus I needed a break from my Nurse Jackie DVD.

It has now been about a year since I realized I was pregnant with Baby C…and I am so glad that I wrote down some of my feelings because now I can hardly remember being pregnant…which isn’t surprising since the other day I forgot put the spaghetti in the boiling water and then wondered why dinner was taking so long to cook!

In retrospect how I knew I was pregnant: First I got a huge pregnancy zit. Thank goodness at work we wear masks most of the time because when I was just barely pregnant I developed a pimple the size of Mount Kilimanjaro on my upper lip. It was seriously disgusting and I was happy I could hide it most of the day…my apologies to my coworkers who had to look at the thing at lunch. The second clue was a lack of real appetite. I would come home from work and just not really feel hungry…this is very unlike me as usually I begin to think about dinner as soon as I have finished lunch. Toast with butter was a staple for about a week before I realized what was going on…then things changed…please see below for my more typical pregnant eating habits.

Best aspect of being up the duff: My secret little friend. That is what I called the baby once I could feel him kicking and turning inside me. Of course once I really started showing he wasn’t so secret but still it felt like I had a little friend who only I knew about. The feeling is just amazing. It is just remarkable to feel the baby move and to imagine that he is moving in response to something you did or to pretend that he is moving because of some distinctly grown up personality characteristic…like he wants you to take a break from nesting to go watch the latest episode of Pregnant in Heels. I think I will really miss having the baby on the inside once he decides to come out…if he ever decides to come out!

Worst aspect of being preggers: Chub rub. For those lucky enough to have avoided encountering this in college after gaining more than their fair share of the freshman (and sophomore and junior and senior) fifteen, this is the literal chafe that develops between your upper thighs. I really didn’t think that I gained much weight in my upper thigh region…of course I think this is only because my stomach is so huge my thighs look thin in comparison…in any case, the appearance of chub rub proved me wrong. Chub rub is painful. It makes it painful to walk. And it makes it painful to wear pants. I spent many a ridiculously hot Brisbane day just sitting in front of a fan sans pants because of my chub rub. I will say that Lansinoh cream worked wonders on the chub rub…and I am hoping that it will continue to work wonders once I start breast feeding.

Thing I ate the most of: Probably peanut butter. Before the cyclone hit I would slather bananas with peanut butter. Once bananas started costing about ten dollars a kilo I had to switch my peanut butter vessel to an apple. And of course toast with peanut butter and honey was always a good snack option. And given my propensity for liking ice cream even when not pregnant, it should come as no surprise that I ate an obscene amount of ice cream while pregnant. Baskin Robbins became a home away from home. My poor husband would have to order disgusting flavors like Rum Raisin just so I wouldn’t eat his ice cream after I had eaten mine. My go to flavor was…wait for it…Chocolate Peanut Butter.

Cloth Nappies

Just a quick word on cloth nappies…I really wanted to love them…but I don’t.

At the start of this whole baby thing I decided that I would use cloth nappies…I thought both economically and environmentally it was the responsible thing to do. So I went to my local cloth nappy store…yes there is such a thing…and got the low down on cloth diapers. I had seen the all in one nappies and thought they seemed manageable in terms of washing and ease of use…I definitely wanted a cloth diaper my husband wouldn’t be afraid of. But then I encountered the first obstacle in my cloth nappy plan…I hadn’t realized that the all in one nappies aren’t the best for newborns because they don’t really start to fit properly until the baby is about three months old. I was not interested in the newborn nappies as they look exactly like the diapers I wore when I was a baby and required folding and fasteners and soaking and washing and I was also not interested in buying two sets of cloth nappies. So my revised plan was to use disposable diapers for the newborn stage and then switch to cloth when Baby C was big enough to fit into the all in one diapers.

So lately we have been experimenting with cloth nappies. And I must say if nothing else they are really cute. Especially now that it is warming up here in Brisbane and pants are no longer required…for babies anyway…I love seeing Baby C cruising around…well rolling and wiggling on the floor anyway…with a colorful tushie. But looks aren’t everything. And even though the washing isn’t so bad…I do a rinse cycle of just nappies and then throw in the rest of the laundry and do a full cycle…I am still not sold. The main drawback in my mind is that there is no give in the absorption time. I try to change Baby C’s disposable diapers every two and a half to three hours but I know if I can’t change it the diaper can handle a few more hours. Cloth nappies can’t. If I don’t change the cloth diaper by the two hour mark it leaks. And most often it seems that the diaper’s time runs out when Baby C is taking a nap. So a week or so into my cloth diaper trial I am sick of changing his outfit and changing his bedding every time I have to change his nappy…I am sick of doing all that laundry! The other drawback is how cheap Aldi disposable diapers are!

I am not sure what this means for our cloth nappy usage. I would like to think that we will persevere and in a week or two will be able to report cloth diaper success but we will see.
If anyone has any cloth nappy tips please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Learn it, Live it, Love it: The Five S’s

I was speaking to Daddy R last night about what he thought the best bit of parenting advice we received was and he said definitely the Five S’s. As Baby C is four and a half months old we are past the Five S’s stage and so I had kind of forgotten about them…although I forget everything these days including to press the button in the elevator so that the lift actually moves. Anyway, I digress, the Five S’s. What are they? Read on and all will be revealed.

When I was pregnant a friend recommended this book claiming it was absolutely magic. So being a good little…although at this point I was definitely getting bigger…mom-to-be I went right out and got it.

For those of you who don’t know about Harvey Karp and his Five S’s steps to quieting babies he is a bit of a baby soothing guru who probably quite correctly describes the first three months of the babies life as the fourth trimester and based on that premise puts forth strategies to calm upset babies.

The Five S’s are:

1. Swaddling
2. Side/stomach position
3. Shhhhing sounds
4. Swinging
5. Sucking

The pregnant me kind of glossed over reading this book thinking surely my baby won’t need all these techniques to quiet him…I had seen babies on tv and all they did was sleep so I thought it couldn’t possibly be that hard to get my baby to settle. But once Baby C arrived I was so glad that I was familiar with the Five S’s…especially S’s number one, three and four.

When you are in hospital settling the baby seems easy…first of all your baby is in complete shock and doesn’t even want to open their eyes…you are in similar shape but don’t have the luxury of entering a fugue state…and second of all the midwives make sure the baby is swaddled. Then as the days go on the baby becomes more and more aware that they are no longer in your uterus which means they are less and less calm and the midwives give you more and more autonomy which means less and less swaddling. Cue upset baby and upset parents.
We asked the midwives over and over again to demonstrate swaddling, we had the method down and we were swaddling Baby C like seasoned pros but then it seemed that Baby C liked to have his arms free so we stopped the swaddling. Big mistake…huge. The crying started…mostly on Baby C’s part but a few parental tears were shed as well. One day Baby C was crying and crying and crying and having tried everything I thought I might as well try swaddling him. He literally stopped crying before I finished wrapping him. Magic. And if swaddling alone didn’t work, the combination of swaddling, shhhing and swinging always did. We didn’t really delve into the side/stomach position or sucking as it seemed just three S’s were enough to get Baby C settled.
After about three months we found that we didn’t need the shhhing and the swinging but we continued to swaddle as it seemed to give Baby C a cue that it was time to calm down and go to sleep. Around that same three month mark he found his hands and this time really did want to have them free so he could suck on his fingers and his thumbs. Having learned our swaddle lesson the hard way we experimented by allowing one hand out and then we eventually wrapped just his body leaving both his hands out. Now at four and a half months he has graduated to no swaddle…now we have our night time routine but that is the subject for another post!

A few other notes about the Five S’s and specifically swaddling:

I know there are a lot of nifty swaddle blankets out there and we actually did buy a few but I found them to be too complicated. Maybe it was my baby brain but each blanket folded differently and I could never remember which one folded which way and while I was wrangling straps and pockets and velcro Baby C was screaming, begging me just to wrap him up! So big squares of flannel that were given to us by a very wise Cousin G were our ticket. Old school, but they worked.

I believe there is also a DVD version of this book which…obviously…instead of just describing the methods actually demonstrates them…but I just looked for the Five S’s on youtube.com and was able to find plenty of helpful video.

The Five S’s are great because dads can do them too! That is right moms…make sure that dad learns how to swaddle, shhh and swing and away you go…you can shower, you can get out of your pjs or you can do what I did and shower, get back into your pjs and then drink hot chocolate while watching The Block!