Pig is rolling...like a log in water. Ok well not quite, sometimes her arms gets stuck beneath her and she yells in frustration but other times especially when we turn our heads for a second we'll find that she's noiselessly rolled clear off her gym mat. Ninja rolling baby. This is of course means that diapers changes are now Olympic events, legs flailing, torso twisting, dirty baby booty slithering from my grasp.
Other milestones this month:
Pig started rice cereal. First time she was just weirded out, didn't know what to do with the spoon. She kept trying to suck on it. So most of the rice cereal ended up plastered all over face and bib. We waited another week. My dad tried again and what do you know it's like the little geek inside downloaded the spoon eating program...she ate and grinned her way through 3-4 tablespoons of rice cereal. Then she grew tired of it, after all, she's used to chugging milk.
We can put her down in her crib or pack and play with a pacifier and her little stuffed monkey and she'll fall asleep on her own. Yeah I'm sure there are parents are there scoffing, yeah my Timmy has been doing that since day one. Well, bully for you. We used to have to create optimum sleeping conditions to put her down for the night. If we slightly deviated, there was hell to pay. But now, it's binky, monkey and then Peace, out! I will enjoy it while it lasts.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Solids
Ah solids... Looks like Pig might be leaving the land of liquids soon...well the land of nothing but liquids that is.
Pig has stopped nursing. I tried a couple times and she just turns her head with a moue of disgust. I have to say, I'm kinda sad. My baby's growing up. She's decided that the boob is beneath her, a woman of action, she wants her milk when she wants it and in overwhelming quantities, none of this one suck at a time nonsense. So, she's been going after her bottles with particular gusto these days. She's always been an exuberant eater but these days the minute she spies her bottle, her eyes widen, her mouth gapes open, she stretches our her arms and does the baby equivalent of "gimme, gimme, gimme"-- "huh, huh, huh!"
So it's only a matter of time before she starts grabbing at the adult food. She's already peering with interest at K's plate of Belgian waffles and the other day she kept staring at my coffee mug, she had such a strange gleam in her eye that eventually I had to hide to finish my coffee. Next month, I'm thinking of starting her on an organic brown rice cereal before moving onto fruit and veggies and eventually to Korean food, yeah! I can just see it now, Pig's pudgy hands picking up her little chopsticks for the first time, clicking them expectantly and bouncing in her high chair with glee as her omma sets a steaming bowl of jjigae and rice on the table...sigh, can't wait.
Pig has stopped nursing. I tried a couple times and she just turns her head with a moue of disgust. I have to say, I'm kinda sad. My baby's growing up. She's decided that the boob is beneath her, a woman of action, she wants her milk when she wants it and in overwhelming quantities, none of this one suck at a time nonsense. So, she's been going after her bottles with particular gusto these days. She's always been an exuberant eater but these days the minute she spies her bottle, her eyes widen, her mouth gapes open, she stretches our her arms and does the baby equivalent of "gimme, gimme, gimme"-- "huh, huh, huh!"
So it's only a matter of time before she starts grabbing at the adult food. She's already peering with interest at K's plate of Belgian waffles and the other day she kept staring at my coffee mug, she had such a strange gleam in her eye that eventually I had to hide to finish my coffee. Next month, I'm thinking of starting her on an organic brown rice cereal before moving onto fruit and veggies and eventually to Korean food, yeah! I can just see it now, Pig's pudgy hands picking up her little chopsticks for the first time, clicking them expectantly and bouncing in her high chair with glee as her omma sets a steaming bowl of jjigae and rice on the table...sigh, can't wait.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Mea Culpa?
An episode of Law & Order where young parents allowed their baby to starve to death had me bawling...I'm talking full out snot dribbling, chest heaving sobbing. There was one scene at the medical examiners where a baby's covered body was lying on the examination table, a small foot and hand protruding from beneath the covering and I just lost it. One of the cutest sights in the world is seeing your baby's little bare feet waving in the air. I remember waking up at 2 am, when K was on duty. I looked over, K was changing Pig's diaper. K was cooing, Pig was cooing back and I could see a pair of little dimpled feet kicking pertly in the air. So while watching this episode, I thought of this and found myself sobbing.
The parents in this episode were having trouble breastfeeding the child and as a result the baby slowly starved to death. They were told that breastmilk was the best for their child so they decided against feeding the child formula although they had several unopened cans in the house. This brought back bad memories of our week in the hospital after Pig was born...those days continue to haunt me and fill me with guilt.
Pig latched on readily. I started nursing her a few hours after she was born. I wanted to nurse her right away but I was shaking so badly from the effects of the drugs that I couldn't hold her. But after awhile I had her nursing. I breathed a sigh of relief. My baby was latching on, it would be smooth sailing from here on. Later that night, when the nurse trundled Pig's bassinet into our room and I looked forward to what I believed would be a nice nursing session. Pig latched on again happily and ate drowsily. She ate...and ate....and ate. I looked at the clock, wow, 40 minutes had elapsed and she was still latched on. Granted she would doze off for a few seconds here and there but if I gently stroked her head, the sucking would again commence. K called the nursery nurse and we were told that she was likely using me as a pacifier. So I stopped the feeding and we popped her back into her bassinet. A few hours later, she was crying. Ok, back onto the breast and another 40 minutes. And again and again. I started to wonder when Pig was going to get any sleep. Pig's crying sessions grew longer and longer and she started getting upset at the breast. She began crying and crying and crying. Exhausted we asked the nurse for a pacifier. Pig took to this in the beginning but then after awhile got frustrated and began crying again. The crying soon turned into frantic screaming and I started crying with her. K tried desperately to soothe her, using the Happiest Baby on the Block techniques. He swung her around like a trapeze artist, just enough to settle her down enough to try at the breast again. After a few sucks, she'd resume the crying. We started noticing that her mouth was getting very dry. The nurse told us that Pig was developing a slight fever and showing signs of dehydration. She asked if they could give Pig a bottle of formula. I hesitated. After all, we were told that breast was best and that a bottle could create nipple confusion. But then she told us that our pediatrician agreed that Pig could have a bottle. That's all I needed to hear. After 2 ounces, Pig passed out and slept.
Now, I can't believe I hesitated. My baby was screaming that she was hungry and here I was trying to come up with a way to keep her from getting what she wanted. Sure the colostrum should have been enough to keep her happy but it wasn't and instead of listening to my child's cues, I was thinking about what a bunch of strangers had to say about the matter. I was formula fed and turned out just fine, in fact I rarely got sick as a kid.
Obviously, from the previous posts about mastitis, I have continued feeding and expressing for Pig. I'm grateful that I'm able to do that for her and I do hope that she'll never have to have another bottle of formula. However, I know that if we have another child, I won't hesitate to ask for a supplement. I understand the whole push towards natural childbirthing and rearing. It makes sense, women have been doing it for thousands of years. My parents were surprised at how many books/articles are written about breastfeeding. My dad grew up in the Korean countryside and told me that women would just do it, carry the child around all day, let him or her feed at will. It should be that natural but often it's not, such that we need lactation consultants and doctors to deconstruct the process with charts and video how-tos. Such that every woman I've spoken to about the matter has told me that breastfeeding is more difficult than people would have you know. There's something unnatural about working so hard to make something seem natural. I understand the argument that if women believed the breast is their only choice they'd make it work like women in third world countries. But we don't live in a third world country and after several days of trying, my baby was still crying and I could not do what I'm supposed to do as a parent...feed her.
The parents in this episode were having trouble breastfeeding the child and as a result the baby slowly starved to death. They were told that breastmilk was the best for their child so they decided against feeding the child formula although they had several unopened cans in the house. This brought back bad memories of our week in the hospital after Pig was born...those days continue to haunt me and fill me with guilt.
Pig latched on readily. I started nursing her a few hours after she was born. I wanted to nurse her right away but I was shaking so badly from the effects of the drugs that I couldn't hold her. But after awhile I had her nursing. I breathed a sigh of relief. My baby was latching on, it would be smooth sailing from here on. Later that night, when the nurse trundled Pig's bassinet into our room and I looked forward to what I believed would be a nice nursing session. Pig latched on again happily and ate drowsily. She ate...and ate....and ate. I looked at the clock, wow, 40 minutes had elapsed and she was still latched on. Granted she would doze off for a few seconds here and there but if I gently stroked her head, the sucking would again commence. K called the nursery nurse and we were told that she was likely using me as a pacifier. So I stopped the feeding and we popped her back into her bassinet. A few hours later, she was crying. Ok, back onto the breast and another 40 minutes. And again and again. I started to wonder when Pig was going to get any sleep. Pig's crying sessions grew longer and longer and she started getting upset at the breast. She began crying and crying and crying. Exhausted we asked the nurse for a pacifier. Pig took to this in the beginning but then after awhile got frustrated and began crying again. The crying soon turned into frantic screaming and I started crying with her. K tried desperately to soothe her, using the Happiest Baby on the Block techniques. He swung her around like a trapeze artist, just enough to settle her down enough to try at the breast again. After a few sucks, she'd resume the crying. We started noticing that her mouth was getting very dry. The nurse told us that Pig was developing a slight fever and showing signs of dehydration. She asked if they could give Pig a bottle of formula. I hesitated. After all, we were told that breast was best and that a bottle could create nipple confusion. But then she told us that our pediatrician agreed that Pig could have a bottle. That's all I needed to hear. After 2 ounces, Pig passed out and slept.
Now, I can't believe I hesitated. My baby was screaming that she was hungry and here I was trying to come up with a way to keep her from getting what she wanted. Sure the colostrum should have been enough to keep her happy but it wasn't and instead of listening to my child's cues, I was thinking about what a bunch of strangers had to say about the matter. I was formula fed and turned out just fine, in fact I rarely got sick as a kid.
Obviously, from the previous posts about mastitis, I have continued feeding and expressing for Pig. I'm grateful that I'm able to do that for her and I do hope that she'll never have to have another bottle of formula. However, I know that if we have another child, I won't hesitate to ask for a supplement. I understand the whole push towards natural childbirthing and rearing. It makes sense, women have been doing it for thousands of years. My parents were surprised at how many books/articles are written about breastfeeding. My dad grew up in the Korean countryside and told me that women would just do it, carry the child around all day, let him or her feed at will. It should be that natural but often it's not, such that we need lactation consultants and doctors to deconstruct the process with charts and video how-tos. Such that every woman I've spoken to about the matter has told me that breastfeeding is more difficult than people would have you know. There's something unnatural about working so hard to make something seem natural. I understand the argument that if women believed the breast is their only choice they'd make it work like women in third world countries. But we don't live in a third world country and after several days of trying, my baby was still crying and I could not do what I'm supposed to do as a parent...feed her.
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