Baby News
Hi guys!! Guess who is over 10 pounds?! He’s up two whole pounds from his birth weight and is one ounce heavier than his big brother was at one month. We’ve had a few real smiles sneak out and that has been so fun!! Mazen can’t wait for him to laugh 
While Birch and I have been happy and healthy, we’ve been dealing with some minor but super annoying issues. The first was thrush, which plagued us for a good two weeks or so. I ended up getting Diflucan in addition to OTC topical cream, and we did two weeks of oral nystatin for B. At our appointment yesterday our pediatrician said it looked all cleared up. However, I am still having some major pain on the right side, and we determined it is latch related. Since the thrush is gone, I was given the go ahead to start pumping and introduce a bottle which has been really fun! I’m pumping the right side to let it heal a bit before latching him back on and working on our technique. So on the left side breastfeeding is going so well, and on the right it’s been a horribly painful few weeks. At least he is growing well, and I’ve been pushing through.
Thomas’s mom gave B his first bottle while I went for a power walk with Gussie! It was really fun to be out walking fast without a stroller or a pregnant waddle. I can’t wait to run soon! Thomas did the next two bottles last night, and those went well too. I’m so glad he can share the feeding bond now! I have a Motif pump I got free through insurance, and my gosh pumps have gotten SO much better in 6 years.
My children LOVE to poop, and so we have a pretty bad diaper rash related to wiping so frequently. I’m now using a peri bottle on B and patting him dry with my reusable cloth wipes. So that makes diaper changes (which we do ALL the time) extra time intensive. Sometimes he goes through 3-4 diapers in a 30 minute period. I would wait it out a bit more, but I want to change him right away because of the rash.
B also hasn’t really lengthened his sleep stretches at night beyond 2.5 hours. His little friends are all doing 4-6 hour stretches and we weren’t really sure why he hadn’t done the same, especially since his weight gain is great. After the pediatrician yesterday we made both bottle and diaper rash changes and he slept FIVE HOURS STRAIGHT last night!!! Nothing short of a miracle. I got a total of 9 hours of sleep – the most I’ve gotten in a month. Felt pretty awesome! He’s also transitioned out of the rock and play to the Halo Bassinet so that is a good change as well. Still using both the Woombie (which I LOVE) and the Ollie Swaddle.
Food News
Remember how I used to love to crumble muffins on things?! I picked up a bran muffin from Mudhouse and had it over yogurt with almond butter, banana, and the last of the cranberry sauce. YUM!
And the maple latte I had at Mudhouse was pretty darn good too! Not too sweet and perfectly spiced.
Another yogurt bowl with cranberry, candied pecans and granola. I am loving the Brown Cow full-fat plain yogurt these days. Tastes like cream!
We are also loving steel cut oats in the rice cooker. Mazen and Thomas eat theirs before school at 6:30 and I eat mine whenever I’m ready – 8, 9, 10?! And I make a ton so the next day we can just add milk and microwave the leftovers. This bowl had cottage cheese, chia, peanut butter, and Dang coconut chips.
Another day: scrambled eggs with pepperjack cheese and grapes!
For lunches I’ve been relying on a bit too much take-out, but that is ok! I discovered the Mayweather bowl at Roots, which is a hugeeeee kale salad with BBQ tofu. This was lunch two days in a row!
For dinners we have been winging it a bit. Pot pies from The Pie Chest I pulled out of the freezer with more leftover kale salad. (And my Mama place tag!)
And grilled steaks with a tortilla and carrots and peppers. Totally winging it meal! We were going to do mashed potatoes but the potatoes had turned a little too old. And we didn’t have any green veggies so we had raw crunchy veg instead.
Another night we had broccoli, mac and cheese, and leftover wings from the weekend.
Fitness News
I want to write a whole post on nutrition/fitness postpartum to tell you more about my health goals, but that will have to come in depth another day. The short story is that I’ve been trying to go for a long walk everyday (sometimes on the treadmill). My goal is 3 miles or 10,000 steps. That is a very soft goal that I don’t meet everyday if I have an appointment or it’s raining, but most days I am able to walk. I haven’t braved taking Gus with the stroller, but I did take him while B was in the Solly wrap and that went well! I actually love walking when it’s really cold out because my down coat keeps me warm and I don’t get all sweaty : )
Lifestyle News
We had a ton of appointments this week!
Monday was a facial with my friend Alyssa at her brand new home spa! She gives the BEST facials – seriously I have had them all over with her at ACAC, and she’s the best. Her new business is Blue Ridge Skin Therapy, and instead of spending money on print/radio advertising she is giving each new client a FREE first-time facial. So everyone in Cville needs to go get yours and see what I’m raving about! (It’s a legit hour-long facial, not a little preview.) I took B with me and actually nursed him reclined while Alyssa worked on my face. Total game changer!
On Tuesday I got my hair cut and highlighted, which was pretty challenging with a baby, but we made it work! I was able to feed him under my cape and relaxed with him on the couch while my highlights set.
On Wednesday Mazen and I had dentist appointments. I was nervous to go with both boys, and B cried in the waiting room a bit, but then he fell asleep in the wrap and I was able to get my teeth cleaned with him on my chest. Thankfully everyone has been very accommodating!
And Thursday we had our pediatrician appointment which went well too! Next week looks a lot less busy : )
Birch says “jingle bells Batman smells” in his holiday Kickee Pants outfit from Green Bean that I bought on small business Saturday!
Have a great weekend! We’re hoping to get our Christmas tree!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
You’ve been so busy with all your appointments, Kath! And it’s good to see that everything’s going well. Birch is adorbs. 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Lisa says
Do you use some kind of step and sleep tracker? Curious how you know how much sleep you’re getting.
KathEats says
Yes I use the BabyConnect app to track sleep and my Apple Watch to track steps. Can you tell I like data 🙂
Amy says
Has B been checked for a tongue and/or lip tie? I dealt with so much pain (worse on one aide, for whatever reason) until we had my son’s tongue and lip ties revised at 7 weeks – we would have done it sooner but we saw a crazy ENT who insisted it didn’t affect breastfeeding and wouldn’t fix it until 6 months old under general anesthesia. Nope! We ended up at a fantastic holistic dentist and she revised them using a laser right in the office. Super quick, not too traumatic, and it made a world of difference. He’s a year tomorrow and still nursing like a champ.
Thanks for sharing your story and your precious guys!
KathEats says
Would he be nursing so well on the left side if that was the case? It has definitely crossed my mind
Amy says
I honestly don’t know. I had one side that was super painful, and the other was sore but not that toe-curling kind of pain. There are lots of pics and videos online that show the ties, so maybe you can get an idea of what to look for – and it’s worth bringing up with a LC or your pediatrician if the pain returns after you heal. The ties can affect speech later on, and they are so easy to fix. I don’t know why it isn’t part of standard newborn screening – it likely causes the demise of lots of breastfeeding because the latch can look great (this was my experience) but it was not, and it HURT!
KathEats says
Yes i would assume they check for them as part of initial assessment but maybe not! I’m headed to a LC group meeting right now so I will ask!
Marcia says
I was going to also suggest tongue and lip tie! Your story sounds very familiar to what I experienced with my third. I only had issues on one side. Although he had both tongue and lip tie, we only had the tongue tie revised. What a difference it made! We successfully nursed for 18 months after that!!! We did a lot of craniosacral work to help his body adjust to the changes in his body due to the tongue tie release!
Erin says
Brown Cow maple yogurt is my very favorite. Yum.
And I always used a warm baby washcloth to clean my babies’ bottoms when we were at home and saved using wipes for when we were out and about, which I believed saved us a lot of diaper rashes!
Kori says
That’s so great that you were able to make some adjustments such that everyone was able to get better sleep! I hope your chest heals soon and that your next few weeks are more relaxed without as many appointments. It’s so nice that everyone accommodated Birch.
I love to crumble muffins over yogurt thanks to you! I had an apple carrot spiced muffin in a pb jar with cottage cheese and pom seeds last week that was delicious. I also had oatmeal with cottage cheese in it this morning. We’re twinning on some of our foods. 🙂
Have a great Friday and weekend, Kath!
Meghan says
Keep focusing on the positive! Life with a newborn definitely has it’s challenges. While your other baby posts made me feel like another baby for me would be great, this one brought me back to reality so I thank you ;). Life with your second baby will go by so much faster than with it did with Mazen. Soon you’ll be out of the 4th trimester, and your new-normal will be established!
Julia says
That thrush medicine is what made my child poop tons…maybe when that exits his system you will be changing less poopy diapers?
KathEats says
Oh gosh I hope so!!!
Vera says
What diaper rash cream do you use?
KathEats says
I’ve tried one called triple paste, or Desitin maximum and now the new Aquaphor diaper cream from the doctor
Vera says
wich one have you seen best results with?
KathEats says
The Triple Paste was recommended by a doctor friend and seems to be working (this one) but other people in this post are swearing by Calmoseptine.
Meghan says
Triple Paste worked awesome on my first son but not my second. A friend introduced me to Pinsav. Amazing.
https://www.amazon.com/PINXAV-DIAPER-RASH-CREAM-OZ/dp/B001V9FOPA
sam says
Hi Kath, my daughter had a terrible diaper rash at that age and we started using Calmoseptine on her diaper area at every diaper change. Serious game changer. Made such a huge difference– she’s two now and we still use it. I order it in bulk from amazon. Just wanted to share!
KathEats says
Thanks!
Liz says
I second Calmoseptine! My friend gave me some samples from her pediatrician’s office when my oldest had a gnarly rash as an infant, and now I order it in bulk from Amazon. It works wonders!
Beth says
Try water wipes for diaper rash — there is chemicals of some sort in all wipes except these (which can cause irritation/rash). We switched over to them and have had no rashes since. They’re pricier but they worked for us and other friends. Yay for sleep!
KathEats says
Thanks!
Kelli H says
I loveeee water wipes!! Honest wipes always gives my daughter a rash. 🙁
Anna says
My second did 1.5-2 hours max for 9 whole months before he finally started doing longer stretches. At 12 months he still only does 4.5 hours max in one go. There’s nothing wrong, he just seems to need to be close to me. He still feeds 2 times/night as well, whereas my first was no longer feeding in the night at this point. It’s hardwhen other babies are doing much longer stretches but I try to just accept that this is what he needs and go with it. And go to bed early! 🙂
Carla says
Eesh, and here I was all ready with my sob story, haha. My daughter was like B at this age. And then we got RSV and were in the hospital so that all went to pieces, and then she hit the 4 month sleep “regression” at 12 weeks old, and didn’t sleep for more than 3 hours at a time until 6 months old…and then we’d get a 5 hour stretch followed by two more short ones…long story short, finally by 10 months old she slept through the night. I had major envy of her two “friends” born around the same time as her, who were both sleeping much better much earlier. :Shrug: He’ll come along…eventually! 😉
On the positive note, I am literally in awe of all that you are doing right now! I never would have been so brave to do so many appointments, things around the house, or even exercise. You are like superwoman(mom) lol!
sarah says
We use aquaphor as a diaper paste. It helps heal the rash and provides a super great barrier to protect baby’s bottom from the next round of poop. It’s not great with cloth diapers though (from what I’ve read) so if you are going that route again it might not be the best. Or maybe with a disposable liner or something. We were gifted a huge tub of aquaphor for our shower and I had never really thought of it as a diaper paste, but it’s all we use now!
Gillian says
Thrush pain was maybe the worst pain
I’ve experienced. I’m so sorry you are dealing with it. Take good care and I hope it clears up fast. I think if I remember right I had to do a couple rounds of diflucan. It was significantly worse on one side, also.
Susan says
Just wanted to come ask about assessment of lip and tongue ties as well. They are tricky- I didn’t have much pain and nurses thought baby was breastfeeding great before we found it.
The pediatrician thought it was “minor”, the baby doctor didn’t think the baby had a lip or tongue tie but an LC assessed her, we had it revised and that made a huge difference.
Good luck!
Gina O McCune says
I second checking for tongue and lip tie. My 2nd had both and we did not find out until 5 weeks. I had a good let down, so he was still getting an OK amount of milk. Also, him sleeping 5 hours with a bottle and only 2 1/2 with being breastfed, tips me off for a lip or tongue tie. That is exactly what was happening with us, he was having to work so hard to get the milk he was getting that he would not drink as much from me. As others have said, my pediatrician did not detect, it was an LC. Good luck!
Liz says
Just wanted to send love and good vibes for the nursing issues! I had the exact same problem with my 2nd. He did fine on the left side but right side was SO painful and he wouldn’t even latch at all much of the time on that side. In my case, it was not a tongue or lip tie but simply an oversupply issue. I had a huge supply and my right side produced more than my left. He didn’t have a great latch, and it was exacerbated by my fast letdown and the sheer volume of milk overwhelming him. Using a nipple shield on that side helped for a while and then it was just a matter of him getting bigger and being able to better handle the amount and speed of the milk. It was so hard to deal with though, especially in the middle of the night. I hope Birch gets the hang of it soon! <3
KathEats says
Thank you! Mazen magically learned how to nurse at 6 weeks so I’m sort of hoping that’s what happens this time too!
Jessica says
I can’t recommend this protocol enough….
If baby has a rash…..Caloseptamine directly on rash, then put a layer of squash or over that. The aquaphor provides a barrier to keep poop and irons off rash.
If baby doesn’t have a rash….use a thin layer of aquaphor at each changing. This provides a barrier between pee or poop and the sensitive skin.
Tracie says
I love my motif duo! But something I didn’t realize, make sure to wash or at least take apart the diaphragm after using because they definitely hold moisture.
KathEats says
Thanks!
Gretchen says
aww so sweet! So many good wishes to you, Kath. Was Mazen a great sleeper? What you described for Berch sounds kind of normal, right? Signed with hugs and coffee, mom of 3 under 4
KathEats says
Mazen was a pretty bad sleeper. The pediatrician said he should be doing closer to 3-4 hour stretches at this point with his weight not 1.5 to 2 hours but we will see what happens.
Anna says
There are so many reasons a baby wakes up in the night, not just food. I would question what evidence your paed is basing that on? Agree it sounds normal, albeit tough if you are the person waking up with them!!
KathEats says
Well that’s not my opinion it’s the pediatricians, so I would assume she was basing that on solid research.
Anna says
No I know, it was meant as a supportive comment. I think it can be unhelpful when healthcare professionals (and I’m one of those) say what babies should and shouldn’t be doing, as they are all so different. Waking that often is really normal according to research. Sounds like you are doing great x
Meghan says
You don’t know what you don’t know, but I always thought my son had a tongue tie but the pediatrician said it was fine. He was gaining weight etc. But he was seriously up every hour and was such hard baby. All of your togue-tie posts make me wish we could go back in time and get it fixed when he was a newborn. We ended up getting it fixed when he was 7(!) when he was getting a tonsillectomy. It helped his speech problems and he can lick an ice cream cone properly 🙂 Combining with my experience and everyone else’s comments, don’t trust your pediatrician’s advice when it comes to lip and tongue ties and go with your gut!
Kelli H says
I am so impressed that you were able to take B with you to all those appointments! I have yet to take my daughter to any of those places. haha. I just feel like I couldn’t relax while keeping an eye on her. I did take her to one wax appointment and she cried the whole time. I had to hold her on my chest while laying down. She’s one so it was a little hard. haha. Good for you keeping up on all your personal appointments though. It’s what makes us still feel human!
I kind of practiced walking my lab with the stroller with my husband. We’d go on walks together and then I’d take the leash and the stroller and if it were too much I could give Ryder back to my husband. Eventually it got easier! Especially once Camryn was out of the carseat/stroller set up. The stroller gets so much lighter when the carseat is gone. 🙂
KathEats says
I think a mobile baby is much harder than a newborn at appointments! 🙂
Jess says
Hey mama! Just a thought (from a fellow mama who had to work through a lot of nursing obstacles): Painful latch on one side could be due to tight muscles in his neck and/or jaw. We worked with a chiropractor who specializes in pediatrics and she helped us a tremendous amount! Said chiropractor could also probably weigh in on potential tongue/lip tie. Good luck to you, you’re doing amazing!
KathEats says
Thank 🙂
Denise says
I was in Hot Springs all last week and we had a VERY cold few days! I’m impressed you made sure to get out and about. It’s so good for your mental health as well as physical. And I bet T’s mom was over the moon to be able to feed B.
Carla says
Just out of curiosity, how do you manage pumping – does Birch only eat on the left side mostly? What if you pump the right side and he wants it after it’s gone? What do you do overnight if you’re not nursing – doesn’t that harm your supply if you don’t nurse? So many questions. Nursing was so difficult with my daughter because I could never get the timing right, and she was always hungry and I could barely produce enough – even though I had a great supply!
KathEats says
He eats on both sides most of the time, and I’ve only pumped to replace a feeding – not in addition to a feeding – so I don’t mess with my supply. Around 6 weeks I might try adding a mini pumping session after the morning feeding to build a little freezer stash, but I don’t need much since I work from home.
Kim says
Gentian violet applied to your nipple and areola clears up thrush in just one treatment. Just thought I’d mention it in case you have it come back. You can rub some aquaphor around baby’s mouth before latching so baby doesn’t get a purple mouth.
KathEats says
I tried the GV and it didn’t really work for us : (
K~ says
That kale salad with BBQ tofu looks great. I am living vicariously through your eating out