A Girl Named PJ

eleven weeks

September 28, 2011

Warning: This post is partially about boobs. It may contain TMI for some!

I was sick in bed with a high fever for most of Levi’s 11-week birthday yesterday. Every muscle ached, including –oddly–the side of my right breast, and all my bones felt bruised. We were lucky that our wonderful nanny was here during the workday to take care of Levi, but I wished that I also had somebody taking care of me. This momma wanted her momma!

When I googled whether I could still breastfeed with a fever, I came upon site and site about mastitis. Being the paranoid person that I am, I immediately feared I was actually suffering from a breast infection and not the flu, despite not having any of the symptoms besides a bit of tenderness. Oh, and a fever. Perhaps I should’ve called my doctor instead of self-diagnosing, but I decided to see if I could sleep it off first.

My fever decreased towards the late afternoon, only to start climbing back up after the nanny left. Of course, last night JB had to work until almost 9pm, so I was home alone with an overtired and insatiable baby who thought whining would be more productive than napping. Have you ever tried standing and rocking a 12lb baby to sleep while you had a temperature? My body was aching…

Thankfully, I feel a million times better today. Unfortunately, our nanny called in sick with a fever, which makes me think that what I had was just a bug and not mastitis. But I’m curious…Have you ever had a breast infection?

View past weeks here:

10 weeks
9 weeks
8 weeks
7 weeks
6 weeks
4 weeks

zulily on-the-go

September 26, 2011

Do you Zulily?

Now you can can check out all the daily deals for moms, babies and kids on your iPhone with their new mobile app. Although I’ve yet to purchase anything for me or for Levi (I wish their shipping fee was a couple of dollars cheaper and their discounts were a little bit steeper), I still check their website every day. Perhaps now I’ll feel more inclined to shop since it will be so easy to view their sales on my iPhone wherever I am.

What great deals have you nabbed on this shopping site or others?

when to introduce a pacifier

September 23, 2011

A week after his birth, when Levi was in the midst of a crying fit, a friend told us we were silly to not give him a pacifier. She had surprisingly strong opinions on the matter, saying that babies want and need to suck.

On the flip side, the lactation consultants at the hospital were adamant that we wait at least a month to give him one. They said that introducing a pacifier or a bottle too soon would jeopardize his ability to learn how to latch properly while breastfeeding.

In the end, we decided to let Levi try out a pacifier when he was two-weeks-old. He took to it like a champ, and it didn’t seem to interfere with breastfeeding (although he took to that like a champ, too). We agreed that we would only give Levi a pacifier when he needed to be pacified and at bedtime. Around that same time, our doctor recommended we also introduce a bottle at least once a week. Baby guy gulped his first one down, no problem.

When did your baby start sucking on a pacifier? And what do you call it in your home? A paci? A nuk? A sucky? Something else?

{my iPhone photo}

ten weeks

September 21, 2011

Baby guy turned 10-weeks-old on Tuesday, and I believe he’s going through another growth spurt. Do those happen around 10 weeks? (Maybe I should have gotten myself a copy of What to Expect the First Year when Levi was born. As a new parent, I really, really hate feeling clueless.)

So here’s the deal: Levi’s been cluster feeding in the early evening these past couple of days, and his napping schedule has been a bit erratic. And breaking away from his newly-developed habit of sleeping in 6 hour plus 3 hours stretches during the night, Levi woke up to eat at 2:10am, 4:52am and 7:05 this morning. Needless to say, I’m one tired mama today!

Daddy, on the other hand, is quasi-well rested, as he DOES NOT WAKE UP when the baby gets fussy…despite the bassinet being right next to our bed. Yes, I’m a little bit bitter about that.

View past weeks here:

9 weeks
8 weeks
7 weeks
6 weeks
4 weeks

{iPhone photo taken on his 10 week birthday}

how to prevent diaper blowouts

September 21, 2011

Saturday night we put Levi in size 2 diapers with the hope that they would prevent what have recently become daily morning blowouts. He looked ridiculous in them! The crotch hung down to his ankles and the back basically came up to his shoulder blades. Our wee sumo wrestler!

Wouldn’t you know, Sunday morning was the first time in over a week that he didn’t poop after his AM feeding. Go figure! But when he did poop later that day…no blowouts! And let me tell you, baby guy lets ’em rip with quite the force. But since then, we haven’t had to rinse out any dirty pajamas caused from powerful pooping.

While we’re on the subject of poop…I thought breastfed kids were supposed to have odorless bowel movements. Not ours! Mr. Levi’s are surprisingly stinky.

I still can’t believe how quickly baby guy outgrew his size 1 Pampers. How old are your kids and what size diapers do they wear?