I ran across some neato video clips on breastfeeding that include some things I had never heard of. One is his compression technique (HOW many times was I told to not squeeze the breast?!) and another is his use of tubing stuck in a bottle with a cut open nipple as a lactation aid. If you are pregnant and planning on breastfeeding, watch his compression technique clips- it’s great for when the baby is at the breast but not sucking and he shows you exactly what to look for to see when your baby is swallowing milk.
Here’s a link to his website. Click Breastfeeding Help and then Video Clips.
Here is another link to a site that includes some of his articles and some of the same videos.
Click on the extended entry link to see a copy of a handout on lactation aids.

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Well I discovered that my m/s can be stress related! :/
I have been stressed today with all the spring cleaning we need to do before Bren’s birthday. We’ve mainly been accomplishing the outside work but that leaves the entire house! 😯 🙁 It’s not filthy or anything but could use some improvement and decluttering.
We did errands all day yesterday and I felt great but bombed last night from having done too much. I woke up this morning and noticed I was a bit dizzy. As the morning progessed and we planted a few things and I cleaned some windows- the up & down movements were making me dizzier and dizzier. I stopped cleaning and got upset because I was thinking I was never going to get anything accomplished this way and then noticed I was nauseous. It got worse until I finally started crying. DH has me sit down and watch an episode of Good Eats with him and I felt much better afterwards. I had stressed myself sick. 🙁
He’s going to take me out to eat and I guess I’ll just try to do and think about 1 thing at a time.
In other news…
One neat thing we discovered yesterday was a humongous 2 story restaurant called Chaco’s & Chalucci’s. We love Chacho’s Mexican food so we went in hoping it was the same. They had the Chacho’s Mexican food but they also had Chalucci’s pizza, a burrito bar, a bakery, an italian ice creamery, a smoothie bar and a margarita bar!!! Not to mention a 2 story tall kid’s tunnel playground- the biggest one I have ever seen with slides and toys and all kinds of crazy things! Not all the restaurant areas were open yet nor was the 2nd story billiards, games and dining areas but when this goes full swing it is going to be a mass of people! With great food and free excellent entertainment for the kids plus open 24 hours (2 areas serve breakfast- one hot and the other donuts and pastries)- how can you go wrong? It was simply amazing! Watch out Chuck E. Cheese!!
When I lay on my back in bed and pay attention, I can feel the baby move some. Sometimes it’s fluttery and other times it is more of a shifting of weight. I am guessing the placenta implanter at the top or back this time- yay! I can feel the top of my uterus and it’s right at my belly button. I was surprised because I read that it was supposed to be there at 20 weeks and I am at 17 now. I looked back at my records with Bren and sure enough, the first time the Dr. felt for the height of the uterus was at 24 weeks and I was measuring several weeks ahead. She even commented, “Big uterus!” But by 40 and 41 weeks I was measuring right at 40 weeks. Darrell still says I don’t look any bigger to him. LOL.
I still have the dizziness, constipation, headaches and nausea but not all the time or every day. My hip pains are so much better and I am starting to feel more hungry now. Still don’t know what I want to eat but know that I do want to eat. Fruits are definitely still the most appealing items. Not cooking, where I don’t smell the food or even think about food before I eat it helps too. An aversion I don’t think I have mentioned is barbeque sauce.
Bren is his same old self- an angel at home with wild tendencies late at night. He cries before every nap and going to bed at night. He just hates to stop to sleep! He loves water-play, whether in the sink or with the hose outside. He even took his first willing shower with me yesterday and loved it. He has been watching Rolly Poly Ollie and calls it “Poh-wee”- hard to distinguish from potty and for a while I thought he was saying party. He hates to ride in carts and complains about being put in the stroller but just can’t keep close to us in stores- and he’s even hid a couple of times. But if trips are short we try to let him get the exercise and just bear his antics. Our neighborhood HEB and Wal-Mart are always jam packed though. Just 6 days til his birthday party and 8 days til he turns 3. He’s such a little man now. Very independent yet still shy of strangers. 🙂 Sniffle.
Four days until the ultrasound. I am starting to dread it. I know I will be disappointed if it is not a daughter and I am trying to come to terms with how a son would be great too. Just trying to remain distracted. I remember feeling this way last time as well- I just want to KNOW so I can move on with whatever I am given and be happy.

Had the Quad Screen bloodwork done on Monday. Had to deal with a vampire that didn’t want me or my insurance until DH went over her head and got someone to tell her to take my damn blood. She missed the veins in both arms and finally got some blood out of the side of the knuckle in my right hand. Blew the vein though and my hand was sore for the rest of the day.
But the results are worth the effort!
Neural Tube defects: 1:25,000
Down Syndrome: 1:6,400 (based on age alone- 1:586)
Trisomies: 1:44,376
Woohooooo! I am happy!
ONE WEEK TO GO!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a list of current pregnancy blogs. What a great idea! I love to read about other women’s pregnancies and births!
Babes in Blogland

Here’s Brendan just today making a face for the camera.

Here I am 5 days ago at 15w2d pregnant in the shirt my MIL bought me for the wedding. I definitely look LESS pregnant than in the 13 weeks pic. *Shrugs*

Here’s a pic of the potential coming home outfit- if it’s a girl, of course. It’s a little onesie and skirt. It is bound to be 95 degrees+ in August here so I was looking for light clothing. I also wanted a white outfit since Brendan wore white. Kind of a purity thing, I guess. I love the little butterfly on the skirt- matches the nursery stuff I posted earlier.

*****
Brendan now finds his own snacks. He pushes a chair across the kitchen and can reach into the cabinet where we store things like applesauce cups and crackers. We have to watch anything left on the tables or counters too.

15w5d. I have been so sick this past week. I was doing really well and then BAM! Nausea!!! Constipation!!! Exhaustion!!! And it has only gotten worse! As yesterday progressed, I added a sore throat to my list of complaints but it seems to be mostly gone today. I am just feeling ill and very tired so you can imagine what I do all day- either hide from my woes on the computer or lay down in my room while Brendan watches cartoons. Yee-haw.
While my aversions are still very strong it looks like I can drink diet sprite again (actually, it’s Sierra Mist). That’s good. I was tired of water! I have been trying to limit my sugar by avoiding things like popsicles and juice. It’s hard because those things help the nausea. But without all that sugar controlling medicine, sugars are just going to make this baby extra big. I am also trying to avoid highly salty things because they make my weight soar with water gain. The Mexican food can’t be helped much since it is what appeals most that contains meat but things like soups can be avoided. Once again- one of my main comfort foods when I am nauseous.
One of these days I’ll get up the energy to return to our daily walks. It was just too cold up at the in-laws. I did do some stretching though.
I won a Bravado nursing bra off of Ebay- fits (but no room for growth & it’s their largest size) but functions differently than I thought. The whole bra cup goes down leaving me baring my entire breast. Not exactly what I want but it’ll be useful to have around the house anyway. I also won a maternity bathing suit. Looks good but I have yet to try it on. My MIL plans to take us to the beach for a few days in June.
2w2d of waiting to go! Child- are you a boy or a girl?!!!

Hi Friends,
It’s DH taking over Jen’s blog for a few minutes while she’s out of town! I’ll be seeing them soon, and I’m happy about that even though it means my week of pizza and Olympics is over. 🙂 I made this picture for Jen and Bren as a welcome home present and it is set as our desktop right now. Enjoy!

Yesterday, Brendan amazed, astonished & confounded me by not needing a single diaper change for just over 22 hours. Really had me worried! At 9:00 last night he finally went, went again 5 minutes later, again an hour later, woke up wet in the middle of the night (rare these days) and woke up wet this morning. Guess I can stop worrying, lol.
About 6 am, Brendan rolled out of the king sized bed we sleep in up here. He not only landed on the hard wooden floor (what little there is between the bed and the wall), but also smack on top of an emergency lantern- a heavy metal thing. Oh the drama! He was full of Swiper the Fox madness and after he calmed down all I could get him to tell me about where he hurt was that his nose was hot. He went back to sleep MUCH faster than me!
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15w0d. Having a good time up here in north Texas. Since we didn’t get snow, I wish we were having warmer weather though. Had a great day shopping yesterday at Grapevine Mills mall. I bought this clever cupcake stand for Bren’s birthday party, a polo shirt, pants & belt outfit for Bren for the wedding on Saturday for $6 plus 2 maternity shirts also for $6 each. We stopped in at Baby Depot so I could show MIL the pink crib bedding I like. I was so surprised to see that their store has a ton more baby clothes than ours does and it is much less expensive! I bought 2 baby footless gowns for $6 and then… well, found a girl’s newborn outfit I couldn’t live without. It’d be perfect for a coming home outfit!! I realize I may be giving it away, lol, but I hope that’s not the case. 3 weeks exactly til the ultrasound! I’ll post a pic of the outfit when I get home.
I felt the baby rolling over this morning when I was still lying in bed!! If you take your fist and wrap your other hand around it, then roll your fist about a quarter of a turn- that’s what it felt like. Three times! Much more than just a fluttery feeling and the top was about 2 inches below my belly button. Higher than I expected. The baby is the size of an orange now, head to butt. I am millimeters from being too big for the last of my “transition” pants.
Brendan has said a few new things recently. The funniest thing is flashlight. His version sounds more like “fish pipe”. Haha. He also told his Mimi TWICE what sounds tremendously like “stupid, stupid, stupid!” I am not convinced that is what he is really saying even if it sounds like it because I have no idea where he could have heard it! He is loving the cats up here and a couple even lay on the bed and let him pet them. He has been piling toys up in his baby bathtub and driving them all around. Odd things end up in that tub, including every chapstick he can find. Have I ever mentioned his version of bridge sounds just like the B word? Haha.
Thank you, honey for winning that maternity bathing suit off of Ebay for me! Now your mom can take us to the beach in June! We won’t need a beach ball! 😉 I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Don’t forget the wedding clothes!

14 weeks!!! Wahoo! The day *I* consider to be the start of the 2nd trimester even though my OB goes by 12 weeks. 6 months remaining starting tomorrow.
Everything is fine. My Dr. was in surgery so my appt was delayed a bit and even then she was just tied up so we ended up seeing the nurse. Not much to a 14 weeker anyway so no big deal. I got to play with the doppler and was having some success even though I got readings of everything from 114 to 200- that swoosh-swoosh is unmistakable! The nurse got a heart rate of 157. S/he is still pretty far down there- the heartbeat was found right on my hairline. Their scale matches mine at home very nicely so if my appt had been yesterday I would have lost 2.5 pounds but I ate a salty meal last night… and, um, I’m a bit stopped up… and it showed on the scale this morning- so the scale at the office said I only lost 1/2 a pound this month.
The nurse said it was fine if I was having trouble with protein right now. She stated pretty firmly that if my body objects to proteins then I don’t need them right now. So I am not going to feel guilty about it anymore.
So our baby is fine & I am fine. I go back in 2 weeks for a weight check & quad screen bloodwork. The 4 week countdown until the big “check everything including the gender” ultrasound begins!!! March 16th at 1:30!
Took Brendan to see a nursery rhymes puppet show meant for toddlers this morning and it was hilarious! He loved it!! See you on the other side- our train trip begins tomorrow!

Brendan, perched on Daddy’s shoulders, said tonight “Look at me, Mama! I am taller than a mountain!”
10 words!!!!