I had a pile of things to do and tasks to catch up on today. Lewis and I were up early as usual since he’s used to nursing at 4 or 4:30 and going back to sleep. For the sake of the work I needed to get done, I should have put him back in his crib and gotten on with what I could do while everyone was still asleep.
Instead I held him. It’s coming up on three years since we lost our third child to miscarriage. It still pains me though it’s down to a dull ache most days. I have used that pain to remind myself to do better. It started with the decision to not complain about lost sleep. Over the past several weeks, Lewis hasn’t been sleeping through the night. Frequently he wakes up every two hours just as he did last night. When viewed through the scope of loss, every savored moment is a little sweeter.
So even though I was tired and had a lot to do, I sat for close to an hour holding Lewis. Watching him sleep and smile, counting my blessings. I may still slip into the negative spiral of complaining sometimes but fighting it is a commitment I’m trying my hardest to keep. Holding him is my reminder and I wouldn’t trade that for all the restful nights in the world.
I love herbs and learning about their benefits. These are two that I am keeping on hand for Lewis: fennel seed and whole cloves. I have always kept whole cloves on hand once our babies began teething. I steep several in a little hot water for 15-20 minutes, remove cloves and keep the resulting tea in the fridge to rub on sore gums. The cloves tea is light enough to not be bitter for oral use on the baby’s gums, but has a slight numbing effect. (A lot gentler than the old-time use of rubbing on whisky! Though probably less effective at numbing.) Theoretically, clove essential oil could be used if it was diluted down enough with a carrier oil to safely use on a baby, but I find it simpler to steep a tea instead.
Fennel seed is something that I have added more recently. I steep it as well (1 tsp seed for a cup hot water), for a tea for me and Lewis, to promote healthy digestion and treat gas in a fussy (colicky) baby. I give him an eye dropper of the tea when he is fussy/gassy. Since I’m breastfeeding Lewis, I also drink the tea to try preempting any issues from foods I eat. The benefits of the tea carry over to my milk for him. With his sisters, I bought gripe water from the health food store, which is has the same benefits. However, I always ended up wasting some because we would need it now and then, and not get it used in the recommended time frame. Steeping it when needed has been less wasteful in my opinion/situation.
I hope this helps others with a fussy baby. And maybe provide a suggestion for rounding out the spice rack! Perhaps I will add fennel to my slowly forming herb garden….
I don’t frequently venture into such a personal subject, but I ran into a situation that greatly frustrated and angered me for the sake of a new mother I had heard about. My friend’s sister had her first baby. Now she ran into several problems that are prevalent in our current medical profession, but I will stick with the breastfeeding portion.
While speaking with my friend, she told me that a nurse was taking care of bottle feeding her sister’s baby because her sister wasn’t producing enough milk to feed the baby. Now let me clarify; I am speaking to my friend on Saturday about her sister who gave birth to her baby on Thursday. It has barely been two days.
Let’s talk about this from the new mama side first. A mother’s true milk comes in two to three days after giving birth. Until then, she produces small amounts of colostrum. This provides a window to teach the new baby and new mama how to latch properly. Once her milk comes in, the breasts enlarge/engorge and nipples flatten out making them temporarily harder to latch on to. The new mama’s body starts off producing too much milk and then scales back to the amount the baby is able to handle. This makes the first few weeks the most difficult as a routine is sought.
Now from the baby’s side of the nursing relationship; a newborn baby has been fed intravenously by a mother’s body through the pregnancy. The digestive system has not been used. The colostruminitially produced those first few days gently introduces the baby’s digestive system to cleaning out and processing nutrients. A baby’s stomach can not handle much more than a few drops here and there when getting started. As the baby gets used to nursing, the stomach slowly expands and gets used to the process. Over feeding is going to make for a miserable baby, and new mama by extension.
From my point of view, the medical staff has set this new mom up to fail at her breastfeeding goal. Had she planned in advance to bottle feed, this intervention would probably put too much on the baby’s stomach anyway, but it would not be impeding the mom’s choice. In my opinion, breastfeeding information should be researched and discussed through pregnancy and even before to ensure a successful relationship.
Lewis is the third child I have nursed; I went through the above process every time. I had to work through latching problems every time too, but was blessed to develop good nursing routines. I had/have a strong support system to provide help and suggestions and refused to give up. Breastfeeding has so many benefits for both mama and baby and it saddens me to think of the number of mamas that aren’t helped to succeed in their goal. If you are expecting and want to breastfeed, don’t back down and stick with like-minded moms.
(I am including a screenshot of the Latched Mama support page below for additional resources and help. There are also many communities that have their own support group options. Find the help and support you and your baby deserve.)
With things cooling off, I wanted to make some hats for Lewis before I begin my other winter projects. This is one that I ended up remaking a couple times. I had first picked out the deeper blue and hoped it would be enough to make a hat. I was half way through the hat when I realized it wouldn’t be enough. So I pulled my single crochet stitches out until I reached the row after the final increase of the top.
I began the light blue strip, which I thought was complimentary to the first blue. I stuck with single crochet all the way through the hat. I repeated one row deep blue, one row light blue through the body of the hat until I finished on a row of deep blue. The effect is almost a dappled look that I really liked! I tried it on Lewis and it just fit him a shade bigger than perfect. That’s fine for an adult, but a baby will outgrow that in no time.
So I pulled out the final row of deep blue and added two more rows of light blue to make the band you see in the finished hat. I finished with the deep blue edge, tied it off and wove the ends in. I really like the final product. Of course, Lewis just makes it cuter.
I’m discovering that crochet is like life: it’s not about something turning out how you planned, it’s about rolling with the changes you have to make on the way. The hat I made first ended up being a little bigger on my friend’s little girl than I’d meant. It’ll probably be midsummer before she’s able to wear it. This of course made a sweater unrealistic for going with it.
I decided to adjust. I stopped the bodice about an inch or a little more than the pattern called for. This worked out well because I was getting low on the yarn I was using compared to what I would need to make the full pattern.
I added short sleeves and sewed in a snap at the collar. Thankfully, I had thread that matched the yarn to hide the stitching. Sewing on the snap was more challenging than I’d thought it would be. Then, on the other half of the snap, I got it finished only to realize I’d sewn it on backwards. Oops….so I got to do it again.
The final result was a cute cover for a dress. She will hopefully be able to use it with the hat in late summer through the fall. I’m pretty happy with what it turned out as, even if it’s not what I’d set out to make.
I’ve been enjoying a cup of herbal tea with my breakfast for the past month or more. A week in I started wondering if I could get more out of my favorite tea bags than just my one use. Then it hit me. So now I steep my cup of tea, then place my tea bag in a second cup of hot water to steep a lighter version for Caroline. With her being just over a year old, she doesn’t need it to be as strong as it normally would be. This second cup gets covered and set in the fridge for later. She has been loving it! And I love it because it’s good for her too.
I think I may have just discovered Caroline’s new favorite finger food. I gave her some of my side during lunch: roast butternut squash.
I had roasted some with Irish potatoes and onions. It was all rolled in a little olive oil and seasoned lightly with paprika, ginger, salt and pepper. In an aluminum-foil-covered glass Pyrex dish, I let it roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until the vegetables were tender (probably close to an hour).
Anyway, I pinched a little bit from one of the cubes of butternut squash and gave Caroline some. It was gone in a flash and the rest of the meal she happily munched on it. If she could have licked her highchair tray, I’m pretty sure she would have.
I hope this helps anyone else looking to vary their little one’s finger foods. They may be overly excited about the change too.
A group of us were talking at the market about colic and natural remedies. One gentleman said his son had it terribly bad when he was a baby. After suffering through sleepless nights, they were visiting at his wife’s grandmother’s house and she passed on some old-time wisdom.
She walked out to her garden and picked catnip leaves and told them to steep the leaves for tea for their baby. She said to put it in a bottle for him like milk and let him drink what he wanted. They did and he took a few swigs promptly falling into a peaceful sleep. (Not all natural remedies take effect this quickly with every person.)
I love learning about home remedies so I decided I would look into who else knew about this one. I was visiting recently with Travis’s great aunt and asked her about it. She confirmed what I had heard: it was good for colic and aiding sleep.
She told me two other things I didn’t know about it. First, it commonly grew (grows?) wild in our area around springs and other water sources. Second, it is related to mint plants, which is why it is soothing. I guess why it works well for babies is because it is milder than basic mint plants and is easier on their systems.
I will be filing this away for when we have problems. I certainly trust it over commercial products. Of course, when using a plant like this, locate it or raise it away from where chemicals are sprayed so it is safe for consumption. I hope this helps someone who could use a little relief for their baby.
Raised in a Barn... 