The Sound I Never Thought Would Calm My Baby...

Mobile? Of course. Glo Worm? Sure. The sound of my heartbeat? I certainly hoped so.

But I never would have imagined the sound that calms my baby most.

If Hannah has the 3 Bs under her belt (that's Boob/Bottle, Burp, and dry Bum) and is still fussy I try to sing to her to calm her down. A round of Twinkle, Twinkle or Baby Beluga usually works, but when it doesn't I head to the kitchen. And turn on the stove's fan. 

Within seconds of the stove fan humming to life, Hannah's eyes close and she is asleep. We discovered it accidentally one night when my boyfriend Chris turned it on while making dinner. We have resorted to the stove fan many times since. 

Chris suggests the fan most likely reminds her of being in my womb, which sounds like a pretty good hypothesis to me. Regardless of the reason, the stove fan is free, it works and thankfully takes no batteries!

Breastfeeding - The Hand Pump Experience

Hannah latched on to my boob as soon as we hit the recovery room. The nurses were impressed with how quickly she latched on and she sucks quite well. It was me, someone years and not days old, who was slow to pick up on the steps of the breastfeeding dance.

It took awhile for my milk to come in, and even when it did it wasn't enough for my baby to gain enough weight for my pediatrician to feel like she was making real progress. My boyfriend and I made a trip to a lactation consultant at Sunnybrook (where I gave birth) to get some more tips. Lisa was great. She showed us a few new positions and let us know it was OK than Hannah and I were off to a slower start. Breastfeeding seems so easy when you watch videos and read books, but it's actually quite difficult and it's understandable why a lot of moms quickly give up on it all together.

Unfortunately even after the visit to the lactation consultant, Hannah still wasn't gaining enough weight. Part of her pediatrician's solution was for me to pump, and we eventually had to add some formula into the mix too.

Before I gave birth I purchased a Tommee Tippee hand pump for upwards of $50 plus tax. It did not work. I just don't think the Tommee Tippee hand pump fits every breast equally.

On a whim my boyfriend purchased the Life Brand hand pump from Shoppers Drug Mart. It was around $30 plus tax and it works like a charm! It's definitely nothing fancy - but I think that's why it works for any woman's boob (at least it does for mine!). And because it's so simple, it super straight forward to use AND clean!

These days Hannah is still supplemented with formula from the bottle and I still try to breastfeed her a few feedings per day. I like the bonding time so I haven't pumped in a while, but I highly recommend the Life Brand hand pump for other moms!

She's here!

In this VERY late breaking post, my daughter arrived via emergency c-section on January 28. I went to the hospital with irregular bleeding, got induced, had my water broken and pushed for over an hour WITHOUT an epidural until it was decided the baby would not engage. The c-section wasn't so bad and recovery wasn't too bad either. Now I have a zipper for my next baby (if I am blessed enough to give little Hannah a brother or a sister some day...).

She turned two months old yesterday and is healthy, happy and completely adorable!

Now that things have slowed down slightly and my boyfriend and I are adjusting to our new parental roles I will try to update my blog more frequently. There are already a lot of items I wouldn't be able to live without AND there are some I have found to be so useless I wish Babies R Us would take them off the shelves.

So please stay tuned! I promise to be a better blogger!