Ouch my nipples!

Is it time to stop breastfeeding when your little one is getting teeth? My nipples would vote Yes! It definitely can hurt A LOT when your nipples get bitten.

 I'm in a dilemma, what should I do? Stop breastfeeding would mean a lot of suffering for me: like what would I do to calm her down when I can't use my boobs? How do I get her to fall asleep at night? It's hard to admit, but I have gotten dependent on using my boobs as a tool to calm little B down. 

I know breastfeeding is very good but at some point it has to come to an end. And honestly, I was only planning on breastfeeding for a couple of weeks and it's been almost 8 months. 

I also want to sneak in the statement that it would be nice to get my boobs back for myself again. 

Still, I can't seem to take the plunge to stop. Sometimes I wish Little B would get tired of it and just stop by herself. 

Is it normal to be so wimpy about the decision to stop breastfeeding? Maybe I'm afraid I would miss it. 

During the next couple of weeks I have to see what I will do. Maybe I just continue until she is a year old and then quit...I just have to find some other method of calming her down at night.

Over and out for now

From a new, wondering, confused mommy

Cauliflower and broccoli baby food, yumm!

I am glad little B likes veggies, but who knows, that might change once she has a taste of candy (and candy canes and candy corns..=) Well at least she likes veggies now so that is a good thing!

Yesterday, I cooked her some cauliflower and broccoli puree. Just boiled it and mixed it in the blender with some water and a little bit of butter. She enjoyed it and I actually thought it tasted pretty darn good myself!

Boiling veggies

Puree with the help of the ninja

To perfect my kitchen skills, I think I will look for a steamer, so I don't need to boil the vegetables. That will probably preserve more of the vitamins.
I store her baby food in these little cups (baby cubes). However, I have to use two of them now since she eats so much.

Baby cubes food containers

Ok, have a nice day!

Snuggly in her snuggle bag

Little B and I try to go for a nice walk every day. Since it's winter time and we live in Canada I always worry about if she is warm enough.

I used to put her in a snowsuit, but she absolutely hates putting the snowsuit on indoors. Well, who wouldn't, it gets pretty hot and you would feel like a wrapped up sausage. It also takes a while before we get out, since we live in a condo.
 However, I think we finally found the perfect solution; the snuggle bag...Her grandmother got that for her the other day and she loves it. Now I can put her in some lighter clothing before we go and then I just zip up the bag once we are about to open the front door. Much easier! And, most importantly, little B is a much happier B! Happy B, happy mom!

It was pretty chilly when we went for our walk, but at least the sun was shining. I wish I had a snuggle bag myself, lol!

Like a snuggly bug in a rug

Post-pregnancy belly

There is no doubt that your body (my body) has changed a bit after being pregnant. Not in a bad way though!
 Just after my pregnancy my belly looked loose and floppy, like an empty babys' nest. Yikes!, haha. of course that is normal, but I just wondered when I could wear my old clothes again. Haha so vain, but that's how my mind works at times.
Anyways, breastfeeding proved to be a really good thing because I could actually feel my uterus? shrink while doing it. Pretty cool! After about one week, my belly looked pretty decent.

I have been very careful to not do any crunches or other stomach workouts, as that could damage the way you recover. I also made sure to go for walks and eat healthy to get my old self back.
However, I still have a gap between my stomach muscles and it's been over 7 months since my delivery. I can feel it when I lift my head up into a half sit-up position. Anyone else have this?
The gap is not very big but I still thought it was creepy to feel it. I am not sure if it is the condition called "Diastasis Recti" and looks like this:

Source: BeFit mom

Ok, all this talk about bellies motivates me to go out for a walk/run.
Take care and have a nice weekend!!!!!

Bottles bottles, lots of baby bottles!

As I mentioned before, I breastfeed my baby. It is definitely convenient but also has its downsides (like when you leave your husband to look after the baby to go to the hairdresser and he does not have any boobs). It is definitely good if your baby can take the bottle if necessary so you don't feel stressed when you have to do something. I thought in my rookie mommy mind that it would be no problem at all to get your baby to take the bottle. However, little B has proven to be very picky with what bottle you try and I have had a very hard time to get her to drink from a bottle.

I have tried several different models. I have tried to put breast milk in them and formula and a mixture of both. My husband and her grandmothers have tried to feed her, we tried when she was a bit hungry, very hungry and even when she was full, but it has been very difficult. 

The revelation for me, came when she was old enough to sit in a high chair. By that time I had reveived a bottle called Mimijumi from her grandmother and she actually took it while sitting in her chair. I almost fainted with relief! The Mimijumi bottle is pretty cool as it looks like a boob. However, she was not that keen on it when she was on the couch or any other area than her high chair. She also liked to chew that bottle more than sucking, so it was hard to get her to drink more than a couple of ml. Next, I tried the MAM bottle which has been the only bottle that she sucks from. I have managed to feed her with that several times. But she stills wants boob milk afterwards. We are working on getting her to drink more from that bottle so she feels fully satisfied.

I also tried a sippy cup from Avent and she does drink from that. It is at times a bit messy, but a life saver if she gets hungry when we are out and about. I had it with me on my walk today and she drank 120 ml, wohoooo :)

So far this is little B's top five bottles:

1.MAM Baby bottle

2. Avent sippy cup (bottle to first cup trainer)

3. Mimijumi 

4. Tommee Tippee

5. Dr Brown's 

I hope others who are struggling with the same things got some ideas from little B's list.

Take care!

Making baby food - pureed meat

So while I was making meat sauce for me and my husband I decided to separate some meat for little B and make her a meal.

 I cooked her ground beef with some onion, carrots and a tiny bit of tomato sauce. I was a bit worried about adding onion to a baby food dish, but after some Googling I found out that is ok. Thank god for Google! Anyway, I cooked it all and added it to the blender. I had to add some water to it to make it blend into a nice, smooth puree. I was a bit skeptical about blending meat but come to think of it, the meat had already been sliced up and grounded, so why not chop it up some more...

I also added some sweet potatoes to the mix. 

This is how yummy it looked like when it was all done:

Yum yum yummm. 

Well I tasted it and it was pretty good, but most importantly, little B tasted it and she liked it! Woho! That is all that matters! 

Ok, off to new food adventures!

Homemade Baby Food

It is a lot of fun now when little B can eat baby food. I started feeding her cereal in the mornings when she was five months old. After that I gave her carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and peas. She also tried blueberries, peach and apples. However, I try to make some baby food at home. Since I am not a super chef I only make some simple stuff. However, It is really not that hard and it saves you a lot of money. It is also nice to know what ingredients you put in and it gives me the option to buy organic ingredients whenever I feel the need for that. So far I made carrots, sweet potatoes and apple sauce at home. I boil the ingredients first and then mix it in the blender.

Carrot pureeing the other night and little B tasting some homemade apple sauce (looks happy so far about my kitchen efforts)

I find that it is easier to make a lot at the same time, seems like it mixes better in the blender. I use small cups to store leftovers in the freezer.

I have yet to try some kind of meat mixture....but seems a bit nasty to puree meat.....

And I heard you should add some butter to your homemade food.....is that true....? I will try that when I  make some broccoli puree. 

The pureeing continues...I will let you know what little B thinks of my cooking skills.

Ok all you moms and dads out there, You are doing a great job!

Xxx Bs mom

Blanket for the crib?

Ever since little B was born I have been nervous about what bedding to have in her crib. After lots of Google searches on the subject I decided not to have anything at all. There is definitely some scary stuff out there and warnings against using any kind of blankets or pillows, even stuffed animals seem to be a NO NO. I mean who is not afraid of SIDS especially as a first time parent. Little B has been wearing a onesie and that is all. Nothing else in the crib. I even bought a mesh crib liner since I am so nervous about the SIDS thing.

Mesh crib liner

Now when she is 6 months old I am starting to think about blankets again. It is also winter so it gets a bit chillier inside. Last night she had a blanket that I tucked in on all sides of the madress. I know she loves to snuggle with a blanket and she seemed quite happy to have one. I might continue with the tucked in blanket or I have been thinking of buying a breathable blanket. The breathable blankets have holes in them so she can breath through it.

Breathable blanket

If I was good at crocheting I guess I could just make her a blanket with holes....but I am not so would have to buy one.
Another option is the wearable blankets. She has one already that we got from IKEA. She almost got too hot it in first time we tried and did not sleep more than 2 hours at a time. That was a pretty exhausting night for mommy. I guess I can turn down the room temp more......

haha did not think what to put and not to put in the crib would be so difficult to solve!

Ok well, hopefully it is normal to be this worried about your first child. Maybe if I have another baby I would feel calmer about things.