October Colors...and early November COLD

October has been a crazy month for us in so many ways....

The first part of this post might be too much information for a lot of people, so feel free to skip it...down to the pictures. For the record...I treat this blog more as a journal for our family, so that is why I am including this story.

The craziness all started when I took LucyMae to her 4-month Doctors appointment on Oct. 2nd. At her 2-month she had weighed 12lbs. 6 oz., and now, at 4-months, she was 11lbs. 8oz. That gave me and the doctor a pretty good scare and awakening. Apparently my milk was way down, as a result of so many mistakes I made as a naive first-time mom:

• I had an over-abundance of milk at the beginning, which led to LucyMae only wanting/needing to eat every 4 hours or so, starting when she was about 3 months old, which of course led to a slow-down in my milk-production.
• When LucyMae randomly slept 10+ hours a couple of times without wanting to eat, we figured since she can do it she must be ready to do it ALL the time, and started sleep-training her at about 3 months - which is TOO early FYI!!
• I never pumped more than once or twice every couple weeks, but starting at about 3 months, I absent-mindedly stopped pumping ever...I just didn't really need to I thought.
  
• We gave LucyMae her binky all the time...she seemed to want to suck all the time...but apparently she was getting satisfaction from sucking instead of eating.

The list could probably be longer, but these are the things I have identified so far. And it made me so mad, because these were all things that I think I should have known better about. But, I am determined to keep breastfeeding LucyMae for as long as I can (but no longer than 1 year...for those who have seen Baby Mama), so I have been trying to correct my mistakes.

And so, the month of STRESS began. It was like I had a newborn again. For a couple weeks I tried everything the books and websites said to do if your milk is down: feed baby every 1.5-2 hours, make sure they suck for 10 min. on each side, pump after every feeding, pump in the middle of the night, take 12+ Fenugreek pills per day (an herbal supplement that is supposed to increase milk supply), etc. I was doing it all and it seemed to be working for a few days, but then feeding sessions just turned into screaming sessions for LucyMae because she was mad that there wasn't more milk, and I was trying to coax her to eat for 10 minutes on each side. And because I knew she wasn't getting enough I was giving her bottles of pumped milk as much as I could....but when she knew she could easily get what she wanted from a bottle, she wasn't so interested in nursing.

After a week of this fighting with LucyMae at every nursing session, I decided I needed more help, so I called a lactation specialist. She was very helpful and encouraging and gave me the extra boost of encouragement that I needed. My new routine was to:

• feed LucyMae every 2 hours still
• in order to get her to eat for 10 minutes on each side I got what is called a Supplemental Nursing System...basically a container that hangs from my bra-strap holds extra milk in it, and a little tube tapes to my....you know...and when LucyMae gets frustrated that my milk is running out, I open the tube up so she is satisfied and still sucking.
  
• Have lots of skin-on-skin time with her in order to create more of a bonding feeling with her.
• get a hospital-grade pump (which Elena Camp was kind enough to let me borrow)
• PUMP as much as possible (every 3 hours at least during the night)

This was working better, but I still didn't feel like my milk was coming back enough, because I had to KEEP using the same amount of supplement every time I fed LucyMae. We have also been taking LucyMae in to the doctor's office to weigh her each week to see if she is gaining enough, and although she had gained in these 4 weeks of STRESS, it wasn't quite as much as we wanted to see (instead of an ounce/day, it was about 5 oz./week). I even started adding a little formula to the supplement to make sure she was getting PLENTY of food. AND I got my thyroid checked because thyroid problems can apparently cause low milk-supply (and I got that blood-work done for free through the health clinic at Sam's work). But my thyroid is fine - thank heavens! (problems with thyroid run in my family).

SO, I finally decided to get one of the prescription medications that they have to bring your milk-supply back. I had really wanted to do it naturally if possible, but I had done everything and it was't working. Reglan is the first one I heard about, but after doing much reading about it, I was doing everything I could to avoid it because of the horrible side-effects it has (depression, fidgeting, shaking, etc.) The other is Domperidone, which you can only get at a compounding pharmacy because it is not approved by the FDA yet, but it is by far the better of the 2. My doctor said it is silly that it isn't approved yet, and prescribes it often and says it is fine. I have also spoken with several people who have used it and were/are very happy with the results. SO, I got Domperidone about 2 weeks ago and all my problems seem to be solved! FINALLY! I have PLENTY of milk again, LucyMae is satisfied and gaining weight MUCH quicker without the use of the supplementer or formula, AND she is so much happier all the time (except for now - I think she is starting to teeth! arghh!) PLUS - our insurance rocks and is covering most of the cost of this prescription (which is pretty expensive), and I am getting a hospital-grade pump of my own for only $22 because of our awesome insurance. We are REALLY going to miss that aspect of Sam's job in a couple months.

SO - to anyone who is or has been worried about their milk supply for their baby...ask your doctor to prescribe Domperidone. It works wonders!

OTHER THAN ALL THIS STRESS October has been a fun month in a lot of ways. We got to go to the UofU vs. Oregon game...in the Wells Fargo Box. Sam is in the Elder's Quorum Presidency with a guy who works for Wells Fargo, and his clients couldn't come that night, so they invited us. His wife is my visiting teacher and in YW with me too. So we had a great time - a free feast, great seats, a GREAT game, and all quiet enough and warm enough that I didn't worry about LucyMae.



It was also General Conference at the beginning of the month, which I enjoyed as much as I could with LucyMae while Sam was at work. It was a great conference - what I heard of it - and we enjoyed a fun dinner with the McConkie extended family at the Rio Grande (thanks Grandma and Grandpa McConkie!) I am excited to read all the talks in the Ensign. In all the alone time I have with LucyMae while Sam is at work, I get a little camera-happy with LucyMae sometimes. She is just so dang cute...I want to capture every facial expression and sound she makes...




And the week after conference was the "wedding WEEK" for Joe (Sam's brother) and Shelby (aka "Jelby"). On Tuesday night of that week Shelby went through the temple for the first time to receive her endowments. It was a beautiful night, and a beautiful ceremony, although I didn't get to participate in the ceremony. With LucyMae's schedule I chose to go down with Sam, but I stayed outside with LucyMae. We walked all around, took pictures, played in the waiting area, and had a great time. LucyMae was very entertaining - trying to eat her feet, trying to sit-up, and being super happy. Sam says it was a wonderful family gathering. We enjoyed a nice dinner with Sam's family afterward.



On Thursday night of that week was the wedding dinner at the Lion House. It was delicious as usual, and the program was beautiful. Joe and Shelby were so ready to just get married. It was fun to get to know Shelby's family a bit. Again, LucyMae was the center of attention at our table. She was just so smiley and dressed so cute! And then, on Saturday Joe and Shelby finally got married in the Timpanogos Temple. It was a cold, snowy/rainy day, but it was beautiful and the couple were as happy as could be. I LOVED her bouquet...if you can see it in the pictures. The ceremony was in the morning, and then we hung out at Sam's parent's house for a few hours (making their wedding gift - Sam took a cool picture of the spring where Joe proposed up by their cabin, and then made a frame out of the wood from the old roof of the barn up there). And then the reception was from 6:00-8:00. We got to be there early for pictures of course, and enjoyed the whole reception with donuts, steamed milk, dancing, and awesome heaters in the tent! It proved to be a VERY long day for LucyMae, but we made it through and home safely. And LucyMae was freakin' adorable in her dress that they gave her!





We also enjoyed a wonderful evening with my mom's side of the family at a 60th wedding anniversary dinner for my grandparents! That is definitely worth celebrating in today's world. It was fun to see cousins and aunts and uncles that we don't get to see very often. And especially fun to see how much my grandparents enjoyed cutting the cake and reliving their wedding day. Unfortunately I failed to take any pictures of that night though.

Meanwhile, LucyMae has been working very determinedly on her sitting-up skills. She figured it out so quickly. She LOVES to show off for anyone who will look and rewards them with a winning smile that says..."look what I can do!" She is so proud of herself!



We also enjoyed getting ready for Halloween. LucyMae had an adorable costume that the bishop and his wife gave us. She was an adorable little ballerina. I loved the TUTU! And she loved showing off her costume while doing her favorite standing/balancing trick with daddy. We also had a fun pumpkin-carving evening with Sam's family...ours was the funniest for sure! (I had the idea and Sam did the carving - we make a good team, what can I say?). And I think the highlight of our Halloween celebrating was a murder-mystery dinner party we went to with some of our married friends that we get together with regularly. It was the first time I had heard of the mystery dinner thing, and it was actually really fun. We all got to dress up and act like certain characters the whole night while we tried to solve the mystery. AND we enjoyed taking LucyMae to the Halloween concert that the Utah Philharmonia puts on every year at the U. The whole orchestra dresses up and most of the audience, and they decorate the whole hall. And the music is all Halloween-related in some way. LucyMae LOVED it! She loved watching the orchestra, and every time the music would change in any way she would turn around or jump or something. You could just really tell that she was into it. I think we have a little musician on our hands here!




AND LucyMae has had some fun time with her cousin Clark and her friend Lucy. It is so fun to watch them check each other out and try to play with each other.



And for anyone who wants to hear about our adventure to find housing in South Dakota...look for the next post...coming SOON!