Daily Life of A Mom

Breast Feeding

Since Brealyns birth I have been strictly breast feeding, but for the past four weeks I have had a really hard time producing enough milk. I will say taking a spray calcium supplement has helped a little along with taking prenatal vitamins and fenugreek tablets. I also try to consume 2,000-2,500 calories a day. Doing all of this, I still only produce 1 oz per hour. Being a new mom I do admit I didn't do much research on breast feeding until after I started having problems, but I really wish my midwife or someone would have told me that I needed a pump for when my milk supply first comes in. For those of you who are expecting and do not know much about breast feeding either, you will first have colostrum and then your regular milk will come in. When it first comes in, you will be extremely full, but if you do not pump along with feeding your baby, your milk supply could slow down a lot (that's what mine did). This happens to some people because you will only produce what your baby eats. A two or three day old baby does not eat much milk because they aren't used to it yet. I am not saying things go this way for everyone, because some people make a ton of milk even when their baby doesn't need it, but I am not that lucky. I know I am rambling on, but the point is, if you are wanting to breast feed for a long time, have a pump on hand for those first few days and DO NOT be afraid to use it! I would suggest pumping after your baby eats to empty your breasts and again about two hours later.

Now that Brealyn is 6 weeks old, the 1 oz I am making an hour just isn't enough food for her. My midwife said I may have to start giving her an oz or two of formula with each feeding to keep her full, but I really hate the idea of giving her formula. I have done a lot of research and found that mixing natural oatmeal with your milk and then blending it in a blender will help to fill your baby up and has more nutrients than baby cereal  Let me tell you it works like a charm! I also give her a little bit of ALL NATURAL, UNPASTEURIZED  FRESH goats milk here and there. If you are going to do this, I suggest freezing it into breast milk storage bags so it is easy to defrost a little at a time. I would not suggest giving any baby primarily goats milk because it lacks a lot of nutrients that breast milk has but it does its job of helping out where my supply is lacking.
If you have any other suggestions or helpful tips for others please leave them in the comments :)

Money Saving

I love saving money in any way that I can, so I have started making my own baby wipes and I am going to try using cloth diapers while I'm at home. The baby wipes are amazing! They are so much softer then regular wipes and they are much easier on Brealyns sensitive skin (her skin breaks out from everything including baby lotion). I made a few cloth diaper covers today and they are soooooo cute! I just want to put them on her and leave off the rest of her clothes!! Depending on if they work or not, I will post a tutorial (on my other blog http://mclife92.blogspot.com/ showing how to use and make them.
Another money saver I am going to try is making laundry detergent. I have found a few posts on pinterest (follow me here http://pinterest.com/aesmith1992/)showing detergents that work well on cloth diapers and easy ways to make your own powder or liquid detergent. I can't wait to make these and test them out. Let me know if you have any great recipes for things that are easy to make and save lots of money! I am always on the look out for something new to try :)

Brealyns Birth
I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. I have been pretty busy with moving twice and giving birth to my beautiful baby girl! For those of you out there interested in a home birth, mine was amazing. Yes I had contractions for almost a week, but when they finally set into a regular pattern my entire labor only took 12 hours. I had a 9.3LB baby and although she was slightly crooked, I still managed to deliver her all natural. My husband cut the cord and we gave her, her very first bath. My husband, her proud daddy, then dressed her for the first time. Little Brealyn held onto her daddy's finger while she was measured, had her foot prints done, and got her first shot. It was an incredible day. After the Midwife finished with me, I went and made myself some coffee and spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch enjoying my little miracle as people came in and out to see her.

 
Above Left is the proud daddy, Right our Midwife, Alice Brayer, and her assistant Jen and Brealyn holding daddy's finger <3

Getting dressed for the first time!

Here are the 10 day old pictures I took of her. Brealyn was pretty upset with the first outfit, but did great for the rest! 

Now that she is 6 weeks old, I decided to start blogging again. I will be making lots of great things for baby Brealyn and her cousin Kynsley that will arrive in a couple of short months. These two girls are going to have so many cute things!!