WUBBANUB!!

I cannot believe this, but it's true. My breastfeeding struggles are over. I've been saved by a monkey. I belong to a website called Babycenter, and I am one of many other March mamas, so I frequently check in on the message boards to ask or answer questions. I was just browsing last week and came across a post for Wubbanubs. Having no idea what they were I had to google them, and then I just had to have one. What it is, is a pacifier with a little beanie animal attached so that it stays in the baby's mouth easier. I didn't think it would work miracles, I just thought it was cute and that Bethie might like it so I ordered the monkey Wubb from Amazon.

The thing put her to sleep in 3 seconds the first night we had it. Since she didn't drop the pacifier, she didn't wake up wanting it back. Already, the monkey was worth the $12 I paid for it. We went to see Jeff at work yesterday and have lunch with him, and I grabbed the Wubb as a just-in-caser. I fed Bethie right before we left. Before we left Jeff's office to go to lunch (after he had showed her off to everyone, of course), I tried to give her a bottle of breast milk, but she wasn't hungry. I knew she'd start screaming in the restaurant, but I couldn't help that. We got to the restaurant and gave her the Wubb, and she sucked on that thing for the entire HOUR we were eating lunch. I started to think that maybe all her screaming after being fed was because she wanted to suck, and not because she was hungry. To wrap this novel up, that's exactly what the problem was. I've been breastfeeding her with no problem and then giving her the Wubb, and hasn't had to have a drop of formula or even a bottle of breast milk.

So, I never had a supply problem, and Bethie was never starving. She just needed a pacifier that would stay in her mouth. I have been saved, after weeks and weeks of stress, worry, and guilt, by about $.50 worth of beanie monkey. Hallelujah!

Breast Feeding

I have been breastfeeding and bottle feeding Bethie since she was a week old, and I am determined to get her back on breast milk only. It started when she was losing weight and so we had to supplement with formula and pumped breast milk so that we could make sure she was eating enough. Now, she knows that the bottle is quicker than the breast, so when she gets hungry enough, she refuses to nurse and needs a bottle. Several people have told me to just make her take the breast, but I've tried that and I just can't bear for her to be hungry and crying.

I rented a hospital-grade pump from the hospital for a month, and I've been drinking Mother's Milk herbal tea. So far, I've been pumping a lot more than I was, so I'm hoping that this will help us get rid of the formula entirely. Bethie can still have a bottle, but I want to be able to give her breast milk.

Please know that I have absolutely nothing against formula, it's just that I am too stubborn and have to try everything I can before I give in. Right now, Bethie is getting about 50% - 80% breast milk and the rest is formula, so I am grateful that she's even getting that much. I just feel like I have to try and do better for my Little Bird! The first picture is from when she was three days old, and the other is from this week, so you can see my baby is growing up way too fast as it is! :-)

Time is Flying!

Time is just going by way too fast. Elizabeth will officially be 3 months old on Sunday. My baby isn't a baby anymore! She coos and grins at us and is trying to figure out how to laugh. She almost has it but she can't make the separate sounds, so we hear "Ahhhhhhhhh!" when she thinks something is funny. She likes to stick out her tongue now, too, which makes us laugh. She truly is a little burst of sunshine.

Awwww . . .

This is why Elizabeth was named after a Disney princess. She looks about to break into song while the woodland animals flutter happily around her. She just breaks my heart!