It's Friday!

Product Review: Sand and Sea Table (by request):

We love this thing!!! We have played with it yesterday and today and Rachel LOVES it! She only gets minimally dirty. We contemplated getting the large red crab sandbox for her to sit in (that holds 6 bags of sand!!!) and Brice thought the table would be better for cleanliness as well as interaction from us. He was right. We can play with her and we only get sand/water on our hands. It isn't a messy thing at all. She enjoys moving the water to the sand to make castles and then the sand to the water...I guess just to make it dirty. We love the umbrella that is attached because it keeps the sun off of her for the most part. The table comes with accessories and it only holds 1 bag of 50 lb sand. We like it so far. It was also super easy to put together!!

It has been a few days since I have posted about breastfeeding so it is time again....I just cant get the hang of it...I want to say that I am a pro at 6 weeks but...I'm not!! I bought two books from Amazon.com about breastfeeding. One is great and the other one gets on my nerves. OH...and the term "Baby Friendly" that I blogged about previously was not coined by my hospital system. The book that I don't like refers to this terminology as well! I was happy to know that something so idiotic didn't come from the establishment that I work for (although I am not fond of the idea that they still support this) but I was surprised to know that it was more widely known. Here is the main reason (so far...I just them yesterday) why I like the one book and not so much the other. One of the books talks all about one physician's opinions on how babies should be breastfed and he basically says that anyone that does not agree with him is incompetent and should not be giving advice to breastfeeding mothers. He says if your nipples hurt then you aren't latching on correctly. He doesn't go into details on how to help a mother latch on correctly...basically says to go see a lactation consultant (that, of course, believes as he does). The other book gave specific step by step instructions on what to look for and what to do to make a latch more comfortable and efficient. I was able, after weeks of wrong latching, to get Lauren to FINALLY latch on correctly. She latches great on one side but the other side (coincidentally the side that always has more milk) she has the HARDEST time latching. I am not sure if the problem is me because I am having to manuveur her with my left hand or what the deal is but that nipple is cracked, has bled on occasion and just continues to get reinjured...it hurts! That's also the side that I got mastitis in. ANYWAY, hopefully with this book, we can continue a good latch and I will start to heal. One of the things that is consistent in both books that concerns me a little is the issue of pooping...yes, I am back to that again!!!! =) Lauren only poops about 2 times a week....that is actually an improvement. When we first came home, it was once a week. She passed meconium fine in the hospital and has plenty wet diapers but the books say that if baby has less than 1 poopy diaper PER DAY that it is evidence that they aren't getting enough high calorie milk. Well, I talked to the pedi about it at our 2 week appointment and she said that it is normal for BF babies to only go once or twice a week because most of the milk gets absorbed and it was okay since she was gaining weight. At her 2 week appointment, she still was not back to her birth weight but the doctor wasn't concerned about that either because she said that larger babies at birth sometimes have a harder time regaining all of their weight. She only weight 9 lbs, 5 oz at her 2 week checkup. A week later, she was 10 lbs even and then another week after that she was 10 lbs, 7.5 oz so she obviously is gaining weight. I am anxious to see what she weighs now. I think she is doing fine but reading stuff like that makes me fear that she isn't getting enough milk. It is possible that she, like Rachel, inherited her mother's digestive system and will always have problems....I am perfectly healthy except for my GI problems....sorry, girls!

Here are some pictures from yesterday....