Updates

Jenn's house is still standing and a friend who lost her house is staying with her. Cameron is also back home with her.

Malcolm's appointment on Tuesday went well. He gained 17 ounces in two weeks. Go Mal! That was the last time we will be seeing that pediatrician. Although she was happy with Mal's weight gain, she instructed us to start feeding him even more formula. I just don't get it. We're going to start taking him to the pediatrician Angie & Jessie take their kids to.

The little guy is talking up a storm and he's been working hard on his arm control. He now rubs his eyes when he's tired and he sometimes finds his mouth and sucks on his fist. He makes these loud, slurping noises that are darling. This past Wednesday, we went to a new parents support group that meets weekly. At the end of the meeting, we put all of the babies on the couch and one of the dads took pictures. It was hilarious! They are all pretty young and haven't started sitting up on their own so there was lots of leaning on each other.

Today, I made a vegetable stew with kale, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onion and garlic. Delish!

California fires

My sweetest sister lives in San Diego. Last I heard, her house is still standing. Cameron is staying with his dad - his place is currently not threatened by the fires. The hospital where Jenn works is taking in evacuees from nursing homes and she's on call 24/7. It's an intense time in SoCal right now.

We love you, Jenn and Cameron! You are constantly in our thoughts.

The Weight of Poop

I think little Mal will weigh more tomorrow just from all of the poop he's holding in. Before we started everything, we were changing around 5 poopy diapers a day. Now he's only pooping every 2-3 days. And when he does poop, it's A LOT of poop. If he doesn't poop before his appointment tomorrow, I'm sure all that he's holding in will add at least half a pound to his overall weight. OK, enough of the poop talk.

On Sunday, we had Julie, Jeremiah and Natalie over for brunch. Nat stayed over all day hanging out - it was great! Her computer broke so she brought it over to see if Tony could figure out what is wrong with it. We sent her home with a somewhat functioning computer + my old desktop so she could at least use the internet at home. Sunny & Annie were in the neighborhood so they stopped by for a little bit to hang out. I feel really lucky that my friends want to come hang out with us at our house since we can't afford to go out to eat and socialize.

Metric played a show at The Showbox this past Tuesday. I am a little sad that I missed it. I also realized that it's unlikely that I'll be able to snowboard for most of this season since I'll still be breastfeeding Malcolm. I can't go all day without feeding or pumping, ya know?

SAHM

I never thought I would become a stay-at-home-mom. I never thought that we could afford it. It's funny how you prioritize your life differently once you have a child. My main focus in life is my family. The biggest decision I have to make everyday is whether the weather is good enough to take Malcolm on a walk. There are very few 'new' events that occur, but I don't mind one bit. My biggest concern in my life is the well-being of our child.

Tony has 2 interviews next week for jobs that sound pretty exciting. WaMu is deciding if they want to have second interviews or if they are just going to make an offer which tells us that they are having a hard time deciding between Tony and another candidate. Things are definitely looking up on the job front!

My milk production is definitely up so let's hope Mal's weight is also. Since we've started the whole formula, Lactaid, fennel and Fenugreek regime, he's been spitting up often throughout the day. If he's gained enough weight to satisfy his pediatrician, the formula is the first thing to go. Tony has been really enjoying feeding him daily, so I'm going to start finding time to pump throughout the day so he can continue to do so with bottled breastmilk in the evenings. It's going to be so weird not having him around all the time. I've gotten quite accustomed to him helping me out during the day. Although it's been a little scary with him being unemployed the last couple of months and us not knowing where our income will be coming from after my severance pay runs out, it's been quite wonderful for all of us that he's been able to spend so much time with Malcolm. They really do adore each other.

Poop update

He's pooping less and it's definitely thicker. He had one of the messiest diapers yet this morning. The real test to see if the Lactaid is doing its job will be his weight gain.

I started drinking fennel infused water per the recommendation of a friend. It increased her milk production when she was having difficulties. If the Fenugreek and the fennel do not work, I'll look into a prescription (thanks for the recommendation, Jean).

I'm reading an interesting book right now: Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age Five. It's pretty interesting so far. I'm planning on doing a chapter-by-chapter book review when I'm finished. The information in the book is important for all parents to know which is why I'm going to review it and post it online for those who do not have the time to read it.

Our recent digestive pleasures: crustless broccoli & mushroom quiche, banana bread and lentil stew. I cook while Mal is napping :)

The Scoop on the Poop

On Wednesday, we took a sample of Mal's poop to the lab to get analyzed per his pediatrician's instructions. She wanted to make sure he was absorbing all of the nutrients he needs since his weight gain is slow. She called us last night with the results: he's absorbing the fat just fine, but isn't absorbing enough lactose. Apparently, it's not uncommon for a newborn's intestines to not produce enough lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. This is often called lactose intolerance, but that would be an incorrect diagnosis. True lactose intolerance is actually quite rare in babies.

Anyway, the symptoms we read up on when doing our own research matched exactly what Malcolm experiences: watery stools and gassiness. She recommended that we start giving him Lactaid before he eats.

When I started going to class, we started giving Mal a little bit of formula when Tony would run out of pumped breast milk. We noticed that the next day, he was spitting up quite often. So, we went ahead and got him soy based formula. Boy does he hate the taste! The pediatrician instructed us to start supplementing his feeding with formula until his weight increases and I can increase my milk production (she thinks that my milk production is low).

While I was giving Mal his bath last night, Tony ran to the store to pick up some Lactaid. We gave him the dosage she recommended, I then fed him and then Tony gave him a bottle of formula. He was a happy baby. Tony was playing with him on his lap and he was doing his cute cooing and whatnot when suddenly, he vomited all over himself and Tony. Ack! Our first time having to deal with our kid puking! And of course he did it after his bath. He didn't cry or anything so we think he was feeling just fine. This morning, I gave him some more Lactaid and also a bottle of formula (he only drank an ounce this time) and so far we are in the clear. I've come to the conclusion that he just had too much to eat.

I'm really hoping that he puts weight on quickly so we can stop giving him formula every day. It's hard for him to digest.

2-month letter

Hey Malcolm,

Can you believe it? You are two months old already! We have been having so much fun hanging out with you - more than we could have imagined. Your first few weeks of life, you liked to snuggle all of the time which everyone enjoyed. Then, you suddenly became alert and started to interact with us. Everyday, we can't wait to see what new thing you are going to do. You have become very talkative and have started to roll from your back to your side and have figured out how to scoot yourself around the bed.

We took you to see the doctor yesterday and found that you are now 22 1/2 inches tall and weigh 8 pounds 12 ounces. Although you eat quite often, the doc wants you to put on more weight. She says that you are too skinny. I wonder if this is an indication that you are going to be a lanky kid - it does run in the family.

Since we brought you home for the first time, you have been really good about sleeping for long periods of time during the night. We feel really lucky because that means that your mom and dad aren't sleep deprived. Apparently, this is rare. I've been reading that your sleep patterns will change in the next few months when you start teething. Let's make a pact now that you'll continue to figure out how to sleep through the night :)

I'm typing one-handed ATM in an attempt to finally get this letter finished (been working on it for two days now). We love you, lil' bean, and are so happy you came into our lives.

Love,
Mommy

2 months old!

I'm thankful these times are rare

The little guy didn't get to sleep until midnight last night and woke up around 2:30, 4:30 and then again at 6. I can usually nurse him back to sleep quickly, but he thrashed around the whole time which is quite uncomfortable for me. I gave up and got up to put him in his swing in hopes that it will lull him back to sleep. He's yawning lots and also making grunting noises, but no sleep. Maybe he has gas? Sleep, baby! Mommy needs more sleep, too!

What we eat

Something my mum said when she was visiting inspired this post. She said that she would have no idea of what to cook for us since I'm vegetarian. This past week, I made Mexican Bean and Polenta Stuffed Peppers and Creamy Rice and Spinach Casserole. The stuffed peppers came out well but definitely needed more salt. They've also reheated well. I made the casserole with orzo pasta and a variety of greens (broccoli, spinach, green beans and edemame). It was a bit disappointing - especially since it got such high ratings on VegWeb. I ended up adding parmesan cheese and it made it better. It was also better the next day. I also made a batch of chili and froze half for later. For quick meals, we eat a lot of wraps. Essentially, we just put random things in tortillas and eat. It's easy, quick and usually healthy.

Now that we have a limited income coming in, I'm trying to get us on a food budget. This has proved more difficult than I thought. It's easy for me if I'm just buying for myself, but Tony often doesn't like what I buy. It's too healthy and not convenient enough. He's also been on a meat kick lately and prefers to make his daily trips to the store to buy food he wants to eat that day. We have quickly found that meat is expensive!