I'm Back!

          Hello everyone. As you have all noticed, I have been neglecting to write anything for a while. I would like to apologize to all my faithful readers for this gap in my writing. I have been dealing with a lot lately and had been busy and stressed out. Last month, Daniel turned one and I was really busy with birthday party preparations as well as some other personal issues. Then Daniel got sick, my milk supply tanked and he was refusing to nurse, and on top of that, he seems to be teething and may finally be getting his first tooth! With all that, I hadn't had much free time to write but I'm back now and promise to do my best to keep on bringing you great natural parenting information.

          Now let me update you on my journey on eating for three and how Daniel, my unborn baby, and myself are doing. On my last post, I told you about all the difficulties and the worries I had about me losing weight and Daniel not gaining any. I am now happy to announce that, as of this morning, Daniel weighs a whopping 22lbs 8oz and is 30.5 inches tall! I have also gained 7lbs in the last month and am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. My morning sickness is now gone and has been replaced by heartburn, oh joy!

          As far as nursing goes, we were doing fine until about a few weeks ago when he began to sleep through the night and then started to refuse the breast during the day. I have been able to get him to latch on about once every other day but only when he's sleeping. I struggled a lot with this as I planned to have him self wean when ready as is best for him. However, I felt like he was being forced to wean due to my chronic low milk supply. It was evident  by his crying at the breast and increased nursing frequency right before this, that he is not ready to wean and was very upset. I have struggled with feelings of guilt over this for the last few weeks, especially during the days he was sick and not eating much.  It has been heartbreaking for me but I have not given up. I have been offering the breast often even though he usually refuses. I went to see an awesome lactation counselor last week who made me feel so much better. Since then, I have been making sure Daniel and I get lots of skin on skin contact and have started weaning him from his pacifier. I have also been taking a combination of red raspberry leaf, nettle, oats, and alfalfa to support my pregnancy, enrich my milk, and maybe even increase my supply if that's possible at this point. With the support of my husband and my friend Reggie who has been very helpful and even lent me a Lact-Aid Nursing Trainer, I have been able to keep going even when I have felt like giving up.

          I am pleased to say that today is the third day that Daniel goes mostly without a pacifier and that the herbs I've been taking have helped me feel better emotionally. to top it all off, Daniel surprised me this afternoon by actually asking to nurse and then latching on for about 20 minutes before drifting off into a peaceful sleep! As if that wasn't enough, he stirred and cried out during his nap and accepted my breast instead of the pacifier and was latched on for another 15 minutes, as well as an additional 2 minutes when he woke up! I am so happy and excited and hope things continue like this and that I'm able to provide my baby with what he needs. I am pretty sure I am producing colostrum now and thought maybe he was weaning due to the taste but maybe what's really happening is that now that he's getting colostrum he is finding nursing more worth his while. I am not certain of what's going on or how our nursing story will go, but I am just glad he's showing positive signs. I was told by the lactation counselor that as long as he latches on every few days or so until the baby is born, he'll probably end up picking it back up when my milk comes in. I will definitely keep you updated on how that goes.

          Now I have a big announcement to make: Daniel is having a baby brother! I am now 21 weeks and we had our ultrasound on Friday morning. I knew it was a boy all along just as I did with Daniel but the ultrasound confirmed it: we're having another boy! I am very excited and hope my boys get along and get to enjoy a very special relationship growing up together.

          That's it for my updates. I plan to diligently work on my blog now that I'm feeling better and things are going well. Please be on the lookout for some upcoming reviews and giveaways and thank you for being patient and understanding why I had to be away from the blog for a while.