Ok...I'm running out of things to blog about here. Maddie won't smile for the camera, so I just had to post this since my life (and Maddie's) revolves around breastmilk! Pumping every 3-4 hours around the clock then feeding that "liquid gold" to her every 3 hours is exhausting after a while! Not to mention washing all of the paraphernalia that goes with bottle feeding and pumping! You mom's out there that are doing this can empathize!I could seriously start a "hate to pump" club! Just look at our stock pile...we may need to invest in another freezer! This picture's really not giving you the full-effect of this stockpile either and since I'm so anal, I've kept a log of all of my pumping since March 16th. The grand calculation as of today is, get ready...2,017 ounces of milk! MOOOO, yes I'm a cow! Of course she's consumed lots of this already.
Many have asked if Maddie is able to nurse. She can for a little while (mainly for the bonding) but she also burns more calories nursing and we need to know exactly what she's getting, so we bottle feed and fortify the milk with a little bit of Enfamil formula. She gets "amped" up breastmilk at 24 calories/oz. And I know some of you have been impressed with how I've been able to keep up with the blog, find time for thank you's and announcements, emails, play DJ on blog, etc....well, I have to mention that while "hooked up" to the pump, I can multi-task with 1 hand! You have to do something to pass the time and this is about all I'm coordinated enough to do!
Here's a look at my indoor "bathing beauty"...and a look at her scar. Some have asked what it looks like...we think she has a nice zipper!
10 comments:
Her zipper looks great, don't tell Holly but they have obviously made advancements since her open heart surgeries. Maddie's zipper looks better than Holly's!!
On the Milk issue I figured out that by nursing five kids 12 months I have saved our family over $3500.00 -- at least. I tried to get Michael to pay upn no luck. But maybe if you invoice Bryan you could get some cash for all your Dairy Queen work!
Katie,
I'm impressed, if Dad and I could have gotten our "Mother" cows to milk like you, we could have retired years ago. I'm so proud of you!!!!!!!!!! Love, Mom
I'll join the club! I can't believe that you are still keeping track...and storing! You won't need to nurse your next kid. Just pull out the milk shakes! Seriously, I have a friend that said she put her spare milk on her other kids cereal in the morning! Keep up the good work I'm at 22 weeks and counting!
Angie
On a serious note, Maddie looks GREAT and I'm very impressed with her scar. It looks so tidy!?!
On another note I can TOTALLY understand the "milking" thing. With Faith I was OBSESSED with pumping and saving milk. Heaven forbid that we should ever run out. Seriously, if I would have died she could have drank frozen milk for years. A few months after she was weened, Joe cleaned out all of the extra milk to take to the dump. We had an entire garbage can (the outside kind) full of wasted milk. I was so upset by that. I worked VERY HARD at making, pumping, cleaning, freezing, etc.
Keep up the GREAT work Katie. BTW...after I had weaned Jensen, someone told me there is some sort of bra/apparatis thing that allows you to pump "hands-free." No clue what it's called, but may be worth doing a google search.
Kelly
That's funny! I took a picture of all the bags of milk I had pumped and frozen with Isaac, too. It's amazing how much milk us "cows" can produce for these little ones. With both Isaac and Ian I had to borrow room in many friends' freezers because we didn't have any extra room. And I don't think you are anal. I dated and numbered each bag and wrote down who's freezer it was in so that I could use them in order. Good job, keeping up with the pumping and the nursing. I know it is very tiring and time consuming, but Maddie is so worth it. You must be getting pretty good at typing with one hand and Maddie's "zipper" is pretty cute.
Katie - It sounds like you and Maddie are doing great. That was one of the funniest things I've read about pumping. What makes it even better is that you are a "cowgirl" at heart. Now you can relate?!
Katie-
I am so glad to see that you and Maddie are doing so well. I haven't checked your blog in a couple of weeks so I took some time to get all caught up!
I am so impressed that you know how to do all this "Blog" stuff. Everytime I get on you have new music, pics, etc.
I love your moms comment about the milk! I have to say that is an impressive quantity. It makes me a little nervous...I don't know if I can live up to those "milking" standards this fall when I have my baby!
Take Care-Farrah
I hear you can sell breastmilk on the internet...just an idea if you ever have leftovers. Maddie's scar looks so great! I ditto Becky's comment. Surgeons have come a long way in the past 13 years.
Don't you feel like you could have enough milk to supply a small country? I stared running out of space so I stored at anyone's house that had a little freezer room... The funny thing was, I think I still might have some out there... Great job...People don't realize how hard it is to be a Mary-moooo until they have done it too..LOL
Brynn-Mommy to Alex HLHS
I can completely understand. Roman had some feeding issues. We really don't know what they were, but it could have been due to his heart. Anyway, I pumped for 6 months. I hate pumping. I wasn't going to do it at first, but I am glad I did. I think it kept him from getting sick; especially with two big brothers. By the end we were all dilusional that the pump was talking to us. The boys would say, "mom I think it is saying....." Crazy! Anyway, my boys call Roman's zipper the Harry Potter scar. Maddison is a cutie!
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