January 21

Momma is NOT a Teether
If you don't want to read about my boobs, skip this post. :)

My breastfeeding challenges continue. Let me whine for just a moment. I promise it won't be long. So, I had a low supply of breast milk, yada, yada, yada. And I struggled with coming to terms that my baby wouldn't have the great benefits with breastmilk. How much would I really produce? But then, I was surprised that my baby weighs so much! I was breastfeeding Patrick about 80% of the time with my breast milk and only supplementing very little. And Patrick weighed in the 75-95 percentile. Wow, my boobies made my son grow and grow and grow.

Then, he wouldn't sleep and after talking to his pediatrician, we realized he was still hungry. So, I had to increase the formula. This wasn't a hard thing for me to do because I want what is best for my child and if he is hungry, then I'm going to feed him what ever I can. But the hard part was knowing the benefits of breastfeed babies and I didn't want my son to be denied all the rich bennies. So what does a mother do?

After the shock of reality sets in, you just pull yourself up and thank God for having the breastfeeding experience and the beautiful bond associated with nursing. So, I continue to give Patrick what I can and I pump along the way. But this morning was definitely a unique experience. I began nursing Patrick when I felt these little *sharp* teeth. Ouch! What was that? Oh my gosh, my baby has teeth and it hurts. So mommy tells the little one to stop biting her. Now, maybe this would work on a one year old, but a 5 month old continues to play and then bites. OUCH! And then he looks at me and smiles. I think I also surprised him with I screamed. But it didn't phase him because he continued to bite. So, mommy had to put away the goods and thought to herself that this could be the last time that I attempt nursing. Thank goodness they invented the pump!

January 17

Count Dracula
Just when we thought we were overcoming teething with his first tooth, we discovered something growing. Greg was putting baby Orajel on his gums when he noticed he had another tooth. So I run over to look in his mouth and sure enough, there is another tooth trying to come in. Patrick's teeth process has been mild from some of the stories we hear from friends, but we still don't like our little boy being so miserable. Somehow, I think his parents will be fine once we get a little break from teething. :)

January 11

Teething Sucks

That's right, Patrick is teething. This explains why he has been waking up so frequent in the middle of the night and why his momma has been dragging every morning. I noticed he was drooling, but it wasn't until Aunt Jamie come over for a visit on Thursday night and pointed out that his bottom tooth was coming in. Patrick has been whiny because his mouth hurts. He's been getting mad at his favorite chew toy, "Chewy", because he bites down on it and then clunks himself in the head. All day he just wanted momma to hold him. So, I would hold him, change his diaper, rock him and do anything a mother can do to console her son. He's hurting and there isn't much I can do to help him except love him. To ease some of his pain, I gave him a bath after a helpful snack of rice cereal. This definitely helped relax him. In the evening, we had to bring out the baby Tylenol and kept track of the dosages. Mommy & Daddy sure don't like the teething process. We don't like seeing our little boy get so upset and cry with real tears. It breaks our hearts. :(