Sweet, Sweet Freedom!!

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week starting Aug 1, I wanted to do this update on our bf-ing situation. 

http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/

I have been trying for awhile to get Liam off the nipple shield. I honestly was getting concerned that we would never be free of it. I did some research and came up with some ideas on how to try a natural latch whilst trying to wean off the shield. I'm excited to say that today we have been nursing without it!! I can honestly say that my bond with Liam feels totally different now, and so freaking amazing!! I'm not sure if it is a different hormone that was released or if it's all in my head. But whatever it is, I am so grateful!! Obviously I was already bonded with my little boy, but breastfeeding didnt elicit these amazing "I'm providing for my child" feelings that everyone says. Well, now it does! :) He seems calmer as well. Maybe it was just what I ate that kept him calm for once, but whatever it is, I am thrilled! :)

I found this website with these great ideas and tips. KellyMom
It also describes some of the reasons a person would need a nipple shield and other info about it.

Weaning from a nipple shield

These things can help you start to wean from the shield:

• Ensure good positioning and latch–
  • Make sure that when positioning your baby to nurse you are holding him so that his whole body faces yours. He should not have to turn his head to nurse.
  • Wait for the baby to open very wide – as with a yawn – before you attempt to latch him on.
  • Once he has opened this wide – and it may take patience waiting for him to do so – pull him in real close making sure that he takes as much of the breast into his mouth as possible. His chin and nose should touch your breast. His lips should be flanged out – like a rose petal or a fish’s lips. If they are not, use your finger to flip them out manually.
• Before attempting to feed at all, pump a few minutes. This will elicit let-down so that baby gets a quick reward. It will also elongate the nipple for him.
• Also before feeding, offer him your index or pinky finger nail-side down to suck on for several minutes. This suck-training teaches him to drop his tongue down as he must do with breastfeeding. With the shield (much like a bottle nipple) he may push his tongue to the roof of his mouth to slow the flow of milk.
• Breastfeed frequently – as often as you can. Attempt to feed before he gets too hungry – when he is sucking on his fingers or rooting, but before he cries. If you can catch him early he may be more willing to work with you. You also might try nursing when he is a little drowsy. Some babies are more willing to take the breast when they are semi-asleep than when fully awake.
• Try different nursing positions.
• Nurse while in motion – as you walk, sway, rock, bounce, etc.
• Provide lots of skin-to-skin contact when nursing and at other times as you can. Undress baby to his diaper and remove your blouse if possible. Try nursing while you both enjoy a warm bath.
• Drip expressed breastmilk (or formula, or sugar water if no ebm is available) over your nipple in the corner of the baby’s mouth using an eyedropper or feeding syringe while he is at the breast.
• If baby becomes upset as you are trying, stop and attempt to calm him before trying again.

These last ones pertain more to taking the shield away:

• It may help if you compress your breast and hold it firmly about 1 1/2 inches from the base of your nipple toward the chest wall (usually at the edge of the areola just past where your baby’s lips will be) – like squishing down a big thick sandwich on a roll to take a bite. Holding the breast this way makes your nipple more firm like the shield. Keep holding it like that until it feels like baby is sucking well, and then slowly release the grip.
• Apply ice to your nipple before feeding to harden it.
• Try to notice if there are certain times of the day or positions that he seems more receptive during and build on those.
• Try offering the breast without the nipple shield, particularly when baby is rather sleepy. Sometimes once they take the “bare” breast a couple times, they’ll continue with no problems.
• If baby doesn’t take the breast without the shield relatively easily, give it to him with the shield. DO NOT allow him to become frustrated at the breast, that will only make him more resistant to breastfeeding. Allow baby to build trust that nursing will work and will be ok, even if that means using the shield to make it familiar and easy for him. Once he builds trust, start to remove the shield after he has been on for awhile
• After baby is nursing well and let-down has occurred, attempt to remove the shield quickly and relatch baby. Very gradually, start to remove it earlier and earlier in the feeding until you don’t need it at all.
• Sometimes it works to offer the first breast with the shield and the second one without it, if your baby takes both breasts in one feeding.
• In the beginning, you may not want to take away the shield at every feeding so the baby relaxes and doesn’t look for you to remove it every time.
• You may hear the recommendation to cut away the tip of the nipple shield, a little each day, until it’s gone. This is not recommended for silicon shields, because it will leave sharp edges.

Be sure not to make this a battle with the baby, or he will resist more. Don’t obsess with weaning off the shield to the point that you’re robbed of the joy of breastfeeding. As long as your baby is gaining weight well, then you have some time to play with. Keep trying as often as you can, and give it some time. There are some reports of moms continuing to use the shield for their whole breastfeeding experience, but most moms have taken anywhere from 2 days to about 4-5 weeks to accomplish completely weaning from the shield. Be patient with yourself and your baby while you work through this transition.

Hope this helps others that are trying to wean from the nipple shield! Happy Boobmilk week!! :) 

4 Weeks Old

Today marks Liam's 4th week! I cant believe it!! I feel like the first week doesnt even count--after 4 days in the hospital and 2 days stuck on the bili-blanket at home, we didnt have our baby home and off machines until the 7th day. Anyways, I wanted to write a bit about what my son is doing these days so I can remember.

4 Weeks today!!

Dear Liam,
Today you are 4 weeks old! Everyday with you is so amazing! Breastfeeding is going pretty well. You love to eat! We are still using the nipple shield, which bums Momma out. We are trying to nurse without it, but you only latch for a few sucks, then get frustrated. You currently like to nurse for about 10 minutes and fall deep asleep before you've had your fill. And of course, you wake up within an hour and want more. At night before Mom and Dad go to bed (around 11:30), you get a 4-5 ounce bottle of breast milk, your nighttime cloth diaper (lotus bumz pocket with hemp soaker), and you get rocked to sleep by Momma. You usually wake again to eat around 4am, and again at 7. Lately, Daddy has been getting up with you around 8 when you fuss, and rocks you back to sleep. Dad goes to work, and you and I wake up for the day around 9:30.

Proud Daddy :)

You love the swing! Anything with constant motion you are digging right now. Many times while Momma is cooking, you  hang out in your swing in the kitchen. You also love your rocker chair to sleep in when you are gassy at night. Momma can reach you from her bed to sooth you if needed. You also enjoy your play mat. You love looking at the patterns and colors! You unintentionally hit the toys which surprises you  and makes Momma laugh.

SMILES!!

You smile when we play with you and even laugh in your sleep. You are so expressive it's unreal! Daddy says you get his looks, but Mama's expressions! Momma's favorite is when you purse your lips together as if to whistle. You can melt Mama's heart in a second when you push out your bottom lip as if to pout. Hopefully you don't realize the effect this has on Mama, or you will probably get your way an awful lot! You love to snuggle and fall asleep on Momma. You especially love being tummy to tummy with her! You even lift your head to look around and look at the windows or other light sources.

I just cant handle this lip!! Agh! So precious!

You are growing so fast! You already are out of all newborn clothing, and with your cloth diapers, some 0-3 month are hard to snap. You seem to have a long torso, and short legs--maybe the diapers make it look that way? We haven't been to the doctor yet to know your stats, but Daddy weighed you at home, and you are a whoppin' 11 lbs 4 oz! That's up almost 2lbs from birth! You are beginning to lose your baby hair, and Momma hopes it grows back quick. She was didn't have hair for along time! Everyone comments on how adorable you are! And Daddy's family thinks you are the spitting image of him! We cant wait to see what the next few weeks bring!

Love,
Momma

Newborn Must Haves: Weeks 1-3

YAY for photo collages!! I love doing these--when I actually get the time! :) 

I have been so excited to get to do these "must-haves" and "favorites" posts!! So while little man is sleeping behind me on his playmat (#7) I figured now would be a great time!

1. I haven't braved the breastfeeding in public thing yet. I think it will be easier once Liam can hold his head up, and we are off the nipple shield. So I pump when I know we will be out longer than he can go without eating. We use the Breastflow bottles, which I absolutely love! They are more nipple/boob like and he takes his time drinking, which helps with his gas.

2. When we got home from the hospital and we had to keep Liam on the UV-blanket for his jaundice, we had to keep him comfy while it was wrapped around him 24-7. He slept in this Fisher-Price Infant to Toddler Rocker, which has a kickstand to keep from rocking. When the kickstand is being used, it is almost like a mini-bassinet. So now, during his really fussy/gassy nights, he still sleeps in here where he is sitting up more. It is next to my side of the bed, where I can just reach over and comfort him without getting out of bed.

3. I cannot say enough about cloth diapering!!! We used disposables until his umbilical stump fell off since the cloth were a bit higher in the rise, and I was not about to buy any newborn cloth diapers. Right now our favorites include the Flip covers, Lotus Bumz pockets with hemp insert for overnight, and the Thirsties Duo Covers. With the disposables, we leaked out all.the.time! But since switching, we haven't had any leaks!! This really helps with his clothes laundry! 

4. Wellements Gripe Water! This really helps us at nighttime! Liam hates burping...I really think he holds them in on purpose...ok, maybe not. But seriously, this kid really doesn't burp well. And of course, he makes is discomfort known late at night. So, we have found that 2.0ml of this organic gripe water helps us make it through the night. Thank goodness!

5. I love my water!! Plus when you breastfeed, you have to keep up your fluid intake even more! The Contigo Fliptop Straw is of my all time favorite water bottles! I also enjoy using the gigantic cup I got from the hospital.

6. Medela Nipple Shield. One of the very unfortunate things I learned from my doula was I apparently have too small of nipples to easily breastfeed my son. Luckily they make these handy-dandy nipple shields. I use the contact version so there is as much skin to skin as we can get. They aren't the most convenient things, but it is more convenient than buying formula. Plus, they help shape my nipples along with the nipple shells I have just started using. So hopefully we will be able to eventually stop using both things all together!

7. I love the Infantino Jungle Buddies Playmat! We have a small house, and this mat is compact and can easily fold up. I like that I can have Liam hang out on his mat while I am doing other things around the house. He loves to look at the contrasting colors right now, plus it is easily washable if need be. 

8. I do pump when we go out for longer periods of time, as well as if I am feeling really "full". I found this Avent Manual Pump on clearance at Walmart (for 20 bucks!) and figured I buy it just to have on hand. Well, turns out I really love it! I think eventually I will have to get an electric, but I would love to stick to the Avent brand, super comfy--if that's possible for a breast pump. lol

9. I use these Green Mountain Prefold Diapers as both cloth diapers and burp rags. I love these! First off, I tried putting the diapers around Liam and securing with a snappi, but it turned out I didn't like it as much as must placing it tri-folded as an insert into the cover. Anyways, these are so absorbent and get even more so with every wash! I currently have 12 newborn size and 24 small size.

10. This is where Liam sleeps. We got the Evenflo "Gears" play yard. At first, we were using the changer that it comes with, but I found it too low, and it hurt my back. I like the feature, but I prefer our new set up. (old desk with changing pad in Liam's bedroom) We have him sleep with the bassinet part installed, so he is closer to the top and easier to reach. This may sound silly, but I did pick this pattern because it matched the red in our bedroom. :)

One more thing, that I forgot to put on the collage, we use the gumdrop pacifier. This was something we agreed never to use...and well...the first night home, Liam was screaming and we couldn't figure out why. Me, having terrible sleep for 3 days in the hospital and 4 days prior while in labor was desperate. And...it worked like a charm! Now, I try not to use it unless he is really really fussy, usually just at night or if we are out in public. He doesn't wake wanting it, or keep it in his mouth consistently, so far at least...  Hopefully he wont become attached to it. I guess time will tell.

Photo Friday

This may not be a weekly thing, but I really want to make sure I'm taking lots of photos :) 

This afternoon Liam has been a bit fussy, so in order for me to get some things done I had to wear him. I love my MOBY wrap! It's comfy for me and my baby boy! 

Sleepy baby...

I love this squishy face!!!

What's in a Name?

 

So how did I come up with Gone Fischin' and what does it mean?

I am following the lead of Brittany from Flip Flops and What Nots. See her post HERE.

Well, if you go back to my first few posts, you will see that I started blogging when my husband and I began trying to conceive. Back then I was temping, tracking, and tirelessly analyzing my symptoms of a possible pregnancy. Then low and behold, a wonderful thing happened! We got pregnant! And since then, this blog has followed my journey as an expectant mother. And now, as a first time mom. Soon, a first time mom and in-home daycare teacher.

So Gone Fischin' was a play off of our last name, Fischer. We were "fishing" for a bite and hooked a big one! haha...ok, overkill... But really, now I feel like I'm living the dream just as someone who enjoys going fishing. Just sitting there and taking it all in. Some days are stormy, others are bright and sun-shiny. All are perfect. :) Ok, again, overkill on the cheese factor...oh well.





Where I am going with this blog:

I plan on doing monthly updates on Liam, as well as tidbits along the way.

I also want to do postpartum updates for a few months. I know that with a c-section recovery is a bit more extended, and I would have loved to read other mama's stories so I was more prepared.

Once I have my in-home daycare up and running, I plan on posting about fun activities we do. Hopefully I can inspire others with my ideas or even share fun things to do!

I also love to cook/bake/garden/craft so I will be posting meal plan ideas, recipes, garden updates and crafty ideas :)

So there ya have it. My cheesy blog title... What's in your name?

Nikky

Liam Thomas

The cutest squishy face! Also awesome because it looks like he's plotting...

Liam's first bath at home...yeah he hated it!

Ps...I am still working on his birth story, it honestly is difficult for me to write since it all went askew. but I am working on it. For now, enjoy this cuteness ;)

N.