A new diet for a new mum

As I've posted about before, when Chip was about 5 weeks old, a lactation consultant recommended that I eliminate dairy to see if it would help Chip's gut problems.  It (or something), so I've stayed off dairy since.  And that's not just milk, yoghurt, cheese and sour cream.  That's everything that those things are IN, including most processed food, baking and so on.  Then, when Chip was 11 weeks, a naturopath suggested that he was also highly sensitive to wheat and yeast, and that I should eliminate those as well.  

 

I've now been dairy free for about 3 months, and (mostly)* wheat free too for nearly two months, and we're currently in the process of "testing" Chip to see if he's grown out of his sensitivities (...or, let's be perfectly honest, to see whether he was ever actually sensitive at all).  We have some EBM I expressed prior to giving up each allergen, so we're starting by testing those.  Before I add them back, I'll also test him without his Gaviscon, as we don't want to be medicating something I can manage with my diet...

 

...especially since, while it's been a challenge, it hasn't been SO bad! Some of me actually doesn't want to go ahead with the testing!  (I'm going to anyway, partly because if he can tolerate them, I want him to be exposed to them!).  I get lots of yummy, healthy food in, I don't *think* it's affected my supply (though remember, my supply isn't great to begin with), and it's making it a bit easier to stick to my Pro Points (...more on that later...)

 

Here are the pluses-- to ME-- of cutting out dairy and (most) wheat:

• it forces me to be prepared, as eating out is so much harder
• I can resist loads of naughty things I can't resist for the sake of weight loss for the sake of Chip's comfort
• it forces me to eat healthy whole foods
• it's encouraged us to be "creative", or at least move away from some of our staple dishes
• we've learned how nice some of our staples are even without the cheese- I'll certainly be able to cut down on the piles of colby we used to have in our Monday "ombles" (omelette/scrambles), and on our Mexican nights

But here are the downsides:

• dairy is a great source of calcium and lean protein, and I do get a bit sick of my alternatives
• bread is a very useful thing to have on hand as a new SAHM, especially a new SAHM of a kid who likes to nap on people - it was tough adjusting to not being able to just make a sandwich or some peanut butter toast when I needed to EAT but didn't have time; especially given that I also couldn't just grab yoghurt and fruit! (yes, there are gluten free breads, but they generally taste like butt, and Chip may also have a sensitivity to yeast, sooooo....)
• although we can eat a large variety of things, I am getting a BIT sick of potatoes and rice, and sometimes I really just want a pile of pasta with parmesan cheese (and other stuff, I suppose), or a cheese toastie, or a plate of Watties spaghetti
• when you tell me dark chocolate is the only treat I can have, my natural response is to EAT ALL THE DARK CHOCOLATE.

And here's a pretty normal day in the life, foodwise:

 

Breakfast: porridge with chia seeds, banana or dates, almond butter and oat milk [Comment: Oat milk is by far the BEST non-dairy milk out there; I sometimes accuse Phil of using cow's milk!]; decaf coffee.

 

Snack 1: Crunchy oat-based muesli bar [Comment: not the healthiest snack-bar choice, and I'm definitely missing being able to choose whatever I want from the muesli bar aisle!] or rice wafers with peanut butter.  Fruit (usually an apple or a pear)

 

Lunch: Almost invariably, a chicken salad using one of those packets of shredded chicken breast (not the pulverised fakey kind, the actual chickeny kind).  Since it's winter, a lot of my favourite salad veges are out of season, though we can sometimes find these at the Farmers' market.  But winter veges make a good salad too- mine's usually prepackaged salad greens, red cabbage, carrot, radishes, microgreens or sprouts, and maybe grated broccoli stem.  I sometimes bulk it out with chickpeas, blackbeans, or falafel made with one of those mixes found in the chilled section, and add some flavour and creaminess with hummus or salsa and avocado.

 

Snack 2: Vege sticks with hummus or peanut butter, fruit (usually kiwifruit and a mandarin)

 

Dinner: Last night's dinner was chicken and white bean chilli, a favourite of ours.  Our other planned meals this week include koftas with salad, hummus and falafel, stir fried tofu, and Monday-egg foo young.

 

Dessert: a piece of fruit, maybe a couple of dates, and a mini bar of Dark Ghana.  Cup of nursing tea.

 

*by "most" wheat, I mean that I avoid bread and wheat flour.  However, I do occasionally have a handful of glucose based sweeties, and although we are using tamari at home, I won't freak out if there's a bit of soy sauce in a restaurant meal.

4 months

Happy 4 month birthday Chip!
 
(I haven't done on of these before, but there's no time like the present!  To catch you up, here's Chip at 0,1,2 and 3 months.)

It 's hard to believe you're four months old already. 

It seems like only yesterday that you were a helpless newborn who your parents just could not figure out (though it also seems like a lifetime ago), and now you're a laughing, rolling, little-boy-baby, who we've mostly got the hang of (though having the hang of you doesn't mean things are necessarily smooth sailing!)

So, what are you doing this month?

You're a rolling machine, and driving yourself crazy trying to commando crawl (and not having much luck).  We think there are a few months of frustation ahead of us!  You started rolling on Monday, your 17 week birthday, and I'd say you've rolled at least a hundred times since.  Often 2-3 times per nappy change...

You're getting pretty good with your hands; grabbing pretty much anything we give you, and rolling around to get the things you can't reach.  Your favourite trick is taking your dummy out and putting in back in by yourself.  It's just a pity you're still not QUITE there on the second bit....

You've been enjoying swimming.  Last time we went you chased the wee balls around like a pro, and even managed to stop eating them long enough to drop them in the bucket.  You're trying to swim and catch things in the bath soon, which is resulting in awkward attempts to stand up and lurch after the ducky.  Don't worry- one of us is always with you, holding you safely!

You love to giggle and laugh- especially when you're a little bit overtired. You also laugh when we pretend to eat your face, and when your Daddy plays Just Dance on the Kinect (...I'm not surprised, he does look silly...).  I don't feel like you're quite as vocal as you were a few weeks ago, but you sometimes have a lot to say when I get back from work. 

Your favourite book is On the Farm, though In the Jungle is a close second! You're mostly interested in eating them, but it kinda looks like you're reading and that counts!

Speaking of work, you have handled my return to work (4 days a week) like a STAR.  You're being a good boy for your Dad, but keeping him on his toes enough that he realises being a SAHP isn't the easy option!

Some things haven't changed.  You still don't love sleeping during the day, you still get frustrated easily, you still love a good cuddle, and you still stop crying instantly if you get popped into the bath. You're still active and nosy and super prone to cranky overtiredness.  I can't get you to just drop off at SPACE any more (and by "just drop off" I mean dummy, rocking, constant patting, and keeping you in my arms).  We still think you're the cutest and smartest baby around, and we're still right!

Love you!


Any questions about Chip at 4 months?

The start of a new era: thoughts after two weeks at work

Being a Mum can be hard work.  Being a lawyer can be hard work.  Doing both? It's going to take some getting used to.  But I'm going to be doing both for a bloody long time yet, eventually with more than one munchkin (we hope!), so I guess getting the "getting used to it thing" underway now is a sound idea...

I summarised a day in my life last week, and found it pretty tricky as every single thing about a day with an infant is unpredictable (for us- we are reluctant to impose a schedule on Chip, and are just trying to help him settle into his own).  It's a much easier task now, though I'm still very much affected by the baby's timing! 

Here's a look at a typical day in my life now that I'm in the office 4 days/week:

Sometime in the wee small hours: Wake up, feed baby (last night it was midnight - much earlier than "usual".  Gah.)

Sometime between 5:30 and 7:00am: Chip's up for the day, or for his morning feed at least (today was unusual, with the baby up at 4:55am thanks to the midnight wakening).

6:30am: the alarm goes off; if I'm not up already, I get up and start quietly getting ready while Chip sleeps.  I wake Phil, who makes me breakfast.

7:45am: Off to work- about a half hour drive.

8:30am-9:30am: Drink coffee, clear inbox, start working (this morning I arrived at 8:15 and had to pump straight away, as Chip wasn't ready to feed before I left)

9:30-10am:  First pumping session.  I can't pump as much as Chip eats in one go, no matter what I do.  I know he can get that much if I breastfeed him, but am one of those people who just doesn't pump well.  This morning, I was pissed off as I only got about 100ml in my first session.  Pumping itself takes about 10 minutes, but the whole shebang takes 20-30, as I have to clean and sterilise equipment, get set up, etc etc.

10:30am to 12:30pm: Work.  (because of the early pump, I'll be doing a second session at about 10:30/11am today)

12:30-1pm: Second pumping session.  I eat lunch while I pump.  (today I'll do it on the later side)

1:00-1:30pm: If I need to run errands, I can sometimes pop out in this window.  But because I'm spending a reasonable amount of time on the pump, I don't really have time for a "lunch break" (which are often kind of foreign in the law world anyway).

1:30 - 3:00pm: Work

3:00- 3:30pm: Third pumping session

3:30 - 5:00pm: Work

5:00pm: Grab milk, pumping bits, lunchbag and so on and dash out the door to the carpark. 

5:45/6:00pm: Home!  Sometimes the kid will be clean and ready to eat, sometimes it's bathtime, and sometimes he needs a pre-bath "half feed".  (If I'm home, we usually do feed/bath/feed/bed, but it's a bit more complicated going from bottle to boob, and we haven't quite got the hang of this bit yet).

6:30pm: Last feed.  Phil makes dinner.

7:00pm: Put the kiddo to bed, eat dinner.

7:30-9/9:30pm:  Get lunch ready for the next day, tidy the living room which is strewn with baby things, clean kitchen, watch TV with Phil.

9/9:30pm: Pump again.

10:00pm: Bed.

I've been back at work for two weeks now, and it's starting to feel like the status quo.  I'm realising that this is what the rest of our lives will look like (yes, I realised that before, but it really is something that sinks in in increments), so I'm trying to figure out how to make this routine work in a more permanent way.  We're managing to do most of the things I want to get done (eating, getting out in weekends, maintaining an acceptable-ish level of housework), but there's one big gap for me: exercise. 

As I see it, there are two sort of windows in my current weekday:*

1- baby-permitting, in the morning either straight after his early feed (if it's out of the way by about 6:30) or while he's asleep (trickier)

2- after dinner, around 8:00pm

We've set up my bike on the wind trainer, so I'm going to try to start taking advantage of these windows occasionally.  I haven't quite made it happen yet, but creating the opportunity is the first step!

*The difficulty with both of these windows is that there is some research to show that women should try to exercise straight after a pumping or feeding, and not to pump/feed again until 90 minutes afterwards.  This has been criticised, but I'm still a bit nervous about it! 

The end of an era. A mega-post.

Time has flown, and all of a sudden Chip is nearly 15 weeks old, and I'm about to head back to work.  My maternity leave is over, and it seems as if our "real life" as a family of three is starting.

Wow.  I've started so many posts (mostly in my head): nursery tour (I finally finished it just before he reached 3 months), a day in the life, my new-mama (non-existent) exercise regime (do baby tricep presses count?),Chip's first swim, and so on.  I'd also like to write a post about adjusting to sudden dietary changes as a breastfeeding Mum, but I really don't see that happening now.

But, I don't want to spend the whole of my grown up time (7-10pm every evening) writing those posts, so for now, here are the highlights!

Nursery Tour

Can you spy a baby?

We wanted something simple and neutral, and never actually intended it to end up so blue and yellow- it's just how the things we (OK, I) liked fit together.  A few comments:

• the sun decal has the phrase "Rise and Shine, Toby" written next to it in scrabble tile decals, in reference to my favourite Raffi song.  Youtube it- it's awesome.
• The bunting comes from my sister's wedding, and says "Toby" (remember, he's not actually called Chip).  I'll move it to the wall when he moves into the cot.
• We don't actually use the chair!  My inlaws kindly lent us a la-z boy which is far more comfortable.  The chair's neat though, and may get some use as a storytime chair in years to come.
• The pictures on the wall behind the chair all mean a lot to us- there's the card from my first mother's day, a race bib from my baby shower, a picture from our fantastic Northland holiday a couple of summers ago, and a random paper mobile from my sister in Korea. 
• you can't really see the fantail motif, but it's there.  There's a fantail sketch (purchased at 12 weeks pregnant) above the ladder shelf, and a neat fantail sign on the door.  You can also see a fantail in the corner of the mosaic frame above the change table. The fantail was my good luck talisman throughout my pregnancy, so I'm glad it's featuring in Chip's room too.

A day in the life

At the moment, here's a pretty normal day:

2:30am Night feed.  
3:30: Back to bed
6:30-7:30 up for the day, and breakfast.  I get a bowl of porridge with oat milk made by Phil, Chip gets boob.
7:00-8:00ish: Morning nap- he never lasts long after his first feed; it's almost like another night feed, but not quite.  At the moment, all naps are on me!  I tweet, play games on my phone, read, and occasionally doze.
9:00ish: We're really up for the day.  I dress the baby, and we hang a little before his next feed (2.5-3 hours after the last one started).
Often at this point, we go out and about- coffee group, doctors/osteo/massage appointments, SPACE (playgroup/parent education), and so on.  Chip naps in the car, or if he gets grizzly, gets a catnap while we're out, usually standing.  When his head gets heavy I try to sit down, and he usually wakes up! He won't (reliably) nap in his capsule or stroller, so this is better than nothing.  If we're not out and about we sometimes go for a walk, as he'll usually give me 45 minutes or so of sleep in his stroller.
12:00-1pm: We're home, and it's time for another feed and another (short) sleep, again in the La-Z boy.  Whether we get much playtime depends on Chip's temperament, and how much sleep he's had while out and about.
3:30ish: Another feed, and tired baby usually crashes for the afternoon- still on me.  I prepare for the long haul with a full drink bottle, TV remotes, charged smartphone and books close to hand! 
5:00-5:30ish: Last feed, part 1
6:00ish: Daddy's home! Bathtime!
6:20ish: Last feed, part 2 (aka, feed of doom)
7:00: BED! (for Chip)

10:00: I pump off Chip's late evening feed, as he now sleeps through but I want to keep producing it, and I've been building a store for my return to work.  Then it's bed for me and Phil. Until 2:30 when the whole cycle repeats...

Exercise

The downside of our bedtime routine, and the winter, is that we no longer have early evenings for exercise, which means I'm left with naptimes (Kinect, weights, etc) and weekends.  Since naptimes are on me, I haven't been getting much exercise in, apart from our walks (probably 3-5 times weekly).  Now that I'm heading back to work, I'll lose those walks so I'm looking for new solutions, and am planning to try some early morning workouts, or maybe late evening workouts.  I've been getting out and about a bit during the weekends, but have been giving myself a few too many weekend goals, leaving very little opportunity for exercise.  #Fail!  I have grand plans of getting into more of a routine when I go back to work.... Watch this space!

First swim

We finally took Mr Chip to the pool when he was about 11 weeks old, and it was fantastic.  A lot of messing around for 10 minutes of pool time, but fantastic nonetheless.  Chip was a bit nervous going in, and clung to me like a limpet, but once he got into the water he was pretty happy, though he didn't know quite what to make of it! (when we went again, he was a pro, kicking about and watching a pink ball floating by).   Since that first trip, we've got him a pair of togs, which means I don't need to worry as much about his shoulders getting cold.  Other than that, all you need is a swim nappy and you're set!