Clogged Duct :(

Well, I should have seen this coming...I mean, if you've been following my blog you probably could have seen it coming (maybe even wished it upon me haha.) Kendall's sleep has started causing me some problems with breastfeeding...namely a blocked duct. For some reason, I was in denial that this would happen to me, and I just kept thinking my milk would adapt to whatever Kendall's schedule determined...even though looking back that was kind of dumb.

It actually started on Wednesday, when Kendall starting sleeping for about 10.5-11 hours at night, and she has slept like that every night since (5 nights in a row.) Thursday morning I was fine, but I really wish I would have pumped on Thursday night before bed. I started feeling achy on Thursday night in the middle of the night, and I thought I might be getting the flu. Then I started feeling chilled and more achy on Friday, but my stomach was showing no signs of the flu. I realized that I was really "full" on Friday morning, but I didn't want to pump, because at the time, my reasoning was that I didn't want to trick my body into making more milk than necessary. By mid-day Friday I realized I was probably showing symptoms of a blocked milk duct, but I still couldn't really feel it. My right side just felt a little bruised. I took some Aleve, and took a bath that night and felt better. I continued nursing on the clogged side, and pumped on the good side. I also pumped before I went to bed, and I'm making an effort to only go 8 hours max between pumping and feeding. I felt better Saturday for most of the day between nursing and pumping, but still could feel the block Saturday night. On Sunday I really worked to clear the block, trying to massage it out, and use warm compresses, and different nursing positions. I think it mostly cleared, but I'm trying to be really careful not to neglect the other side so that I maintain my milk supply, and I don't get a clogged duct on that side!

Having a plugged duct has been semi-stressful, but we still enjoyed a nice weekend. On Friday, Travis took Avery out for a daddy-daughter date and they went to dinner and Build-a-Bear.

I stayed in with Kendall Friday night since I wasn't feeling well, and it's so amazing how my perspective has changed in just 3 years. I really enjoyed spending the evening with just Kendall, and I felt so relaxed! I know when Avery was a baby, it would have been more stressful to spend a Friday evening on my own with Avery and without Travis. I think it's because Kendall is such an easy baby, and also because my expectations are just so different (and more realistic) this time around. Also, I'm mostly taking care of a baby and toddler simultaneously, so now when it's just one or the other, it feels like a piece of cake!

On Saturday, we went to Travis's grandparents home for a visit, and it was actually the first time we've taken Kendall there. Because they watch her at our house once a week when Avery and I are at school, we hadn't made the trip over to their home with her. It was a nice visit, and it Travis's family was able to spend a few hours playing with Avery and holding and playing with Kendall.

Yesterday, Travis and I joined the new Planet Fitness that recently opened in Kent. I am excited to have a place to go with him when we want to go on "dates" instead of only really eating out. The gym seems really nice, and it'll be nice for the next few months during this cold weather.

Despite the breastfeeding issues I've been dealing with, I feel so lucky to have such an amazing husband and two wonderful daughters, and life with them couldn't be better!

Kendall and Sleep

So let me just start this post by saying that Kendall's sleeping habits (particularly putting her to sleep) have been A-Maz-ing recently. I feel like all of my effort to put her down in her crib "awake but drowsy" has really worked well for her. 

Since we established a relatively regular schedule, as long as I put her down for a nap within her regular times, she doesn't even have to be super drowsy for me to put her down. At the first sign of fussiness, or even a yawn (after about an hour to hour and fifteen minutes of awake time) I just take her right up to her room, swaddle her and lay her down. Within about 10-15 minutes she is peacefully asleep on her own! Every time she falls asleep on her own without fussiness or crying, I am totally in shock, even though it keeps happening. 

With Avery, like most parents, we rocked her to sleep, or nursed her to sleep, or let her fall asleep in our arms, or when I was desperate I walked her to sleep for 15-20 minutes and sometimes that didn't even work. This went on for about the first 16-17 weeks of her life. She also wasn't on any type of schedule or routine because I didn't read Babywise before I had Avery, and I read The Baby Whisperer around the time Avery was 10-11 weeks, but at that point lots of habits had already been established and it seemed hard to change. With Avery, her naps were very irregular and honestly, dictated by her. Because of this, I never knew if she would take a 15-minute catnap, or a 2 hour long nap. It was difficult to get things done because I would be afraid to put her down sometimes when she did fall asleep (for fear of waking her). Even if I did put her down, I would be nervous to take a shower, or take the quickest shower ever because she might wake at any time. I think this is a frustration for many new parents, or anyone with a new baby. We were lucky that she did extend her nighttime sleep on her own to be sleeping 8-9 hours at 10 weeks, but she went through the dreaded 4-month sleep regression, and it was pretty bad - she started waking about every two hours and it was very difficult to get her back to sleep without a lot of effort (both physically and mentally) from me. Many people think that the regression is due to the fact that the baby falls asleep in mom or dad's arms, and then wakes alone in the crib, and doesn't know where she is (which I think is true too.) Eventually around 17 weeks we did "cry it out" with her, in order to teach her how to go to sleep on her own, which she had never been made to do, and that way she would know where she was when she woke in the middle of the night. We only had a few really bad nights, and it did work for us and she began sleeping 12 hours a night for us again, and is still a really good night-time sleeper, but it was tough hearing her cry.

With Kendall, I wanted to do things differently, and I think it's what has made the last 11 weeks so much more manageable, especially with a toddler. Of we've had our ups and downs, and getting to a schedule has still been tough (I mean, it's still a baby haha) but it's been so much better knowing that I am working toward a routine and schedule, and feeling like I am directing the schedule, instead of letting Kendall determine the day. I also have confidence that Kendall will continue going to sleep on her own, and she will not have the drastic regression that Avery had. I am really hoping that we won't have to do a "cry it out," or if we do that it will be pretty minimal. 

Of course, as I've been writing this post, I've had to take some breaks and put Kendall down for two naps so far today. The first nap went great; I put her down awake and she drifted off to sleep peacefully. For her second nap I did have to pick her up and pat her for a few minutes to calm her down because she started crying after my first attempt to put her down, but she calmed quickly and I was still able to lay her down in a "drowsy but awake" state, and she went to sleep. Of course I can't always expect perfection, but she's doing great for 11 weeks old, and I'm very proud of the progress she's made!

Avery is 3!

My little Avery turned 3 years old today, and I couldn't be prouder of the little girl she has become. All day I've been reflecting how far she's come in just 3 short years. Being that I have a new baby, it's really easy for me to compare and see the differences, and it feels like Avery was just born yesterday!  I can't believe how quickly the years have gone by!

Avery had pre-school today and we celebrated her birthday today with cupcakes. She had a great day there and I can really see a huge difference from when we first started. She has become so independent and will do things from the teacher's direction, without having me by her side the entire time. Today's theme of the day was transportation and her favorite activity was when they pretended to be cars and followed the rules of the road. 

After school, we came home and Avery played with GG Ma and GG Pa (her great-grandparents) who watch Kendall for us while we are gone. She loves seeing them and it makes me so happy because she was so shy for so long, and she's finally showing her fun personality to everyone and becoming more outgoing. 

This afternoon we watched her favorite movie - Frozen and enjoyed some nice family time at home. I took a few pictures of her, and she actually smiled for me and liked taking them and then flipping through them on my phone. She had a great day and I just love her so much!

Happy Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day, and although we don't totally get into this holiday (Travis thinks it's made up to sell greeting cards haha), he did get us some chocolate covered pretzels that we're all enjoying. Other than that, we're just hanging out enjoying some relaxation and family time. It's snowy and cold here, and only supposed to get colder as the weekend progresses. Avery and I have been enjoying staying inside and playing with her Calico Critters and other new toys. Have a great weekend!

Kendall 2.5 Month update

It's hard to believe how fast time goes with the second child. I took this photo on January 30th and meant to post about Kendall at 2 months, and somehow it's now two weeks later! Seriously, she's going to be 11 weeks on Sunday, and it's unbelievable to me that we are almost out of "the fourth trimester."

I haven't been blogging as much recently, but should be able to get back on track now that Kendall is sleeping pretty consistently through the night...for about 10 days now. For the past 3 weeks I have been working really hard to get her on a consistent schedule and it has paid off! I'm hoping that this trend will continue, although I'm aware there may be growth spurts and the four-month sleep regression in our future. 

I want to document my schedule here for future reference, and maybe it will help out some other moms in the future who are trying to get their babies to sleep for longer periods at night. I used Babywise and the Baby Whisperer as my guides, but ultimately I did what works best for Kendall and me. Right now, Kendall's schedule looks like this:

6:20/6:30 - 8:00 Wake up for the day, eat, then play (longest nursing session of the day)

8:00 - 9:30  Nap in crib

9:30 - 11:00 Eat, then play

11:00 - 12:15 Nap in crib

12:15 - 1:30 Eat, then play

1:30 - 2:45 Nap in crib

2:45 - 4:00 Eat, then play

4:00 - 5:30 Nap (sometimes in swing)

5:30 - 6:15 Eat, then play

6:15 - 7:45 Nap (almost always in swing)

7:45 - 9:00 Eat, then play

9:00 Eat (cluster feed before bed)

9:15/9:30 Down for the night in crib

9:30-6:20 Sleep through the night

A few weeks ago when I was working toward a schedule, it felt like one step forward and two steps back. I started recording what times she was eating and napping and it felt like no days were the same. I tried to get a consistent morning start time which was also a challenge. My first goal was 7:00, but it seemed like we were waking more at 5 or 6, then sleeping until 8:30 or 9. I honestly just tried to be as consistent as I could throughout the day, but it wasn't easy. Sometimes when I see schedules like this, they can be overwhelming because you can't always control when a baby is hungry or how long they sleep. Obviously, I always feed Kendall when she's hungry, even if it's not on my schedule. However, I pay attention to how many times I'm feeding her (which is currently 7 times), and sometimes if she takes a longer nap in the morning, it's ok for her to take a shorter nap in the afternoon (or vice-versa.) I also had to get it in my head that she's not on a 3 hour schedule, or 2.5 hour schedule. Each eat, play, sleep cycle may be a slightly different length during the day, and it's easier to get them on a schedule when you work with your baby. 

Anyway, I'm really pleased with her progress, and although I know that sleeping through the night may not be the most important thing to some parents, I know that for me it's extremely important. I need my rest and I believe that my kids do better when they are getting enough rest as well. It was basically my number one goal with Kendall to getting her to this point as quickly as she was able. This schedule has also eliminated her "fussy periods" ( read - crying straight for 2 hours ) which also may be just her age now that she's almost 3 months. 

She also has started smiling a lot, and cooing. I'm working to get a laugh or giggle, but we're not there yet. She definitely follows my voice, and watches me when I get up or move around. She also loves watching Avery and I can't wait to see how they continue to interact. With Kendall, I am not as concerned about her reaching milestones (maybe since I've already been through them with Avery) but I am really excited to see how having a big sister will affect her, and the differences I'll see in Kendall because of Avery. 

Avery's 3rd Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated Avery's third birthday with family, even though her birthday isn't officially until the 17th. My parents were in town from Florida, and they've never been around to celebrate her birthday, so it was nice that they were able to be here.

We kept it small, but still went with a Peter Rabbit theme. She's been loving Peter Rabbit on TV recently, and of course her Peter Rabbit books, so I thought it would be cute. Conveniently, I found her an adorable dress from Carter's with little bunnies on it, and she can wear it for Easter too.

I made ham and cheese sliders, cheese tortellini soup, homemade carrot cake cupcakes, and we also had salad and a veggie tray, along with another berry dessert. Everyone enjoyed the food, and Avery especially enjoyed her cupcake.

After our meal, Avery opened her gifts and received a lot of great things. Some of the highlights of her gifts are Calico Critters (including the starter home cozy cottage and lots of animals and furniture to go in it), an Anna costume and doll (from Frozen), a scooter, and some more pieces to her train set.

 Afterward, we opened some of her toys and played and enjoyed our families. My nephew Cooper was here and he had a great time walking all around and going up and down the stairs!

Cooper with his Aunt Kelsey and Uncle Kai

We were also able to get some family pictures, which I'm very happy about. Avery wasn't too thrilled about this, and neither was Kendall, but I'm still happy to have them.

The DeSavigny Family

The Rodgers Family

Overall it was a great party. It was small, but perfect for my little Avery.