Baby's first tooth

With our first tooth popping through came a cold, runny nose, sneezing and itchy eyes. After one night of Alexandria rubbing her eyes, her sharp little nails, no matter how well they are cut, scratched her nose and cheek. Having not worn her mittens since she was born, I almost gave away all but one, boy am I glad I did not.

Poor baby rubbing her red eyes and her nose getting snot all over her face. The mittens absorbed some of the tears and kept the snot contained. Nosefrida, mittens, and Puremedy Baby Salve to the rescue! A sleepy baby bundled in her Boppy with bottle, while Mommy watches her.

While sleeping I popped homeopathic Tiny Cold Tablets by Hyland's baby into her mouth followed by her pacifier. She slept for an hour cycle and woke up less red-eyed and happy. After a little while she was ready to play. More medicine, food, and sleep for this baby, with plenty of listening to how she is feeling.

For the tooth, she has Green Sprouts fruit cool soothing teether. My mom also suggested cold wet face cloth, which I may try when her immune system is better. She seems to like the teether, but looks for smooth almost satin fabric surfaces more.

Finding a daycare

Here is a checklist that my friend, who is a daycare/preschool teacher, put together for me when touring a daycare. It really helped me be able to ask questions, when I otherwise felt like I had no clue what to ask or even look for having never interviewed a daycare. In the end of it, I would follow your gut in terms of how you feel about a place, as it needs to feel like a place that you will want to leave your child - working needs to be non-stress and fun and having your child at a place you don't like can be tough.

My advice for anyone in Seattle, is to look early in pregnancy. Daycare is like the real estate market; there are not many infant spots, and if it's a hot spot they go fast. Since wait-lists can be a year or more long, you need to get on top of it sooner rather than later. Even if you are unsure your daycare plans, hedge your bets and place a deposit. Deposits are anywhere from $50 to $150.

I cannot stress enough that the checklist is a good starting place, but always listen to your heart. You know what is best for your child and don't accept anything less. I had my child in a daycare that I did not care for, for all of two days before she was moved. In my situation, we had been on the wait-list for our number one choice for six months and thought we would get in by the time we needed care, but it did not turn out that way, so come August we were scrambling to find care. We secured care for January and found a last resort for immediate care, since it had no wait-list, but as I concluded it had no wait-list for a reason. We were lucky our January daycare opened up a spot earlier than expected. Timing is also something to consider because things fill-up during the normal school months of May and September, looking on off times will give you the chance to already be on the list for consideration. Spots open up when children transition or families move their children to another daycare, and the later is unpredictable and beneficial to those on a wait-list.

                                                       Things to look for in a child care

Entrance: is it warm and welcoming
     ◦ Are there bulletin boards for parent communication, sharing, things to do in town?
     ◦ Is there car seat or stroller storage?
     ◦ Can parents hang out and chat with each other in the lobby?
     ◦ Are there toys for kids to play there at drop off and pick up?
     ◦ What is the security upon entering? Also, what is it like in the rooms?

Overall Space
    ◦ Does each class had their own room
    ◦ Do the rooms connect to each other? Via a half wall, window, shared counter space, half door...
    ◦ Windows are cool, they can see each other from other rooms
    ◦ Other shared spaces, not so cool, the rooms can get to loud and it is very confusing when you hear noise from another class that you cannot see.
    ◦ Playground
        ▪ Is there a separate younger/older space?
        ▪ Do they look fun? Would you want to play there? :)

Staff to Child Ratios
     ◦ Very Important, the more teachers per room, the better.
     ◦ Infants should be no more than 3 kids per staff member. From experience, I never had more than 3 kids to myself.
     ◦ What are the staff schedules like? How many teachers in the room at opening? Closing? Throughout the day? Are they ever alone? If so, with how many children?
          ▪ I personally think it is always best for there to be 2 people in the room at open and close. That way if one adult is talking to parents, you know that the other one is with the children.

The Infant Room:
   ◦ Is it warm and friendly?
   ◦ Can you come in, sit down with your child, chat with the teacher, play a little then say goodbye? Can you come in one day at drop off or pick up to observe?
   ◦ Is the staff sitting on the floor with the kids? How long have they been there? Do they get along? Worked together a while? Who fills in when someone is out?
   ◦ Is there a parent communication board?
          ▪ How do they communicate? Email, journals, one on one chats? Daily? Weekly?
    ◦ Are there adult chairs? Rocking Chairs?
          ▪ If you want to come in to nurse, where can you sit? Is it private? Are you just in the room? (In the room is fine, but you will want a comfy spot to sit)
   ◦ Are there kid chairs? Bouncy seats are fine for feeding, but not for sitting in all day.
   ◦ No bumbo seats! So stupid and dangerous, not sure why they were ever invented
   ◦Do you see:
         ▪ Books?
         ▪ Clean Rugs or play mats?
         ▪ Areas defined? Ex: books, blocks, soft toys, climbing area...
         ▪ Climbing structure? Do they add one as the year goes on?
         ▪ Soft toys?
   ◦ Are there things on the wall? Are they at kid level or is the child looking up to see them?
   ◦ Art? Is it actually messy, I had fun child art or an adult put my hand on the paper so it looks perfect kind of art?
   ◦ Where does the child sleep? Is it far from the rest of the room? Do they use nap music?
   ◦ Schedule: Do they get to sleep whenever or do they encourage the same time?
   ◦ Walks: What does the buggy look like? How often to they go?
   ◦ Food: You provide? What do they provide?
   ◦ Diapers: You provide or them? If you do not use their brand, do you get credit?
   ◦ What is the daily schedule? Is it flexible?
   ◦ How do the children transition in and out of the room?
          ▪ Is it by year, every one starts and September and moves to the toddler room together or so they transition one by one according to age?

*All in all, you will know when you found the right place. You will fell comfortable as soon as you walk in and you will get more excited and comfortable the longer the tour lasts. The center does not have to be NAEYC accredited, it can be fabulous without it.

Getting my 3 Month Old Baby Sleeping through the Night

Sleeping through the night means no waking periods. I have heard that sleeping through the night for an infant means six hours. For my little girl, she is sleeping nine hours without waking at three months old, whereas some babies don't do that until they are a year or more old. So how did this happen?

First I have to say all babies are different. For my baby, her sleep schedule started in the womb; she would wake me between 3 or 4 am and then again at 6 am. When we brought her home from the hospital we would go to bed between 10 and 11 pm and she would wake up at 3 or 4 am, so that was four or five hour stretches of sleep time. As a new mom, I was told by my doctor that for my brain to rest I needed to get at least 4 hours of sleep in one period. While this first tip is not anything that you can do to influence your baby, it is important to note that your baby may just be programmed with his or her own sleep schedule.

The key to creating a bedtime for your infant is creating a repeatable and consistent process. For example, we say to our daughter "We change the baby, then we swaddle the baby (also read "6 Tips to a Tight Swaddle"), and then we feed the baby." This is something that we do (not necessarily always say) at all nighttime feedings ie. putting the baby back to bed. When she was younger she would cry when waking up in the middle of the night, as her way to tell us that she needed food. We understood that this was her way of communicating and ours was to complete the process of change, swaddle and feed. Then, as she got older she now does not fuss when she wakes up for food and the only time she cries (usually bloody murder) is when we break the routine - for example, my husband thought the swaddle job needed to fixed, so he removed her from the feeding position and back into the swaddle position, boy was she disappointed and confused.

The feeding position and environment is also consistent during the nighttime. The feeding position always is in the semi-upright position, regardless of the time of day, but where we feed her is the same. The environment itself should be calming and dim-lit. For us, we have a 30w bulb that powers our changing station, which is bright enough to see what you are doing. Then, we shut that off to turn on a dimmer light, that is by where we feed her, which is lit just enough to see her feeding. All the while we are doing the process we are keeping talking to a minimum and talk to her in a soft and soothing voice.

After every feeding regardless of the time of day, we give her a pacifier as this helps her to not spit-up after a feeding. Also giving this to her at the nighttime feedings, allows her to soothe herself back to sleep.

All of the tips so far have been how to put your baby to sleep consistently at night and you may be wondering, how do I now take this to help me, er I mean the baby, sleep longer at night? The answer is keeping with this routine until your baby consistently knows that it is time to go to bed, does it and then sleeps for longer periods of time. Plus, you can influence when  he or she goes to sleep. For example, I believe you have heard of the witching hour, in the evening when babies are generally fussy, well this time is when our baby needed to be put down to bed. Most babies cannot just go to sleep, rather they fuss to "ask" to be put to sleep. We would swaddle her, pacify her, and hold her in a rocking chair or bounce on a yoga ball (OMG the yoga ball should be on every new mom's baby registry, it really works!). This would be good, but this nap would happen at 7 pm. And then we would let her sleep with fingers crossed that the nap did not ruin her stretch of 4 to 5 hours once she woke up and was out to bed. It was not until just recently that we realized that we could keep her consoled until 8 or 9 pm, skip the nap, and just put her to bed, then she would sleep through the prior 10 or 11 pm sleep time.

Another key point here is that for a baby to sleep you need to let the baby sleep - do not wake the baby up because you think you should, let the baby sleep and trust that your baby will wake when he or she is hungry. In the very first few weeks they say to wake the baby if they sleep for longer a certain amount of hours, which you should follow if your pediatrician advises. Generally though, if you baby is gaining weight then you don't need to be concerned with tracking sleeping and eating patterns. Of course, knowing the eating pattern helps with knowing so you can sooth your baby, I just mean don't set weight to both combined - don't wake the baby. The first night she slept for 8 hours, I walked into the baby's room to check on her she reacted to the hallway light and I knew that my baby was still alive (my reaction in response to my fear of SIDS).

The final key to setting a bedtime schedule is getting the feeding schedule aligned with bedtime. Naturally your baby will be on a schedule. Mine feeds every two and a half to three hours. I know she eats at 6 am, 9 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, 6 pm, and 9 pm give or take. With that being said there is a range too and that can either be too close or after her 8 pm bedtime. So, we feed her as schedule and then when it comes time for bed, we feed her the allocated amount of food she needs since her last feeding. One note here is we are exclusively bottle feeding her breast milk (see here for information on how much breast milk to express a baby), so you would offer the breast and let the baby eats until they get full.

How to Hire a Doula

A doula is a birth coach, that is there to do ask you ask, to empower you to have the type of birth that you wish. I highly recommend every pregnant women, especially those that have fears, either personally or a partner, of the birthing process. You want to feel supported in the delivery room. Words cannot describe the connection I have to my doula. Finding a doula that is right for you is key. To find a certified doula, go to PALS Doulas here.

Doula services may or may not be covered by your insurance. A doula charges anywhere from $700 to $1400, depending on their experience. My policy with Regence did not cover a doula, so I emailed info@pals.org to find a doula-in-training, who will have done training, but need to attend a certain number of births to become certified. In hiring a doula-in-training, the cost will be significantly less - $250 to $500 give or take. In the end it may come down to money for you, but if you can try to hire based on fit of personality to your birth wishes.

PALS Doulas also has good information on how to hire a doula. Having no experience at this, I started by reading up on the service that a doula can provide. When I reached out to the doula I knew that she was available, so it was a matter of meeting them. I had an initial conversation with two over the phone, before setting up an in-person meeting, just in case I did not click with them immediately. While I had some awkward silences as I was unsure what to ask, I turned the tables to have the doula tell me more about herself. While not everyone has the best phone skills, I gave one lady the benefit of the doubt and met her in-person; however my gut instinct was correct and I did not end-up going with her. It was about fit between my birthing wishes and her attitude. I was willing to accept less experience for more of a fit personally. The interview included my husband, so we could make the decision together.

My doula was interested in potentially becoming a midwife, so in addition to the two pre-birth meetings, I also brought her to two of my prenatal appointments for her to meet both my midwives. The doula is there for you during the birth, at what ever point you would like her to be, but mostly leading up to active labor. I had a scheduled induction, so my doula was there when I was admitted to review the induction plan and then returned when contractions picked up. Then, she was there for me until after the baby was born. A few days after she returned to see me post-birth, then again a week later and another couple of weeks later for the final meeting. It was sad to have such a connection with a person and then say goodbye. I made her a Thank you note that included a birth picture of my baby, a bottle of wine, and a generous tip.

Why I could not do without my doula:

• Able to talk about prebirth fears and plan should things materialize
• Comforted that my husband had support 
• Knowledge about birthing process
• Reminded me about things that were important to me, in the heat of the moment
• She was my rock, my focus and my encouragement
• The massage of my lower back during contractions
• Letting me smack her hand when the pain was too much
• "Playing" the staring contest when I got my epidural inserted
• Advocate for my birthing wishes
• Post-birth check-in 

Placenta Encapsulation can Prevent Postpartum Depression

Prior to birth I was concerned about postpartum depression, as I wanted to enjoy the months following birth, but concerned I may be predisposed to it having lived with anxiety on-and-off-again. In anticipation, I was prepared to have my placenta encapsulated within 72 hours following birth. I had heard about this through my naturopathic doctor and started to do some research. I found Seattle Placenta Encapsulation explained the benefits and the procedure in clear and understandable terms.

I included instructions in my birth plan to have my placenta saved, placed in a double-bagged gallon size ziploc bag, laid flat, and returned to me upon departure from the hospital. Unfortunately, my placenta was infected during birth and was reason for it not to be encapsulated. Fortunately though, I did not experience postpartum depression - my doctor gave me a series of questions to answer to confirm I did not meet the criteria. However, a few days following birth, while in the hospital my anxiety came back, but was soothed after talking about the birth process to my doula and OB.

I write this blog to let you know about the alternative to western medicine approach - placenta encasulation - to preventing postpartum depression*, but also to allow you a forum to share your experience, so you can help others with ways to deal with and find support for postpartum depression.    

*I do not claim to have tried this, cannot confirm the statement, and can merely go based on the information I have found on this subject. 

Breast Pump Covered by Insurance

Through a lactation consultant I found out that my insurance covers a breast pump. IRS is also allowing Breastpumps and supplies that assist lactation to be covered by your health and flex spending accounts, for more information from the IRS.  

I was able to get my Medela Pump In Style Advanced breast pump with Metro Bag free! I choose this version pump because the motor was not inserted or attached permanently to the bag. This is handy when you are mobile, especially when going back to work or going from room-to-room in your house. And the bag can be re-purposed once you are done breast pumping. But, wouldn't you know there is a website for top breast pump reviews because not all pumps are created equally. I was recommended Medela (only one person can ever use this) and Hygeia (can be passed down or have more than one user in a lifetime) breast pumps by the lactation consultants that I have seen. 

The process to getting insurance to cover some or all of the cost is to check with your insurance provider on your coverage first, give them the code E0603NU. Then have your doctor write you a prescription saying you are pregnant, with your due date, and note saying you will need a pump for medical reasons. The prescription is what you give to a retail seller that bills insurance directly or you can submit the claim to your insurance otherwise. 

Impressions of Baby's Feet and Hands

Source: theimaginationtree.com via Jen on Pinterest 

In a previous post I told you that I was obsessed with Pinterest, I still am. Lately what I have been doing is actually completing the DIY pins I add or 'like'. If you follow the category DIY & Crafts you will see this popular pin for a recipe of mold to make a baby foot impression; the recipe sounds simple and includes ingredients that are most commonly found in the kitchen (flour, salt and water). I followed the 1:1 recipe, which the source blog lets you know that you may need more or less to get it just right. I however could not get the combination just right - following the recipe exactly it was too wet and there was no give in the batter to get a detailed impression.  I am not a baker, so getting the combination just right was a DIY fail. I think that if the pin is advertised as simple, then it should be simple.

In deciding that this recipe was not right for me, I found an alternative method to get an impression of my baby's feet and hands. I choose to go with a baby safe washable ink pad, which I think will be perfect to include in a scrapbook, or make into a card for the grandparents.