Catcher's Diaper Company

The diaper business is finally up and running.  It's been a very slow process.  I've done A LOT of research.  There are so many regulations to conform to when selling children's products!

I have a Website, which has answers to some diapering FAQ's, diaper sewing supplies,a section for custom orders, and a link to my Etsy Shop.  Most recently I started writing Blog posts!

Sewing diapers is a slow process.  Kamrynn requires a great deal of attention, so I can only "work" while she is sleeping, this limits me to about 4 hours a day, minus time I spend doing dishes, laundry, cooking, groceries, etc., and if we go somewhere for the day I don't get anything done!  My goal is five diapers a week, which I think has happened maybe once!  November I'm starting fresh with my goal!

Happy diapering!

PS:  Kamrynn is now in "Absorbent Panties," and only wet two pairs today, with some dribbles in the third pair!  I'm SO excited for her!

Kamrynn Update: 1 Year!

FIRE!

No, she didn't try to touch it, just looked at it!

Wondering why everyone was staring at her!

Sucking all the frosting off the top.  (Cream Cheese Frosting)

yummy frosting!

What Kamrynn would look like as a man... ;)   

(frosting mustache!)

At one year, Kamrynn weighed about 21lbs, I dont remember how long she was... that will teach me for writing this almost a month late!  She was walking and we got her a first pair of "Walking Shoes."  She has "Running Shoes" in the next size up for when she starts that!  For now, I really like that she is walking.  It is much easier to go out to the car because she can walk.  And now, with her in a convertable carseat, I no longer have the bucket to put all my stuff in to carry to the car!

She still doesn't like confined to a shopping cart or stroller (tries to climb out, even strapped in), so I made a new baby carrier for her....  It is a Mei Tai and I LOVE it.  Super comfy and she can ride on my back at the grocery store!

Kamrynn

• waves Bye Bye and cries when Dada goes to work
• has 8 teeth which she brushes with a tooth brush and water
• goes potty on the big potty (we got tired of the Bjorn Little Potty, so we have an insert for the toilet) and waves bye bye when we flush it!
• Loves Tacos, PBJ Sandwiches, LIME yogurt, Whole Grain Gold Fish, and All Natural Popcicles!
• Helps unload the dishwasher by throwing the silverware on the ground!
• Helps do the laundry by throwing the clean clothes I just folded on the ground!  She also hands me the wet clothes from the washer so I can put them in the dryer (THAT is actually helpful, even though she only give me one article of clothing at a time!)
• Loves going outside, dirt, leaves, grass, and water!
• Tries to pick up small animals (dogs/cats) and is nice to them... no more pinching or pulling fur!
• Likes to send email on the computer (mama translates)
• Wakes up once or twice a night to potty, and has dry diapers all night and naps!
• Signs "num nums" (to nurse), all done/no more, dog, potty, more.  Working on Fish, Book, Mama, Dada, Grandmother, Grandfather, Cat, Banana, Eat, Hungry
• Gives the sweetest little Kamrynn Hugs EVER!

Off to bed!  Here are a few more pictues!

Reading a Birthday Book

Daddy's idea of putting the baby to bed....

Playing at the river

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

What is this stuff?  I must taste!

Likes to ride in her new carseat!  Sunshine Kids "Radian XTSL"  One of the only carseats that will fit in my car (Ford Focus) Rear Facing.  (We're doing Extended Rear Facing to the maximum of the carseat, and this seat has higher maximums than any other seat available in the US)

At the coast!  Fishing Trip for our anniversary!

First Popsicle!

See my teeth!  Gotta brush those pearly whites!

Kamrynn Update: 10 Months, Part 2

In my last post, I forgot to write about all the things Kamrynn can do! 

She can:

• Find the correct hole in the "shape ball" for the shape in her hand.  She tries to put the shape in, but cant get it lined up quite yet.
• Stand up all by herself, with nothing to hang on to.
• Squat down and pick up HEAVY objects and stand back up.
• Kick the ball.
• Go underwater with out sputtering when she comes back up.
• Say: Mama, Dada, Papa, Nana, Babababab (whatever that means, but it is the favorite word), and Up (for Tub)
• Find me if I hide from her (hide & go seek is a favorite game!)
• Chew her food with her mouth closed!
• Go up and down stairs safely (she slides down on her bottom with minimal help)
• Follow simple directions
• Go as much as 40 hours and only potty in her diaper 4 times (this has happend once, the day I finished 6 new diapers for her... she made me think I should have made Trainers instead of diapers because she's getting pretty good about going in the potty again, but the next day she only pottied in the potty twice and I had to clean out 3 poopy diapers... not my favorite chore!)
• Sleep from 8:30-ish to 7:30-ish waking around 4 and 6 (huge improvement from 2 months ago)
• Cruise the furniture a little
• Walk hanging on to one finger
• Climb out of our bed without falling (she rolls to her tummy and very, very, very, slowly slides off onto her feet)

That's all I can think of right now!  More next month I'm sure... maybe even some walking!

Kamrynn Update: 10mos

I dont usually write updates every month, but Kamrynn has mastered so many new things, I'd have too much to write at 12months!

Not sure on the weight or length, but I know she's close to 32" because we need a new carseat ASAP.  We're dangerously close to the 1" mark!  The carseat we wanted was the Safety 1st Complete Air.  Same type as her infant seat (with the airbags for her noggin), but a Convertable.  We will do extended Rear Facing, so we wanted a seat that has the tallest RF limit.  This is THE seat.  It's reasonably priced at just over $150, so we could eventually get one for each vehicle.  Unfortunately, it does NOT fit in my car.  Well, it does fit, but no one could drive or ride in the passenger seat!  So, our next choice is the Britax something or other.  I dont like how hard the location her head would be hitting in a crash is, but it has other safe aspects, like in a crash in lowers the center of gravity, and it is reinforced with steel rather than plastic.  It is over $300, so we'd be switching it between the two cars.  I'm not buying 2 $300 carseats!

Kamrynn has been keeping me busy!  She knows quite a few signs, but still isn't "requesting" yet, she only signs after I sign asking if that is what she wants.  She's also gotten really lazy with her signs.  For example, "potty" has become shaking her hands up and down further and faster than "bye bye."  "No More" or "All Done" is also the same sign.  "More" is still clapping her hands...she's never put her fingertips together.  She can sign "Dad" but not "Mom."  Just today she kinda signed "banana," one we've been working on for over a week!  Sometimes I just have to go through the list until I find the right one.  I do think she understands language pretty well.  She will sit down when asked, if she wants to.  She understands and obeys when I tell her not to touch something, if she wants to, and until I look away.  She knows what the bath is.

She got really fussy around 7pm one night.  She didn't want to nurse, wasn't thirsty, didn't need changed or have to go potty.  Finally I asked her if she was just ready for her bath.  She took off at "head down" crawl speed towards the bathroom!  (Kamrynn has two crawl speeds, Head Up, and Head Down.  Head up is slow, Head Down is FAST!)

Not much new on the eating.  We haven't tried any new foods....  We've had tacos a couple times and she takes bites out if mine.  I hold it for her and she bites down and gives her head a little shake, effectively taking a "bite."  She does the same thing when eating bananas now.  She takes the biggest bites I've ever seen.  Probably about the size Trevor takes!  She manages to chew it all up and swallow without losing any, even though there's so much in there she cant keep her lips closed!

Ok, past my bedtime!  Kamrynn has been grumpy the past few days and I need my sleep...  The neighbor got a drumset and has been playing ALL DAY.  I take that back.  Not playing.  Randomly beating on the drums!  Cant hear it outside, only in our bedroom.  One more day, and I'm going to go not-so-randomly beating on doors!  ;)

G'Night!

Kamrynn Update: 9 Months!

Time is flying!  I cannot beleive Kamrynn is nine months already!  She has grown and changed so much, so quickly!  At nine months, she weighs 21 pounds and is 29.5" tall and has four teeth (two new ones on top, and two on the bottom).

New Top Teeth

Kamrynn loves to have a finger in each hand and RUN around the house.  There is not walking for these feet... she moves them as fast as can be!  She is also becoming quite the crawler... she not only crawls on flat surfaces, but over boxes I used to baracade her out of my sewing area, and on her daddy's new gun case.  The gun case is her favorite.  When laying on the ground, it sits about 6 inches off the ground, and she like to climb up and sit on top... usually falling off backwards and having Dada catch her.  :)  She also loves to climb up and down the stairs at Gama and Papa's house.  I have a LONG video, when I get some spare time, I'll edit it down and post it.

New foods Kamrynn likes include, raspberries, watermelon, cheese, plain yogurt (w/blackberries), steak, stuffed mushrooms (she had already had mushrooms, but apparently they're better stuffed), triscuts, and scrambled eggs.  She gobbles up almost everything I put in front of her!

Stuffed Mushroom

Cantelope - I have to cut bigger chunks now.....

Spaghetti - the all time favorite!



Kamrynn has been learning sign language since she was about 5 months old and is starting to sign.  Currently, she can sign "milk," "more" (she claps her hands), and today signed "potty" correctly (she had just been shaking her hand, but today she put her thumb under her finger)!  She didn't potty when I took her, she had already gone, but that's OK!

We are all finally starting to sleep better.  Kamrynn only woke once at 3:30 last night.  I changed her, offered the potty, then nursed and put her back in her bed wide awake.  She woke me up, happily jabbering away, a little after seven.  I was incredibly tired of being up every hour or so all night and up for the day at 4:30AM, SO, Kamrynn went on a schedule that includeds Plenty of sleep!  The schedule starts at night and is as follows:

8:30pm - Bath time, Potty, lotion/massage, songs & PJ's, prayer, nursing until drowsy. 
9pm - ASLEEP - she MUST be asleep by this time or I leave the room for 60 seconds come back and do more nursing until drowsy.
8AM - Wild Wake-up, Potty, Nurse- Anytime she wakes up before 8am we change diaper and nurse until drowsy, any time after 8am we throw open the curtains and act all excited that it is time to get up, potty and nurse.  Then we have some breakfast and shower and go through a modified bed time routine getting ready for our nap.
10AM - Nap Time - Whatever time we get up for the day, she must be ASLEEP no more than two hours later for her morning nap.
NOON - Wild Wake-Up, potty, nurse - then we have lunch, then either have play time or we run erands.
3pm - Nap Time - no more than three hourse after wakeup from morning nap.
5pm - Wild Wake-up, potty, nurse, fix dinner/eat, nurse (for some reason, she likes to nurse before and after meals), then play time
5:30 - Optional Nap Time (If she didn't sleep for 2 hours in the morning and atleast 1.5 hours in the afternoon, she takes a 45 minute nap)

The schedule has been modified from "The Sleep Lady."  The Sleep Lady has babies going to bed and getting up at 7pm and 7am.  For Kamrynn's age, she should be getting 11-12hrs of sleep at night and taking one 2hr. nap and one 1.5hr. nap.  Currently, Kamrynn is getting about 10.5hrs. at night and taking two 2hr. naps.

Here are some super cute pictures of my cutie!

Her "I'm gonna get you" face.  :)

Up to no good.... she's knows she's not to touch the fan!

Fishing with Dada

Driving Papa's boat in the driveway!  Cant wait for the lake!

Kamrynn Update: 8 months

Wrote this about 3 weeks ago....  meant to write more but Kamrynn has been keeping me too buys!


My sister has drawn it to my attention that I haven't posted anything on Kamrynn in almost two whole months!  Well, here's what she has been up to (I'll post pictures later):

I'm guess she weights about 18lbs, and I'll have to measure her.  I do know that she now fits reasonably well into her 12 month clothes and I actually got to go shopping for her, which is really fun, especially because now I get to dress her in clothes that aren't HOT PINK!

Kamrynn loves to eat.  She slurps up spaghetti and screaches when I dont give her a refill fast enough....  New foods she likes are:  Pad Thai, burritos, egg whites (even starting to eat them without ketchup), cottage cheese (although this has been limited), Pasta Salad, brocoli, mushrooms, French Toast (without the syrup Briana!), tangerines, blueberries, Kashi, Strawberries (more screaching when I dont give them to her fast enough)

Kamrynn Update: 6 Months

Back from the pediatrician yesterday.  We just saw the Nurse Practitioner, usually we see the Physician's Assistant whom I really like.  She holds Kamrynn and talks to her, and hugs on her and cuddles her.  This woman didn't.  Kamrynn didn't seem to care, until the actual doctor came in and double checked her ears...then she cried.  I dont think she likes him!  :(  She's been pulling on her hears alot, so we wanted to make sure they weren't bothering her....  The NP said usually they dont find their ears until closer to 9 months but didn't say much when I said she'd been pulling at them since 3.5months.  Maybe she just likes her ears better than her hands, which she only studied for a day!

Kamrynn has only gained a pound since the last appointment, dropping her down to the 60th percentile for weight (she was at th 87th I beleive).  She weighed in at 16lbs 8.2oz, so she hasn't quite doubled her birth weight yet... something they told me she'd do around 3-4months, but she was way above average when she was born, so I didn't expect her to do that.  Anyway, the NP said they dont worry about weight unless they're LOSING weight.  I guess all baby's start to slow down now that they've become more mobile.  She is 27.5inches long and still at the top of the growth chart for height, so it's not like she isn't growing....

Kamrynn is almost crawling.  She can get up on her hands and knees all by herself, but tries to get on her hands and toes more often. 

If she is sitting next to something, she can grab ahold of it and stand herself right up.  The first time she did this was in her bassinet while we were in the shower.  I peeked out of the curtain at her and she was on her way over the edge!  Trevor jumped out real quick and layed her down...  The bassinet went to the garage, where it will patiently wait for the next baby.  She has also stood up in her crib several times... one time falling over and bonking her noggin.... she still has a brownish bruise.

Miss Kamrynn has decided she no longer has time to sit and nurse... so she eats for a couple minutes, then has to sit up and look around, then eat some more...  I allow her to do this three times, then we're finished.  We're also finished if she bites me.  Thankfully she hasn't full on bit me, just little test bites, but I think she's getting the picture.  She has two tiny little teeth that give puppy teeth a run for their money on the sharpness scale! 

Can you see them?  They're in a lot farther now.  She showes them every time she smiles now!

The NP gave her the all clear to eat all foods now (except we're to wait annother month on the Green Beans since she had a reaction to them).  Ofcourse, this means HEALTHY foods... no McDonalds!  She has eaten:  Avocado, Banana, Asparagus, Sweet Peppers (Red, Yellow & Orange), Chicken, Apple, Peas, Oatmeal, and Cream of Wheat.  She's getting pretty good at picking up the flattend peas and putting them in her mouth, and she loves apple so much she'll eat 1/4 of one.  She surprised us with Asparagus and ate nearly two whole sticks...leaving the stingy stuff behind of course! 

She's also starting to get the hang of a sippy cup, but does best with just a regular cup... even holding it and getting a drink all by herself if there isn't too much water making it heavy!

 Yellow Sweet Pepper - LIKE (Above) and Cream of Wheat - DISLIKE (Below)

She has become quite the Busy Body.  She has to explore, touch and taste everything she sees!  If she doesn't get to, so throws little tempertantrums.  She got the picture she cant do it to me though.  I was holding something, and wouldn't let her have it so she started screaming, kicking her feet, shaking her little fists and turned bright red.  I set her down and left the room... she stopped instantly and I came back to a happy smiling faced little girl!  She still give Trevor a hard time though... crying everytime he changes her diaper....even if he sings to her.  Poor Daddy!  But even he agrees, she is starting to become a lot of fun!  We cant wait to see what the next 6 months brings!  She has changed so much this past six months... it's going by so quickly!

Getting into the groceries!

Baby Led Solids

Kamrynn is 6 months old today!  It seems lik forever since I've blogged! 

Kamrynn has been learning to eat.  Instead of learning to swallow solid foods, she has been learning to Chew before swallowing by feeding herself!  She has been eating a variety of Fruits, Veggies and Grains:  Avocado, Peas, Apples, Asparagus, Sweet Pepper, Mexican Squash, Carrots, Banana, Cream of Wheat and Oatmeal are what I can remember right now.  She LOVES Apples and will eat nearly 1/4 of one - minus the peel of course!

We steam the slice until it is tender, leaving the peel on for "grip."

She also chowed right down on asparagus, eating almost 2 whole stalks, and choosing it over the Mexican Squash!

She isn't a fan of Cream of Wheat...

[Picture of awful cream of wheat face to be added when Blogger is working better]



I made up some guidelines for BLS especially for Kamrynn.  These decisions are based on research and keeping her safe, both now and in the future....

• Kamrynn must be seated and properly restrained while eating. Either in a high chair or at the table being held. Do not leave her unsupervised.


• Offer “French Fry” size and shaped foods by placing them in her hand or in front of her. Do not “help” her by placing them in her mouth. Any item smaller than “french fry” that is round, such as grapes, must be “smooshed” or placed in the teether.

• She can better hold many foods if the peel is left on. Thoroughly wash all foods prior to cutting.

• All foods other than Avocado & Banana must be cooked to tender by baking or steaming (never microwaved) until Kamrynn has teeth.

• If a food not on the Approved list is offered, offer only one and let Kristin know. Kamrynn must eat it for 3-5 days to rule out allergy.

• Do not offer foods that have been in contact with plastics that are not BPA-Free or have ever been in the dishwasher or microwave (including BPA Free plastics - there are other chemicals that leach out into the foods).

• The following foods must be organic due to high pesticide content even after thorough washing: Peaches, Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Pears, Imported Grapes, Spinach, Lettuce, Potatoes, and commercially frozen fruits.

Foods that Kamrynn may not have at this time include:

Banned (until further notice)


Tap Water, Juice, Pop, Kool Aid, etc

Dairy Products

Honey

Citrus or Citrus Products

Tomato or Tomato Products

Nut Products

Meat, Poultry, Fish, Egg, Soy

Green Beans (possible allergy)

Commercially Canned Products

Products containing Dye, Sweeteners (including added sugar), BHT or other preservatives, MSG, added Sodium, microwaved foods

Strawberries

Beans

Broccoli

White Breads & Pastas


Sounds like Kamrynn is awake and then I'm off to bed!  NIGHT!

YUM!

The pediatrician recommended starting some solids at the 4 month appointment.  We were to start with Avocado, then Green Beans, and Banana, for 5 days each prior to introducing the next food.  Instead of doing commercially processed baby food, we're doing Baby Led Solids.  Baby Led Solids means we go at Kamrynn's pace, and she eats the same foods that we are eating, but Kamrynn sized portions.  We do not feed her, she feeds herself.  Anything she cant put in her mouth on her own, she isn't ready to eat.  We make it easier for her by offering food that is "french fry" size and shape.  However, we do not eat very infant friendly foods, so I wanted to be gentle on her system, and give her the "easier" foods for her tummy at first.

Here are some pictures:

That is her pig.  We played in the highchair to become friends with it for about a week before we started.  Even though she has become friends with her carseat and no longer cries as soon as we put her in it, she wasn't friends with her high chair.

Happy after smearing avocado everywhere.  All over the high chair, her belly button and even up her nose!  She seems to love Avocado!

The green beans didn't go well, we had a rash later that night, so we're skipping them and moved on to banana.  She's not sure what to think of banana.  Avocado is still the favorite.  After banana, we tried a bag of frozen peas to help the painful teething process:

Bag of Peas Teether from Auntie Nanners!

A New Adventure in the Works

I should be in bed.  Kamrynn is sleeping and I should be too.  The only time I can get anything done is when she is sleeping though and I wanted to get a website somewhat designed.  Here is what I have so far:

http://catchersdiaperco.weebly.com/

Once we get it going a little bit more, we'll get a better website with a more professional shopping cart than what weebly offers.

We are a Business according to the federal and state governements.  We are approved to sell FuzziBunz, Happy Heinys, California Baby and Charlie's Soap products.  California Baby as a HUGE minimum first order of nearly $1000 so we wont be carying any of their products any time soon!  It's going to be a while on the others too.  After going to other online CD stores and adding quantities of diapers to a fake shopping cart to see how many of what I should carry in our store, I discovered that most stores have 30-100 of EACH COLOR in stock.  Our $400 we scrounged together will barely get us 100 diapers, much less that number in each color!

We have decided to only sell my Perfect Diaper (whenever it gets perfected) and some wipes and see how those do before ordering diapers (unless someone wants to let me know exactly what they want and I'll order them for them!).  : )

Ok, I'm off to call Trevor to tell him good night (he's working all night) and then to bed for some much needed sleep!

Good Night!

A New Adventure

Kamrynn is finally napping, and I should be folding laundry and cleaning out the closet, but I need to get some thoughts down:

After trying several different types of diapers, I decided I wasn't going to pay $20 a diaper for something I didn't TOTALLY LOVE, and ordered about $35 in fabric to sew my own cloth diapers.  I can handle a sewing machine, making quilts is super easy, but patterns are lost on me... zippers too now that I think about it.  (Paula - that woombie I'm making for you might take several tries!)  I decided I would design the Perfect Diaper, and sell it because it would be better than all the other dipers out there and everyone would want it.  It would have velcro closures, be super easy to wash, not need stuffed, contain leaks and blowouts, keep her bottom dry, be trim, and inexpensive.  I've made two so far.  The first one was actually just a repair of one of the cheapies I bought that failed.  The second one the leg holes are too big and did not contain poo.  :(  We even had a name for our diapers - Catchers.  Trevor wanted them to be named Poo Catchers and our logo be a baseball mitt with a pile of poo in it.  I figured out if I could sew one per hour and sell them for about $12 each I'd make just under minimum wage for our state.  Could be worse...I could also have to pay for a sitter!  Six dollars an hour to sew diapers and take care of my kid.  Sounded good to me.

Unfortunately, it takes me an entire day to make one diaper.  Yes.  One.  I did not realize exactly how much time is actually spent taking care of Kamrynn.  So, scratch that idea.

Fast forward about 5 weeks: 

Still thinking and wanting to create the Perfect Diaper.  I finally have a pattern that I'm hoping will work.  Waiting for some velcro fabric I ordered to get here so I can finish it.

As I was drafting my pattern, I was still thinking about selling diapers... and how expensive they are and that Kamrynn is going to be needing Mediums soon and it sure does take a long time for me to sew them and how can I get more diapers for less money.  My solution:  Wholesale!  I sold Mary Kay for a while, and know there is a 50% mark up so I figure there's atleast a 20% markup on diapers.  I talked to Trevor about it and we're currently looking into opening an online baby store.  I know there are lots of those out there, but ours will be better.

We're going to start small.  We have $400 to invest.  I know it's not much, but I think it will be enough.  I found a WAHM (Work At Home Mom) webhosting/eCommerce place that is reasonable, have emails in to Fuzzi Bunz, BumGenius and GroVia and have a list of other companies to talk to.  Once I know how much the mark-up is, I can do the math and see if our $400 is going to be enough to get this started and if this is even going to be worth while on such a small scale.  We'll write up a business plan, purchase a federal business number, open a PayPal business account, order the diapers, pick up some flat rate shipping boxes, set up the website, and wait for the first order to come in.

I'm still going to design the Perfect Diaper.  Kamrynn may be the only baby who will wear the Perfect Diaper, but it WILL exist.  ;)

OK, off to the laundry and closet!

Excess Lipase

I pumped excess milk as I had it and began to build a small freezer stash so if I wanted to go somewhere for the day and leave Kamrynn with daddy, grandparents, or sitter, I could.  The maximum ammount of time it is safe to store breastmilk in a standard kitchen freezer is 4 months.  Our freezer's gasket doesn't completely seal, but still keeps ice cream hard, so I didn't feel comfortable letting the milk go much longer than 3 months.

I thawed a pouch of milk in a sink of cool water and poured it into a bottle.  I smelled it and thought it smelled funny and had Trevor smell it.  He thought it smelled funny also, so I dumped it out and nursed her, thinking it was bad and not wanting to mess with unthawing a second pouch.

The next pouch was the same.

The third pouch of milk was barely 2 months old, so thinking I was safe giving it to her, I proceeded to thaw, put in a bottle, warm and sat down with Kamrynn in my arms.  Having never tasted breastmilk before, I tasted what I had tested for temperature on my wrist.  It tasted gross!  Kinda rubbery/plastic-ish.  Trevor had tasted fresh breastmilk a few weeks after Kamrynn was born so I had him taste it to ensure THAT gross taste was what it was SUPPOSED to taste like.  NO!  He made a face, rubbed at his tongue with his shirt and finally brushed his teeth.  I nursed Kamrynn.  And did some research.

Certaintly the milk hadn't gone bad.  I had done everything I was supposed to do to store it, and it was well within the storage time frame.  I soon learned that spoiled breastmilk will taste and smell sour - similar to cows milk.  This was not a sour taste or smell.  After more research I determined I have Excess Lipase.  You can read about it here.

The milk is not bad, nor will it harm Kamrynn.  It is just as good for her as fresh milk.  If she will drink it, it is fine to give her.  If she wont, I'll consider donating it - where it will be mixed with many other mother's milk and diminish the taste.  I know I wouldn't drink it.  I haven't decided whether I'm going to try it with Kamrynn or just donate it.  I have about 50oz frozen (most milk banks require a minimum amount of 150oz.).

I now know why I haven't been hired for any of the jobs I've applied for.  If I worked, I would have to pump and scald the milk to prevent it from changing.  Scalding ruins some of the good properties of the milk... still better than formula, but not as good as fresh.  The milk has to be immediately scalded and frozen, something that is unlikely that I would be able to do in a classroom (although most science classrooms have hot plates, they dont usually have a freezer).  My number one job is taking care of Kamrynn to the best of my abilities.  I guess the answer to my prayers for a paying job is, "No."

So, here's to being a Stay at Home Mom!

New Years Resolutions

I figure if I make a ton of Resolutions, I should be able to keep atleast one, right?  Well, here they are:

• Not make Spaghetti more than once per week (three nights a week was getting a little much).
• Eat a healthy diet according to the food pyramid.
• Drink two (or more) tall glasses of water each day.'
• Keep the inside of my car clean.
• Keep the living room picked up (been doing good with the bathroom and kitchen, but the living room is a mess).
• Remember to return any pop bottles when I go to the grocery store.
• Buy a house.
• Find a good church and go.
• Think/Talk/Be positive.
• Exercise 2-3 times a week.
• Get a Job.
• Potty Learn Kamrynn.

A Day at Our House

I've had many people express shock that Kamrynn sleeps through the night.  I really dont think it is anything we're doing, God just blessed us with a great little girl!  Anyway, here's what our day looks like:

8am - Kamrynn usually wakes around eight (occasionally she wakes around six to eat, and after feeding and changing, we reswaddle and place her back in her bed where she falls asleep very quickly), ready for the day!  I feed her, change her diaper and dress her.  Then I put her back in her bed, and wheel the whole thing into the bathroom where I shower.  She may or may not fuss, but if she does I just talk to her or we sing Old McDonald, and she is happy.  I try to eat some breakfast.  Kamrynn is usually happy in the mornings as long as you're interacting with her.

11am - Some time between ten and eleven, she becomes unpleasant and needs a nap.  Sometimes we really have to work at it to get her to sleep.

Noon - Wakes from nap to eat some lunch.  Goes back to sleep very easily.

3pm - Wakes  to eat and is happy for several more hours.

5pm - Becomes unpleasant if not interacting with her.

6pm - Dinner Time

7pm - nap

9pm - After the feeding closest to 9pm we start our bedtime routine.  We eat, take and play in the bath, put PJ's on, chatter for about 20 minutes.  As soon as we become unpleasant, we swaddle and place her in her bed.  She normally falls asleep within 10 minues without fussing.

If she stirs in the night enough to wake me up, I gently rest my hand on her or jiggle her until she stops moving about.  If I dont catch her in time and she comes unswaddled, I reswaddle her.

I let her fuss, but I dont let her cry.  I see no point in leaving her to cry all alone in her bed.  It is not her fault we dont undersand what she is trying to tell us... so I hold her and try to comfort her.  I change positions I'm holding her until something works.  Sometimes I can just talk her out of crying by smileing really big and talking super happy to her.





Kamrynn is a great baby!




First Swim Meet (Willamette Alumni Meet) - and she slept through it!

Kamrynn's Birth

The last few months of my pregnancy, Braxton Hicks Contractions were a regular occurrence. My abdomen would tighten for about a minute. Most of these occurred while I was doing something, and would subside if I stopped doing whatever I had been doing. I also had several each night.

At 40 weeks 4 days, on Monday, September 27th, I woke with slightly uncomfortable Braxton Hicks’. I got out of bed around 4:30 for my second bathroom trip of the morning. Before I was able to fall back to sleep I had an “upset tummy” feeling in my throat, then the baby started moving around like crazy, my back started aching and my whole tummy got tight and achy. This continued every 20-25 minutes. They progressively got closer together, and eventually I started timing them with the computer. They were randomly anywhere between 35 to 60 seconds long and 4 to 8.5 minutes apart. They never got consistent or developed any sort of pattern, and I didn’t feel any after 3:30pm. For dinner, I loaded the spaghetti up with basil. We went for a long walk. I swung on the swings at the park. We made love. All things to help get labor started!

Tuesday, September 28th, I got out of bed at 2:03 am for my usual trip to the bathroom. As I stood up my legs collapsed beneath me and I had horrible back and hip pain. Trevor helped me up off the floor, and held me up until the pain stopped because I could not move. Eventually I was able to make it to the bathroom where I noticed I was losing my mucous plug and I knew I was in labor. I had several more contractions in the bathroom, hoping my water would break over the toilet (with such intense contractions, I thought the baby would be coming quick!). No such luck. Eventually I went back to bed, but lying down was too uncomfortable. Trevor filled the bath tub up and I sat in it sideways and pushed my back against the side of the tub during contractions. Nothing seemed to help. I tried to relax, but the contractions felt the same as when I was tense. While I sat in the tub, adding hot water, Trevor got the living room ready and set up and began filling the pool. I realized me adding hot water to the bath tub was taking hot water away from the pool and finally got out of the tub and went and sat in the pool. I requested all hot water and directed it at my back during contractions. The sting from the hot water helped me focus on my skin rather than the back and hip pain. All too soon, there wasn’t enough hot water and we had to wait for the hot water heater to catch up. I would just fall asleep only to be woke up by another contraction.

Around 6am Trevor told me to “shush” as he was afraid the neighbors would hear and call the cops because he was murdering me! HAHA! I didn’t find it funny at the time, though, and very sternly told him NOT to tell me to Shush! Around 8 am, Trevor decided he couldn’t take watching me be in so much pain and started talking about going to the hospital for an epidural. A couple weeks earlier, I had made him promise not to let me go to the hospital because it hurt, and here he was encouraging me to go because he couldn’t do it. At this point I began to seriously consider it with every contraction, then after it was over I was fine and didn’t want to go. Around 8:30 we left. Traffic was horrible and we tried to take the back roads. It took us almost an hour to get there.

Around 11:30 I finally got the epidural. It was SO much better. I could still feel the contractions and a mild ache, but nothing like before. Unfortunately, with an epidural you cannot eat or drink and I was STARVING and incredibly thirsty. I chowed down on the ice chips and still managed to get sick several times. I knew by going to the hospital, I would no longer have a birth free of interventions.

The first slide down that slippery slope was the epidural. There are numerous risks involved with getting an epidural, but with the pain I was feeling with each contraction, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was repeatedly checked for dilation and my bladder emptied, greatly increasing my risk for infection. Late in the evening the doctor started talking about c-sections. When we first met her, she said she only does them as a very last resort and to not worry about it. Then all of a sudden she decided that was a possibility. One of the risks associated with an epidural is a prolonged labor. The longer you are in labor, the more tired your uterus becomes. A tired uterus cannot effectively push a baby out, and is more likely to hemorrhage. I agreed to have my water broke in hopes of bringing the baby down. Thankfully, there was no cord prolapse, a risk involved with artificially rupturing the membranes. There was still no change and we decided to allow the smallest dose of Pitocin (another risk involved with epidurals). Along with the Pitocin comes an internal monitor to make sure my uterus is responding to the Pitocin. Not long after, the doctor told me I had a fever (in Celsius) and recommended antibiotics as it was likely the baby also had an infection. - - I did not know at the time that fever is a side effect of the epidural as it diminishes my body’s ability to sweat, making it harder to dissipate excess heat. - - I allowed the antibiotics and shortly after I felt the baby move and felt pressure to push.

I was asked if I had thought about any pushing positions and I told them I had planned to just go with what felt right. I pushed for two hours, on my back – the most convenient position for the doctor. Several times I asked to sit up and was ignored. The baby kept pushing its feet up over my ribs each time I pushed. The doctor thought this meant it was stuck and had Trevor push up on my back during contractions. They put a mirror up, and finally I was able to see the baby’s head. Ever so slowly we watched the baby get closer and closer.

Finally the head was out at the end of a three push contraction. I wanted to push the body out with the next contraction, but the doctor pulled her from me. I’m still irritated with the doctor over this. She was laid on my chest, and rubbed with the roughest receiving blanket I have ever felt. As she was handed to me, Trevor had seen that she was a girl and was speechless with disbelief. We were told her APGARS were 9 and 9 (Excellent). She was born at 10:03pm. I held her and told her it was ok, that she didn’t have to cry. We told her we loved her. Trevor cut the cord. The placenta came out in a big goosh, startling me. I received six stitches. She cried the entire time. Finally her daddy took her and calmed her down. Everything was so surreal and was happening so fast. She was finally here.

A nurse wiped her down, weighed and measured her, swaddled her and put a hat on. She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. She met her grandparents and aunt. After her visitors left, she was given a bath while I was helped to the restroom. I got sick, felt dizzy and my vision went wacko on me and I had to go back in the bed and lay flat. Her daddy supervised her first bath. Then she went to the NICU for half an hour with daddy trailing behind to have blood drawn for a culture (to find out if she had an infection), and have an IV put in and start antibiotics. When she finally came back I was able to sit up without feeling faint and we were moved to our postpartum room.

Trevor had come down with a cold, and went home after we were settled to try to get some sleep. It was after 3am. We had been up for over 24 hours. Something Trevor is used to, but not me. I was incredibly tired and but wide awake at the same time. I was afraid to hold her for fear of falling asleep and dropping her, so she spent the night alone in the bassinet next to my bed. We were disturbed several times for IV flushes and blood pressure checks, and I got almost zero sleep. Finally around 8am I was told how to order food.

A new OB came in, told me I had not had a fever and took me off the antibiotics and released me to go home. We had to wait for the pediatrician to come in. She decided that I had had a fever and refused to release the baby until the culture came back showing no infection. This irritated me. If I had indeed had a fever that indicated infection, I would not have been taken off my antibiotics. Infections in hospitals are very serious. The pediatrician convinced me that she was very bruised up and needed a Vitamin K injection. I requested Oral Vitamin K, but she was still given the injection as the pediatrician was convinced that the oral version doesn’t work. Finally I talked her into letting us move to pediatrics, and go home the next morning. After the pediatrician left, a nurse came in and I asked her if she thought the baby was bruised. She didn’t think so at all. This irritated me further. We were finally released to move to pediatrics at 8 that night. We gave her a first name right before we were moved - Kamrynn. In pediatrics, Kamrynn could receive her un-needed antibiotics in-room rather than being taken to the NICU.

We were finally released at noon the following day after Kamrynn’s last round of antibiotics and the culture came back negative for infection. She had never needed the antibiotics. Trevor dressed Kamrynn and loaded her in her car seat and we finally went home. That evening we gave her a middle name - Kay. Her daddy called the hospital to let them know her name and make it official.

Kamrynn is growing like a weed. She weighed over her birth weight at her one week check up. Breastfeeding is now going well, she has never had any formula – which is a huge goal for me through the first year. She sleeps well at night. Tolerates traveling, sleeping away from home, and having a lot of people hold her, like a champ. She got through her first cold, at two weeks, without any medication. At her two month check-up, she weighed 12 pounds ½ ounce (77th percentile) and was 24 ¼ inches long (97th percentile). After much consideration, we declined the two month shots and are dedicated to keeping her away from sick people for the first two years of her life (at which time she is no more at risk than those who are vaccinated).

Kamrynn is now 2 ½ months old, and this is the first time I have been able to reflect on her birth without crying. . I was so insistent I was not going to the hospital unless it was an emergency, that I did not fully understand the risks associated with each intervention, and was not able to make fully informed decisions… I could only proceed based on what the doctors were telling me. I did not fully trust doctors before this experience, and they did nothing to improve that. I must trust in myself and my ability to make decisions. I have decided I need to learn from this experience so I can better stand up for the next baby if we should be so blessed. I pray that future children will have a more peaceful entrance into this world.

  Trevor tickling my feet.  Lucky for him I couldn't feel it!

  Happy Daddy!

  She's Perfect.

  Stop Bothering Me!