My mind is like Fantasia: an easy desicion

My mind is like Fantasia: an easy desicion: "My business, Wild Sky Studio is based on female empowerment, but when asked why I chose to and labeled a dance jam, for gals only, I had to ..."

an easy desicion

My business, Wild Sky Studio is based on female empowerment, but when asked why I chose to and labeled a dance jam, for gals only, I had to sit back and think on that. The obvious reason is because that's how my business is based, and a lack of womans only events in this area.

But I had to look at some of my closest friends, even past employers have been, Gay, Lesbian, or Transgendered, and I consider these folks some of the best friends I have ever had/have.
Pondering on this train of thought, I decided, that even though I live in Texas, that I don't care what potential students may say, or even the possible loss of potential students, I am teaching to all. Male, Female, Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered, Transvestites, if you want to study American Tribal Style Belly Dance, Wild Sky Studio welcomes you with open arms! But be prepared to dance your rear end off!

Back Carries... great for heavy babies!

Well, I am starting to explore the world of back carrying with the various types of baby carriers with Thor. I decided to give this a try because Thor is closing close to 17 pounds, and I need to start getting him used to being on my back. So far, I have tried the back carry with the Maya wrap and the Moby wrap. I really like the Moby back carry! I can actually do the dishes with the boy attached, and my back not hurting! I still have to try back carries with the Mei Tei, and the Structured carrier. Pics to come soon!

The Feeding goes on

So... Been on the Domperidone for a little while now, and I can say with the upmost confidence that it works like a charm. However, having been supplementing the kiddo with a bottle first then, feeding from the breast has been working well up to this point.
In the evening, Thor gets a bit fussy on the breast, last week it was worse, but it seems to be a little bit better, even today. He still was a little bear about it tonight, but not as bad. I am also getting better at understanding what he is telling me, and when he is trying to con me, yes con me... he is a little evil genius... he does have Tim's I am going to take over the world before lunch genes in him... hehehehehe But his weight is good, and he's not to far from being able to sit up on his own. He is really good at holding his head up, and even likes to stand up! ( with the assistance of mum or dad of course!)
He still has some crazy acid reflux, so much so that it wakes him up from a dead sleep, he wakes screaming at the top of his lungs, and there is such an acid smell on his breath. When this happens we just sit him up and comfort him. We did get him a Bumbo seat, and boy that helps with feeding, and when he has to sit up after he eats, he totally loves the thing!
Well, I have to get the office (sewing room!) in order, and have to get up and go to the gym in the morning, then have a date to meet my doula... ( I still call her my doula, even three months after Thor was born, Ashley is just a cool lady!) she is commissioning some sewing work from me, and I am meeting her at my favorite place in Dallas... The Fabric Warehouse, Golden D'or! On a sewing note, I am available for commission for sewing projects, pricing is pretty much materials plus $10 and hour for labor.. if you are interested ::grin::

More Milk for Thor!

Well, not quite yet, but my Domperidone arrived today from New Zealand... I so want to go there! I have a 200 day supply of an unrestricted pharmaceutical,( holy crap, I got that right on the first try!) medication that will hopefully increase my milk production. I have been attending a support group for low milk supply mums, and a few of the mums that attend also are on Domperidone, and that have seen an increase in their milk supply, so I have good hope that this will help with steady use.
Don't worry though, I am still pulling out all the stops in diet and what not to help as well. There is a super herbal tea, that I mix myself and make, this is much more intense than the ones you can buy at the store, and I am currently baking these lactation cookies. They are full of total yummy ingrediants such as chocolate chips, and healthy quanities of sugar. But it also has flax seed, brewers yeast, and of course, Oats... Here are some pictures of the yummy cookies being made... Apparently, I can only put them at the top of the page, well Phooey on blogger! ( well I guess I could edit the html, but I feel a bit to lazy for that right now....

So here's the plan

The nursing/milk situation finally has a solution. Tim and I scheduled an appointment with a phenomenal local Lactation Consultant, Mellanie from For babies Sake here in Arlington. She was great, really awesome to talk to and helped us get to the bottom of the situation. It appears I am one of those gals that has honest to god low milk production. Even though I can nurse for 20 hours out of a 24 hour day, (no kidding) Thor was only getting an ounce or so every couple of hours, yes, that little, so my poor boy was practically starving! All the forums, say that you can just nurse, and your supply will catch up, wasn't working for me, I have been literally nursing 10 to 15 hours out of the day for two weeks and the supply was not catching up.
Sooo the current plan is I have to make my own nursing teas, that are stronger than the store bought, I will also be starting to take a medication called Domperidone, which is normally used by chemo paitients to help with nausea and vomiting, but it also helps promote lactation. I also have to supplement with formula, (because I just don't have the milk in the first place) by bottle first, about 3 ounces, then nurse him. I obviously have to adjust formula as the milk supply increases, (hopefully!) but I feel like this is a good beginning to a solution!

relocation to the front of the house

Well, now I have relocated everything I need to live to the front bedroom in my dwelling. Little Thor seems to be having a hard time enough milk out of the boobs to be satisfied, so I am hunkering down to see what I can do. I have started doing massage, and that seems to be helping a little, as Thor is still asleep at the moment. We scheduled an in home consultation with a local lactation consultant, and she is going to be bring her super duper sensitive scale to see how Thor is getting in a sitting, and help us make a plan to getting on a better track. It seems that his frenulum helped set him back a bit in the nursing department, but hopefully we can get on the right track.

Breastfeeding really can be a challenge...

So Breastfeeding really is a challenge. For something that is so natural, you would think that it might be just a tad bit easier to get a hang of. Let me tell you the story of my little boy Thor. He was born with a super long Frenulum, which really put a damper on the early success of breastfeeding. However we have a very lovely pediatrician who called around all over town to help find us a doctor that would cut the frenulum to help release his tounge so he could nurse much more effectivly. Once we were over that hurdle, a whole new world opened up, and milk supply and pain became the number one on the list.
Jump to today, July 4th, even though I thought I had decent milk supply, the boy can nurse for two hours, and then take another 6 ounces from a bottle! This has both myself, and my husband rather confused, so I have begun my internet journey to help find some suggestions on getting even more milk.
I checked out the Mayo Clinic website, and they recommended making sure you eat, and drinking 3.1 liters of water every day! wholy crap batman... that's a lot of liquids! Sooo I filled a pitcher I have with 2 liters of water, and another nalgene with one liter, and that's where I am going to start drawing my water from, just to make sure I am drinking enough... whoa, this is going to be fun... next topic Cloth diapers and green baby solutions!

The incredible Mr. Thor

OMG... My child nursed for two hours, then ate like 6 ounces of formula. You have got to be kidding right??