Homemade baby food pouches

I never pictured myself as an organic, homemade pureed mom... but here I am, making Emilias babyfood and then packaging them into pouches!! Honestly, it can be a little time consuming and I don't always have that much time to do it. I spend the morning/afternoon on my day off making these pouches and hope that I have enough for the week and hopefully into the week after. I steam all the veggies and whatever I don't get the chance to puree, I will freeze. My mom will help me steam veggies and meats to freeze. 

Some of Emilia's favorite puree combos:

- butternut squash OR kobacha squash + yams + carrots

- green peas + squash + carrots

- white beans + carrots + broccoli  + yams

- yogurt + berries + banana  (because berries alone are too tart)

- white rice porridge can be added to any puree also ( although not my favorite because it makes the mixture thicker and sticky)

*when starting out, I did only veggie purees. Slowly started adding meat into the mix.. chicken, shrimp, fish, beef. THANK GOD SHE LOVES IT ALL!!

- I use the Infantino squeeze pouches for Emilia because the plastic is soft and its easy for her to squeeze and suck out the food by herself. The squeeze station is also a super efficient way to fill the pouches. I love that the pouches are clear so you can see what is inside, AND the pouches are disposable (not reusable) so its convenient when you're on the go. You can also freeze the pouches and it melts within minutes of placing in hot water... so that's a plus also! Only bad thing is non-recyclable, so may NOT be the best for the environment. 

Filled Infantino Squeeze pouches 

She loves her pouches! I also put on a silicone topper so she wouldn't squeeze out all the contents of the pouch. 

Infantino Squeeze Station 

For Henry, I use the little green pouch because it is reusable. It is easy to clean with a brush and because it is top fill, and side squeeze, the chances of food spilling out are very slim!! Other reusable pouches are bottom fill, so if you overfill or don't close the pouch tightly, food will spill out. Because it is reusable, the plastic is a little stiffer so you have to such harder to get the food out. Emilia is unable to eat from this pouch efficiently. I have to squeeze the food out for her to help her eat it. 

Henry basically uses these pouches for snacks. his favorite combos include:

- yogurt + berries + banana + honey

- yam + carrots + squash

*he will also eat anything Emilia eats in puree form, unfortunately, he will not eat the veggies on a plate!!

Winter Storm STELLA

Last week, my husband worked late a lot and I had to do bedtime with the kids alone, AND the kids were sick/teething and up every 3 hours (and still are!). I am SO EXHAUSTED, all I want to do at night is veg out in front of the TV, drowning myself in ice cream or oreos. But we had a snow day this week and I have too many good pics to NOT post them.

When I left work Monday evening, the OR still had a FULL schedule and I was scheduled to work on Tuesday. I went to sleep early to prepare for a treacherous commute to work. Emilia was up all night, and so at 5am, I look out the window to check the street conditions (NOT PLOWED) and I check my phone for traffic updates and train times. Then I see a text from my chairman "check email for updated schedule". I check email and HURRAH!!!! My scheduled cases were cancelled!! I wake up hubby to tell him I don't have work and I am going back to bed!! haha

The rest of the day was SO MUCH FUN! My mom stayed the night because I thought I had work. So thankful grandma was with us because I got to sleep in a little. Henrys school was closed so we played and danced in the morning, went out to central park to see the SNOW, both kids took LONG LONG naps, and I got to spend quality time with my mom (and day drink with her to celebrate both kids sleeping).

Henrys collection of workbooks. They are 

Baby girl does not appreciate snow.... yet

NOT MOVING

SO LUCKY Grandma was able to stay the night with us

grandma and grand babies

WOMEN!

Me and my babies <3

He is obsessed with making snow angels 

Are you having a C-section?

The though of having a C-section can be very scary, but not if you are WELL PREPARED! If your first C-section was an emergent C-section after a failed trial of labor, your planned section will be a much different and hopefully MORE PLEASANT experience.

We use SPINALS for C-sections.

What is an SPINAL? It is ONE SHOT (!!)  into your back and the local anesthetic is injected directly into the subdural space. To get a spinal, you're in sitting position and your back is cleaned. The numbing medication feels like getting the flu shot at your doctors office. The spinal med is injected and within 5 seconds, your legs get warm, tingly and numb. You won't be able to move your legs for couple of hours.

The risk vs benefits of a spinal are SOOO LOW. The risks involved are the same as with Epidural (see previous post). The drop in blood pressure is more dramatic with spinal because onset is so much faster. With the drop in blood pressure, you may experience nausea and vomiting but it is easily treated. The risk of a high spinal, where your diaphragm and respiratory muscles are weakened, is also higher with spinal than epidural. As long as you have supplemental oxygen and your pulse oximeter is reading normal, you are fine!!

LASTLY, I always advise my friends to watch one C-section video on youtube. Once you have your spinal and you are comfortable, the operating room team will allow dad to come inside (must wear disposable scrubs, hat and mask!) to sit next to you.
If you go into the operating room knowing what to see and expect, you will be less nervous. Don't worry, you will not allowed to look over the "blue drapes" to watch the actual C-section!

GOOD LUCK!

Should I get an epidural?

YES!!! Absolutely!! Rest as much as possible, while you can!

I spent the day on L&D, and thought this would be the perfect entry!! ALL my patients were jumping off the wall anxious today, so in the hopes of alleviating others' fear, here is my post on epidurals.

What is an EPIDURAL? Epidural is used for laboring patients. The skin on your back is numbed up with local anesthetic (feels like a flu shot) & the epidural needle is placed (don't worry- you don't see it). When your anesthesia a provider (M.D. or CRNA) finds the right (epidural) space, a small, thin, super flexible catheter is placed and the needle is taken out. You will receive continuous epidural meds through the catheter until the baby is born and then the cather is taken out.You will be numb from your bellybutton down but will be able to move your legs. Strength in the legs will be decreased, so you will not be able to walk around. Takes about 10 minutes for the effects to fully set. You might have heard of a "walking epidural", but for liability issues, no L&D will allow you to walk around with an epidural. You may be TOO COMFORTABLE so that you may not feel the need to push when you are fully dilated. Your anesthia provider (M.D. or CRNA) can decrease the dose so you are able to FEEL the contractions more.
If you need to get a C-section after a trial of labor, a much stronger med is given through the epidural cather and it can be used for the Section.

When can I get an epidural? ASAP! Sooner the better (from the point of the anesthesiologist). Especially if your ob is starting Pitocin. The recommendation used to be 1-2L of IV fluids before epidural or spinal, so the nurse will put in an IV and give you fluids before calling the anesthesiology. Now its recommended to "co-load" instead of "pre-load".

It's OK to be nervous! My birth plan was: HAVE A HEALTHY BABY & GET AN EPIDURAL.
 I place epidurals for laboring patients ALL THE TIME. BUT when it was my turn to be the patient, I was still a LITTLE nervous. JUST a LITTLE.

NO, an epidural: 

• DOES NOT harm the baby
• DOES NOT slow the progression of labor
• DOES NOT cause nerve damage
• DOES NOT cause back pain

Risks involved:

• bleeding (but not any higher than with IV placement)
• infection (but not any higher than with IV placement)
• headache
• incomplete relief

Waiting for my epidural

Emilia, less than 12 hours old!