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!!

The right time to become a doctor mom

In doctor life, you are always waiting for the right time to....

The Right time to:

- get married

- buy a house

- have a BABY!

There really is NO right time for a baby. You find yourself justifying why you're NOT doing something... no money, crazy work hours, too young, want to graduate first, want to finish residency/fellowship first, want to secure a great job first, want to buy a house, want to travel, and the list goes ON and ON and ON!

In retrospect, med school was probably the MOST IDEAL time to have a baby in regards to having time. When I think back, I had so much free time.  I only had class or rotations for part of the day so much of the day was free to do things like nurse, pump, sleep, eat (& of course, study!). Even a full day of school is less hours than a full day of working in private practice.
I was so young in medical school.  I might have had the TIME for a baby, but I did not have the emotional intelligence to have one back then. We were pretty immature back then! 

I got married my last year of medical school and had my son during my last year of residency. My husband and I always went back and forth on when to have children. We didn't want to be older parents, but we also had so many things we wanted to do before we had children (travel the world!). We thought it would be ideal to have our first child after I finished my training (to be financially responsible), but plans changed. Now that I look back, having a baby during residency was the BEST EVER!! My attendings were able to give me breaks to pump throughout the day. There were enough of us moms in the department that there was also a designated pump call room! I was guaranteed a morning break, lunch and afternoon break. I loved the other residents in my class and we were there for each other through our baby struggles.  Almost all the girls in my graduating class had babies in their last year! I was also mostly done with overnight calls so I was home most nights and weekends!! The only bad part is that there is no paid maternity leave. You can take as much as you need, but to be board certified in your specialty, you are required to have "x" amount of weeks of training. This means if you take off 12 weeks for maternity, you will be graduating 12 weeks later than the rest of the physicians in your class. I wanted to graduate on time- my program had a policy where if you worked holidays, you got one extra vacation day.... so I worked all the holidays to get 2 extra weeks of vacation my last year.  I rolled over a vacation week from the year before and was able to get a total of 7 weeks of vacation which I used as my maternity leave.

Private practice is the toughest place to have a baby! Yes, you're making a lot more money than as a trainee, but a busy practice makes it tough to find proper pump breaks & a place to pump, shortage of physicians makes it tough to take a prolonged maternity leave (unless you are lucky), paid maternity leave is unheard of (some practices may offer partial pay). You don't have an attending advocating for you, so you are fighting to get out of the radiation cases, laser cases, ortho cases, etc.while pregnant and fighting to get pump breaks later.  In private practice, you are also ON CALL ALL THE TIME! In terms of childcare, this means you need to find someone/someplace that will also be ON CALL FOR YOU and your child in case you got stuck at the hospital and couldn't come home on time for your child. I was able to get 12 weeks off through FMLA- which was WAY better than the 7 weeks I got the first time.

You'll never really be prepared for pumping at work, sleepless nights, the messiness, piles of laundry, & endless diapers changes. JUST DO IT! It will change your life, but it will be the most joyous change in the world. Pregnancy& labor DOES get physically tougher the older you are, so DON'T WAIT! AND GET AN EPIDURAL!!!!

The healthiest & tastiest snack!!

Acai is a delicious super fruit from the Amazon rain forest and it is chock full of healthy nutrients! The acai bowl falls somewhere in between a tasty refreshing smoothie and cold creamy ice cream. Think smoothie with toppings! 

Note: this is NOT a LOW calorie snack! It is an energizing snack- but you can make it low cal or high cal... however you like with your favorite toppings!

You can pick up acai berry powder OR puree at your supermarket. I like the puree because I can get it on fresh direct AND it keeps my acai bowl COLD!

my ingredients: almond butter, acai puree, berries!

I like to mix some frozen fruit in and top with fresh fruit

top with fresh fruit and granola. YUMMY

"Acai berries contain antioxidants, fiber and heart-healthy fats. They may have more antioxidant content than other commonly eaten berries, such as cranberries, blueberries and strawberries." (Mayo Clinic)

Henrys first Classroom Valentines

Henrys class is having a valentines day party and exchanging cards with the other friends in his class. 

 There are TONS and TONS of cute ideas for classroom valentines. Here are the two that I really liked:

Henry really loves ALL vehicles and I already had mini wooden cars in my closet, so I chose the car valentine. Also, I wasn't sure how other parents would feel about getting unpackaged foods (goldfish) so I went the safer route. 

Finished product!! Henry helped glue, tape and sign the cards! I hope his friends love them!

Year of the Rooster

The year of the Rooster is right in between Rich and Me. He's a Monkey (& so is Emilia!!) and I'm a dog. Everyone thinks Lunar New Year as Chinese New Year, but it's not just Chinese. It is also part of the Korean Culture.

We celebrated it with traditional Korean rice cake soup, presents & a trip to the Met with our cousin Elijah for the lunar new year festival! I am so happy they incorporated Korean culture into the festivities at The MET. There were Korean performers in the show and it was so GOOD. I Love their beautiful colorful traditional dresses, and the dance and music was upbeat and fun!

watching the Lunar New Year Celebration show

Fam selfie time!

Our Babies!!

GUILTY PLEASURES

After a full day in the OR, I come home to 2 babies who want alone time with their mama! After feeding, bathing and putting them down to sleep.... Mama needs her alone time!! Here are some of my favorite things to do:


1. Korean Dramas
 Who doesn't LOVE K-dramas?? This is my favorite thing to do while I pump. Really puts me in a great mood while doing something that is tedious and not enjoyable. I've watched a lot of dramas while pumping... Here are a few I HIGHLY recommend!! Does anyone have any k-dramas they recommend?

Descendants of the Sun

Uncontrollably Fond

Goblin

2. Mariah Carey during my commute
90's music is the BEST music!! & Daydream is the best album EVER! Never fails to pick me up after a tough day, and makes the commute home enjoyable. If I'm feeling tired during my drive home, I know I can count on Mariah to help me out!

3. Late night ice cream binge

A TRUE GUILTY PLEASURE! What Can I say? TASTE SO GOOD

4. Wine-ing down
I am also a lover of red wine. My love really grew after out trip to Provence & Burgundy. Had the BEST wine experience. Then we continued our wine education in Tuscany & Bordeaux. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is my GO TO wine for all wines delicious. Chianti Classico is also GREAT.

The BEST wine I EVER HAD: from La Cave de l'Ange Garden in Beaune, France. A tasting cave, where we had unlimited wine tastings. The best wine however was from their own vineyard. Wish I could get it in the states....

What are some of your guilty pleasures? 

The complete list of ESSENTIAL BABY ITEMS

for my preggo ladies.... THE ONLY THINGS YOU WILL NEED FOR YOUR BABY!!

1. Stroller

2. CRIB/BASSINET/PACK N PLAY ($100-$200)

Arms reach Cosleeper-  It was key during those early months when she was up every 2-3 hours. I could sleep next to her and I knew all her needs before she even cried.

She outgrew it at 4 months and we moved her into a Pack 'n Play by our bed.

3. Baby carrier (Ergo, bjorn, k'tan, moby wrap, hip carrier)- Love the Ergo (see previous post). Henry LIVED in this for the first year. 

4. BATHTUB 
Any baby tub will do! I don't have one that I feel strongly about. Sorry! This is the one we have. Works well for us!

5. CHANGING TABLE- $
You will be changing your newborn approx 10 times a day!! Save your back and instead of bending over all day long, have an area dedicated to changing- No need to get a fancy changing table. I just secured a changing pad to the top of my dresser with no slip cover, and put an organizer next to it stocked with diapers, wipes, lotions/creams ready to go! Also get several changing pad covers because you WILL have poo explosions!!!

6 BOUNCE CHAIR/ SWING

Fisher price has a very popular series- the "My Little Snug-a-" series. We used the snugabunny bouncer and swing with both kids. 

7. DIAPERS- Believe it or not, we cloth diapered with Henry! I LOVED it. Super SIMPLE and never had any diaper rashes! I would cloth diaper again with Emilia if our apartment had Washer/Dryer.

8. DR BROWN BOTTLES- Henry never really took to bottles. Emilia is more receptive to it. Girl Loves to EAT!! These decrease the amount of air the babies swallow when they drink milk. More parts to clean, but it's not that bad. I'd rather clean more parts than have to burp a baby for like an hour. BURPING AN INFANT IS THE WORST. 

9. KIMONO STYLE ONESIES- It is a PAIN to put a baby's head through the opening of a tshirt/jumpsuit. One more thing you DON'T want to worry about is irritating the umbilical stump. Most onesies have buttons or zippers down the front & you have to pull it on over the baby's head. The  kimono onesie go on like a jacket, AND they don't irritate the umbilical stump.

Love the disney onesies. ALL of them have 2 sets of snaps at the bottom so they can grow with the baby. 

10. BREAST PUMP & ACCESSORIES- Keep a spare set at work in case you forget to bring them one day.

11. MY BRESTFRIEND NURSING PILLOW 

JFK to LAX DON'TS!!

1. Don't fly VIRGIN AMERICA

• We usually fly JetBlue to Long Beach airport because Rich's family live in North OC... but because this trip was so short, and Virgin America had the best departure and arrival times, we chose to fly VA. That was a mistake!! During the taxi for departure, an oxygen mask had deployed and the airplane had to make its way back to the departure gate so maintenance can come on and fix it. The staff on the airplane (to LA and back) were SO RUDE and NOT CHILD friendly. Did not smile and even gave a little attitude! They didn't even help with carry-ons! The audiovisual system was awful- even after paying for movies or tshows, the audio was spotty and skipped every few minutes.

2. Don't rent a car from THRIFTY

• We waited ~ 10 min for the Thrifty shuttle bus to pick up from LAX to get to the car rental depot. During that time, we saw approx 5 Enterprise buses, 4 Hertz buses, 3 Budget buses, 2 nationals....

3. Avoid LAX if you can!

• Airport is undergoing major renovations right now. Currently, there are NO resturants by the gate/waiting area in Termial 3. There is a Starbucks, Burger king, PEETS coffee and Blue window (premade sandwiches/wraps... NOT good). We wanted to sit and have a drink, but the sitting area by Angel city brewery was so small it couldnt fit a double stroller, and we were not allowed to take beverages past that area :(
• We usually fly in and out of Long Beach airport, which has recently undergone recnovations (and is finished!). Lots of resturants and bars to enjoy while you wait to board your flight!!
• Having to take a shuttle from the rental car site to the airport is a PAIN! At Long Beach airport, you can WALK to the rental car site from the airport. A HUGE BONUS!!!!

 

With this being said, next time we fly to LA, it will be through Long Beach Airport.

 

Traveling light!

We did it!! Packed everything into 2 carry on bags for the weekend trip to LA!!

What's in the bags?

Henry: 2 tshirts, 1 long sleeve, 2 pants, 3 button downs, 1 necktie, 1 blazer,  1 hoody, 3 pairs of socks and 3 pairs of PJs

Emilia: 2 dresses, 1 short sleeve onesies, 2 long sleeve onesies, 2 pants, 3 sweaters, 3 footed pjs and 1 sleep sack.

Me: 3 nursing tanks, 1 pair of pants, 2 tshirts, 2 button downs, 1 blazer, 2dresses, pair of pumps, 2 pairs of socks, 4 under wears,  2 dresses, 1 pair of black pumps, and 1 pjs.

Rich: 3 shirts, 2 button downs, 1 pair of jeans, 3 pairs of socks, 2 sweaters, 2 button downs, 1 suit, 1 necktie, pair of dress shoes, and 1 set of pjs.

Threw in as little toiletries as we could : toothbrush, glasses, face lotion, contact solution, face wash, makeup.  Then shoved in as many diapers as we could fit. We could always buy more in LA if needed. Also had laptop and small backpack of Henrys toys and books.

Our packed bags

On the air train toJFK

Shake shack while waiting to board the flight😁

Flying to LA for a weekend!

Wish us luck!! We are flying to LA tomorrow with both kids for FOUR days!!! I know they will be fine on the flight... But hope the time change doesn't kill them.. Or me!


 We are planning to bring 2 carry-on bags! Stay tuned for my next post: how to fly with  CARRY ON only!

Pic from 2 weeks ago, on the air train to JFK. 

Paw Patrol birthday!

My sweet handsome baby turned 3 this week!! And we are celebrating with a paw patrol party. Ideally, I would love to have thrown this task to a party planner- and just show up! But I'm on a strict budget. After all, he is ONLY 3 and will love any party with cake.

Tips to a successful party:

PLAN AHEAD- I started 2 months before the party date. The party is on the Saturday of MLK weekend, so I decided to send out invites early in case anyone was thinking of leaving the city for the long weekend. This gave me time to shop around for decorations, party goods and cake!

STICK TO BUDGET - so important in throwing a party. You can get lost in the costs when planning a party, and having a budget really keeps you focused.

PARTY CHECKLIST- now the fun stuff! What is on my list and where did I find it??

• ENTERTAINMENT: always the toughest choice! We went to a party over the summer and Henry watched his first magic show and fell in love with it! We decided to hire a magician for his party also! Few months later, his school had a fall fair and they had the most talented childrens magician. Of course, we hired him for our party too!

• CAKE: I kept a strict budget for my paw patrol cake. I was going to go with sheet cake from whole foods with an edible paw patrol picture on it, but that costs ~$80! I figured why not pay a little extra (and just a LITTLE!!) and get a cake I really LOVED. I emailed like 10 different bakers before I found someone I loved! and within budget!! I found my baker off of Instagram! and she IS AMAZING!

• PAW PATROL THEMED GOODS- plates, napkins, banner, tablecloth, candles, cupcake toppers, stickers are all from orientaltrading.com- my favorite place to shop for party goods. Lots of options, good prices and occasional free shipping!

• BALLOONS- preordered and prepaid from party city. I went to the store to pick them out and pay for it, but the prices in the store are higher than they are online. Thankfully they PRICE MATCH! 

• DRINKS- juice box, beer, wine, water bottles, sparkling water, diet coke ALL from FRESH DIRECT. I didn't want to drive around the city picking up these bulk items, so I did what I always do with heavy items...ordered them! I even FOODKICKED some items.

• GOODYBAGS- Our awesome party treat bag includes: paw patrol masks (amazon- although a bit cheaper at party city), stickers (orientaltrading), party size play doh (michaels), fireman hats (amazon) & lollipops.

• FOOD:  pretzels, freshly popped popcorn (love my airpower) cut fruit & ordered 9 pizza pies!

MOST importantly, have fun!!! Things never go as planned with kids. Just loosen the reigns a little and let the kids be kids at the party! If your child eats ONLY cookies and cake, let them, just for one day. Everyone will have so much more fun!

We are set to party!!

Back to Reality!

We are back from our short vacation to the Dominican Republic! It was such a great time and I found it to be so relaxing! Rich said it wasn't as relaxing for him (maybe it was because he didn't sleep one night to play in the casino...?) We stayed at The Reserve at Paradisus Punta Cana Palma Real and LOVED it. The resort was BEAUTIFUL, food was DELICIOUS and the weather was AMAZING 4 out of the 5 days. I loved it so much, I wanted to learn more about the timeshares and condos there! But we didn't... because we hate having to sit through those presentations. I will totally return to the Paradisus in Punta Cana!!

I ate soooo much on this trip, that I am going on a mini diet! Im going to challenge myself and when I crave anything sweet, I will quench that craving with a glass of water! During my maternity leave, I joined a water challenge where you had to drink half your body weight (in lbs) in ounces per day. It was easy back then because I was home AND nursing so I thirsty all the time! When I went back to work and life because more chaotic, my water consumption was dipped A LOT! Im lucky if I get to have a glass of water at work! I felt so much more nourished when I was hydrated and Im hoping to get that feeling back!