DIY floral crown

Floral crowns are the biggest trend right now, and rightfully so!

I decided to try to make my own, and IF it came out really ugly, then I would just buy one from the local florist. 

Well, I have to say that I am surprised at how EASY it was to make this beautiful floral crown!!!

WHAT YOU NEED:

GLUE GUN

SILK FLOWERS and GREEN LEAVES 

FLORAL WIRE

FLORAL TAPE

I got everything I needed from Michaels!

The flowers and leaves came on one stem, and I just pulled it apart!

Step 1: OPTIONAL

I wrapped the floral wire with floral tape just to make it softer against my baby's head. You don't need to do this step, especially if the floral wire is already covered with soft fabric. I bent little loops into the end of the wire incase I decided to use ribbon to tie the headband on. 

STEP 2: Pull apart leaves and flowers!

STEP 3: Glue flowers and leaves onto wire! 

I measured out the flowers against the wire before I started gluing to make sure I had enough flowers at the center for the headband. Then I filled the ends in with the green leaves. 

Also, having the flowers all face the same direction keeps it looking uniform!

TADA! The almost finished crown! 

Easter treasure hunt!

Easter is so much fun! Easter egg hunts, chocolates, marshmallow peeps, easter bunny! Everywhere you go, theres an easter basket and an easter egg hunt. Henry LOVES treasures, so I thought he would LOVE to lead a treasure hunt.  I made a map of where I hid the treasures at the playground and  had my BIL, SIL and grandma put "treasures" at the sites on the map. 

Our treasures: bubble wand, chocolate, whistle and paper airplane. 

I drew a path between the different play areas to show where to go next, but Henry went in his own order. 

Henry cant wait to get started. The other 2 are just happy to be outside.

He is following the map to his treasures

His first treasure!

We also dyed eggs for the first time this weekend! 

Special "Henry" egg

My handsome Easter Bunny!

3 Breastfeeding NIGHTMARES!

I don't want to scare any of you mom's-to-be.. but ALL nursing moms say that no matter how difficult it was to nurse, or how much you struggled in the beginning, it was ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT. I learned that nursing is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PAINFUL. Soreness is normal, but should go away in a week or so. If its pain, then there's something more.

I never really spoke about my breastfeeding journey. I nursed Henry and now am nursing Emilia, but it was not easy. It was really tough with Henry (latch and thrush). Breastfeeding Emilia was easier, but not without its challenges (mastitis). No one ever talks about the potential AWFUL things associated with breastfeeding & I wish I had known so I would have been more diligent to AVOID these things from happened.

• POOR LATCH-  Henry had an awful latch.  I learned that breastfeeding is NOT supposed to be painful. It should have hit me around week 2, that the pain I was feeling was not normal.  I spent countless hours going to a lactation consultant, breastfeeding support group, searching Dr. Sears and La Leche League website for help. It was SO painful for him to latch, and I felt that he was not efficiently drinking milk because of his poor latch. Eventually I figured out that in addition to poor latch and cracked nipples, I had thrush. At about 4-6 weeks, it just clicked. Thankfully the babies grow big enough where all of a sudden, they just get it.  I was supposed to go back to work after 7 weeks, and I had set the goal that if we did not get the hang of nursing by that time, I would be ok with formula feeding. Henry caught on at 6 weeks & thrush went away, right before my short maternity ended. It was worth the journey and I am happy I was able to nurse him until he was 15 months old. My advice is STICK IT OUT and get help! You and your baby will eventually figure it out.

• Nipple THRUSH- Unfortunately you are at higher risk for thrush if baby had antibiotics (Henry got some in the NICU) and/or you have cracked and sore nipples. Thrush is a yeast infection of the nipples, super painful and super annoying to get rid of. With thrush, you have sharp shooting pains during feedings/letdowns, pink tender nipples that hurt even when you are wearing a bra. I could only wear loose fit cotton nursing tanks. Even disposable nursing pads hurt, so I switched over to the bamboo reusable nursing pads (bamboobies). The super soft nursing pads were a lifesaver and I still use them today!! For treatment, I took grapefruit extract, probiotics, and a homemade version of Jack Newmans All Purpose Nipple Ointment - a mix of steroid, antifungal and antibiotic. (mix equal parts of: miconazole cream or clomitrazole cream, 2% bactroban ointment, betamethasone or hydrocortisone ointment). Henry ended up taking oral nystatin also. For more info: http://www.llli.org/faq/thrush.html

• MASTITIS - When an engorged duct is not relieved, it can quickly become mastitis. Mastitis is an infection of the milk duct, usually by Staph aureus, a bacteria that normally colonizes your skin. Emilia was an EXCELLENT nurser. Great latch from day 1 and very efficient at drinking her milk. Newborns nurse every 2-3 hours so your body produces milk in a pattern that is made for your baby. When Emilia was around 2 weeks old, my mom was helping us with the baby at nighttime and she let me get a full nights sleep in (6 hours). I woke up in pain and engorged. I tried feeding the baby, pumping all day, but to no avail. Around evening time, I started feeling dizzy, exhausted, got chills and a fever. I was basically bedridden.  My breast was engorged and super painful to touch. It was hot and red and NOTHING I did made it better. I called my OB in the morning and she prescribed me dicloxacillin. It took about 3 days of antiobiotcs and 1 week of rest before I felt normal again. . My advice is to continue night feeds! It sucks to have to wake up every 2-3 hours, but it really helps with your milk production & preventing engorgement. Think of it as baby bonding time, because it's not FOREVER!

Good luck!  Most of these issues are not a big concern once you hit the 6 month mark. YOU CAN MAKE IT THERE!!

All moms should strive to breastfeed and it should not be stressful. It should be nurturing and special time. It's a bond that ONLY a MOM and BABY  can develop. Don't get me wrong, both Henry and Emilia were supplemented with formula because of jaundice. and Henry had to undergo phototherapy in NICU for worsening breastmilk jaundice, So I know FED IS BEST. Fed is best, but Breast is More Best!

Fun sandwiches

Sometimes getting Henry to eat what I want him to eat is a struggle. He is always down to eat pasta with butter and steamed broccoli (yay!). However the rest of the time, He wants to either play, watch TV or eat ice cream instead.


I have discovered that the easiest way to get him to eat different things is to make fun sandwiches!!

I used a cookie cutter to cut out the H. Then I put it in a pan with butter and filled the H with egg! And finally topped it with cheese.  It was a WIN!!

 

Other Sandwiches he likes:

Peanut butter

Avocado toast

Grilled cheese

Ham and cheese 

 

 

 

used mini animal cutters to make fun apple pieces. Henry likes to pop the entire piece in his mouth!

I don't have "N" "R" and "Y" cutters.. so did it the old fashioned way. Cut the letters out with scissors!

 

 

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!