I miss it but I’m so uninspired! Argh. I spend all my time on the dang computer.

In exciting news I’m going tomorrow to get some EarthBoxes so that I can grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers on my 12’x5′ balcony. Urban Farming! I’m seriously SO excited-I can’t wait. Maybe this will make me excited about food again?

Last weekend Lucy and I had a playdate and my friend Laurin took this picture of Lucy and me-I love it!

I had to dig into the last of my freezer stash this week and use up all of my frozen breastmilk. What this means is that I have to produce enough in my pumping sessions everyday to replace what Lucy eats at daycare. She normally eats 16 ounces a day. I used to produce about 20 ounces a day. It dropped down to 14 ounces and then I started using all the tricks I talk about here. And I bumped my production back up to about 15-18 ounces a day (yes I have a spreadsheet). In recent weeks my supply is more like 10-14 ounces a day-not the 16 that I need. I can counteract this by pumping over the weekend and using that to supplement what I pump during the week but by the end of the week I’m all out of breastmilk. So I’ve started supplementing with 1-4 ounces of formula a day. Slight issue-my baby is allergic to milk and it turns out allergic to soy. Most formulas are milk or soy based. I called Lucy’s pediatrician yesterday to ask for a prescription for hypo-allergenic formula (which is really expensive) and thankfully they gave me 5 cans of the stuff (saving me like $200). They also recommended that I start drinking a beer every night! They said that the yeast used in the fermentation process helps with milk supply (which would explain why Brewer’s yeast is helpful). The advice nurse recommended O’Doul’s but screw that-I’m gonna have a real beer! I already drink occasionally-very little gets through into breastmilk and I almost always do it after Lucy has gone down for the night. If I have to choke down a beer (I really don’t like the taste) I’m going to drink the real thing! I did get the O’Doul’s last night because I wasn’t sure if the recommendation was O’Doul’s specific-it’s not. The O’Doul’s actually wasn’t that bad but I do think I’m going to become a Guiness girl. I’m going to try at least. Let’s hope this works!

I said I was going to write everyday and then didn’t even write yesterday. It’s like exercise for me lately-I have the best intentions and then life gets in the way.

I had a major Mommy fail yesterday. After picking Lucy up from daycare and doing our nightly routine sans Shaun (he was mountain biking), I had to finish up some work. I worked from 7:30-10:15. Ate dinner at 10:15 and then couldn’t sleep so Shaun and I watched So You Think You Can Dance until midnight. Of course Lucy woke up and I was up until 12:30 and then had to get up at 6:30 with her. That’s not enough sleep for this Mommy and I did it to myself. Oh well. SYTYCD was totally worth it. I do need to eat before 10 o’clock though. I went from noon to 10 PM with no food-that’s not good.

Food has been really unappetizing lately. I think I’m so overwhelmed that thinking about eating and food just adds more to my day and I end up resenting it. <--I know-who is this person and what did you do with Chelsea?!?!?! Like now, I need to eat lunch, I didn't have time to pack anything, and the food that I can buy here I refuse to eat. We get different deliveries each day at work and I got the worst food poisoning of my life from the food vendor today. So I need to go get something and I just really don't want to be bothered. Sigh. I've been eating freaking vegan protein bars every morning for breakfast, I'm not even doing oatmeal. I think I need to get out of this food funk. It doesn't help that my fruit and veggie delivery totally flaked the last 2 weeks and I don't have any fruit or veggies in the house. That reminds me I need to cancel that service. One missed week? Annoying. Two missed weeks? You no longer get my business. Okay, off to solve the food issue.

I think you get the point. I had originally wanted to write here every day if not more than that but my life has just gone nutso. I want to write everyday and write about what’s going on so I’m going to try to post every day now.

It’s 1:50 pm and I’m sitting here in my pajamas. Meetings started at 7 am for me and I have yet another meeting at 2 so real clothes aren’t going to happen until sometime after 3. Why bother with real clothes? I need to go to the grocery store, or else you’d better believe that I’d just wear my pjs all day.

Our long weekend was nice although Lucy is teething and going through some MAJOR separation anxiety which led to a very grumpy/crying baby. What happened to my happy go lucky baby? She’s still super smiley but she’s been crying at the drop of a hat (huge crocodile tears too) and if she can’t see me, she’s basically crying. She’s okay at daycare but at home she wants to be in my presence at all times. It makes for one tired Mommy.

Someone asked us if she was sleeping through the night and Shaun had the best response ever: “She sleeps through the night for just long enough for it to mess with our heads when she doesn’t.” She’ll have weeks where she’ll sleep from 7:30-6:30 with no peep and then she’ll completely regress and I’ll be getting up every few hours. Last night she went down at 7:30 and then was up at 8:30, 12:30, 2:30, 3:30, 5, and then up for the day at 6:15. I let her sleep on my chest last night from 12:30-3:30 and then from 5-6:15. I knew I had an early morning meeting that I had to lead so I couldn’t fight with her and just brought her to bed with me. She wimpered all night long through her sleep so I know she’s in pain from her teeth. I gave her Motrin but it can only do so much. I don’t think that there’s anything else wrong with her. I hope not at least! She’s not pulling her ears, she doesn’t have gas, she’s not constipated. But she is chewing on EVERYTHING and her gums are swollen.

We had a really fun and active weekend. I didn’t think about work once and that was really nice. Here’s some cute pictures:

In Sausalito:

Crying because Mommy put her down for 30 seconds (seriously!):

She also started taking steps this weekend! We got video of it and need to post it to her blog. She’s been standing (with support) since December. In the last few weeks she’s started pulling up on Shaun and me but would just stand there-no foot movement. This weekend she started taking steps while we hold her hands. It’s scary and exciting all at once!

I worked through the weekend and up until 10 PM last night to get an almost 100 page document delivered. My brain feels like it’s going to explode. I never want to work over a weekend again! I would only work when Lucy was napping or sleeping (I may have worked for an hour or two while Shaun played with her) but that meant that NOTHING got done at home. It was just crazy and not a good scene. The document is delivered. I reviewed it with the client and now hopefully things won’t be so hectic.

I got some really sad news today. In the grand scheme of things it’s not horrible but it’s sad for all parties involved nonetheless. Lucy’s main teacher is leaving the day care center June 12th 🙁 She and her husband were able to buy a house out in Tracy which is over an hour and a half away. I’m happy that she was able to buy a house but I’m oh so sad that we’re no longer going to have Ms. Azar. I got all teary when she told me-she did too. She’s worked there for almost 7 years and knows all the kids. I know she’s going to miss them so much and I’m going to miss her. Lucy is too-big time. Lucy gets excited when we go to daycare. Yesterday she even let out an excited scream when we entered and Ms. Azar is a big part of that. There are other teachers that she loves too. This is just going to be hard. Any ideas on what I should get her as a going away gift?

Seriously. Life is INSANE. Work is insane and when I get home I just want to put the computer away and not think about anything. Sucky part is that I have to work this weekend which really just blows but I have a deadline and a deadline is a deadline and I have to meet it, right? If I want to keep my job I do.

We’re trying to plan a family vacation for August or September. That is SO exciting to me! We’re talking about either San Diego or Hawaii. Shaun’s a fan of San Diego and I’m a fan of Hawaii. I have a friend who lives in Hawaii who owns a house cleaning business. She cleans the vacation rentals. She can get us a condo with a kitchen and laundry that is right across the street from the beach for $110 a night. Plus, Lucy is free to fly until she’s 2. Once she turns 2 we have to pay for a ticket for her. I really hope this happens. I think Hawaii would be so great. Plus it would be a nice family vacation that we thought of and that we’re doing just for us. Since we have family all over the place, many of our vacations are spent visiting family. We love our family and love visiting them but I think a tropical vacation just sounds like fun. Hopefully it’ll pan out.

I think that’s all I have. I know I need to post about Mother’s Day and I promise I will, it’s just literally been go GO GO all week. And that gets a big BOO in my book.

My supply took a big hit after I started working again.  Here’s what worked for me (thank you to all my friends at My Mommy Time who helped me with this!):

-Drink a ton of water. This is by far the most helpful. I drink about 100 ounces a day.
-Eat old fashioned oatmeal.  I make a big batch every Sunday and it keeps until Friday.
-Add flax seed meal to foods. I put it in my oatmeal every morning.
–Brewer’s Yeast (a supplement that can be found at GNC or Whole Foods) **Brewer’s Yeast is different than active or dry yeast** I also add a bit of this to my oatmeal every morning.
–Fenugreek (a supplement that can be found at GNC or Whole Foods)
-Blessed Thistle (a supplement that can be found at GNC or Whole Foods)
-I took a supplement called More Milk Plus that has Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, Nettle Leaf, and Fennel Seed. The capsules are WAY better than the tincture. Expensive but worth it!
–Pumping for 10 minutes AFTER you stop dripping milk. If pumping while away from your LO you should pump for 5 minutes after milk stops dripping to maintain your supply. I pump for at least 20 minutes at a time while at work. If you don’t have it already, invest in a good handsfree pumping bra.
–Lactation cookies!! The active ingredients are the oatmeal, flax seed meal, and brewers yeast. I substituted coconut butter and applesauce for the butter-YUM. Only problem is I can’t stop eating them so I just add the elements to my oatmeal so that I don’t get HUGE.
–Try not to stress. I found that stress is the number one issue with my milk supply. I make sure to do something that isn’t stressful when I’m pumping (like write posts-HA!). If I work I don’t get nearly as much milk.
–Nurse as much as possible. I nurse Lucy as soon as I get home. Then right before bed. During the weekend nurse, nurse, and nurse and try to throw in one pump session a day.

I hope this helps!

Mother’s Day was FABULOUS! Wonderful, perfect, just great! I’m going to post more later tonight when I can do it justice.

I also forgot to eat lunch yesterday. Most people are probably thinking, “So, you forgot to eat, what’s the big deal?” but for me it’s a huge deal. I’m normally one of those people who is very concerned with when the next meal is and what I can have but yesterday I had breakfast at 9:30 and then I had a Mother’s Day frozen yogurt at about 2 and then at 7 Shaun said “We didn’t eat lunch-I’m starving.” I said “We didn’t? I don’t feel hungry. We really didn’t have lunch?” He got all excited and said, “It’s happening! You’re not as obsessed with food-this is a good thing. You should eat lunch but in the 5 years I’ve known you you’ve never forgotten to eat. We should write this day down.” It was really very cute that Shaun was so excited for me. I know that I need to eat lunch and I need to not forget to eat but the fact that it wasn’t paramount in my day was a HUGE DEAL. I just hope I’m not jinxing it by writing about it.

Okay, off to work!

My parents arrived last night for a visit.  Shaun and I are staying on the couch and we gave them our bed.  That way Lucy can stay in her room with her regular nightly routine-it seems to be working out nicely.

I’m working from home today while they hang out with Lucy.  I think we’ll maybe venture to the park later this afternoon once I get everything done.

I do want to post later about boosting your supply-I think all of my tips (that I’ve gotten from various sources) could really help Cynthia (and anyone else who is struggling with supply).  I have a great group of breastfeeding ladies that I talk with and wow has it helped.  Support groups are wonderful!

Do you know that I’m actually considering breastfeeding longer than a year?  I’m not going to pump past a year (it is a PAIN) but I’m thinking about continuing to breastfeed in the morning and night.  We’ll see how I feel about this once we get closer to that point but before she was born I was a little freaked out by breastfeeding.  I know I wanted to do it and I knew that I wanted to do it until she was 1 but it creeped me out a bit.  Now I feel like it’s the most natural thing in the world and I’m not creeped out at all.  HOWEVER, I will not have a 4 year old attached to my boob.  I do understand now why woman get upset when they wean.  It’s like your baby isn’t your baby anymore-she’s all grown up!  Thankfully I have 4 and half more months until we hit a year.  I can’t believe that Lucy is 4 and half months away from being a year old!  It goes by so quickly.  Man, I thought life flew by fast before-once you have a kid it’s like you blink and they’re completely different.
She’s sleeping right now so I’ll need to post her daily picture later.  I think I forgot to take one yesterday too.  Boy am I ever a flake or what? 😉

Work has been crazy. Home has been crazy.  I just want to burrow under the covers and sleep.  My parents arrive here tomorrow so I don’t foresee any burrowing in my future. My brain is so dead I don’t even know what to write. Not very fun, am I?

I can show you pictures 🙂

Yesterday’s Pictures:

Today’s Pictures:

We tried Happy Baby Organic Puffs. They are like Cheerios but dissolve faster and are organic and all that good stuff. Lucy loved that they were on her tray and started trying to pick them up and was quite perplexed when they stuck to her. Once she got them in her mouth she didn’t know what to think:

She kinda came around:

I feel like this should be a post on www.lucytitus.com. Maybe it’ll go there too. Who knows?