Went to the doctor.. again..

I have bronchitis.. I finally got a steroid pack, another antibiotic, a different allergy medicine.. more nose spray, and was told to get more Mucinex DM.. ugh... That was expensive, but oh well.. Hopefully this will get me on track and I can get better soon.

As for Leala, she has a runny nose and is sneezing quite a bit.. She is still on her antibiotic from last time and some runny nose medicine.. I'm hoping she gets some of my meds (which are safe) from my milk and it will help her out too.. Who knows..

Anyway, that's about it.. I feel better this last hour than I have all day... but about 3 hours ago, I felt worse than I did this morning.. *sigh* Is this ever going to end?

One question for everyone, any tips or suggestions on weaning? I don't know anyone in person (who speaks enough English) that has breastfed for this long (everyone else is a couple of weeks or so).. So let me know.. Please, no bashing.. I have done what I think is best for my daughter. If you don't agree that I should have breastfed for this long, or that it's wrong that I start weaning my daughter now she's a year old (in a few days), please keep it to yourself. I don't need to here it. If you have genuine help, thank you! And as we all know, each child is different.

Just an update

So, yesterday and today were "get stuff done" days. I cleaned a lot yesterday. Then, today we went to the Hong Kong market to get some things and order Kevin's mom's birthday cake for tomorrow. Then we did our normal grocery shopping.. We got to play a game of Scrabble after that, so that was nice. :)

While playing with Leala this evening, I put her down on the bed so I could take a better look at her two new pearly whites.... That's when I noticed it... The two beside those that just came in are soon to follow! You can see the white through the gums... So, by the way it looks, she will have gone from 2 teeth to 7 teeth in a month... So far, it has been 2 to 5 in 2 weeks. Poor baby. I feel so bad for her, but she has been handling it pretty well.

She is cranky and whiny and very clingy, but wouldn't you be too? I can't believe she is growing up so fast. I am so happy to see that she is growing, but I can't help but be a little scared.. I do still breastfeed, you know? haha.. Obviously this is my first time experiencing this, so we'll see how it goes. *hopeful thinking*

Besides that, not much is going on. I have been trying to get ready for Leala's birthday (in February). Not sure what her big gift will be yet. I'm still kinda playing around with a few things right now. Maybe that will be an upcoming post!

Thursday Highlights

* We took Leala to the doctor today.

* She is fine. Her chest is clear. Her ears are clear.

* We had to up her medications (because she weighs more now).

* She can now take motrin.

* She weighs 21 pounds 2 ounces now and is 10.5 months old.

* She took a very long nap today (with me!) and is feeling somewhat better.

* Since we have upped her medications, she hasn't coughed as much and her drainage seems to be going away too.

* I was able to talk to her doctor (who was my doctor since I was 6 weeks old!) about all the other things that I have been wondering about.

* No meats or milk for her til 12 months.

* Skip bottles and continue trying with sippy cup.

* After she is 12 months old, we'll start trying to wean.

* She is fine with the solids that she is eating. No reason to push it too much.

* I am glad I was able to talk to her doctor about this stuff. I have been casually talking to other people about how I want to handle things with Leala, and most people have pushed the bottle in my face over and over.. But, none of these people (no one I know, actually) has breastfed for this long, so bottles are all they know. Anyway, I'm glad I brought things up to the doctor and got things figured out.

* I got over my whole fear of being talked about or given weird looks.. No one has yet, but I thought they would talk about me for not having Leala weaned at 12 months, like I had mentioned I might.. Now I know, that I should be waiting, and have been wanting to wait to wean her, but was scared that people would look down on me. (Like I said, no one I know has breastfed.. They don't look down on it, but I'm looked at as a hippie type girl now, b/c of it, and I didn't want them to think I'd be breastfeeding her til she's 5...) Anyway, I'm over it, and I don't care. I will do as I wish and if someone doesn't like it, they can deal with it, or get out of my life.. lol.. seriously though.

* Leala has her third tooth! I think that has been her problem this whole time.. The reason why she's been waking up so much and acting so needy.. I barely saw it very far under the gums 2 or 3 days ago, and today it has already popped out! She is getting to be a very big girl! She has 3 teeth on bottom now and none on top!

* It's been a long day, but the hubby was able to relax with me and watch a movie tonight, so that was fun. Off to bed for me now!

* I haven't forgotten about the questions and answers. I will be doing that soon!

Yummy food and a good game...

I am happy to say that tonight was pretty fun. Actually the entire day was pretty fun. A great mix of work and play.. and self-improvement. :)

I cleaned a whole lot this morning and afternoon.. Even cleaned our closet, which was well over due.

I have never been a big cooker, but lately, I have really gotten interested in it. Tonight's dinner turned out great. There's a few changes I would make next time, but it was really good.

Sweet & Spicy Shrimp

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch one strips
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
3/4 pound uncooked peeled deveined large shrimp, thawed if frozen
Hot cooked white rice, if desired

1. Stir together soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, crushed red pepper and cornstarch until cornstarch is dissolved; set aside.
2. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium high heat. Stir-fry onion, bell pepper and carrot in oil 2 to 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.
3. Stir in soy sauce mixture and shrimp. Stir-fry 3 to 5 minutes, until shrimp are pink and fir, and sauce is thickened. Serve over rice.

*******

It was really good, like I said, but I cooked it longer than it said, because we like the veggies a little softer, and next time, I will put a little less crushed red pepper, but add in some of the Asian chili sauce. That way there is more of an overall warmth to it, not just certain bites that are spicy. Oh and I might make a little bit more of the sauce, to help make up for the longer cooking time overall.

Anyway, after dinner, we watched a movie, and then while I fed Leala her bedtime feeding, we played Phase 10. It was really fun. I had never played the game before. I lost, but it was still quite fun, and I was even tempted to play another round after Leala went to bed.. Oh well, we'll play in the morning. I need to get this blog finished up and go to bed.

Leala has already woken up once, and it's only 10:34. Not a good sign. *sigh* Who knows what's going on with this baby of mine. I just wish I knew her reason for waking up. Oh well.

Anyway, off to bed for me. Even with the thought of Leala waking up a million times tonight, I'm going to bed with a smile. I had a great day. I love the simple things that make you smile. :)

What's the best baby food for your baby?

I’ve been asked several times what I think, as a mother, is the best baby food. Naturally, I first say breast milk. Breastfeeding is such an important thing for both child and mother. It has really helped my daughter and I in many many ways.

Now I can go on about how great it is for the baby’s health (and mother’s health, for that matter) and how if a child is not breastfed, it has such and such percentage higher of a chance of getting some awful disease and so on. But I won’t.

I will say that I had no intentions of breastfeeding my daughter. I was convinced that it just wouldn’t work out. Not helping matters, I had no help from anyone. Not one nurse helped me and my mother was in another state (on her way soon to come see her first granddaughter). But thankfully I gave it a shot anyway and gladly proved myself wrong. Now at 9 months, we’re still going strong.

Anyway, simply put, human breast milk is the best for human babies.

Now, when it comes to solids, I think it is best to be able to puree your own foods. If time and convenience is a problem for you, then I would definitely say Gerber Organic is the best baby food. It has the same vegetables and fruits you would use at home, doing it yourself. No other ingredients that can’t be pronounced. Just bananas, just sweet potatoes, just apples (or anything else) added with some water sometimes, to help with preparation.

Personally, after having breastfed my baby, I wanted to be able to puree my own foods, but after time went on and things got hectic, it just didn’t work. So, I did some research and went with my instincts. Now the only food my daughter gets is Gerber Organic food and breast milk, which I think is a great combination of the best baby food.

Though neither of these are the plans I had when I was pregnant (I figured she’d be on formula and I would make her baby food), I couldn’t be happier. I recommend these routes to every expecting woman and new mommy I know.