Boobie To Bottle B4 I Model!

So the pressure is on for me to get Finley to take a bottle.  Tomorrow marks the first time in 10 years that I am taking to the catwalk. Yes, I have been asked to model in a fashion show to benefit The Turnage Theatre Foundation for fabric designer Alice Stallings of the River Walk Gallery in Washington NC.   Alice has become a darling friend and is an extremely talented artist.  For Alice and not too many other people, on earth, will I come out of retirement seven weeks post birthing baby Fin to model.  Tomorrow also marks the FIRST time Finley and I will be apart for a feeding.  Finley will be at home with her Auntie Dee to babysit ... sans moi and my boobies. YIKES!

In preparation for this day Steve and I have been attempting to give Finley a bottle.  I have pumped several ounces of milk - I am ridiculously proud of this accomplishment - I think I am still on a high from the miracle that is Finley Mae.  On a daily basis Steve and I can be found stating "I Made This" while pointing to baby Fin and now I am holding up bottles of fresh breast milk saying;  "I also made this! I wonder if it will make good cheese?" 

I am using the Milk Bank Storage System by Dexbaby- which is AWESOME, but, Fin does not like the nipple on it ...maybe as she is older she'll get into it? 

So I went to Babies R US 

Today and found this bottle by adiri 

It was the most expensive on the shelf at $12.99, it is BPA Free and has won a 2008 Medical Excellence Design award. SOLD.  It is supposed to mimic the breast and so I figure it can't hurt to try it.  

I also bought Nuby Softflex Silicone Nurser.  It was $9.99 and is a soft bottle so you can squeeze the milk into the baby's mouth so they get an idea about why this fake boobie has been inserted into their mouth and hopefully suck!

Here's the clincher. Finley does not like to take a pacifier either.  So getting her to take a plastic nipple no matter how realistic is going to take some convincing. I figure if she is hungry enough she'll try it.

Wish us luck!  

I'll report back on the bottles and on the fashion show in upcoming entries.

(As an aside: Babies R Us would not "exchange" an unopened package of Gerber Onsies with the store's untampered price tag on it for the next size up because they were not on my registry & I didn't have a receipt as they were a gift - so unimpressed! Had I not been having a bottle emergency I would have left immediately. I will, however, attempt to source an alternative store before shopping there in the future.)

Nature vrs Nurture

Since when did trees begin to remind me of bottle brushes?

No I was not eating mushrooms.

I guess I have "teaching Fin to bottle feed" on my mind ... a lot more than I thought.  

It's not gone well - she likes her boobie buffet way too much.  She screamed her head off at the introduction of a bottle of breast milk offered by Dad Dad.  We'll keep trying, we've read all the suggestions by Dr. Sears and will try a few different nipples to see if she has a preference.  I love breast feeding Finley but there will be times we have to be apart for a feed. We'd like her to know how to take a bottle.   Suggestions welcome.

Finley Mae - Photos of the Day

Finley 6 Weeks & 5 Days

Enjoys sitting in Dad Dad's Chair

She flaps her arms alot now. 

(although - she's a little bewildered by them)

Loves looking up at the ceiling fans.

Smiles at her Momma

Smiles and flaps at the same time...she's so smart!

Flirts

Flips me the bird 

(total Shipley move)

Gives me the look that says; 

"Alright ENOUGH MOMMA  put your damn iPhone away!"

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Mother Ship's Mother Tongue

I used to be very well spoken in the English language.  I used to speak French fluently and dabble in Spanish, now I am hard pressed to string a sentence together in any language.  In the midst of a conversation I find myself running into the abyss of my mind searching through the darkness for very common words.  I mean common words like toilet and cupboard and refrigerator. All I see before me in the darkness of my once fertile mind is pea soup.  

I find I stare at my husband flailing my hands and pointing saying "beside the thing, the ...." my eyes growing wider willing him to understand my crappy sign language, all the while I envision my vocabulary  swirling, tiny letters, words and sentences circling the toilet bowl as they are flushed away.

This week while on vacation with my friend Nee', who has a 4 month old, it became very apparent to me that I was not alone in this.  Her new mommy tongue was as absent as mine.  she and I who usually are not at a loss for words mimed conversations interspersed with a new vocabulary that now include words like:

Hold it - wait for it - I don't believe until 6 weeks ago I ever uttered this word...

Ready?  

Here it is:  POOPIE. 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, stick a fork in my eye now.  Please don't tell me it's gonna get worse before it gets better - I make a living with my words!

Punk Rock Baby P

Finley in her designer onsie from Uncle Tony & Mia!

Jigging For Babies

Dad's Mobile Inventions

Day One of the OBX Beach Vacation: 

It's too windy to kiteboard, rain has stopped and two dad's are entertaining the baby girls - guy  style!

Bronwyn 4 months & Finley 5 weeks

AWWWWWWE!

So Not GAS!

Finley Smiles Now!

5 Weeks 1 Day Old

For Crying Out Loud!

Finley Mae has been crying more on then off for the past 5 hours.  

Is it gas? 

Usually when she gets worked up it is gas ... and it's usually a 45 minute fussy period in the evening.  I have figured out her hungry cry, her gassy cry, her tired cry and her I am wet cry ... but today, today the baby has me stumped. 

Advice Welcome.

Baby Pea Is Actually A String Bean!

Finley Mae at Birth:

8 lbs 7 oz - 20 inches long

The nurses wrote this in our room on our board.
Finley 2 Days Old 

(She wore her New Born sleepers for a week and a half.)

Finley Mae at One Month:

10 lbs 3 1/2 oz - 23 inches long

(She is wearing her 3 month clothes - she fills out the feet in the sleepers!)

Finley 4 weeks old.

Voila Le Petite String Bean!

After Our 1st Mommy & Finley solo bath time!

This is the beginning of Fin's smiles ...I will catch one on camera.

Me & My little Baby P.

She is always guarded by Big Brother Dog Cecil.

Finley looks just like my seester in this photo.

My FIRST Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

to all my friends and my wonderful surrogate moms and to you mom.

Never mind the card Momma get me some BOOBIES I'm starving!

My four legged baby guarding the two legged baby in the vibrating chair. 

Why do they not make VIBRATING PAPA SAN chairs for adults? Half the reason I go get a pedicure is to sit in the vibrating massage chair.  I guess if I had a chair like this at home large enough to accommodate me I would do nothing else but sit in it.  I bet I could pitch this idea to Pier One Imports and make a killing. 

Finley asked her Daddy to help her pick out these Starburst Lillies and a card.

My sweet hubby made us steak, lobster tails, fresh perogies & salad.

Finley looking at a visibly tired me and wondering when the Boobie Buffet will open again...she wants the lobster!

HAPPY ONE MONTH BIRTHDAY BABY FINLEY MAE! 

You're the best gift of all. 

I LOVE You!

Whoaaa! A Way Over Due Post

Well the last of our company has just gone home this morning and for the first time it's just Fin, Cecil and I sitting in Steve's new GIANT lazyboy (the lazy boy I protested having in our house for years and have- since it's arrival- taken over as my breastfeeding station. Don't worry Steve you can sit in it every 4th night or something - we can negotiate!). I thought I would panic at the idea of spending the day home alone for the first time but I am actually looking forward to it. Steve and I have come to realize that we have spent only TWO nights home alone without guests since Fin's arrival and she is now one month old!

Right now I am waiting for Fin to wake up with a bear in her belly waving her head back and forth foraging my chest in her quest to eat some boobies. She ate at 10:30PM then at 5:25 AM - the child slept through the night which means I too slept through the night for the 1st time in four weeks. Steve woke up and asked if she was okay? Should the baby have slept through the night? I figure it's a bonus - not the norm. She ate every 2 hours for the past few days and has had gas and probably some growing pains. She's probably sleeping off her growth spurt my friend Nee said.

Since Finley arrived we have been getting the hang of managing the house and laundry (with help from Dad & Meg ). I put Fin in her vibrating chair or wear her in the sling while I run around with the vacuum or clean a bathroom. Finley does not mind the "daytime" sounds going on around her. Yesterday, after I fed her I popped her into her sling and we did groceries together - just the two of us. We made it to Walmart, bought the groceries and drove home - in an hour and a half total- while she slept. It was excellent. Walmart grocery section is not that bad at 8am!

We are cloth diapering - we have 23 diapers and I do a load every other day. The weather has been in the upper 80's so they dry quickly outside on the dry rack. Fin likes to poop the second I change her into a new clean diaper. The other day I went through four diapers in one hour!

HAHAHA - While hanging out having a feed in her Dad's lazy boy Finley let a ripper go in her pants loud enough to wake the dead. The sound scared the dog right off the chair! I was laughing so hard my boob popped out of Fin's mouth and was spraying milk, Finley was rooting trying to get back on while squeezing her eyes shut shielding them from spray, the dog was shaking while looking at us like we were the sole survivors of a natural disaster from his new position on a pillow across the room. I may have to register the dog for some counselling as he may be suffering some Post Traumatic Stress after this baby's behind bombing.

So Far So Good On Our 1st Fin & Mom Day

It's the first time:

 I gave Finley Mae a bath - alone.

The first time I took a shower while Fin was snoozing in her co-sleeper.

Our first outing in the stroller. We went to the Farmer's Market and bought some gorgeous spinach and red lettuce and Finley bought me a big bouquet of peonies with her allowance.

Fin slept and I set to work restoring order to my house which makes me happy, cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry, and mopping floors. WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?

And now at 2:30PM I am having some lunch...this means for certain Finley will wake up and scream for her lunch too...she only likes to eat when I do. Who wants to dine alone? Not Finley!

More to come and pictures too. This is a window into our new life. I love it.

I Guess I Actually Am A MOM Now.

My friend Alice sent me this list in an email today. I laughed when I read it as I had just said the exact words for the exact same reason as written for "NUMBER 18" to my sweet Finley this morning.

I OWE MY MOTHER . . .

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside.
I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL .
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you
Into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC .
" Because I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck ,
You're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear ,
In case you're in an accident ."

7. My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM .
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times.
Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE .
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world
Who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
"You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE .
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going
To get stuck that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think
I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes,
Don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables,
You'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS .
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think
You were born in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE.
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope
They turn out just like you