It's Baaaaaack......(this might explain it!)

So, after nearly 18 months on hiatus (during my pregnancy and the first 8.5 months of Andrew's life), it's back. I'm sure you can guess what "it" is. How exciting!

And according to kellymom.com, a site that I've found to have incredibly helpful and accurate information about breastfeeding and its associated problems and complications,

"Some women experience a drop in milk supply from ovulation (mid-cycle) until the first day or two of the next menstrual period. A woman's blood calcium levels gradually decrease during this period of time, and for some women the drop in blood calcium causes a drop in milk supply."

Well, there we (may) have it. I thought that I might have been ovulating about a week and a half ago (sorry if TMI), and that just about corresponds to the dip in my milk supply. I did call the lactation consultant on Friday, and she very nicely called me back and suggested a "pumping/nursing every three hours weekend," plus fenugreek pills/tea. I was able to manage the pumping and nursing, but we just didn't get to the health food store for the fenugreek. I do have some Mother's Milk organic tea bags in my office, so I'll make some tea tomorrow at work. I've also read that oatmeal helps increase milk supply, so what the hell -- maybe that's what I'll have for dinner tomorrow. And I'll toss a couple of granola bars in my bag, too.

With Dad's help this weekend (he and Roo got LOTS of quality time to play together), I was able to pump enough to get the freezer stash up to two bags! If I go back to pumping three times a day at work, along with all of the other measures I'm taking, I may be able to stick with the boob juice-only thing!

Roo MAY have said "Da" in the high chair at lunch today. Three times. In a row. Right after Dad said "dadada" to him. Coincidence? Or genius child??? ;-)

The maid starts on Tuesday; after that, she/he/they will visit every other week on Wednesdays. I can't begin to express how thrilled I am about this. This weekend I spent as much time as possible clearing (not cleaning) off surfaces to make it easier for them to get my house spotless. Just the thought of bathing Andrew in a sparkling clean tub gives me goosebumps of pleasure. There isn't going to be dog hair (and who knows what else) stuck to the base of my toilet. This is really, really big.

I must say that the return of my "monthlies" threw me for a bit of a loop. It's just one more step in the evolution of our mother-child relationship. It means that he's independent enough from me (well, my breasts anyway) that I'm now able to produce another baby. These days it seems like it's all happening so fast: sitting, then crawling, then standing -- soon, walking. Transferring his clothes to the dryer tonight, I remarked to myself how the sleeves and pantlegs of the clothes that fit him just keep getting bigger and longer. I keep one of his "newborn" size diapers in his sock drawer, just to remind me of how tiny he was when he was born. And oh, how tiny he was. And my goodness, how big he is getting!

I have to say that folks have been very helpful and supportive, via email, in person, and through comments on this blog, about my milk-supply quandary. Thank you! I think I'd really like to see a long-term study of breastfed-only infants and formula-fed-only infants in daycare from a young age, just to see how many illnesses each group gets, and how long those illnesses last. I'm convinced that daycare is the major factor in Andrew's illnesses here...and I must say, knock on wood, that he hasn't been terribly sick, or even that frequently. But like I've said before, I'd been led to believe that the boobie juice was a cure-all. I'm also convinced that the majority of mothers who only breastfeed (i.e. never have to use formula) are also stay-at-home moms, or moms whose kids aren't in large-group daycare. So, of course those kids (and their immature immune systems) aren't going to be exposed to every germ that passes through the center. My mom tells me that I didn't go to a babysitter until I was 9 months old, and that I was rarely sick and never had an ear infection in my life -- and I was formula-fed. And let me tell you, there are a lot of illnesses that can take hold in winter in rural Maine...but I wasn't in group daycare.

I dunno. Maybe I'm just assuaging my mommy-guilt that I've "allowed" Roo to get sick even these admittedly few times. I've got to stop that whole guilt thing. After all, we do have a wonderful, bright, very smiley, standing-on-his-own, chirpy and recently very talkative little man! I've got to start focusing on what we're doing right :-)