How Much Milk a 3 Month Should Eat in a Day

Right now my son is 3.5 months old. Up until last few weeks he has been eating my breast milk exclusively. He was gaining weight and grew long - all according to the textbook. But suddenly, at exactly 3 months I started noticing that he wanted to eat more frequently - every 2, 1.5 hours instead of usual 3. He was getting more nervous and just looking unhappy soon after meals. I didn't think twice and offered my baby a formula substitute after each breastfeeding session. And what a difference! He was happy right a way and ever since even sleeps 8-9 hours at night.
I don't have any less milk than before and went through every single suggestion trying to increase milk supply. I tried:
- pumping after each feeding session and in between
- fenugreek pills
- domperidone pills
- nursing tea
- drinking more water

Nothing helped me. My milk supply remained the same. If I waited for 3 hours I would get 3-4 oz of milk depending on what time of day it is. During evening I got less milk and in the morning I had the most. But as it turned out, my boy needs at least 7 oz per feeding.

I went to forums and asked other moms of 3 month old how much he eats. It turned out that my boy was not even the hungriest one. While on average 3 months old boy would eat 6 oz, it was not unusual to see some babies eating 8-9 oz.

According to doctor recommendation baby should eat amount of milk according to this mathematical calculation: Baby weight, pounds x 2.5 = oz per day.
So for example, your baby is 10 pounds, he should eat at least 25 oz a day. My boy is now 12 pounds and he wants to eat 7 oz x 6 times a day = 42 oz, which is 12 oz more than recommended. Ends up calculation is a myth!

I was reluctant to feed him formula and was turning into what some people would call "breastfeeding nazi" starving my boy for the sake of organic food. Eventually common sense took over. We are not in a third world - baby does not need to suffer from hunger. If you have lots of milk, consider yourself lucky. Not only you will save $300 - this is what I spend on 3 months supply of formula until my boy will start eating solids. You will also feed your baby fully organic, fresh meal. But I had no choice.

Myth Debunked. Heidi Klum Did Not Lose Post pregnancy Weight in 3 Weeks

Lately the topic of celebrities losing post-pregnancy weight became so popular that a week does not go by without Yahoo and such posting pictures of various celebrities and models with their before and after pictures. To date I have not seen one article being specific about how much each celebrity actually weighted before pregnancy, after pregnancy and when exactly they got back to their initial weight. Just today there is another artcile popped out on Yahoo that is actually called "New Celeb Mom Bodies Normal and Not"

All of this creates very negative effect on young moms - like me, who just had a baby and last thing they want to worry is beating some celebrity record. When I read comments to such articles I feel very sorry for such moms because I know - we very very much worry about our bodies and about the fact that it takes time to regain at least some of the prior glory.

Not even one article goes by without mentioning Heidi Klum losing all her baby weight in a week. Ok, here is when I decided to do some research to debunk this myth. It didn't take long. Let's just get facts straight: It took Heidi 2 months - 8 weeks to look perfect again. Just watch this video:

Topic first raised during Oprah show. In the end of this video Oprah mentions that it was 2 months after giving birth when Heidi Klum modeled for Victoria's Secret runway show. 2 months is 8 weeks. Not 1 or 2 or 3. It was 8 weeks. No questions she looked gorgeous. Absolutely stunning! But there is no information that she lost all her weight. She never said that she lost all the weight. Media made it up.

But the show was put together by professionals. Heidi opened the show, she came out first. She was alone on the stage with huge wings behind her back. Wings created an optical illusion making her look tinier than she actually was.

If you look at this photo (sorry for the quality, couldn't find a better one), you will see Heidi Klum as compared to Karolina Kurkova show appeared next. Karolina was two times thinner than Heidi. Given that Heidi is a model it is safe to assume that she was of a similar size to Kurkova before getting pregnant.

On this photo you can see Heidi's tummy was very flat, arms and legs skinny. But her hips were very wide. I bet she did not try to fit in her skinny jeans even 8 weeks after giving birth. I bet she didn't try to wear flexi belt over her hips to artificially collapse her pelvis to pre-birth size.

She took her time girlies. And so should you. She ate little and exercised a lot - something she admitted to Oprah during the interview. Also, to make belly flat visually, if you don't eat for a day, yours will flatten too.

It's been exactly 3 months since I have given birth to my baby cutie little boy. My hips still have 2 inches to lose. I still have 7 kg ( about 15 pounds), half of my pregnancy weight to lose. Other than playing tennis twice a week I did not do any exercise. I eat one extra meal (lunch) a day than before pregnancy to keep my milk supply. Before I skipped lunch all together. Do I worry about going back to normal? Hell yes. But I don't have a doubt that with enough time, correct diet and exercise I will be back to pre-pregnancy. Heidi Klum is for sure my idol in this topic because she did it 4 times, but she didn't do it in 3 weeks.

Mobile Epidural. My Experience

When I was pregnant I explored both non medicated and medicated delivery methods. There was no question whether I want vaginal or c-section because in Canada this is not a choice in many cases. C-sections are only allowed when there is medical reason to do so.

But there is a choice whether you want to have medications to deal with pain or not. I watched the movie "The Business of Being Born" and talked to many people who delivered in hospital with epidural, in hospital without epidural and people who delivered at home with midwife. I meet with many people during the day for my job and picking up a conversation about baby delivery was easy. I talked to over 400 women hearing all their stories. Out of probably 400 people I talked to no one ever said that they did not like an epidural. In fact many said that it was the most wonderful thing ever happened to them during birth and they could really enjoy birth of their baby in a completely pain free environment.

But my problem was that I wanted to deliver in squatting position and with classical epidural you can't move your body and only delivery position available to you is lying down. Then I read online about mobile epidural and asked my doctor about it.

My doctor was very supportive about the idea and said that I have to request it at the hospital. If I just ask for epidural anesthesiologist will assume I want the full force epidural and that is what I will get. I have to be very specific about the fact that I want mobile version of epidural. In fact I would be lucky if doctor dealing with me will know about it. Apparently not all anesthesiologists like to administer this type. So this is what I did. Once I entered the hospital in labor (in my case it was rather close to delivery after 36 hours of labor) first thing I did I asked for mobile epidural. To my surprise a nurse had no idea what I meant. I said that my doctor mentioned it and that I have to ask anesthesiologist for it specifically. It got to a point when nurse had to call my doctor and ask her what I meant. My doctor clarified something on the phone and while she was on the way to a hospital anesthesiologist came. He knew what I meant! Yey! He said that it is such epidural type that will not paralyze me completely. I may feel some pain but it will be more bearable. He said that I could potentially get out of bed and walk, but of course, it is not recommended.

He was very skillful and I didn't even feel a needle in my spine. About 5 minutes after he did it I felt no pain at all. I felt that I was in heaven. But surprisingly I could lift my legs and lift myself up in a sitting position. When my doctor came for a delivery she asked for a squatting bar to be installed on my bed. It is a bar that goes in front of you, so you can put your hands on it and lift yourself forward and up.

Also because the drug is not as strong as with standard epidural I did not feel cold afterwards. Some people are describing that they have very strong shivers for a few minutes after they got a needle. No such a thing in my case.

When I was pushing I could feel pressure in my butt - this was a contraction. When contraction came I lifted myself up and pushed. Once contraction stopped I laid back in bed waiting for the next one. No pain whatsoever! I felt strength in my legs to be able to squat for a few minutes at a time, and if needed I felt like I could handle good 10 minutes in such position at a time. I pushed for about 30 minutes very slowly to avoid tearing. When my baby came out, I could not believe it was over because I had so much strength in me that I could easily go for another hour.

I highly recommend mobile epidural. Not only it will free you from pain, it will also avoid common complications with standard epidural when woman is so sedated that can't she feel her muscles to push. If you can't push doc will have to use tools - something to avoid at all costs. Girls go for mobile epidural!

Breast Milk Pumping Shocks and Myths

When I first tried pumping I was shocked how painful it was. I was just wondering how anyone can do it. But it ended that it was all matter of skill and experience. Buying a pump was another shocker as reviews on Toys R Us website proven to me being wrong.

So here is what I learned over time:

Manual Pump is Faster

Manual breast pump is two times faster than electrical one. This is because electrical works according to preset speed and manual you can pump as fast as you want. If you care for speed, go for manual. Your hand may be a bit tired first few times, but trust me after a few such exercises you won't even feel you worked.

Expensive Pump Does Not Mean Better

You go to the store and see Medela electric pump set selling for $400 and wonder what exactly it can do to you for that much money? Right on the same shelf you see First Years Breastflow for $50. First Years worked for me just fine. I liked how simple the inside mechanism was and milk did not get wasted in cracks and being trapped between many parts. I have Phillips Avent manual pump which costed the same as First Years electric and it was no better at all. In fact it hurt as hell first few times until I figured to press on the handle only half way through. Milk came out fine but because the suction was not as strong it didn't hurt. Read manuals carefully - they explain ways of dealing with pain. But interestingly cheap First Years did not cause any pain. It has a wider opening around the nipple and suction is very gentle.
Other problems with expensive Avent pump were:

- Bottle part fell off during pumping. The way they designed the screwing mechanism for holding the bottle just wasn't good enough to hold it in the air. While I pumped for 10-15 minutes the bottle would quietly unscrew and fall. Imagine all the frustration over spitting all the milk!

- Pump falls toward when placed on the table. This is another serious design defect with this pump. If you put it on the table the whole thing will fall towards because the pumping part is heavier than the bottle underneath it. Basically you can't leave the pump standing, you have to separate the bottle right away. Not convenient. Very often you are not in position to just run towards the fridge. Or you may want to keep pumping later - you can't with Avent.

I Keep Pumping and Milk is Not Coming

This was another shocker in the beginning. I didn't know that you need to pump for a few minutes in vain until milk starts coming. It makes sense - otherwise your breasts would be leaking if you are not pumping. So be patient. Also once milk stopped coming it does not mean that's all. There is normally a second let down. Again keep pumping and you will see after a few suctions a second portion will appear.

There is Less Milk in the Evening

It is true there is less milk in the evening and your baby may ask to eat more frequently towards late afternoon. But milk is more concentrated. It makes sense as more concentrated milk will keep babies going for longer without flushing into a diaper to make them sleep comfortably at night.

You Can't Mix Milk From Different Pump Sessions

Whoever said this is wrong. I mix milk all the time. As I pump during the day I will be adding new milk to the one in the fridge. Towards end of day I will have one full bottle. It is unimaginable to have 4 bottles 1 oz each. One tip - make sure to shake the bottle after you added newly pumped milk. It will blend with cold one making it more uniform. My baby never complained.

Back Pain Cure During Pregnancy

Many women complain about back pain during early months of their pregnancy. Even though I was very active before getting pregnant and quite well stretched, back pain did not omit me. At about 6 weeks into pregnancy I started to develop very nasty pulling feelings in the lower back. It got to the point that I could not lift myself up from bed upfront - had to roll over. I found the way to make the pain go away withing minutes.

This was the time when I purchased book by Julie Tupler about pregnancy fitness. Book is quite interesting as it opens your eyes in diastasis recti - belly muscle separation. Julie Tupler is worlds most famous expert on how to deal with the condition post-partum. But there was one excersize in this book that particularly helped me with the back pain. Julie Tupler calls it Belly Dancing.
Here it is:
Stand on your feet, knees slightly bent.
Lean forward and put your arms on the knees to support your painful back.
Move pelvis forward.
Hold for 10 seconds or so.
Move your pelvis back to original position.
Repeat.

The lower back pain is caused by stretching the Tranversus abdominals muscle to accommodate growing belly. Since the muscle wraps around your sides from belly to the spine it pulls from the back and you feel pain.

What this exercise does to you is stretching the transversus muscle even more - in advance so to speak, and pain disappears.
For me the pain was gone that very same evening I tried the exercise. Whenever the pain was reappearing I just stood up, did the few belly dances and pain retracted for good.

What was your back pain pregnancy experience?

There is Cure to Leg Cramps

Perhaps the most unexpected and memorable cure to pain during pregnancy for me was a cure against leg cramps.

At about 6th moth into pregnancy I started to get extremely painful leg cramps. I would wake up in the middle of the night literally paralyzed from pain in my calves. My husband would try to massage, I tried to pull the feet towards, walk etc. I found all kind of advises like eating banana before going to sleep or drinking water. Nothing helped. Basically I had to wait it out and of course, after 20 minutes of dealing with this my sleep and sleep of my husband was interrupted.

So I went online looking for a cure. After a few minutes of search I found a cure - soap! Believe it or not it worked for me. Put a bar of soap under the sheet around your feet and when you have cramps touch the soap with your feet and pain will be gone immediately. Many times I would wake up from pain, and as you know it cramps they come gradually. First you feel some pain, but if you don't do anything it will escalate to a very sharp pitch. So, I would wake up feeling a pain wave and once touching the soap the pain would retract without ever making it to the worst part. Many times I would be so dilusinal, thinking, it can't be true. But trust me, when you have pain like that, even if you don't believe it, you would at least try.

Touch the soap and pain gone. Every single time! I asked my doctor about it and she said that other patients told her that soap worked. So, I thought, I got to find out why soap helps with cramps. No matter how hard I looked there was nothing so far to explain the phenomenon scientifically. I personally think it has something to do with magnetic waves. Every matter has it's own magnetic field and soap perhaps has something that interrupts cramps. In fact I did not find a scientific explanation why cramps are so common for pregnant women. Everybody has them from now and then, some people more often than others, but there is no real cause for it. My doctor confirmed that soap worked for other pregnant women and she does not know why. There is a cure and for now, that will do.