Oatmeal Overdose

Throughout my journey exclusively pumping for my baby, I tried a lot of the tricks to see if they would help with my supply. Of course, the basics of eating enough carbs and calories throughout the day as well as drinking enough water to float a boat were crucial, but in addition to these tips I found that eating at least one serving of oatmeal every day helped me to maintain my supply and increase it by at least an ounce every day until my milk dried.

I need you to know, though, I am absolutely not a fan of oatmeal. I haven't liked any hot cereal since I was a little kid. So I tried everything I could think of to make eating oatmeal everyday a little bit easier.

I started out just eating instant oatmeal packets. I would have one packet of maple brown sugar instant oatmeal every night after my last pumping session before I went to bed. That stuff is like eating wall paper paste. It gets the job done, but it really is probably my least favorite way to consume oatmeal.

After I ran out of packets of instant, I decided to try my hand at cooking oats on the stove as opposed to microwaving it. I bought that big tube of Quaker rolled oats at the grocery store. I looked on Pinterest to see if I would be able to find some way to make my own maple brown sugar oatmeal because that was the flavor I was familiar with. I found that making it on the stove was not only way easier than I thought it would be, it was weirdly much more tolerable than the microwave stuff. To make oatmeal on the stove, you simply use twice as much liquid as you do oatmeal. I prefer to make my oatmeal with milk because its a creamier consistency. I flavored my oatmeal with a couple tablespoons of brown sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon at first. That was a pretty standard flavor. Then I got a little crazy and tried some different things. I mixed in scoops of peanut butter and chocolate chips, caramel chips, dried cranberries or cherries and chopped pecans, candied nuts, and maple syrup. I even tried a savory oatmeal one night. I seasoned my oatmeal with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then, when it was done I mixed in shredded cheddar cheese and topped it with a fried egg. It was pretty good, but it was definitely different.

I also made a double batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies to try and get the job done. This worked but it turned out to be a double edged sword because as much as I liked them, my husband liked them too so they didn't last nearly as long as I would have liked. I followed the recipe for oatmeal cookies in the Better Homes and Garden red-checkered cookbook. This book is like the cooking Bible in my family. It is our go-to when we're looking for a simple, basic recipe. The recipe for oatmeal cookies is a simple recipe, but it's so good and it gets the job done. I've included a picture of the recipe below.

Here is a link to the same recipe online

Before getting too deep in the Pinterest recipe hole, I tried just putting oatmeal into different parts of my every day. I ate granola bars with oatmeal for a few days, but I found I had to eat at least two granola bars in one sitting for this to be effective. I also used oatmeal as a topping for yogurt. Each month, I get a carton of vanilla Yoplait and mix in some fresh raspberries. I find that this is a cheaper way for me to get yogurt and it's tasty. It's also probably better for me than the individual containers I buy because I tend to get light yogurt when I buy them individually. That stuff is secretly no bueno, guys. Anyways, I would cut up half a banana in a bowl and then put in my desired amount of my yogurt. Then, I would pour the dry rolled oats over the top to cover. After mixing it all together, the mixture was a lot thicker than it started out, but it was like eating a modified parfait. It's good enough and simple enough that it's something I continue to do.

The first hot stretch of the summer, I was absolutely miserable trying to eat a hot bowl of oatmeal so I started to get even more creative. The first colder oatmeal dish I tried was oatmeal energy bites. I read several recipes on the internet and then made up my own. I mashed a whole banana and mixed that with a cup of oatmeal. Then I mixed in a couple scoops of peanut butter, some mini chocolate chips, and craisins. When that was thoroughly mixed, I formed it into balls and put them on a tray in the freezer. After a couple hours, the balls were completely solid so I moved them from the tray to a gallon bag and stored them that way. I would take two or three out of the freezer when I was putting away my last pump session stuff. By the time I was done washing and bagging everything, the energy bites would be soft enough to eat but still solid. They were a really tasty alternative to a bowl of oatmeal and they were cold which helped cool me down. After that initial batch, I would sometimes just make a smaller batch of the goopy mix and eat it out of the bowl instead of freezing it into balls. Still tasty and got the job done!

I know it looks nasty but this mixture is actually delicious. Don't knock it till you try it!

The last thing I tried was making smoothies with oatmeal. I tried two different flavor combinations. The first was peanut butter and banana. I used a whole banana, a scoop of peanut butter, about a half cup of peanut butter, 3/4 cup milk, a sprinkling of cocoa, and a sprinkling of cinnamon. My first night making one of these smoothies, none of my ingredients were frozen and I didn't do anything to try and chill them before drinking the smoothie. The milk was cold, but everything else was just room temperature. I think that this negatively impacted the drink=ability of the smoothie. By the last quarter cup of the smoothie, I was really struggling to get it down. Because of that, I wasn't able to stomach this combination more than the one time.

One day, I will retry this recipe with frozen ingredient and I'm sure it'll be much better. I would also probably add some more milk and even a little more cocoa.

The other smoothie flavor I tried was strawberry and banana. This time, I learned from my mistakes of the other smoothie. I didn't have the foresight to freeze any of my ingredients, but I did make the smoothie prior to my last pumping session then put it in the fridge while I pumped. This gave it about an hour to chill and that was plenty of time to get cold without getting too frozen to drink. I made this smoothie every night for about a week because it was so good. I had a carton of strawberries that I rationed to last me the whole week (by the time I got to the end of the week, my smoothies were barely berry). With the berries, I mixed half a banana, a half cup of oats, a cup of milk, and a cap-full of vanilla extract. It probably didn't need the vanilla, but I wanted to be safe. I feel like the increased amount of milk helped to cut down on some of the weird texture that the oatmeal gives the smoothie and it was also a lot thinner and easier to drink. It was seriously so good, I would drink this even when I don't have to eat oatmeal every day.

Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Smoothie = Mega Success!

Now that I'm no longer breastfeeding, I don't have to eat oatmeal everyday and that's a mini blessing all it's own. However, there are so many health benefits of oatmeal that I'll definitely maintain it as a part of my diet, if with a lower frequency.

Take Care

Self care is crucial at any time in our lives, but I would argue especially so when you've had a baby. Moms really go through the punches just to keep that little bundle of flesh alive and healthy. It starts before birth and never really seems to stop. Our little bubs come first, and sometimes we sacrifice ourselves to make that possible. My go-to self care list is very different from what it was before baby. And that's okay, the important thing is figuring out what works for you and implementing it. A little something every day can help to keep you sane when things get a little hairier.

I've been blessed enough to be doing this with the father of my baby. Usually, as soon as he walks through the door, I'm ready to hand off the baby for a little while. We both need breaks sometimes though. I've found that what we do when we need a moment for ourselves is very different, though. My husband will ask if he can go with his friends for a couple hours to play Pokemon Go (I married a dork and I love him). In contrast, I'll ask if he will watch the baby for a while so that I can shower for as long as I want, uninterrupted. He will watch the baby so that I can go to the occasional girls night or something with my friends, but most of the time I just want to do something quietly by myself.

Something that I've been trying to do more of especially lately is exercise. I'm not so much looking to get some version of a pre-baby body or anything like that. More so, I want to be the healthiest version of myself. In the past, I've gone running but I haven't been able to do that yet post-baby. Instead, I've been going walking a lot. We had some car trouble recently which has sort of forced my hand when it comes to walking, but I'm glad for it. Recently, this has meant I've had to walk to run errands around town. Earlier this week, I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and then had to pick something up at the pharmacy. After I finished there, I decided to go to the Maverik near my house for a soda. All in all, this meant walking roughly five miles by noon. I was spent, but I really felt like I had earned that tasty, tasty Dr Pepper. I also feel like there's nothing to stop me from walking for errands all the time. Until it snows, at least.

In addition to walking, I've been working on getting into a daily yoga routine. I've been a major slacker and haven't gotten this one totally figured out yet. I know, though, that this is something I'll easily be able to do with a minimal amount of effort after JJ goes to bed each night. I have a personal goal to be able to do a headstand pose by the time his first birthday rolls around. I know this means I really need to get my butt in gear though. It's important with exercises like yoga and inversions to take your time and listen to your body. Pushing myself too fast too soon could mean injuries that push back any progress I might make. And even if I don't make my goal by his birthday, I know that as long as I do start working at it I'll be so much closer then than I am now.

Once the local college resumes classes in the fall, I plan to start attending a Zumba class once a week there. I started doing this before I got pregnant and continued through the first half of my pregnancy until I got too big to be able to move around that vigorously. There's something invigorating about being able to completely focus on moving quickly to a beat. I don't worry about what I look like or how red my face gets, I just focus on staying in motion. It's really zen in a weird way.

Something that I've found is beneficial to me in addition to some type of exercise is reading. About a month before JJ was born, I signed up for a library card. And now I only have one thing that bugs me about it. Why didn't I get a library card sooner?! It's seriously wonderful. I live close enough that I can walk to the library (similar walking situation as the five miles I mentioned earlier) and they have DVDs, CDs, books for me, books for my husband, and books for my little-- and it's all free! I have a bag that we've dedicated to library books and we can check out up to 50 things at one time or something really crazy like that. It's beautiful. It's been so great having a free way to get books and read. I don't even have to feel guilty about only really reading semi-crappy cheesy romance that takes two seconds to figure out. (Side note: love me some modern romance surrounding weddings, but that's pretty niche so if you have suggestions PLEASE let me know!)

Sometimes, even with all these great plans, self care simply means I have to let my sweet baby boy cry while I go to the bathroom. I know there are moms that just take their babies with them and hold them while they go. I'm trying really hard to avoid that. I've had him in a bouncy seat or swing in the bathroom with me while I shower, but I try to keep doing my business a private affair. Even though it's just a minute or two, I let myself sit and soak up the quiet for just that brief moment. It gives me the chance to gather myself and recompose. I get to take a breather before heading back to the front lines. And sometimes that's the only self care I get in a day. I try to make sure I get other things done for myself during the day but we all have those days where our little one is extra fussy or clingy. Those days especially, I close the door and go to the bathroom all by myself. I let the fan drown out his cries just for a brief 60 seconds so that I can get my head on straight and be the mom my little boy needs. And that's okay. He will be okay for sixty seconds while I go to the bathroom. The world will not end. His world will be better because I took that minute for myself.

I Have Just Met You And I Love You

(Obviously, as this is a birth story, there are a lot of gory details. If you don't want to know all the TMI, please consider this your warning and move right along)

My sweet little boy made his way into the world entirely on his own terms. I had a pretty difficult pregnancy, but my labor by comparison was pretty breezy.

In the second half of my pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes which was then managed with diet and exercise for the most part. I ended up needing to take Metformin to bring my fasting numbers into the acceptable range. Because of this, my OBGYN wanted to induce labor at 38 weeks. There's an increased risk of placental death with taking medication to manage gestational diabetes and we did not want to take any risks.

I started going to appointments twice a week in mid April for monitoring. A week before my scheduled induction, my OB started performing cervical sweeps to hopefully ease my body into the labor process. After the first sweep, I lost my mucus plug and started to experience more Braxton Hicks contractions. Originally, I was going to work right up until I gave birth, but my doctor and I agreed that it would be prudent for me to begin my leave early. 

The day before I was scheduled to be induced, I had one last appointment. By that time, I had dilated to a two on my own and was having regular, nonproductive contractions. Since things had stayed at that same point for a few days, my doctor decided to be more aggressive with the cervical sweeping. My body must have been really ready to go because that was all it took. 

I was uncomfortable after my appointment and a little bit crampy but that was par for the course. As the day progressed, the cramping got worse and worse. I spent the entire afternoon with my feet up and drinking water. My husband brought me Freddy's for dinner at my request because I had felt so crummy all day. I had a hotdog and chili cheese fries (this was a decision I almost instantly regretted). About a half hour after we finished eating, I started to experience negative side effects from the Metformin interacting with the chili fries. I think that also accelerated my experience.

After being sick a couple times, my cramps had progressed to being actual contractions. I was starting to freak out. My parents live 12 hours away and were getting ready to drive to be here for the birth and I was starting to feel like they weren't going to get here in time. I took a shower in the vain attempt to slow things down and get my body to relax enough that I would be able to get some sleep.

We went to be at about 10pm on 1 May. I could not get comfortable. The contractions were getting worse and I was starting to feel like they were almost constant. My husband was timing them without me knowing and told me they got to be about two minutes apart and we could not wait any longer to go to the hospital. 

We are very blessed to live a total of five minutes from our hospital and we were there at about 11:30pm. We had taken a birth class weeks before which had included a hospital tour so we knew exactly where to go to check in. When we got to Labor and Delivery, I found out I had dilated to a three throughout the course of the day. The nurse had me walk around for two half-hour increments to ensure that my labor was actually progressing enough to admit me. 

During this hour, my contractions started to get stronger. The majority of the pain was occurring in my lower spine. By the end of the hour, my legs were starting to go out from under me when contractions would come on. The nurse checked me and I had progressed to a 3.5 during that time. She said they were going to call my doctor (who was, very thankfully, working in the ER that night) to see if he felt I should be admitted. She was back within five minutes to get me in a room. That was about 1am.

Immediately, the nurse had the anesthesiologist come to give me an epidural. Let me tell you. I was worried about getting an epidural because you hear all these horror stories about birth and epidurals. That thing was magical. Typically, I need to watch when I'm being given an injection. It helps me cope with the pain of the needle. Since this was in my back, there was no way for me to watch the injection. The anesthesiologist was a super pro, though, and he talked me through the whole thing. He timed the actual epidural with a contraction so I didn't feel it at all.

While he was working on getting the epidural just right, Rusty held my hand to help me through the contraction pain. The nurse had brought him a chair so that I could look at him and stay in the right position for the epidural. He told me to squeeze his hand as hard as I could to help with the pain. I nearly broke his hand, guys. He still had his wedding ring on and I was squeezing hard enough that it was hurting him. The nurse had to work really hard to open my hands enough to be able to get his ring off and relieve his hands a little bit. 

Thankfully, the epidural worked very quickly. Once they had me layed back down, I was able to rest for a few hours. They would come and check my vitals and everything about once an hour to make sure things were still progressing. At about 4:30am, I was dilated to a six and they had my doctor come to break my water. From there, things moved even quicker.

Shortly after 5am, the nurses told me it was time to push. They had Rusty hold one of my legs to help me and the nurse held my other leg. She told me how to push and had me practice a couple times. All of the nurses that helped me said they were impressed with how quickly I picked up on what I needed to do as a first time mom.

After a couple pushes, I started to dry heave. They gave me a bag in case I puked, but all it did was cause the baby to crown. One of the nurses ran to call the doctor in while the other nurse tried to reposition me on my side and told me to take short, shallow breaths and to not push. That was like a bad joke. There's basically nothing you can do to make your body stop once you reach that point. The nurse also gave me some oxygen at this point to help me breath (I barely remember that part though).

Once my doctor came in (thankfully just a minute or two later), it was just a couple more pushes until my beautiful boy entered the world. In every ultrasound we had, our baby had his hand right by his face. Birth was unfortunately no exception. This caused a small, second degree tear which my doctor was able to stitch up with no problem. I think the tear was also caused because of how quickly things progressed but that's just me.

After pushing a total of 30 minutes, I felt every emotion all at once. I was holding my baby and fighting back tears and laughter simultaneously. Rusty cut the cord and the nurses gave our sweet boy a quick wipe down. I just held him for as long as they would let me. I was so tired but so invigorated all at the same time. I fed him and had french toast for the first time in five months. It was beautiful.

Jacob J Sarsozo was born at exactly 5:58am, a mere six and a half hours after I checked into the hospital. He weighed 6lb7oz and was 17 inches long. He had a full head of brown, curly hair. He's got all his fingers and all his toes. And I could not be more in love with him.

In the early afternoon, my parents would arrive in time for JJ's first bath. I so wish that circumstances had been just a smidge different so that my mom could have been there to help me during the birth, but I was so incredibly happy that they were able to be there at all. Plus they brought me a soda and that just sweetened the deal.

Below is the first picture I took of my little family. My two boys. I feel weepy whenever I look at it and I probably always will. There is so much love in this picture. These two are my everything and I don't want to know a world without them. The night of 1 May to 2 May was the hardest night of my life and it was completely worth every second. I have no regrets. Except maybe those chili fries.