Tag: lilksby

Lactation Lament

Sleep loss? No problem.  Less free time? Not too hard of an adjustment.  Breastfeeding? The most difficult thing I’ve done in my life, and I get on stage to act in front of judgmental audiences for a hobby.  One show I even entered doing a cartwheel and always had the lingering thought of what if I land on my head or break an arm? Breastfeeding makes that cartwheel look like a walk in the park! Thus today I want to lament on lactation, and what it has taught me.

DETERMINATION!

I’ve set a lot of goals in life. Some of them I’ve met; some of them I haven’t met. I thought these taught me grit and determination. Wrong! Do you know what teaches determination? A stubborn baby with an equally stubborn mama!

Lil Kisby was very energy efficient (the PC way to say lazy) when it came to nursing. Instead of latching, he felt the best way to eat was either from a syringe or a bottle especially the one that was leaky. He was born late May 20, and he decided to latch on June 7. For those counting that was 19 days!

In addition to him not latching, my milk production was around 50% of what it should be. Now a baby can’t just eat 50% of the time! Unlike mama, he doesn’t have extra fluff to lose. What did this mean? A strict regimen of nurse, supplement, pump and repeat every three hours. Yesterday – July 30 – he finally made it through a day with no formula supplementation because he was able to get full on breastmilk! 72 days after birth!

Now I get what determination means!

Supply, Supply, Supply

When your supply is low, you will do just about anything to help increase it. At least you will if you’re me. Seriously, if the lactation consultant had told me to stand on my head 7 hours a day to increase my supply, then I would have found a way to stand on my head 7 hours a day. Thankfully, that wasn’t recommended, but here are somethings I’ve tried!

Motherlove More Milk Special Blend – I’ve used the liquid and capsule forms. Both smell terrible and taste like they smell, but they were the number one recommendation. So my breath my smell like an herb garden, but if it helps then it is worth it!

Hot Tea – I’ve drank raspberry tea and Mother’s Milk tea. I don’t know how much they are helping, but they’ve turned me into a hot tea drinker. They are both decaf, and I find them to be relaxing before bedtime. Give me my tea and a book, and I’ll sleep like a baby!

Lactation Cookies – I bought some, then I found a recipe via Google to make my own. Store bought cookies were good, but mine are great because I added chocolate chips and peanut butter chips!

100 Grams of Protein Daily – This is the hardest for me as I am not a big meat or bean eater. My main sources of protein have been chicken nuggets and peanut butter with the occasional pork and hamburger. If I liked steak this would be a lot easier!

The Pink Drink – This drink is made at Starbucks and women on the Internet claimed it worked. There is no scientific evidence to support that it would help, but it tastes delicious! I’m a sucker for refreshing strawberry drinks! If it does help then cool, if not then it is $5 of tasty!

So…

So for those of you out there who have also struggled with breastfeeding, I want you to know that you are not alone! The lactation struggle is real! However, persevering through is worth it! I’d love to hear your stories of perseverance in the comments!

Now I must go make tea!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

 

Baby Eats Every 3 Hours…When Do I Eat?

I knew when LilKsby came along that he would have to eat every three hours. They taught us that in Baby Care Class. What they didn’t teach us is that sometimes feedings can take 90 minutes to 2 hours each time when you’re having to breastfeed, supplement, and pump every feeding. This isn’t always the case for people, but LilKsby wasn’t big on eating when he was first born. Can you imagine not liking to eat? I never thought that was possible!

So what do you do when you basically have 60 to 90 minutes for a meal between feedings?

1) People who say what can I do to help can bring you food! Seriously! Take them up on the offer whether it is for a home cooked meal or something from a drive thru. You will enjoy that few minutes you get to sit in a chair with your eyes closed instead of cooking.

2) Stock up on easy to cook frozen meals before baby comes. For some people this means cooking healthy meals, freezing them, and being ready to reheat. For me and Mr Kisby this meant stocking up on frozen pizzas and other frozen meals that bake in the oven. As an example, frozen lasagnas that take 70 to 80 minutes have been great! You put them in right before the feeding starts and then the lasagna is done right before you’re done!

3) Be okay with ordering pizza! This has the benefit of someone delivering it to your home, and it will taste delicious! If you’re a good techie, then download your favorite pizza place’s app and you may start to accrue points for freebies! The Papa John’s app has a great rewards system! Also, sign up for email rewards. Pizza Hut frequently sends out free breadsticks!

4) Drive Thrus – this option is not healthy, but it has one major advantage: babies have a tendency to fall asleep on car rides. So utilize the drive thru so that you can get something to eat, and baby will get a nap allowing you to eat! This option can get expensive, but most drive thrus have a value menu.

5) Hoard leftovers like it is 1999 and people are afraid of Y2K! Leftovers come in very handy as you can zap them in the microwave and be eating in two minutes or less! Plus, it’s a good excuse to have pizza for breakfast.

6) Be like a farm animal and graze whenever you can! Seriously! Become a pro snacker. Baby might not allow time for full meals. Therefore, stock up on peanut butter crackers, granola bars, or whatever else you like to snack on.

For the last 8 weeks this is pretty much how we’ve gotten through when it comes to food. It isn’t the greatest advice, but it will help you establish a routine. I also recommend having someone as fantastic as Mr Kisby to assist. It makes a world of difference!

In the mean time, LilKsby has fallen asleep after a feeding. That means snack time for me!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

B is for Baking

Cooking doesn’t excite me. I’ve always felt like it is a lot of work that leads to a lot of dishes, and more often than not it seems that the cooking takes more time than the eating. I suppose that is why I’ve always enjoyed eating at restaurants so much. One, someone else cooks the food, and two, someone else does the dishes. Plus, I like the socialization of being at a restaurant!

Despite not enjoying cooking, there is one thing I love to do in the kitchen: bake! I suppose it goes back to baking “scratch” biscuits when I would spend the night with my grandma (see my grandma blog). Those experiences were always fun! Now, I just enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with baking! Throughout the year, I get my baking fill with cookies mainly and perhaps the occasional bread, muffin, or brownie. (Sidebar: I love cupcakes, but with so many cupcake stores popping up it is easier just to go buy them.) The holidays are my time to really go hog wild!

My desire to bake during the holidays can be pinpointed to November 2008.  This was the year that I had my gall bladder removed, and I had to take two weeks off of work to recover. I quickly became bored, and I decided I wanted to learn how to make pumpkin bread. So, I did! Once I started baking the pumpkin bread, I realized that I enjoyed baking it more than I liked eating it.  This led to me baking it for other people and the realization that I enjoy making other people happy with food.

Making others happy with food has always been a challenge in my family due to the number of diabetics, but I’ve found that with a little creativity and ingredient substitutions I can make No Sugar Added (I don’t like to say sugar free because ingredients like fruit make it so natural sugars are present, and Splenda For Baking actually has some real sugar in it).  One of my favorite diabetic friendly recipes is my no sugar added peanut butter pie.  My aunt gave me the initial recipe, but I tweaked it to not involve cream cheese (YUCK!).  Are you ready? This is the most simple peanut butter pie ever: graham cracker pie crust, sugar-free chocolate pudding cups, natural peanut butter, and light whip cream.  I use the light whip cream instead of the sugar free whip cream because of the immense fat content in the sugar free.  The light is low enough in sugar that many diabetics can have a tiny bit of it.  All you do is mix the pudding, peanut butter, and whip cream together and put it in the pie crust. Ta da…no sugar added peanut butter pie! This pie made my Thanksgiving table this year!

This past Christmas I had the brilliant idea of making everyone their favorite desserts as part of their Christmas presents.  The first dessert was one that I’ve made for several years for my dad.  It is a sugar free pecan pie.  To get the recipe, I just Googled “sugar free pecan pie recipe” and found a great one on http://www.tablespoon.com.  I’ve made it several times now, and while the ingredients can be costly depending on the current nut prices, the end product is worth it!

My mom’s favorite has always been Black Forest cake. I’ve looked at several Black Forest cake recipes over the years, attempted one that was a TOTAL disaster, and finally came up with a compromise to her favorite desert that I was okay with presenting to her.  This past Christmas, I took a Sugar Free Pilsbury Cake Mix and baked it per the instructions on the box. I’m not sure if I used the Sugar Free Chocolate or Sugar Free Devils’s Food off the top of my head.  Once it had cooled, I took the corer that I’d never used before and punched a bunch of holes in the cake.  Each hole was then filled with a canned cherry (no sugar added!) or two and just before serving, I covered it in whipped topping.  My mom was satisfied with it, but I’m still open to an actual EASY Black Forest cake recipe if one exists!

For my aunt, I baked brownies.  Since it was Christmas, I went with the good stuff!  Well…the good stuff if you like brownies. Have I mentioned that I don’t really like chocolate? In fact, I don’t eat a lot of things I bake…I just like to bake!  So what is the good stuff? Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix!  Find it in a Wal-Mart near you! Sorry, but this one is not No Sugar Added.

The best thing from this last Christmas was that I finally learned how to make Mr. Kisby’s favorite: buttery spritz cookies. For years I’ve ate the spritz cookies that his mom made, and I never wanted to try them because I was sure that it would be complicated.  Determined to give it a try due to my pregnancy and wanting to be able to make LilKsby spritz cookies one day, I finally broke down and learned how to make them. Once again, I turned to Google to find the recipe and then Mr. Kisby’s mom to verify that the recipe I found seemed accurate. This time I used a Taste of Home recipe that was easy and delicious (not No Sugar Added)! My only negative part of this baking experience was the cheap cookie press.  Somethings you really should spend more than a $1.50 on.

With the arrival of LilKsby, my baking time is kind of limited. I hope by the holidays I’ll be back to a point where I can bake for everyone again. Until then, I’m a Nestle Toll House gal! You know…those fancy cookies made by Phoebe Buffay’s French relatives!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

A Reflection on Change

“The south moves north, the north moves south. A star is born, a star burns out.
The only thing that stays the same is
Everything changes, everything changes.”

-Tracy Lawerence, Time Marches On

When I began this blog a little over a year ago, my goal was to write about either a travel spot or my love of food once a week. Well, obviously since I haven’t blogged since August that didn’t quite go as planned. Why? Because simply put, things change.

There is a plaque on my living room wall that says “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I’ve ended up where I need to be.” This is a quote that I think describes my life – and probably that of many others – beautifully. When I began the blog last year, I was going through a time of loss from which writing provided me a distraction. The distraction was intensified by dreaming and sharing about all of the places I’ve been or love to eat. At the time, I needed that distraction.

Today, I’m back to blogging not because I need a distraction, but because I want to share my reflections on life. Unlike Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, I know that today is my birthday. There’s no forgetting that one for me! Also, unlike Nick I’m not turning 30; I’m turning 36. But similarly to the character of Nick, I have been going through a period that has changed the shape of my life. You see, last September we found out that God was blessing us with a rainbow baby.

This has been one of the happiest yet most intimidating changes me and Mr. Kisby have ever faced. In fact, at times – especially during those early appointments before I could feel baby moving – the changes were downright scary. But then you realize that you’re going to get to see the world through an innocent, beautiful, all wondering pair of eyes and suddenly you feel overwhelmed by how blessed you truly are!

This change has also led my mind to take a different direction from the focus of travel and food that are me and Mr Kisby centered, to dreaming of things that revolve around us and LilKsby. There are so many things I want us to share with this bundle of love:

  • The breathtaking ocean
  • The majestic mountains
  • The beauty of our quaint, small country church
  • The awesomeness that is Derby Festival
  • The places I loved as a child
  • The greatness of true friendship
  • The wonder of waterfalls
  • The fact that there are great free things to do
  • The adventure of reading
  • The joy of writing
  • The simple things like a walk through nature that show us the Kingdom, Power, and Glory around us

If you’d have asked me when I turned 35 if I would ever have a mind shift like this, then I’d have probably told you no. At the time, my heart was still broken and healing especially with the close timing to Mother’s Day when I had to watch as mothers were put on pedestals while I wanted to scream, “What about me? My baby is in heaven!”

But as Robert Frost once said, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” My road between May and September 2018 involved some amazing things that allowed me to be ready to be blessed by change. Me and Mr Kisby celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary (though I did tell him happy 7th anniversary) with an amazing dinner at Jeff Ruby’s and another cruise! We even tried snuba diving where supposedly there was a shark swimming near me that I didn’t even notice! I walked across the big Mary Kay stage in Dallas as a part of the Princess Court of Sales! In a fabulous dress of course! We went to the State Fair! We saw Taylor Swift in concert in Nashville! We spent a lot of time with friends and family! And shazam! We were blessed with the biggest, best change in the world: the change of LilKsby.

With our change, I will continue to blog. They might be more reflective than informational, but I’m looking forward to that. Maybe I’ll help someone else that needs a change experience one.

In the meantime, be like Gatsby…

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” – F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby