The Lady Beekeeper

I really don’t want to harp on more things that make child-rearing difficult, so I’ll try and make this the last one (though I have a sneaking suspicion it won’t be).  For the record, I am honestly not trying to complain about or dissuade anyone from parenting, just trying to document all the things that have been surprising to me as a new mom.  What can I say?  I’m an engineer so I’m taking the analytical approach.  Maybe it will make it easier to look back and empathize when my other friends are raising children and I’ve forgotten everything.

Anyway, today’s topic is breastfeeding.  All I’m going to say is that it is difficult, and I was warned it was difficult by pretty much everyone I know.  You’d think something that humans have been doing for hundreds of thousands of years would be pretty innate by now.  Unfortunately it seems that even if you don’t have any problems with latching or supply, it is still a learning experience for both mom and baby.  And once you do get the hang of it there are still times where things are frustrating for one reason or another.

But luckily, because we live in the 21st century, there are many products created to make things easier!  I can tell you that my #1 favorite is the “My Brest Friend” nursing pillow – affectionately referred to as “the shelf” by my family.  The thing is amazing for positioning baby – and since it is strapped to you, it doesn’t move around when baby squirms unlike the Boppy type pillows.  In fact, you can even walk around with the thing on!  It’s great.  If you plan to breastfeed you need to put one on your registry.

Another useful item for nursing is a nursing journal.  Its sort of a pain in the butt, but up until recently I wrote down the time of every feeding, soiled diaper or pumping session.  In addition I would record the side Julius nursed on.  Early on it was very helpful to make sure Julius was eating enough.  Over the last couple weeks I’ve finally stopped recording the soiled diapers, because its pretty obvious if there are enough or not during a day.  I only record nursing and pumping sessions now, since it is still very useful to know when the last time he ate was.  At night though its not as important that I track the time – I just hope he goes as long as possible without eating!  So I don’t bother waking him every three hours like I do during the day (that would be crazy!)  So all I need to know at night is what side I need to nurse him on.  My co-worker gave me a set of magnetic nursing side indicators that address this problem.

Unfortunately, while they stay on well during the day, I find that they frequently fall off in my sleep, defeating the purpose.  To solve this problem I created a version that uses snaps instead of magnets to hook over your bra strap.  These worked better than the originals (and I almost posted about them a couple weeks ago – so if you want the instructions, shoot me a message) but after using them for a while they still had some problems.  Frequently I’d forget to switch the indicator over to the other bra strap until after I was done nursing, which means I would need to lift up my shirt and fiddle around under there to fix it.  This makes using them in public iffy.  Then I realized, why not just wear a bracelet?  It’s not under your clothes so you can switch it easily from hand to hand after a nursing session without awkwardly groping around under your shirt if you forget.  Of course, any old bracelet will do, but preferably one that is easy to slip on and off.  Well, that wasn’t good enough for me, so I created one that solves one additional nursing problem!

My version of the under shirt nursing indicator using snaps instead of magnets (let me know if you want my instructions).

Another problem I have is that if I’m not wearing a nursing friendly shirt (think buttons, or big pull down collar) I have to lift my shirt up to nurse.  The shirt inevitably falls down on baby and annoys him and/or gets covered in milk.  This bracelet doubles as a way to hold up your shirt while you’re nursing!

Nursing Bracelet

What you’ll need

• 1 coat hook from a package of “Dritz 4 Coat Hooks and Eyes”

and either

• 10″ of elastic
• small glass beads
• Beading wire
• Bead tip or to cover knot in elastic*
• bead glue

or

• knotted elastic hair tie (like these)

To make the beaded bracelet

1. Cut a 3″ piece of beading wire, fold in half and twist around one end of the elastic to form a needle.
   

   Thread wire around end of elastic to form a needle.

2. Thread 4″ of beads onto the elastic.
   

   Thread 4″ of beads onto elastic .

3. Thread coat hook onto elastic.
   

   Thread coat hook onto elastic

4. Thread another 4″ of beads onto the elastic.
   

   Thread rest of beads onto elastic.

5. *Add a crimp bead or tube if desired.
6. Knot the ends of the elastic together.
   

   Knot ends of elastic.

7. Trim the ends of the elastic then put a drop of glue on the knot.
   

   Trim ends of elastic then put a drop of glue on the knot

8. Cover knot with a bead or crimp tube.
   

   Cover elastic with crimp bead or tube

9. ** Note if your beads are too large, you may have to open the hook part of the coat hook slightly so it will fit over your beads when using.
   

   Finished bracelet

To make the hair tie bracelet

1. Unknot hair tie.
2. Thread coat hook onto hair tie.
3. Re-tie hair tie.
   

   Finished bracelet from hair tie

To use – simply loop the bracelet around your neckline and the bottom of your shirt. Hook the coat hook onto the opposite end of the bracelet.

Bracelet holding up shirt for nursing access.

Loop bracelet around shirt and hook onto other end of bracelet to hold shirt in place.

Happy new year!  I hope you all are looking back fondly on 2017 and have big plans for 2018!  2017 was a big year for us – we brewed and started raising baby Julius!  We’re excited for lots of baby firsts in the coming year.  Recently Julius has become a very smiley guy.  He started really smiling a couple weeks back – but the smiles were limited to once or twice a day.  Now the little guy seems to smile all the time!  Nothing makes me happier than seeing mister Julius smile!  Of course we cannot wait until he can LAUGH!

In addition to the smiles – this holiday break brought me some sleep!  I actually feel like a real person again!  Will let me sleep in every day while he and Grandma fed the baby from a bottle for the first morning feeding if I wasn’t up yet.  It was glorious!

As always, the first of the new year brings lots of discussion of resolutions.  Since I’m no longer pregnant, I want to get back to running.  It was sad for me to quit running for the past nine months, but unfortunately now that I have the approval to exercise again it is bitter cold out!  The thermometer right now reads 2 degrees!  This means running with Julius in the jogging stroller is out of the question for a while.  Frankly, just walking to the car with the little guy in his car seat makes me nervous!  We bundle him up and throw tons of blankets on top of him for fear of him freezing to death in the 30 second walk to a parking lot or someone’s house.

Recently I made a car seat cover to use while we carry Julius around outside the house.  It is made of cotton, but has a fleece insert you can use for the winter.  If you’re indoors or it is pleasant weather outside you can remove the fleece insert and still keep the sun (and nosy strangers) out of your baby’s face.  I made it a little large so you can tuck it into the carrier.  You may want to make it a foot shorter if you don’t want to do any tucking.

Four Season Car Seat Cover

What you’ll need:

• lightweight fusible interfacing
• 1.5 yards of 56″ or 58″ wide cotton fabric
• 1.25 yards of 56″ or 58″ wide fleece fabric
• 16 snaps

1. Cut a piece of cotton fabric 43″ x56″.  Repeat for fleece fabric.
2. Hem cotton fabric with 1/2″ double fold hem.  Make sure to miter corners.
   

   Hem cotton fabric using double fold & miter corners.

3. Hem fleece fabric with a 1″ single fold hem.  The fleece will not unravel, and the single fold hem will lower the fabric bulk.
   

   Hem fleece with a single fold.

4. Using handle template above, add 1/2″ seam allowance and cut out 4 of cotton and two of interfacing.
   

   Cut handles from interfacing and cotton fabric.

5. Fuse each piece of interfacing to one of the cotton handles following manufacturer’s instructions.
6. Pin handle side with interfacing to a handle side without interfacing.  Repeat for second handle.
   

   Pin handle with interfacing to handle without interfacing

7. Stitch around handle leaving a 3 inch gap along the skinny side of the handle.
   

   Stitch around handle leaving a gap at handle center.

8. Clip curves and corners and turn right side out.  Stitch along 3″ gap to close it.
   

   Turn handle right side out through gap and stitch gap closed.

9. Fold the cotton cover in half lengthwise.  Mark along the fold, 22 inches in (this should be the center).  Mark 3.5 inches out from the center marking along fold on either side.
   

   Mark 3.5 inches from the center of the cotton fabric, along the width.

10. Center handles along this marking as shown in the picture.  Stitch handles to cotton cover.
    

    Stitch handles to cotton cover.

11. Following manufacturer’s instructions attach snap tops to cotton cover in positions shown in picture.
    

    Attach snaps as shown in diagram above.

12. Repeat for snap bottoms on fleece.
13. Attach snaps to handles so they form loops.  (Snap tops to top side of handle, snap bottoms to bottom side of handle.)
    

    Add snaps to handles.

For mild weather use, attach handles to car seat carrier.  Drape over car seat.  For cold weather use, attach the fleece insert for extra warmth!

Car seat cover attaches to handles using snaps.

Finished car seat cover.

Don’t you just love the frog batik fabric?? I got it for only a couple dollars at a thrift shop!

Little guy is ready to brave the cold! (The car seat cover is folded up above him in this picture while we put him into the carrier).

Merry Christmas!  Happy (belated) Hanukkah!  Happy Noam Chomsky Day!  Or may whatever winter holiday you celebrate be jolly!  Well I had a great blog post idea for today.  I was going to write all about my breastfeeding experiences (don’t worry it wasn’t going to be graphic).  The plan was to call it, “Breastmilk and cookies”.  Get it?  You’re supposed to leave milk and cookies out for Santa?  But not breastmilk.  Definitely don’t leave him breastmilk.  Well (luckily?) I ran out of time, and didn’t get to write it yet.

So we are starting to get into more of a routine with little Julius. It is starting to feel less like, “oh my God what have we gotten ourselves into” and more like, “okay we may be able to handle this”.  I think the turning point was when I completed a shopping trip with the little guy.  My friend Maren told me she schedules a reason for her and her little one to leave the house every day – whether a visit to the library, a breastfeeding group, or a shopping trip.  I thought this was a genius idea, and though I haven’t done it every day, I’m trying to get out of the house with Julius several times a week.

For each outing it takes me an eternity to pack his diaper bag since I’m concerned I’ll forget something.  By the time I’m done packing, my bag weighs about 50 pounds.  This makes carrying a pocketbook out of the question!  Instead I throw my keys and purse into the bag.  The problem is, I’m never able to find my keys in that giant bag!  There are so many pockets they could be hiding in!  I decided to make a tether to attach my keys to the bag.  All I have to do now is grab the end of the tether and pull and I’ve got my keys!  Though I made it for a diaper bag, it would work great on a pocketbook.  In fact, I got the idea from a bag I got from Will’s grandmother – and it has even made my pocketbook searching so much easier!

Key Tether

What you need:

• 1″ lobster clasp
• 1″ key ring
• 16″ of 1″ ribbon or trim

1. Fold 1″ of ribbon over key ring.  (Right side out.)  Pin and stitch.
   

   Fold 1″ of ribbon over key ring. Pin and Stitch.

2. Insert ribbon through lobster clasp ring.
   

   Insert ribbon through lobster clasp.

3. Turn under unfinished edge 1/2″.  Place folded edge 1/4″ below the key ring.  Pin & stitch.
4. Slide lobster clasp so it is opposite the key ring and the rest of the ribbon sits flush.
   

   Fold under 1/2″ of unfinished edge and pin 1/4″ below the key ring.

5. Stitch the ribbon together as close as possible to both of the unfinished edges.
   

   Stitch along unfinished edges of ribbon to secure.

To use either attach key ring to zipper pull or loop ribbon around bag handle and through key ring.  Attach keys to lobster clasp.

You can either loop tether around handle and through key ring, then attach keys.

Outside view of key tether attached to diaper bag handle.

Inside view of key tether attached to diaper bag handle.

Or you can attach key ring to a zipper, and attach keys to clasp.

Merry Christmas!

When I was pregnant I saw these adorable tiny crowns on Etsy and decided I wanted to make one.  It was very easy to make, but our uses for it were rather silly.  We took multiple pictures of him with the crown.  First, our friend Joe photographed us holding the crown while I was pregnant and waiting for our little prince.  The second time was the day after he was born when he had hospital photos taken.  This picture was incredibly silly (you can see below).  Finally I took a third picture 2 weeks after his hospital photos.  You can tell the crown is already way too small by this point!  And looking back… he has gotten SO MUCH BIGGER in only 4 more weeks!

Our friend Joe Kerekes took this cute picture of us awaiting our tiny prince.

Julius’ silly hospital photo. He wasn’t awake enough to put it on top of his head… but this is just plain silly.

This is just two weeks after his hospital photos were taken, but his head is already way too big!

And just for perspective, this was Julius yesterday at 5 weeks, 5 days! Look at that noggin, definitely won’t fit a 3″ diameter crown now!  But what a cutie, right?

3″ Diameter Tiny Crown

What you’ll need:

• fabric stiffener – I used Aleene’s Stiffen Quik
• gold fabric paint – I used Tulip Colorshot
• 11″ of lace ribbon – mine was 3″ high
• aluminum foil

1. Overlap the edges of your lace ribbon so the seam will not be noticeable.  For instance, if you have arches on your ribbon, make sure those arches overlap.  Make sure the diameter is close to 3″.  Pin and stitch the edges together.
   

   Pin lace so it discretely overlaps.

2. Make an aluminum foil form to hold the crown, then spray with fabric stiffener.   Let dry following manufacturer’s instructions.
   

   Spray crown with fabric stiffener on aluminum form.

3. Spray the crown with gold fabric paint.  Let dry following manufacturer’s instructions.  You may need to do multiple coats for full coverage.
   

   Spray crown with gold fabric paint.

   

We’ve been calling Julius “little squish” since he left the hospital.  He gets all cuddly and kind of squishes himself up against you when he is sleepy.  And he’s basically a ball of goo when he’s tired.  You could squish the little guy into any position and he’d live with it.  Hence “little squish”.  Well my little squish is now a whopping 9.2 lbs and 22 inches long as of last Thursday!  22 inches is in the 95th percentile for his age!  I told Will we’re going to have to start calling him “big squish”!

I thought the baby blues were supposed to be over by now, but I started sobbing today thinking about putting the little squish in daycare.  What if I miss his first word?  I know millions of people put their kids in daycare, but for some reason this is a serious concern for me right now!

At this point though, his daily milestones are mostly eating, sleeping and pooping.  This means I’ve (understandably) gotten lots of questions about how cloth diapering is going.  I can honestly tell you, it is going pretty well!  We started him in cloth diapers as soon as we got back to our house (this was a week after he was born since we stayed with my parents after leaving the hospital).  For now, we have decided to continue using disposables when we’re out on the town, just to make things easier.  (But we don’t go out very often so we haven’t used many disposables.)  From what we’ve observed, he doesn’t mind the cloth diapers any more or less than disposables.  He seems indifferent to either type and cries when he is wet regardless of the diaper.   As for me, I think the cloth diapers make his fanny look big which is kind of adorable.

When I decided to go the cloth diapering route, I also decided to use cloth wipes as well.  In the hospital they teach you to use a disposable wipe that you wet with water, and that’s just what we do at home with the cloth wipe.  Originally I purchased a package of OsoCozy wipes off amazon.  Their wipes cost $.66 a piece, which isn’t big money, but I knew I could make them for a fraction of that price.  While I was pregnant I bought a yard of flannel fabric from Joann fabrics (on sale for $2.50 a yard).  From this I produced 20 wipes – for a total of twelve cents a wipe!  Now that’s more like it!  You can make your own wipes very quickly if you have a serger.  I made all twenty in less than an hour!

Little squish striking a pose in his cloth diapers.

What you’ll need:

• 1 yard of 42″ wide flannel fabric (I purchased natural cozy flannel)
• Serger

1. First machine wash and dry your flannel.  There will be some shrinkage, so its easier to account for that initially.
2. Divide up your fabric into 20 8″x8″ squares (or whatever size your shrinkage allows – it may be a bit smaller or bigger depending how much shrinkage occurred.)
   

   Divide fabric into 8″x8″squares

3. Cut squares.
   

   Cut squares

4. Serge your fabric squares, rounding the corners slightly.
   

   Serge squares, rounding corners slightly.

The wipes are easy to put into a wipe container.  My co-worker gave us a munchkin wipe warmer, and while I’m still debating if I want to store the wipes wet or dry it works perfectly for holding fabric wipes this size!  To store your wipes in a container – assemble as follows:

1. Place wipe on table.
   

   Place wipe on table.

2. Place second wipe overlapping with first wipe by 50%.
   

   Place second wipe overlapping with first wipe by 50%.

3. Fold first wipe in half over second wipe.
   

   Fold first wipe in half over second wipe.

4. Place third wipe overlapping with exposed portion of second wipe.
   

   Place third wipe overlapping with exposed portion of second wipe.

5. Fold second wipe in half over first wipe.
   

   Fold second wipe in half over first wipe (left side of second wipe over right side).

6. Place fourth wipe over exposed portion of third wipe.
   

   Place fourth wipe over exposed portion of third wipe.

7. Continue stacking wipes until finished, then push the top wipe half through the storage container opening.
   

   Place wipes in box.

   

   Feed top layer of fabric through hole in wipe box.

   Or just watch this GIF!

   

   How to fold wipes

Well parenting is hard.  More difficult than I imagined really, and I thought it seemed pretty difficult.  I have newfound appreciation or maybe even reverence for my parents.  I think that instead of flowers and ties every Mother and Father’s day I should have been buying my parents cruises to the Bahamas or Lamborghinis.  At this point in time, it is really difficult for me to fathom how it is possible to raise more than one child.  I can’t even imagine having twins.

And it’s not just the lack of sleep either – I know that was the main thing I’d imagined caused difficulty.  But its so much more than that.  On top of the fact that you’re already drained from pregnancy and the birth process, there are so many things that come with caring for a newborn.

My normal day is now mostly taken up by breastfeeding in some form.  Breastfeeding infants eat 8 to 12 times a day.  My little guy is a slow eater (probably because of the nipple shield I have to use) so breastfeeding sessions take somewhere between 15 minutes and an hour.  If he’s cluster feeding, there are more sessions than usual.  I also have to pump in between sessions which is time consuming.  Aside from breastfeeding, diaper changes take up the next chunk of my time.  Yesterday we changed his diaper 12 times (that we remembered to record).  After diaper changes I spend my time cleaning & sanitizing breast pump parts and nipple shields and doing laundry (he can soil many outfits a day, plus any towels or covers I get dirty while feeding or bathing him.  After that I finally spend time playing with him or determining why he’s upset.  Then if I’m lucky I’ll have some time left to tidy up the house, and maybe shower.  And finally if there is anything left it is time to sleep.

The biggest problem with all this infant time is that breastfeeding doesn’t take much thinking after you get him latched, and right now for me it usually involves both hands.  This means it is a fairly boring task and as adorable as the little guy is, sitting around watching him feed is not overly stimulating.  Martha Stewart has solved this problem for me!  I have started watching clips and reruns of old Martha episodes on YouTube while I feed Julius.  I think he’s started to get used to it to the point where if he were ever to meet Martha in person, he would take an instant liking to her.

Well here’s a craft project Martha could put on her show!  A simple zippered pillow case!  I made this for the rocker in Julius’ nursery and I have been using it while I breastfeed.

Simple Zippered Pillow

What you’ll need:

• 1/2 yard of material of your choice
• 16″x16″ pillow form
• 9″ zipper (or use any size up to 14″ zipper)

1. Cut your 1/2 yard of material into two 17″x17″ squares.
2. Place fabric squares right sides together and pin.  Stitch two sides of the pillow.
   

   Pin pillow together.

3. Baste 3rd side of the pillow.
4. Lay out your zipper on top of the basted side.   Mark 1/2″ out from the where the teeth end and begin.  Stitch from edge of pillow to this mark on either side along your basting line, leaving the stitching inside these markings as just basting.
   

   Place zipper on basted side of pillow., right side down. Mark 1/2″ above and below the start and end of the zipper teeth and reinforce by stitching to this marking from either end of the pillow over your basting.

5. Pin your zipper in between the markings you made in above step, face down.  With a zipper foot baste around the zipper.
6. Remove the basting in between your markings.  Unzip the zipper and stitch around the zipper to secure fully.
   

   Remove basting in between zipper opening. Stitch with zipper foot all around zipper.

7. Stitch 4th side.
8. Turn right side out through the zipper.
   

   Turn right side out through zipper.

9. Insert pillow form through the zipper opening.
   

   Finished zippered pillow sitting on our glider!