Increasing my milk supply ...

Recently, I feel as if I can supply enough breast milk to my baby girl. She eats and eats and eats all day and doesn't leave me any milk to pump for later (I am trying to give her one bottle a day for her Vitamin D supplement and I need at least a few bottles her for when we go out on a date next weekend). I hate being stuck in this predicament and I hate the idea that my milk production just won't be enough for her and that I may have to switch to supplementing to formula. So, to try and up my supply ... I did a little research on the best ways to increase ones milk supply.

1. Rest, eat well, and drink lots of water.
If you don't rest enough or eat well, your body will be too stressed and malnourished to produce the right amount of milk your baby needs. Also, being dehydrated decreases your milk production greatly. Rest when baby sleeps, eat a varied diet, and drink nothing but water and lots of it!

2. Pump, pump, pump!
Even if you are exclusively breastfeeding and not giving even breast milk in a bottle to your baby, pump often. Pump after your baby feeds, or every 2 hours to get your supply up. I try to feed my baby on one boob and then pump the rest on the other. That way my baby is eating the perfect amount AND I also have a large amount pumped and saved for later.

3. Take a 'nursing vacation'
This surprised and intrigued me the most. Take a nursing vacation, just you and baby. Stay in bed all day and do nothing but rest and feed (and eat of course). This way your baby can be on the boob as much as possible as well as spend a whole day with mommy!

4. Try using some herbal methods.
If all of these natural methods can seem to up your production, consider using some herbal methods. Fenugreek and Mother's Milk Tea are great ways to up your supply in just a few days and can be picked up at any store like Babies R Us or Walmart.

The most important thing is giving your baby the nourishment he/she needs. If you can't supply enough to your baby, talk to your doctor about your options.

I know I will be trying every single one of these options before I even think about supplementing with formula. Let's just hope they work.

New Beginnings

I hate a love/hate relationship with new beginnings.
New beginnings, which I will leave vague for the time being, are like friends.
Not like best friends. Not close friends.
You know ... friends.
Someone you know, but don't know very well.
Easily forgotten.
The ones who throw you under the bus?
Yeah. Friends.
New beginnings are like friends.
You get one, and at first, everything is great.
You have a lot in common and you spend a lot of time together.
But eventually you hit that wall.
That moment when you realize that this ... isn't going anywhere.
This thing that you just met, just started .. this 'friendship' starts spiraling.
Faster than you can imagine.
You become overwhelmed and confused.
You neglect them at times and things fall apart.
You start to lose your grip.
But unlike friends, who are interchangeable at any time, New Beginnings are not.
New Beginnings, still vague, have to be endured.
You have to press on and keep on the rocky path.
You have to put in extra time and sacrifice so much for so little.
You hurt yourself, not because you want to feel miserable, but because you have to feel miserable.
That's the catch 22.
The impending doom.
You have no choice.
New Beginnings is life and everything that come with it.
And with life, there is no getaway car.

NASA can't locate our own satellite? Hmmm ...

Sometime late last night one of our country's satellites came hurling into our atmosphere. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), which was deployed in 1991, was shut down in 2005 and NASA, at the time, didn't feel it necessary to shoot it down safely and monitor it's descent into our airspace.

No, NASA decided to just ignore the big piece of space junk for six years until it made it's own decision to crash onto our planet.

Fine, not that big of a deal ... NASA will just monitor the crash so no one gets hurt ... Oh wait. They don't know where the satellite crashed.

How can our government know that a satellite is about to smash into our planet but can't stay awake long enough to find out where exactly the waste if space was going to land?

I'm guessing they figured it didn't matter if Times Square was demolished by a few tons of 'cooled metal rims and batteries' or if the Eiffel tower was smashed to pieces. Not smart USA, not smart at all.

As a normal human being, as one in a billion of the same, ... I surely wonder where the satellite found its home.

My Favorite Movie Character?

Someone recently asked me who was my favorite movie character and I had to hesitate with my answer. For quite some time. 


See, for me, this is a difficult question. 


I have a deep love for film and it’s very hard for me to decide on just one character, or actor. But if I was forced to make a choice, I would probably choose the character Clementine from the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Throughout the film Clementine radiates a level of eclectic energy that really strikes a spot in my heart. Her ever changing hair reminds me of myself and how I enjoy changing things about myself (although never as drastic considering the only thing I’ve done to my hair is either cut it or dye it blonde). Her attitude and demeanor, although shocking at times, is very raw and real. Even as a straight woman, I am drawn to her hypnotizing smile and easy going nature.  Clementine is a bi-polar, demanding women and I just love her. Plus, I really enjoy the Huckleberry Hound song, “Oh my darling, Oh my darling, Oh my darling Clementine .. thou art lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, Clementine.”

The Working Mom Vs. The Stay at Home Mom

I always thought that when I had my first child, I would take my maternity leave and then return to work. I would take my daughter to day care, drop her off, she would spend her day getting to know other kids, and then I would pick her up after work. That's what I pictured in my mind. But, in reality, nothing ever happens according to plan.

Our daughter is two months old and my maternity leave is up. I either have to go back to work or stay at home and be a full time mom. I was supposed to be approved for three months of leave so we could figure out the child care situation, but my work didn't approve it (even though they are supposed to since I am still having complications after delivery and my doctor wants me to stay home and rest. So here I am trying to make this tough decision.

Do I just quit or do I go back to work?

Well, right now my job is making demands that we, as a family, can't meet. I don't make enough to go back to work and then pay for child care. Child care in a big city, especially in Lincoln Park, is too expensive. Around $2,000 a month. I don't make that much at my little part time job (where I am severely underpaid ... And, I feel, because I'm a woman. But that's another rant and rave).

Now, despite the fact we can't afford child care, my work is just not being flexible with my schedule. Danny has been given somewhat of a descent, reliable schedule as of late (6-3) so I would be able to pick up the closing shifts every night of the week except Sundays. But that doesn't work for "their" needs. But there isn't anything I can do about it. I can't leave my daughter alone by herself (Duh!) and I can't rely on a sitter since my work wants me to have a more open availability. Which would mean that I couldn't have a set schedule and I just can't do that.

Then they tell me that there are other people at work that have children who "make it work" for them. But they also have family watching their children or make enough to pay for full time chldcare. We are living in Chicago by ourselves. We don't have any family nearby. None at all. Granted, if I was living back home, I wouldn't have this problem Since our families would help... But Danny and I are much happier here than we would be back home so we have to do this alone.

So, when it comes down to it, right now it seems beneficial for me to stay at home and take care of the little one myself. 

I would hate to be unemployed though ... for any period of time. I have been employed since I turned 16 and I would hate to have a gap on my resume. Plus, if I quit, I may never start working again and I never pictured myself as the stay at home type. Also, I'd things get scary financially (they are fine now but that could change), I would hate for me to struggle to find work in this crappy economy.

Honestly, if child care wasn't super expensive or we could qualify for some aid to help, this would be a no-brainer. But it is super expensive and we don't qualify... so I'm stuck and no where close to making any type of decision right now.

Gosh ... I hate this type of pressure.

Rosalynn and I

Rosalynn and I slept in this morning and then had a little mini photo shoot. She is getting so big so quickly. Already 13 lbs and only two months old. My how time flies ...

Vampire Diares Premieres Tonight

I'm not one to indulge in the current "vampire" craze that has recently taken over the youth of our country, but I must confess this show has hooked me.

Or perhaps .. Ian Somerhalder and Paul Weasley have me hooked. They are pretty much the talent of the show and, might I add, smoking hot.

I wasn't always such a loyal fan. I didn't begin to watch the show until its second season which gave me ample time during the show's break to catch up on what I had missed during Season One. Frankly, I thought the show was just another typical vampire/human love story. But it isn't. The show is also full of action, betrayal, lust, family drama, and all types of the supernatural: witches, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, immortals, you name it.

Not your typical twilight malarkey (Just look at those promos shots ... delicious).

Well, now it is just a few hours away. I can't wait to see the direction the show will take since the epic finale of season two. I doubt I will be disappointed. At least I hope I'm not disappointed.

I'll post my review of the premiere when I get a free chance to watch it (It's so hard to accomplish anything with an infant, but that's parenting!).

My Portfolio

I have been attempting all day to update and fix my portfolio but I can't seem to find any motivation. There is no hope for finding any work if I don't fix the layout and start adding more articles so I need to find some time to put into it.

I found an interesting Wordpress template here that I'm thinking about using for my portfolio(with Danny's help of course). The site is in German so I assume we'll be able to figure out how to put it together. The template is called "Ari" and would look something like this:

I feel it would be a better suit for my portfolio then my current template.  It would need a lot of work but with time, and Danny's help, I'm sure it will become something I can be proud to call my own.

Freezing This Morning

Woke up this morning with a little sniffle and realized that the temperature, overnight, had gone from 70 degrees to 48 degrees. Brrr. Way too cold for my liking. I usually enjoy a steady 69 degrees year round so I rushed to put on a sweater and returned to bed.

I'm assuming that Mother Nature has decided that fall is here and man is it back with a vengeance. I know this is the 'windy city' and the climate here is nothing short of unpredictable, but at least some warning would be nice. Like a little card in the mail every day counting down to the horrible start of the ferocious, and long, winter. A winter I have come to love (yeah right) in my short time living in this city.

I'm not looking forward to this winter. Not at all. I spent my first couple of months living in this beautiful city during the worst part of its winter, January. I did not enjoy having to wear layers of clothing and staying indoors every single minute of every single day. The lack of sunshine made me 10xs more depressed and I had to constantly clean my nice pair of suede boots I got as a present from a girl my sister met in Paris (Bought in Milan no doubt).

But the thing that bothers me the most is that I won't have that extra layer of 'baby' keeping me warm this year. I was pregnant all throughout the last harsh winter and I don't know how I will manage this year without the 15 lbs of baby blocking the freezing wind and snow. I'm now just a pile of bones with no padding and I'm going to freeze to death. FREEZE TO DEATH.

So, if you see a woman laying in an alley shivering and clutching her stomach screaming, "Why me God?" Don't do anything, just walk away. It's probably a crazy hobo, not me. If you want to know where I'll be .. Just look up at any nearest building and picture me inside. Because like my daughter 7 months ago, I will be gestating inside the warmth of my apartment this winter. And what a joyous winter it will be.