Well, it’s been so long since I’ve posted… I figured it was time for a bit of an update!
I can’t believe that Levi is already 11 months old! These eleven months have flown by, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my sweet little man while I’ve been on mat leave. I’ll be heading back to work next month, and it’s bittersweet for me. I’ll miss spending as much time with Levi as I’ve been able to, but it will be nice to get back and use my degree again. I also really appreciate the day care that we’ve been able to set up. His grandma and nana will each be able to take Levi for one day a week, and then we’ve found a great friend from church who is willing to take him for the rest of the week. We are really comfortable with this arrangement, knowing that he will be with people we know and trust.
Levi has been doing awesome and I think he’ll do well with the arrangement in fall too. He is such an outgoing people person and I think he’ll enjoy spending time with others outside of our home on a daily basis. His grandma and nana are excited to spend time with him, and our friend from church has two little girls, so it will be fun to see Levi make new friends with them.
He has been eating really well too, and tries anything we give him. He has yet to refuse a new food and I’m crossing my fingers that this will continue as he gets older! He still has a slight opening (fistula) in his palate, where the repair didn’t quite close, but it doesn’t affect his eating too much. Some softer foods still come out his nose, and he sometimes sneezes while he’s eating, but it doesn’t seem to bother him too much. We are scheduled to go to RUH for a full cleft lip and palate clinic again tomorrow morning. You may recall from a previous blog post that he was at one of these last November when he was still a newborn. At the clinic, they will have all of his specialists come and assess him, answer any questions we might have, and let us know what the plan is for the future. He will most likely have to go for a minor surgery to fix that small opening, so we will see what his surgeon says. We’ll also speak with his speech pathologist, pediatric dentist, pediatrician, dietician, audiologist and probably a few others. It will be a busy day, but I’m looking forward to hearing what they all have to say. I’m also glad that it was booked before my mat leave came to an end!
Another thing that is coming to an end is my year of expressing milk for Levi. When I started breast pumping when he was first born, I had a goal to try to pump for the full year but told myself to give it a try and see how it went first. The first few months were tough and it was hard trying to fit in the sessions throughout my busy days with a newborn, but as the weeks went on, I got into a routine that worked. I’m pleased to say that I’ve been able to express this whole time! It definitely hasn’t been easy, and there were days when I wondered why I was doing it, but it was nice to know that even though Levi wasn’t physically able to breastfeed, he was still getting my milk. I’ve started decreasing the number of sessions each day, so I will be able to stop completely when I head back to work in the middle of October. I’m down to 2 sessions now, as opposed to the 6 or 7 that I started with when he was born! This does mean that I have to supplement with a bit of formula, as fewer sessions equal less milk, but he’s still getting mostly breast milk throughout the day. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I also have come to the realization that it’s ok that Levi is getting some formula, too. Stressing over how much milk I’m expressing each time is not going to help anyone!
Since I’ve started decreasing the number of sessions, I’ve definitely noticed that it’s nice to be able to spend less time expressing each day! I roughly figured it out, and by the time I’m done my last session in October, I’ll have spent approximately 53,280 minutes pumping this year. That works out to 37 straight days! When I first became pregnant, I definitely didn’t envision spending a month of my mat leave tied to a pump kit. I also didn't envision having to deal with the challenges of a child with cleft lip and palate, but sometimes you've got to take what comes and trust that God will bring you through. And He has definitely helped our family get through this year! As for pumping, it’s actually been not too bad. I’ve been able to figure out how to do most things around the house while I pump, and it’s so portable; I’ve been able to take it anywhere I go… including camping, road trips and Las Vegas! Like I’ve mentioned before, if anyone is in a similar situation to us and is considering expressing milk for their little one, I encourage you to go for it! It’s definitely possible, especially if you have the support of your husband, family and friends. I also highly recommend the Medela Freestyle pump with a hands free kit… this is, in my opinion, one of the best pumps on the market and it has worked so well for me.
So there you have it… a bit of an update on where we’re at right now! I’ll try to post again after we’ve heard a bit from his specialists.
Thanks for reading!
