Two Weeks Is Too Long

Two weeks is too long to go without blogging, but let me tell you...I haven't just been sitting around. We had a trip to Charlotte, we had weekend visitors, I have worked on labeling thousands of recovered photo and movie files (some going back to the summer of 2008), we're in the process of leaving PC and going MAC, and so much more! But, I will jump back to around the neurological appointment to get started and then try to post a few blogs the rest of this week to touch on some of the other happenings. (And I still have stuff from earlier this summer to get on here too!) In between labeling and organizing recovered files, I'm flying solo now so other work around here isn't hard to come by and Fletcher is growing like a weed...we'll see just how much on Monday's appointment.

He's only done it briefly since, but sitting up on his own was awfully exciting to see!



Our overnight in Raleigh was also the first time Fletcher slept in the Pack N Play.



Because this is what happened in his infant travel bed the last time he slept in it. (And it was the second time this had happened...) Funny thing is...he was on the opposite side of the bed the previous time and turned in toward the bed both times, with just his head poking out. He must have known which direction we were in...smart kid, I tell ya!



Here is Fletcher's first babysitter outside of family. Her name is Stephanie and she was recommended to us by a fellow teacher that was searching for a nanny. Crazy thing is, she and her husband are from Phoenix and moved here in March. She grew up in Glendale (just like me) and then moved to North Phoenix for high school. Small world.



Lipase anyone? I never heard of it until something unexpected happened here a few weeks ago. The sitter (see above) had tried to feed Fletcher and he wouldn't take the bottle (which is rare). Later, he wouldn't take it from me either and I thought it was just because he wanted me, so I had Jesse try. He still wouldn't take it, so I finally nursed him and he was hungry and ate really well. Jesse said it didn't smell right. When I smelled the plastic/metallic smell, I felt awful for trying to force Fletcher to drink it all day and I threw it out.

The following three bags of milk smelled the same way and he refused to take them even when he was hungry. More wasted milk. I searched online (as we all do these days) for some hint as to what was going on. Everything pointed to lipase, an enzyme produced by the pancreas...some of us produce more than others and/or produce more at certain times. It breaks down the fats in milk and thus changes the flavor for the child who drinks it. This was not mentioned once in any conversation with friends, any book I read, nor the breastfeeding class we had taken, but apparently is common enough to have several hits online.

This is taken off kellymom.com and explains lipase to you in case you haven't heard of it either.

"Milk is not spoiled unless it has a sour odor or tastes bad. Some moms
find that their milk seems to spoil rather quickly despite careful
attention to proper storage and handling. This is thought to be a
result of the milk having an excess of lipase, an enzyme which helps
break down the fats in human milk. One way to keep milk from spoiling
so quickly is to halt the breakdown of fats by scalding the milk just
prior to storing it. This is done as soon after expression as possible
and over a stove eye. Scalding the milk involves allowing small bubbles
to appear on its surface but removing it from the heat before an actual
boil occurs. The milk should then be stored immediately either in the
refrigerator or freezer."

So...everything I found talked about scalding the milk right after expressing it. A) Everything I know says don't microwave or boil breastmilk because you'll lose the nutrients and B) Great. I was going to have to toss all of the milk I had stored. Not the case. I called my lactation consultant and she said that it could quite possibly be a fluke, when I was highly stressed and hormonal and she said the milk is not a waste. I just need to move it from freezer to fridge, smell it for "the smell" and if it's present, scald the milk and let it cool at that point and then use it. We've done this so far and it works. Also, not all of my stored milk has had "the smell." We noticed it on the bags dated May 1st, which is the day my mom was leaving after two weeks of helping us and Fletcher was only two weeks old. So yes to the stress and yes to the hormones.

Here is the milk I would have been crying about. Jesse says "No crying over spilt breastmilk," but if you know the time and energy that it takes to have an output of this much milk, you would understand my frustration. This also illustrates why we finally purchased a deep freezer too!