Sun and milk (photos):

The weather is amazing here right now. Although we don't have more then a minute here or there to go out and enjoy it, we thoroughly do enjoy when we have the chance. Loki is just chillin' in his stroller or the carrier, looking around for the first few minutes, after which he dozes off while sucking on his pacifier. It is a nice treat to stroll together, the three of us, matching the demographics of young parents with hip strollers in our neighborhood. Because of course we consider ourselves to be remarkably hip, young parents :-)

Not much has changed this week. It is a little bit easier though, to have Loki break out in a big grin while singing a silly song or performing a silly dance. We feel like fools sometimes, working so hard to charm our tiny dude into smiling a few seconds. All the frustration around hours of shoving milk into his mouth disappears when we see his toothless smile. As his daddy says "he is a cute little fart, that makes our hearts go flutter, flutter, flutter." He is partially joking, but the essence is true or course.

With regards to the meds to increase milk supply, we truly appreciate the concern and support we have received around this. We do not take the risks of this drug lightly and have spoken to several medical, and non medical specialists, about this. In fact, I am not even taking Tylenol in order to keep the milk as clean as possible. I am taking the significantly lower dose, for much shorter time as suggested by the lactation consultants. It is 1/4 of the suggested amount and time as the doctor's prescription. Loki is drinking a tiny bit from the breast on a daily basis, but the vast majority of the milk is pumped and will be dumped. Although Loki has gotten 5 months of breast milk already, and will have at least 5 more to go, just from the freezer, the goal is to get him through next winter on breast milk. The chance he will end up in the hospital with respiratory issues is much, much smaller as long as he drinks my milk. His immune system is more compromised than that of a typical baby, which will be the case for the first few years of his life.

The good news, Loki is slowly getting a better grip on the whole breastfeeding situation. We are hopeful he will be on mostly breastfeeds in a month or two. Which is by the way a completely random guesstimate.

Two handsome guys:


And again, two beautiful men:


Eating while swaddled equals containment and sweat:


You should see my parents behind the camera, trying to make me smile:


Okay, here you go: