sueeeus

I can’t stop! It’s so typical of me. I find interest in something and it consumes my mind so that I spend far too much time engrossed and immersed. I shouldn’t be alarmed. I know this too shall pass. Like the time I became interested in baby wearing. It started with a Snugli before Buggaboo was born. Then came the ring sling from eBay. Then the Premaxx, again from eBay. Then the eleven variations of SPOC from Mamatoto’s Make Your Own. Then the Mei Tai, or ABC –my favorite. I’ve made five. First with the Mamatoto Make Your Own instructions. Next on to the internet, where I joined a Yahoo group (traditional-baby-carriers). Found a great site with lots of instructions and finally ended up at Beth’s Mei Tai, whose design and instructions I liked the best. Of course I had to modify them for me and my Buggaboo, as we are both above average in girth and dimension, and I can’t leave well enough alone anyway, always looking for the ideal, the ultimate, the best of all possible worlds (I’ll thank Tartuffe for that last one, from a million or two years ago). I even made new pattern and layout drawings that I’ve been meaning to send to Beth, but haven’t gotten around to it. It’s on the list. One of many. I have bound journals filled with lists. Things to Do. My life is lived by the list. I like order in the scheme of things (just a little OCD, not a lot). Sometimes I even finish a list. I find them when I’m going through stacks of this and that, sometimes years, even decades old. It’s amazing that although I’d long forgotten the list, so many of its items have come to pass. Marry a good man. Have a healthy baby. Those two took much longer than I’d ever have thought (they weren’t 100 percent in the sphere of things I could control). But they happened!! Thanks be to God!

I used to have greyhounds. They are wonderful pets. Who ever would have known I dived into that world too. Became an advocate and adoption volunteer. A foster hound-mom. I loved those dogs! I can’t even say how many coat variations and designs I came up with for them. My brother-in-law used to say they had a bigger wardrobe than he did. (Greyhounds are very lean with short hair and need a little something extra to keep them warm in a cool climate.) The best outfit was the buckskin ensemble, moccassins, fringe, and all. Made from real suede (I chopped up an old coat I found at a thrift store for a couple dollars). Even an Indian (would native American be PC ) headdress with big beautiful wild turkey feathers (from real wild turkeys that used to gobble gobble on property I once had in this fair land). My boy Jet strutted about the houndfest in that (greyhound folk get IN to it, and have meets and festivals — it’s greyt!!), oblivious to most things, and wondering why on earth his hound-mom made him wear such ridiculous things on his feet. Alas, Buggaboo came along and I reached my limit. Sadly, I found myself unable to be the supermom and super hound-mom I wanted to be, so Buggabbo won and I let my beautiful hounds go (happily they were adopted by loving families immediately and didn’t even have to spend one night alone in a dark and scary kennel). I still have guilt issues to resolve.

So. Of zeal and obsession. I love to write! It means nothing and goes round and round and ends up nowhere, but I do enjoy the ride.

I love the sound of this word! It makes me think of giant sea turtles. I know why. Phonetic association. We had a radio in our kitchen when I was growing up and my mom used to listen to NPR and the radio reader, Dick Estelle. I recall fragments like “archipelago” and some “g” word. At first I think it must be The Gulag Archipelago, but no, that’s not about giant sea turtles. Maybe Dick Estelle read the Gulag Archipelago on the Radio Reader. That would have taken quite some time. The “g” word must be “Galapagos”. The Galapagos Archipelago has giant sea turtles. I wonder what book that was. It makes me think of James Michener.

Alas, galactagogues have nothing to do with giant sea turtles. A galactagogue is an agent that promotes the secretion and flow of milk. I’m trying to boost my milk supply. Buggaboo started daycare this week and suddenly his formula consumption is up to 12 oz/day and he has a runny nose. He IS teething, so perhaps his immune system is compromised a bit, and he is now exposed to five other wee ones on a daily basis. I want him to have more mother’s milk and less supplementation.

I’ve sported these double-D’s for nearly three decades, and in my time of need when they were called into duty, who would have thought that they wouldn’t produce My poor hungry Buggaboo. Nursing was a nightmare. He wouldn’t latch properly and got angry that nothing was there anyway. His weight dropped alarmingly and off to the hospital we went. The lactation specialist had me pump and after 30 minutes I had only 28 cc. I opted for a prescription galactagogue –Reglan. It’s not actually a galactagogue by design. That’s just a bonus side effect. I think it’s normally prescribed to reduce nausea in cancer patients. It has other undesirable side effects as well, namely lethargia and depression. Just what a mother needs in those post-partum days. I took it for two weeks. I recall that I couldn’t talk to anybody for two weeks (depression) and I would literally pass out for a little while each night. I know those first few weeks are a blur of crazy mood changes and exhaustion anyway, so don’t know how much of that was exacerbated by the Reglan. It helped with the milk supply though. I still had to supplement, but I was able to produce about 750 cc/day, which is a dramatic improvement from the measly 250 cc I was able to pump prior to that.

I need to make more though! I read up on Fenugreek and started taking it last week. It seems to be the wonder cure for many things. Why didn’t I try this earlier I might have been able to avoid supplementation altogether. I hope it works for me. I’ve been able to pump around 825 cc/day this week. My Buggaboo eats a lot! He started out at 10 lbs 7 oz, and is now around 25 lbs. He is six months old now, healthy and beautiful. I am very blessed.

Shoogga Boogga Boogga Woogga
Shoogga Boogga Boo
Shoogga Boogga Boogga Woogga
Tell Me, Who Are You

Shoogga Boogga Boogga Woogga
Shoogga Boogga Boo
Shoogga Boogga Boogga Woogga
You’re Mama’s Buggaboo!

Shoogga Boogga Boogga Woogga
Shoogga Boogga Boo
Shoogga Boogga Boogga Woogga
Mama Sure Loves You!

Biggedy Buggedy Buggedy Boo
Snuggely Buggely Boo
Buggedy Biggedy Biggedy Boo
Somebody Loves Her Buggaboo!

Biggedy Buggedy Buggedy Boo
Snuggely Buggely Boo
Buggedy Biggedy Biggedy Boo
Guess Who Loves Her Buggaboo

Biggedy Buggedy Buggedy Boo
Snuggely Buggely Boo
Buggedy Biggedy Biggedy Boo
Mama Loves Her Buggaboo!

With fear and trembling I venture forth to the land of blogs.