WAHM, BAM, THANK YOU MA'AM!

Call me crazy... I am one of those women that went to college, got a great degree, has a great resume, landed an awesome job out of school and... secretly wanted to be a stay at home mom.

WHAT?!?

I know.. I'm one of "those" girls. Well... yes, I am, and stinking proud to be one!

However, I soon found that just sitting at home playing patty cake and changing diapers was a little less than an awesome way to spend every day. Not to mention, we just had a baby.. hello $$$$$$$. Putting all that extra pressure on just my hubby's income was a little bit stressful for all of us.

So, I started researching. After many many MANY hours of reading blogs, reviews, BBB articles and ratings and sending emails to collect information, I wound up at www.odesk.com (now www.upwork.com).

I had heard good things, so I decided what the hey.. might as well give it a shot! How bad could it possibly be, right?

I filled out an application and within a week I had a request for an interview! AWESOME!

I interviewed for the position and within a day started working. I ended up with a position as an Online Business Manager for a marketing firm. It was a bit of an adjustment for me, as I was used to the daily interactions with my boss, usually having at least that one person at work that drove me nuts, piles and piles of papers on my overly crowded desk and 8-10 hours worth of uncomfortable shoes.   Turns out, it is the PERFECT job! My boss and I immediately clicked. We get along great and have similar ways of thinking so it makes clocking in and starting emails every day super easy.

I recently also started working as manager for a clothing company. Definitely not a field I ever imagined myself being in, but again, it's GREAT!

So the jist of this blog- don't be afraid to go for what you want. You CAN make a living at home. There are actual places online that pay real money for real work.

Are there scams out there? Absolutely.

Are there people who will try to screw you? You bet.

Are there people who need help that will help you live out your dream as a work at home mom? Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES.

Don't settle. Live the life you want. You, your little one, and your happiness depend on it!

Playtex Vent-Aire (and water, and formula, and everything else)...

So as you can probably guess from the title of this, I'm less than thrilled with Playtex Vent-Aire bottles.

We bought them for our little girl who suffers with gas troubles and has started collapsing the nipples on her other bottles.. Our local stores didn't have any of the "medium flow" nipples for the bottles we already had, so we decided to try the Playtex bottles..

I have to say, they are absolutely the LOWEST quality excuse for a bottle I have ever seen.

No matter how I try, the bottom of the bottle leaks CONSTANTLY. There's a little blue rubber piece that is supposed to secure over the vent holes in the bottom of the bottle, but for whatever reason it NEVER actually seals.

Our new issue, now the nipples aren't sealing either. I'm not sure if we "over sterilized" them or what, but now, once we get the bottom of the bottle sealed, the liquid starts leaking out the nipple as soon as we turn the bottle upside down so our girl gets a facefull of formula.

New moms, be warned.. These were definitely not the bottles I expected them to be.

Poison Tits

Motherhood is a rollercoaster.. there are ups, there are down. There's good, there's bad. There's successes... but are there failures?  Really?

Well, I've got to tell you, for a while, I thought I was one. Before my baby was born, I was gung-ho about breastfeeding. I was going to breastfeed my baby, it was going to be totally perfect, we were going to save tons of money and she was going to have tons of health benefits from it.

At the hospital, we had trouble getting her to latch. Luckily, I had an amazing nursing staff and they introduced me to the nipple shield. Crisis #1 averted! With that handy dandy little piece of silicone we were able to exclusively breast feed for 3 weeks- that's when the screaming started.

It was like the flip of a switch- one night, she let loose. She screamed, and screamed... and then screamed a little more... We tried everything: rocking, pacifier, bouncer, walking, car rides, singing, you name it.

I started pumping and bottle feeding so I could track her consumption. We started giving her 2oz every 2 hours. When that didn't seem to satisfy her, we increased to 3 oz. The screaming continued and we saw a doctor who told us it was colic. Great... The notorious, inconsolable, inevitable episodes of crying for hours on end were ours to enjoy.. The good news- they say it usually resolves itself around 12-16 weeks.. only 8-12 weeks to go!

Luckily, my persistent, overly worried, new mom instincts told me to keep digging.

I decided to try supplementing- thinking maybe she just wasn't getting what she needed from my milk. We tried Similac Sensitive, Enfamil Gentlease and Gerber Good Start.. to no avail..

Finally, following the advice of my aunt (who experienced the same situation with her daughter) we decided to try a lactose free, cows milk allergy blend. The little miracle called Nutramigen.

It was amazing. We started giving her exclusive formula and it was like a miracle had happened. The crying stopped. She was a whole new baby!

After 3 weeks of wiping my diet clean of all dairy and soy, I tried breast milk one more time. The screaming started again..

I felt like a total failure. My breast milk was actually HURTING my baby. She was screaming in agony and discomfort from the belly pains caused by my breast milk..

It was time to quit trying and stop putting my little one through the struggle...

Things had again taken a turn from the way I planned them, but accepting the defeat has led to a much happier household overall. My baby has not had tummy pains and (although our wallets are aching) our sanity has been somewhat restored.

Sometimes, you're dealt a batch of poison tits. It doesn't mean you're a bad mom (though the crazy hormonal changes you'll experience from "drying up" will likely make you feel like one!). Things happen, good bad and ugly. It's called parenting.  Slap some leak guards in your bra, buy yourself some ice cream and a giant glass of wine, and get pumped to quit pumping!