I have heard of people substituting apple sauce for fat in baked goods. I don't know if that appeals to you at all.

For muffins that should work pretty well - they tend to come out a bit denser and chewier than baked goods make with fats.

Apparently, there were electric sheep in Brokeback Mountain.

Hi Fay! Dust storm: bad. Losing computer: bad. Your presence: very good.

This morning has no coffee, a hundred pages of reading do to, and bitchy people using my dishes after they've been washed. I'd like a repeat please.

Yeah, I've made muffins with the oil replaced with applesauce. Worked pretty well, except you have to make sure to really oil the pan. I remember also trying replacing the oil with prune puree in some sort of baked good. (When I was about 13, my mother was on the Ornish diet for awhile -- pretty much no fats at all -- and we kept experimenting with various ways to make recipes fat-free. The applesauce muffins are the only baked goods that I remember actually liking. I think the prune purree was in some sort of gingerbready thing, and that turned out alright, but not great.)

I remember actually liking. I think the prune purree was in some sort of gingerbready thing, and that turned out alright, but not great.

I've done that in brownies, and it wasn't bad. But it was a long time ago, and applesauce is just so much easier.

Ellie is happily eating Cheerios so I have a minute to post. I need to join the Kristin and Cashmere club since I feel like I never post anymore. The dogs love it when Ellie eats Cheerios. They stand under her chair and wait - she only eats about every other one so they have a good thing going.

I think the nursing is going 100% better than last time but I want to go over some pointers with a professional.

Glad to hear the nursing is going so well. While I hope this won't happen, don't feel too bad if talking to the LC gets you down. Ellie and I met with one when she was 3 days old. We were there for over an hour. The LC definitely had a lot of good stuff to say but I also left feeling like my baby was about to starve to death. I'm guessing the second time around, however, moms have more confidence in themselves.

although I love my mother and am glad she was able to stay and help me out, being alone with her for three days straight is driving me bugfuck crazy. This weekend should be better. DH is off work for the rest of the week and O's going to visit his other grandparents for the weekend.

I am with Cindy on the YAY for Cashmere post-birth news.

Man, I swam so hard yesterday, I was weak as a kitten. But slept like a log. It was so awesome. I had been sort of taking it easy, trying not to do too much too fast, and focusing on getting back in the habit of just going to the pool. But yesterday I just threw myself into it and it felt so great, for hours.

Between that and getting our CSA half share, I am feeling very healthy indeed!

The LC definitely had a lot of good stuff to say but I also left feeling like my baby was about to starve to death. I'm guessing the second time around, however, moms have more confidence in themselves.

I thought the whole point of a lactation consultant was to help new moms be more confident by giving them knowlege and reassurance? Are they not taking the place of the extended family/village from whence a new mother used to get knowlege and reassurance?

What on earth is a lactation consultant?

What on earth is a lactation consultant?

It's someone who can offer guidance and support for mothers who are breast-feeding their babies. As it is not as easy as it looks, and we as a society no longer pass that kind of information and encouragement on via family and friends as once would have happened, a lactation consultant can be very important.

I thought the whole point of a lactation consultant was to help new moms be more confident by giving them knowlege and reassurance?

Well, yeah. That's what I thought too. I'm sure mine was trying to help but it was the definite low point of my entire new mom experience. I went in sounding exactly like Cash - things are going great, but I'll just see if there's anything I'm missing. I ended up sitting in a really uncomfortable chair for over an hour with one boob hooked up to a pump and the LC "massaging" my other boob while Joe tried to keep Ellie awake while I held her to get her to nurse on the other side. When that didn't work, out came the nipple shield and when that didn't work, the LC got out this syringe with a little tube to squirt milk in Ellie's mouth. I just left feeling like if I didn't get her to nurse on that one side soon, she would be in trouble. I was took exhausted to think clearly and too new as a mom to have much confidence in myself or my judgment/opinions. I thought we had been doing fine but the LC scared me. It was by far the most overwhelmed I felt.

Of course, then I got home and talked to my mom and my doula, both of whom said I was doing great and the baby is doing great. And Ellie did fine - within 24 hours she was nursing like a champ although we never did get that right boob to work right.