Simon's 13 months

Simon had a pretty bad diaper rash last week. As part of his treatment I was letting him run around the house w/o his clothes or diaper on. Our living room has the only carpet in the house, the dining room & kitchen (open floor plan) have laminate wood flooring. As he's running around naked, he goes into the dining room. The next thing I hear is a big thump & him crying. I go into the dining room to see what happened & he had slipped in the puddle of pee he made on the laminate floor. I cleaned him up and called it quits for the night. The next day, I stripped him down again and let him run around. This time, I blocked the kitchen & dining room off w/ baby gates. He walked up to the gate & peed through it onto the laminate floor. He's definitely going to be writing his name in the snow in a couple years!

Time's a wastin'

I can't believe how quickly time has flown. I feel like it only been a minute one day, but some days seem to take years to pass. Overall I'm doing great. I've had some hard times already this year. I lost another pregnancy and almost my life. Simon got his first ear infection after his birthday party. We had lots of damage (and still do) from the ice storm. However, things are going well now. I'm back at work, happy & healthy again. I'm still working and Andrew's garage is flourishing! I may even be getting the best Easter gift I could get from Andrew this year - he may get Baptized and possibly Confirmed as a Catholic! Simon turned one and has recovered from his infection. I've completely weaned Simon from nursing now. Its hilarious, if he sees me w/o my shirt on, he'll say "mmmmm" and point. Otherwise, he doesn't seem to miss it! He's grown so much. He's 25 lbs (75-80th percentile) and 31.5" (75-80th percentile). The doctor said he was just perfect. He's been walking since a little before Christmas. Now he RUNS everywhere! He loves to 'read' and chew on his books. He's still not saying much, but he can wave and say "hi". He can also wave bye-bye. I guess that's all I've got to say for now... I'm sure I'll come up w/ something 'profound' later!

Alcohol content of breast milk: Cheers!

Abstract/Introduction:
All nursing mothers worry about how their food and drink affect their child. One big concern is alcoholic beverages. For years mothers have been told to avoid even a sip of alcohol. However, many women have heard stories of their ancestors drinking beer to increase milk production and just for enjoyment. As a new mother with a scientific mind (and ready access to forensic testing equipment), I decided to see who's idea was correct - the teetotalers or our ancestors.

Method:First I took a sample of my milk (about 1 mL) prior to drinking any alcoholic beverage. I expressed the milk mid-nursing session to ensure I had a goodly portion of fore and hind milk. After completing the nursing session, I mixed myself an alcoholic beverage consisting of 2 oz of 80 proof (40%) vodka in 10 oz of soda (Sprite). I proceeded to drink the entire 12 oz in about 30 minutes. About 30 minutes after finishing (1 hour after beginning to drink), I expressed some milk (about 1 mL) and labeled it 'immediate'. I then waited 1 hour and expressed more milk (about 1 mL) and labeled it '2 hours'. In the 2 hours (from the beginning), I did not drink any more alcoholic beverages, drink other beverages, or eat any other foods. Another day, 1/2 of a beer (4.3% alcohol) and 2-6 oz glasses of wine were consumed within 1.5 hours. About an hour from the beginning of the last drink, a milk sample (about 1 mL) was taken. This sample was labeled '1 hour - 3 drinks'. Another sample was taken about an hour after that (2 hours after the beginning of the last drink). This sample was labeled '2 hours - 3 drinks'. 

The samples were stored in the refrigerator until processing. An Agilent headspace instrument was used to run the tests. Propanol and ethanol standards were also tested to ensure the instrument was within limits. The instrument is maintained by the Toxicology Section and used in forensic determinations of blood and urine alcohol content.

Results:The sample labeled as 'immediate' registered as 0.1370 mg/mL which correlates to 0.01370% alcohol in the sample. The sample labeled '2 hours' registered as 0.0000 mg/ml which correlates to 0.0000%. The sample labeled '1 hour - 3 drinks' registered as 0.3749 mg/mL which correlates to 0.03749% alcohol in the sample. The sample labeled '2 hours - 3 drinks' registered as 0.0629 mg/mL which correlates to 0.00629% alcohol in the sample.

Conclusion:The alcohol content in breast milk immediately after drinking is equivalent to a 0.0274 proof beverage. That's like mixing 1 oz of 80 proof vodka (one shot) with 2919 oz of mixer. By the way, 2919 oz is over 70 liters. Two hours after drinking one (strong) drink the alcohol has disappeared from the sample. Completely harmless to the nursing infant. Drinking about 3 drinks in 1.5 hours resulted in higher numbers, but still negligible amounts of alcohol would be transferred to the child. One hour after imbibing in 3 drinks, the milk was the equivalent of 0.07498 proof beverage. That would be like adding 1 oz of 80 proof vodka (one shot) to 1066 oz of mixer (1066 oz is over 26 liters). Two hours after imbibing in 3 drinks, the milk was 0.01258 proof. That would be like adding 1 oz of 80 proof vodka to 3179 oz of mixer (over almost 80 liters). So, even though an infant has much less body weight, any of these percentage of alcohol in breast milk is unlikely to adversely affect the baby. Cheers!

Acknowledgement:Forensic Toxicologist

Notes:

• Due to baby not nursing every time a sample was retrieved, only fore-milk was obtained for alcohol testing. However, since alcohol is more easily dissolved in water (fore-milk) verses fats (hind-milk), the samples may actually be higher in alcohol content verses a good mix of fore- and hind-milk. Alas, I was unable to breastfeed my second child, so no duplicate samples or analysis was available. 
• At the time of this study I was a forensic biologist for the State Police. The analysis was done according to state law for blood alcohol content (AC) analysis by an experienced chemist.
• Results were not duplicated nor were they intended to be. While I wrote this in the form of a scientific journal article, I am not claiming that every case would be the same. However, since blood AC and breath AC are determined the same way and drunk driving laws are standardized regardless of body weight, number or size of drinks, or metabolism, I made the decision to report this as a possible standard. 
• Responsible parenting was implemented (it wasn't just me drinking with baby, daddy and granddaddy were also present).
•  Results may vary, so do what makes you most comfortable. However, don't act like someone else is an irresponsible parent because they make a different choice than you.