12 posts tagged “breastfeeding”
Our plans for today (Andrew's birthday and work's holiday gala) changed several times before finally deciding. Definitely no holiday gala, but Thursday evening i came down with the flu, just a nasty quick bug, so Friday pretty much sucked. i woke up feeling okay today though so we had Grandma babysit while Andrew and i did some shopping at the outlet malls and then hit Winco. Not exactly a romantic date =) but we had fun. Found some nice shirts for him as a b-day present (i was going to go shopping on Friday while he was at work but with a 101.7 fever, i could barely stand or hold Allison). Also bought an adorable Christmas outfit for Alli to wear when we go see Santa. That'll be fun.
Speaking of beautiful babies, this little girl hasn't been nursing very well. It started over a week ago, where she'd latch on and eat for a while then pull off and fuss, then scream if i tried to get her to eat more. i've tried every possible position, being overly full, empty, dark room, bright room... no difference. i was hoping our trip to the pediatrician the other day would solve it, maybe with an ear infection or something, but she was at a loss as to why Alli wouldn't be nursing (she suggested burping more but no luck). Especially at 10 weeks. i'm afraid that even with pumping, my milk is going to be seriously affected. i think unfortunately she prefers the bottle and has had too much binkie time. i haven't stopped trying but since day one of us breastfeeding it's been a huge challenge.
We were talking about our awesome babysitter (my mom) and realized how lucky we are to have her.... she loves Alli, she does a great job, she's always (well, so far...) willing and able, she lives fairly close-by, and she's cheap =) just had to give her pizza and birthday pie. So, we love her.
I have something new to deal with. It looks like it's called nipple blanching, although mine is due to vasospasm and not anything Alli is doing currently. It started at least a week ago where my nipples would get hard, white and painful a few minutes after breastfeeding OR pumping. This could just be because she's been nursing a lot more and it's been colder. i don't know. Last night it kept me awake for a while (the last thing i need at 2am when everyone else is fast asleep!!)
Allison has probably gained a pound in the last week, she has been eating SO MUCH.
Gotta go, someone is hungry again...
Life just keeps on zooming by... and i still feel like a zombie with so little sleep.
This last weekend was spent with family pretty much. Yesterday we tried to sleep in, relax, then went to Mom's for dinner (was good, of course). Saturday we went down to Roseburg for Andrew's Grandma's funeral which wasn't a funeral at all but a big family get together (later, Andrew said that's what he wanted when he dies, just a party with family, not a service/burial/funeral or anything). The 3+ hour drive is okay since Alli sleeps in the car but we're STILL working on the breastfeeding (needing to pump in the dark at rest stops is annoying). i think she's only nursed long enough to get satisfied once or twice in all this time. She mainly falls asleep after 10 min. or so, no matter what i try, so all we can do is keep working at it. The nipple pain isn't an issue anymore and her latch, i know, is perfect... but i do feel like a bit of a failure as a mommy (ya know, "what's wrong with me...") She'll be 6 weeks old on Thursday and yesterday she weighed at least 8lbs. which is great.
i have my 6 week OB check up next Tuesday. i'll need to discuss my daily headaches and see if my blood pressure is still an issue. My c-section scar looks good, i guess, though it still itches. The big surprise is that my period showed up last week (NOT FUN!) even though i've been pumping non-stop since she was born (i was hoping the breastfeeding/pumping would delay the whole menstrual thing for a while), so now i need to discuss with my doctor getting pregnant again. Andrew wants me to, he even figured out when i'd be due if it happened next month... but it would mean that i couldn't really work, which would mean no new car, no new place, no extra money etc. i guess we'll see what happens.
Mom's homemade pumpkin pie makes a great breakfast. =)
Ugh i'm so tired...
Our weekend was interesting. Saturday my uncle had his retirement party which was very fun (yummy food too!) A bunch of family got to meet Allison (she was so good the entire time, but she's always so good...) We got to see people we hadn't seen in a long time, like my cousins and their kids. Alli got some nice presents from several people. It's unbelievable to me that we're still receiving baby gifts; people are so generous and thoughtful.
We watched Pretty Woman that night and then got some bad news about Andrew's Grandma in Roseburg. His brother told us that she was in the hospital and probably only had 24 hours left (she had breast cancer that has apparently spread and there's nothing they can do for her). Then we had to decide when to head down there to see her. We almost left right away, at 10pm, but he was supposed to work at 7am Sunday... in the end Andrew took Sun. off from work, we got up at 5am and got down there to see Grandma around 11am (traveling is an experience with a newborn!) i had met her almost 3 years ago when he and i first got together. Also got to meet more of Andrew's family. Today she's doing worse but i'm very glad we got to see her first.
Allison is doing incredibly good. She's eating like a pro now, wanting more than before and more often (thinking growth spurt). She's still not great at breastfeeding but that's not as important to me since i'm making more and more milk for her (fenugreek is working) and she's getting it. Just gaining weight, getting cuter, keeping Mama up at night... it's all good =)
p.s. One of our extremely loud neighbors appears to be moving out today. i'm a little more than excited about this.
Time sure is whizzing by! Allison is 16 days old, starting to get a little feisty personality and we love her more than words. Daddy is thinking of going back to work next week... it's so nice to have two sets of hands to care for this child though. Feeding, changing, dressing, cleaning, and pumping gets exhausting, especially when most of it is every 2 or 3 hours, night and day. i think it was the 4am feeding where she spit up all over our bed, so Daddy changed the sheets while i put Alli in a new outfit. Team work, ya know? =) And yeah, we like her sleeping in between us in the bed. i didn't think i'd really allow it but it's obviously much easier and she sleeps better.
Yesterday the three of us went to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Ohhh the huge salad and homemade clam chowder and frozen yogurt were divine. i wanted to go back through for seconds (i've never been so HUNGRY and thirsty all the time AND lost weight before!) but didn't want to seem piggy =) i am down about 28 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. Today we slept in until after 1pm. It was lovely but really, we didn't head to bed until almost 2am and then we were up several times throughout the night. Andrew asked how long all of this will last, the diaper changes, the frequent feedings, etc. but he didn't like my answer. Heheh.
Breastfeeding is going. We try to latch at every feeding (except yesterday when my nipples were PAINFUL or when we have company). She's getting better and we'll just keep at it. She's definitely getting more milk now. It will feel wonderful when we can stop supplementing with that gross formula which she throws up half the time anyway.
i had my 2 week OB check-up. He looked at my c-section scar, said it's healing beautifully, asked about breastfeeding (mentioning the real #1 reason that most moms give up: frustration... no kidding!) and made sure i wasn't suffering from postpartum depression (i'm not). My blood pressure is still high, 128/98 i think, but he said stay on the Labatelol until my next check-up in a month, sometimes it just takes a while to get normal again. i'm down over 20 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, which makes me excited. Of course he said our daughter was gorgeous. Now we're (mainly Andrew heh) putting together Allison's dresser/changing table that our friends delivered to us from IKEA. We had a little mishap with it last night and had to take a trip to the IKEA store by the airport (what an unusual place), but it's looking great at this point.
On the breastfeeding front, we've been very successful so far today. She nursed on both sides during several sessions, something she hasn't been able to do yet. i was so proud of us. Now i'm suffering from a little nipple pain but that's okay (i'm trying out these Soothies that a friend gave me). She's already 2 weeks old!
Third day home. The pediatrician appt. this morning was okay. Allison weighs 6.1lbs (she weighed 5.9lbs at discharge and 6.5lbs at birth so we're headed back up). She's grown from 18.5 inches to 20 inches and the doctor said she looks perfect. Later we gave her a sponge bath without too much protest from her. Also made a little trip to the mall this afternoon for a nursing bra (she sleeps through everything so far), then Mommy and Daddy had a nap.
Not a good breastfeeding day. i'm trying everything they say to do but she just cries and won't latch on at all now. We're seeing another lactation consultant tomorrow. Doing this for another 4-6 weeks sounds pretty stressful.
i really really hope i can say it was all worth it too.
We are tired people...
So we've made it through two nights at home with Allison. The first night was great, she slept just fine, woke up on her own every 3 hours and went back to sleep after eating. Last night was harder (she spit up quite a bit after we had her all tucked in... LOTS of laundry going on in this house) and slept in the bed with us for a while, but overall she's very easy. We're still trying to breastfeed at every feeding. She'll try for a minute, get pissed and then Daddy gets a bottle ready. Although this morning she did very well at the breast. i'm not sure how long i can keep doing this (the pumping is the most tedious part, which i wouldn't mind doing after every feeding if it were enough to satiate her, but i'm getting less milk than when she was in the hospital. grrrr!) Just want what's best for her.
We have her first pediatrician appointment this morning. Haven't met the doctor yet but i've heard good things. Yesterday we had a bunch of things to buy still so we took our first trip to Costco and Babies r Us. Talk about exhausting, but it went well and we got everything on the list (Boppy, Diaper Genie, toilet paper, formula, diapers, etc.) It was kinda fun getting random comments from strangers about our precious girl. =)
My dream last night...
The baby had been born and there were tons of people over to see us (we were at the house i grew up in, in Aloha). Allison looks like a BOY though, which kind of upsets me. Everyone else just pretends she is pretty. i was desperately trying to breastfeed her in front of everyone but it was difficult and embarrassing. For some reason i was naked with just a blanket over me and things kept getting exposed. Then it got painful because she wasn't latching on properly. i tried burping her but all i could think was, "This isn't how you're supposed to look honey. You don't look like me, you look like your uncle Brian." Then everyone started holding her, passing her around (Andrew was NO WHERE to be found though). i start asking, "So what happened? i don't remember the labor at all." And they tried to fill me in on the birth but none of it was making sense. (God, i hope that's not how it really goes! i want to remember my daughter's birth.)
Oh it was nice to finally hold her though.
Soon!
Here's the view when i try to see my toes...
i think right now the thing i'm most excited about, besides seeing her perfect face, is breastfeeding my little girl. My breasts have been changing and gearing up for this since the day i found out i was pregnant. Today they're much larger, making colostrum, a very different color and sensitive again. It's so amazing that our bodies do all of this. From creating a life to giving birth to nourishing her for as long as i want to... it's hard to explain, i'm just ready and excited.
i have been enjoying my time at home these past weeks. i love being able to stay up late with Andrew, then sleep until Andrew does, sometimes later. We can spend the morning together before he leaves for work at 11am. Most mornings he makes us breakfast... this baby is going to love eggs and bacon. Once in a while i take a nap. i'm able to do lots of laundry, clean the kitchen, make it to appointments, put my feet up, it's just really nice. i'm sure i'll miss the time and the peace and quiet i have now.
Zoe is doing really well after his procedures... he's still getting pain meds so he sleeps a lot. And he tolerates his little frisby around his neck. He'd love to run around and play but the vet said to prevent that for 30 days. i understand why they want that (his little toes are tender) but keep a kitten from playing for a month!?! Sounds impossible to me.
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