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| Week 1 |
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| Week 2 |
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| Week 3 |
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| Week 4- Christmas |
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| Week 5 |
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| Week 6 |
Michael went back to work the Monday after we got home from the hospital but the midwife didn't want me being all by myself at home so my mom came to help the first day. She also went with me to my appointment with the lactation consultant at our pediatricians office. The lactation consultant had me nurse the baby and then weighed her after each side to see how much she was eating. She said that I was doing everything correctly and she gave me some medicated cream since the baby had done some serious damage to my left nipple. Of course the baby nursed totally fine while we were with the lactation consultant, but at home she was really struggling and fighting on the left side but nursing great from the right side. Because of the damage on the left side it was also super painful for me to have her nurse from that side, so I resorted to pumping on that side instead.
Because the baby had some jaundice issues, I was told to nurse her as frequently as possible. We were waking up every two hours through the night so I could feed her, but because of the jaundice she was almost impossible to wake up. I would have to get up, change her diaper (which would make her mad), undress her, turn the light on, and then she would finally wake up enough to eat for a few minutes. It was hard having to do this because Michael would have to go to work in the morning so I felt bad about waking him up through the process of waking her up, she would only feed off of the right side, and I was exhausted from my complete lack of sleep. The pediatrician wanted me to do the 2 hour feedings until she was back to her birth weight.
Well, because she was only feeding from the right side, I was pumping the left side before bed, then going all night and then pump again in the morning. I did that for about a week and a half before I experienced my first clogged ducts from the engorgement of going all night with out pumping or feeding from that side. Holy cow- clogged/plugged ducts are nothing to mess around with... it is seriously painful. The entire left side of my left boob was hard as a rock, red, hot, and hurt like crazy. I knew I needed to be careful so that I didn't get mastitis so I tried taking hot showers, massage, and pumped like crazy. When I woke up that morning, I was in so much pain that I wanted to cry and I couldn't even hold the baby with my left arm. The next day it was even worse. I had developed blisters on my nipple and was in serious pain (although I never had a fever, thank goodness). I called the lactation consultant and she told me that I needed to pop the blisters with a sterile needle (yuck!) and then pump right away to try to unclog it. She also said to have the baby nurse on that side to try to unclog it, but the pain of having her nurse on that side was unbearable so I couldn't do it. Finally after two days it cleared up and I hope that is not something I have to experience again. Seriously not pleasant at all!! After that incident, I decided I needed to suck it up and just let her nurse on the left side and fight through the pain. Thankfully, now she can nurse fine off that side and it no longer is painful. Anyone who says breastfeeding doesn't hurt or isn't hard... IS A LIAR! But if you can make it through the hard part in the beginning, it definitely gets easier with time and now I actually enjoy the time I spend breastfeeding my baby.
Betsy Grace wasn't back to her birth weight at her two week appointment (she was 3 ounces shy) so they told me to continue waking her up every two hours to eat. Man, I was so disappointed. I was so hoping that she would be past her birth weight so I could finally get more than an hour stretch of sleep at one time during the night. They told me to come back in a week to check her weight again. She gained 5 ounces which put her at 8lbs 6oz. I asked the nurse if I could do longer stretches between feedings at night since her weight went up, but she said because she is a slow gainer to not go more than 3 hours between night time feedings. Ok, so I get a little more sleep but not a lot. I know that everyone says "sleep when the baby naps during the day" but I am not good at doing that and when you are home by yourself you have to get other stuff done rather than nap all day. So I would feed her at 10pm when we went to bed, again at 1a.m., 4a.m., and then again at 6:45a.m. when I would wake up Michael so he could get ready for work. (And continued to feed every two hours during the day) We did that for about two weeks and then I finally broke down and bought a baby scale so I could make sure she was gaining weight.
She now weighs 9lbs 9oz and we don't go back to the doctor until the end of this month so I made the decision to start stretching out our feeding times at night. I know that I can't let her go more than 4 hours at a time without eating because breastmilk is digested so quickly she could get dehydrated after more than 4 hours. We are currently going to bed at 10pm, feeding at 2a.m., and again at 6a.m. although sometimes she will want to wake up to eat around 5a.m. instead. I've also strayed away from the strictness of the "feed baby every 2 to 2 1/2 hours" schedule and leaned more toward baby directed feeding. I've been doing a lot of research about other cultures and the ways they raise their infants and what I've found is that the best option is to simply follow the baby's lead. So that's what we are doing now and since I have the scale I can make sure that she is still gaining like she should. So rather than feeding every 2 hours during the day, I let her tell me when she's hungry. It may be 10 or 30 minutes after she last ate or it may be 2 hours after she ate. She's eating frequently and seems to be doing fine.
Another thing that I've decided on (that I've met some resistance about) is that we are co-sleeping. My mommy instincts tell me that it is best to have her near me while we sleep rather than putting her in her crib away from me. Research shows that infants who have skin-to-skin contact sleep better, breathe better, have a better regulated temperature, and have better brain development. All of those are perks but I just feel more comfortable and sleep better knowing she is safe in my arms. People say "aren't you afraid you are going to roll over on her?" and no, I'm not afraid of that. I'm very aware that she is in my arms and we both wake up in the same position we fell asleep in. If she moves or stirs I feel it. When I feel her looking for my boobs, I know she's ready to eat. I don't have to get up and go get her to feed her, I simply have to sit up. I'm not sure how long we will co-sleep, maybe just the first few months, but right now it's what feels right.
I've also been told that I'm spoiling her by holding her too much and not letting her sleep on her own. I don't believe that is the case. Rather, I feel it is important to be close to her as much as possible (even though it can be frustrating when I'm attempting to get something done and she won't let me put her down). There is a lot of interesting research about the "fourth trimester", the first three months outside of the womb. It makes alot of sense to me... google it if you want more info. I'm very thankful for my Baby K'tan wrap so I can wear her when I need to get something done (I'm currently wearing her as I type and she's snoring away!) Other cultures hold or wear their infants constantly throughout the day (and co-sleep as well) so why do people in our culture think it is ok to just leave this little person by themselves and expect them to not fuss about it? Sure it might be hard or inconvenient, but you can't expect life to be just like it was before you had a baby.
We've been using cloth diapers since we came home from the hospital with the exception of days that we were out of the house all day and during the night time, but as of two weeks ago (when we ran out of disposable diapers) we've been using cloth full time. I love it! Sure, I have to change her a little more frequently during the day using the prefolds but it is way easier than I had imagined it to be. We use prefolds and covers during the day at home and then use the pocket or all-in-one cloth diapers at night or when we go out. They work better than the disposables too. The only mess we've had was in a disposable diaper when it went all up her back. We don't have that problem with the cloth diapers. I just do a few extra loads of diaper laundry a week and that's it. So far my cloth diaper stash includes 24 prefolds, 10 covers (most of which were given to me on my cloth diaper cake), 1 Rumparooz pocket diaper, 4 Fuzzibunz pocket diapers (my favorite by far!), 6 BumGenius pocket diapers, 2 Kawaii diapers, 2 Cocalo diapers, and 5 BumGenius freetime all in one diapers.
As far as my recovery is concerned, I feel 100% back to normal. I've lost 26 pounds without even trying and have 10 pounds left to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm not sure how quickly those last 10 pounds will fall off because breastfeeding makes me super hungry all the time. I go to the doctor on the 14th for my 6 week post partum check up and hopefully she will give me the ok to start exercising again. I've missed my body pump and spin classes at the Y that I loved before pregnancy. Its hard for me to think about leaving my little one in the daycare at the gym when she's so little, so it may be a little longer before that happens, or will only happen when Michael is home to watch her.
That's it for now. Hopefully my next update won't be another 6 weeks from now.
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