20 days old
A welcome visit came today. My friend N came with her husband. She brought much needs sustenance and some laughs and smiles. I always can count on N to cheer me up.
My pumping went up to 3.5 ounces yesterday but is back to 2 ounces today. I think this is partly due to my anxiety and my lack of nutritional intake. Last night my dinner was half a turkey sandwich.
Hubby spent the day finger feeding BG. In the evening, I noticed she would cry throughout her feed with hubby. He stated she was always like this. Of course as she cried, her she took in more air which caused tummy discomfort.
I gave him a bottle to try and she took it. She was quiet the entire time and afterwards was very sedate and content. I told him that possibly his finger feeding with her practically horizontal and him jabbing his finger in and out of her mouth probably caused air pocket discomfort. She’s past the finger feeding stage.
Hubby felt awful because he knows I fear nipple confusion and with my new goal of weaning myself and baby girl off the SNS tube and onto the breast, it will be a challenging week. Add now that BG will be receiving occasional bottle feeds from hubby and I’m in for a more bumpy road, potentially.
Still, I told him the important thing is comfort for BG. Finger feeding wasn’t working anymore. At least we are using the bottles the lactation physician suggested that has low flow. She said less babies have nipple confusion with the nipples and bottles we purchased.
Tomorrow, I hope to give her one feeding sans SNS. Hopefully it will satiate her and get her used to the flow from the breast alone. Today I gave her 30 minutes of soothing/eating on my left breast. I figured the worst that could happen is she wakes up earlier for food and my breasts get stimulated. I’m supposing any sucking from baby is going to stimulate my breasts to produce more milk.
Pumping volumes decreased today but I think that was due to the lack of nutrients I had yesterday. Today, thanks to N, I had sandwiches galore. I also was able to make pancakes after mass. I haven’t been able to do that since the delivery. Usually, Sunday morning breakfast is a pancake or big breakfast.
Of course, today, I made my pancakes super quick as BG, was on alert mode and wanted to be cuddled. Try flipping pancakes while balancing a newborn on your shoulders. You contort yourself and look like a Cirque Du Soleil performer.
This coming week, I tackle weaning off the SNS. I hope BG takes to the breast well.
Milestones:
First use of a bottle and it took
First afternoon nap with mom and dad
Yes all three of us took a nap in the afternoon.
