Baby Blues by Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott
11 days old
I’m trying to pump at least 8 times a day and feed at least 8 times a day.
I can generally do this with a nap in between and with Hubby handling finger feeds during the 1-4am hour. As long as BG and I stay within a schedule She wakes every 3-4 hours and gets to napping fairly easily most of the time. we’ll be ok.
I’ve learned if she doesn’t get enough food or naps, she’s uber-cranky. She’s too young to soothe herself so she just cries and hopes we can settle her down for a nap. So I suppose even though newborns don’t have a real schedule there is an outline and one would be wise to learn it and use it as much as possible.
All this feeding leaves little time for me to eat. Today was the first time my appetite really was hitting me. I learned to cook stuff one handed or eat fast eats. I suppose that’s a milestone.
At 1am this morning, BG had the mother of all poops. DH has been the witness and diaper changer for most poops. We didn’t do this on purpose, it just kind of happened. Anywho, all I heard from my husband was, “Oh My God. Oh My. Oh, Man. She’s not stopping.”
He was mid change when it began. Hubby probably went through a box of wipes and 4-5 diapers for this poop. He was quite impressed. Aside from my husband’s play by play and comments, the most humorous thing about the event was how BG was silent as a church mouse. It was as if she was in total concentration and had to focus all her energy on releasing her bowels.
Needless to say, she slept well after that massive poopers.
I tried pumping but got too exhausted and let it be. Sometimes you can’t force it, especially when it’s 3am and all, hubby, baby and wife, are walking zombies.
I did have a good routine last night though. I slept, woke up, pumped and went back to sleep. Hubby took care of BG until 5am and I took over. It was a much needed reprieve. Don’t get me wrong, I love my BG but spending over every waking hour caring for her is tiring. You just need ‘me’ time. When you are a parent, I’m slowly learning ‘me’ time includes: naps, laundry and walks to the corner shops.
Yes, if I can’t get out of the house for a stroll, I’ll take doing laundry, a nap or walking to the corner supermarket. It’s time I’m not concerned with my breasts, nap schedules and feed schedules.
Last night, I also found hubby lying down with BG on his chest. It reminded me of my dad and how there are pictures of me lying on his chest as we both slept. She also has a tendency to pull out her arms from her swaddle and sleep either with both hands reclining up by her head or one hand up and her face leaning towards it. She also like to lean towards a side. The reclining reminds me of my husband. The rolling and leaning to a side freaks me out.
The lactation consultant called today to follow up. I told her I’m practicing the latching. The free arm is still an issue but when hubby is around he helps me move it. I’m still concerned as I’m not producing as much milk as I thought I’d would. I left a message with the physician lactation expert but she hasn’t called me back. Beverly reminded me to call her again for a prolactin check. I called again but the voice mail is full. I guess I’ll try again over the weekend.
Milestones:
Used the bulb doodad to suck out two whoppers from BG’s nose. The first nostril, she didn’t mind. The second one she didn’t like too much.
Massive poopie So big, it potentially could have been one of those explodes up the back poops if hubby didn’t catch it in the act.
