Reason #4,586 Why I Love My Husband

This is what greeted me at the door when I got home from work last night. Baby J's tiny shoes with all of ours (ok, three of those pairs are mine and one is my sister's). My husband, he is teh cute.

A Happy Report

• Baby J is back up to 14lbs 1 oz. She's just two ounces shy of where she was at her four month check up so things are looking up.
• She gained seven ounces in seven days!
• Apparently she's just a snacker and I'm okay with that. She can eat as often as she likes.
• Ears are clear.
• I am pretty sure she's starting to do more serious teething. She was chewing on the nurse practitioner/lactation consultant's stethoscope through part of our visit.
• We don't go back to the doctor again until her six month check up which will be nice.
• Well to the pediatrician's anyway. She has a dermatology appointment in two weeks for a little raised patch she's had on her leg since birth.
• The sleep isn't ideal but if she's gaining weight I'll deal with it. We had some nice cuddle time in bed this morning at her normal 5am waking but I fed her laying down and we snuggled for a bit.
• Thanks again for all your helpful and kinds words. I guess it's always something but I'm appreciative to have your support and suggestions.
  

In Which I Feel at My Wits End

• Seadragon asked how things are going. I guess they are going better.
• Baby J weighed the same amount to the 10th of an ounce at her appointment on Thursday. 13lbs 10.8oz. So it's good she didn't lose anymore.
• My milk supply is definitely up and feeling more ample which is also good.
• Baby J still screeches at the top of her lungs during feedings. I don't know why. She screeches and arches her back. Is my milk flow slowing down before she's ready for it to? If it seems like she's still hungry but not much is coming out of the side I just fed her on, I'll switch sides. She usually eats hungrily on that side too only to spit it up later.
• Also any progress we'd made on the sleeping front has totally gone by the wayside. She's up numerous times a night and has lately been waking up around 5 or 5:30am and wants to play. The past few days Hubby has gone for a long walk with her in the morning so I can get a bit more sleep since I'm up t more with her during the night. This morning, god bless her, my mom took her for awhile so we could both sleep.
  
• Many times lately I feel at my wits end. I'm terribly afraid they are going to tell me we need to start supplementing with formula because Baby J isn't getting enough to eat. I'm pretty convinced she isn't getting any hindmilk as she's only eating for about five minutes at a time. My breasts do feel drained when she's done so I'm confident she's getting some food. I just don't know if it's enough. I want to believe my body can provide for Baby J but maybe it can't. I want to keep up the breastfeeding but many times in the past few days I have felt near tears when Baby J starts to screech and arch away while she's eating.
  
• I was reading in The Baby Book that maybe she's on a nursing strike of sorts, but that doesn't feel exactly right to me. I can't really find anything that addresses what we're dealing with. It's not that my let down is too strong. I know that much.
• I don't know what to do, but am thinking maybe I should change the name of my blog to something more relevant like "Nursing Issues R Us" or "That Complaining Mommy".

And now for something more interesting than my nursing woes and complaints. Today we bought Baby J a high chair. She'll start eating cereal in a few weeks and we want to put her up at the table whenever possible. We got her the Stokke Tripp Trapp chair. Here are some cute pictures from today...

Happy baby!

Feed me!

That's more like it.

Where's mine?

Side view

I'm cute.

Model face (her own blue steel for those of you Zoolander fans)