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)

24 Hours

So much changes in 24 hours.

• I decided I should go see a lactation consultant before my appointment Thursday. I'm increasingly concerned about my supply so it seemed silly to wait until the end of the week.
• I met with one of the LCs at our pediatrician's office this morning. She was very helpful and made me feel a lot better.
• I'm now taking fenugreek and blessed thistle to help increase my production. I'm also going to nurse Baby J as often as I can and get lots of snuggle time in.
• At work I'm going to pump as often as I can. I need to find a way to pump twice during the lunch shift. I'm already pumping twice during dinner.
• I'm back to only feeding her on one side to make sure she's getting hind milk.
• After I feed her in the morning one side, I'm going to pump on the other and then wait an hour and pump on both sides.
  
• I'm going to do my best to not stress about how much I get when I pump. I think the stress is only making things worse. I have a stock of milk in the freezer and I need to use it if need be.
  
• Baby J and I will be okay. I just needed to get some advice and a little perspective.
  

In Which I Continue to be Totally Unsure of Myself

Baby J had an appointment on Friday for a little check-up. Apparently, little girls and old women can get dry um, down there, and need some cream to make sure things are sticking together. I'd never heard of it, but we'd been diligently putting cream on Baby J's girly bits for three weeks and we needed to make sure everything was fine. Well, her girly bits are fine.

But she lost half a pound in the three weeks since her four month check up.

If you remember, we talked about lots of sleep issues at her last appointment. One of the other things she said was to try to go longer between feedings during the day. That happened pretty naturally on its own. We have been going three to four hours between feedings. And although I was becoming convinced Baby J is just really efficient and doesn't need to nurse all that long, I now think we might have a problem. The pediatrician seemed pretty concerned about the weight loss. She went from the 65th percentile to the 26th.

So these are the solutions we came up with. I should feed her on both sides at each feeding and try to get her to eat longer. When she's getting a bottle because I'm working, it should be four ounces. And I'm going back in on Thursday to weigh Baby J again and see the Nurse Practitioner/Lactation Consultant to make sure everything looks okay.

Hubby was away this weekend for a friend's bachelor party and I had to work both Friday night and Saturday night. We are lucky to have my sister and good friends around to help out (and for free!). My friend J watched her last night and she ate two four ounce bottles within an hour of each other! I had a hard time getting her to eat both at 1pm and at 3pm before I left for work. She just seemed totally uninterested and cried rather loudly instead of eating. I'm glad she had those two bottles because I was concerned she didn't get enough to eat during the day, but it really confuses me. Is she just done with my actual breasts? I don't really think so because she does still eat especially at night and in the morning and even a little during the day. Should I just pump and feed her four ounce bottles so I know she is getting enough...whatever enough is? I'm thoroughly confused and unsure of myself. And totally freaked out because I only pumped one four ounce bottle at work last night and am scared she's going to go through a ton of milk while I'm working two doubles this week. I read oatmeal helps with milk production so I had a big bowl for breakfast yesterday and today. I'm also thinking of getting some fenugreek capsules to take to help with the milk production especially for pumping purposes. I'm just scared the production will go crazy and I'll end up with mastitis. I just feel at a loss and don't really know who to call because I'm sure everyone will tell me something different.

So It Begins

Baby J started day care today. It was a "transition" day but really it was as long as she'll be there tomorrow too. I really like her teacher. She's pregnant and has moved over from the preschool room to head up the new infant room. And for a few weeks her teacher only has Baby J and another baby. She's helping with all the other babies too, but when we were there her focus seemed to be on those two which is nice. Baby J took two naps, although they weren't very long, ate twice, had her clothes changed (thank you drool) and got a few clean diapers. I think after today I'm feeling much better about things. She didn't cry when we left (Hubby had today off so he went with me, thank god. I don't think I would've taken her in today otherwise...) and she was happy when we got back. She was asleep in her carseat before we were five minutes from the daycare. It's going to be okay, I think. But we should see how I am after leaving her tomorrow.

Right now I'm most concerned about my milk production. First of all I'm confused about how much she should be eating. She's now going 3-4 hours between feedings instead of eating every two. (Actually, it's a relief to leave the house and know I don't have to figure out where to feed her in a couple hours.) Although she's eating less often, her nursing sessions have shortened too. She might nurse for five-ten minutes. Ten if I'm lucky. When I pump I'm lucky to get three ounces from one breast. This morning I pumped when Baby J would have normally eaten and I only got two ounces and that was pumping on both sides! Everything I've read says pumping is not a good indication of production, but when you need to produce milk to feed your baby while you're working and can't pump enough then what? I'm going to have to get creative about when I pump now. Especially when I start working doubles on Tuesdays and Wednesdays next week. I don't know if she's okay only getting 3 ounces every 3-4 hours while I'm working or if it should be 4 ounces. Does anyone out there know? I'm been looking online but have a hard time finding how much she should be eating. Ugh.

All Rolled Over!

Baby J has mastered rolling over. Here's how I found her in her crib one hot day last week.

Hi Mommy.

My rolls have rolls.

What?