Bringing Home the Baby
Addison had slept so well in the hospital, to the extent where we had to wake her after several hours to feed her, and she still fell asleep again during the feeding as well. But once we were home, we had quite the opposite problem over night, she was awake and screaming her head off for hours at a time in the middle of the night. She seemed to want feeding constantly, and I was exhausted. We had already seen the lactation consultant on Tuesday, but her advice just wasnt working anymore.
So we went back Thursday, where they weighed Addison, then I fed her for 15 minutes on one side, then they weighed her again, but she had not gained anything. So I used their double pump for 15 minutes, and discovered that I had basically been starving the poor child for her first few days of life, as I only managed to get literally a few drips of milk out! So they suggested I rent the pump, and use it every 3 hours to get the milk flowing, and in the meantime feed her formula.
We have now had the pump a whole week, and while the supply has increased from that first attempt, I am still only getting just about enough to cover the bottom of the bottle on each side, not even a whole ounce in total, whereas she is taking 3 ounces of formula every 3 hours. I can't see it ever getting to the point where I can actually breast feed her again, but have decided to keep the pump for another week so at least she can get some goodness from me, better than nothing.
Other than that, she is faring well. In fact almost too well. We went to the pediatrician last week, and she weighed 8lb exactly, having lost 7oz off her birth weight, then we went back yesterday, at age 11 days, and she was 9lb 1.5oz! I think we had been over-feeding her though, as she had still been up all night, seemingly demanding food constantly, and still not settling at all, but maybe she was uncomfortable from over eating. We actually had a good night last night, she fed only every 3 hours, and slept inbetween times, but was sleeping in her car seat and we used a dummy for the first time, both on the advice of the doctor, who basically said do whatever works to get her to sleep and keep us sane. Apparently we should expect this crying in the night phase to last for about the next 6 weeks and get worse over that time, but not to worry about her getting into bad habits, as once she is over this, it should be easy to break her of them again.
She has had a couple of sponge baths, and screamed her head off throughout, but her cord fell off at 10 days, so next time she will get a proper bath, which will not be popular either. But she will get to love it in time I am sure. She also hates having her nappy changed, crying until her clothing is all back in place again, then stopping like she has a switch that has just turned to off.
Reggie does not like all the crying, usually moving away, and I am sure she is wondering when this little bundle will be going back again!
So we went back Thursday, where they weighed Addison, then I fed her for 15 minutes on one side, then they weighed her again, but she had not gained anything. So I used their double pump for 15 minutes, and discovered that I had basically been starving the poor child for her first few days of life, as I only managed to get literally a few drips of milk out! So they suggested I rent the pump, and use it every 3 hours to get the milk flowing, and in the meantime feed her formula.
We have now had the pump a whole week, and while the supply has increased from that first attempt, I am still only getting just about enough to cover the bottom of the bottle on each side, not even a whole ounce in total, whereas she is taking 3 ounces of formula every 3 hours. I can't see it ever getting to the point where I can actually breast feed her again, but have decided to keep the pump for another week so at least she can get some goodness from me, better than nothing.
Other than that, she is faring well. In fact almost too well. We went to the pediatrician last week, and she weighed 8lb exactly, having lost 7oz off her birth weight, then we went back yesterday, at age 11 days, and she was 9lb 1.5oz! I think we had been over-feeding her though, as she had still been up all night, seemingly demanding food constantly, and still not settling at all, but maybe she was uncomfortable from over eating. We actually had a good night last night, she fed only every 3 hours, and slept inbetween times, but was sleeping in her car seat and we used a dummy for the first time, both on the advice of the doctor, who basically said do whatever works to get her to sleep and keep us sane. Apparently we should expect this crying in the night phase to last for about the next 6 weeks and get worse over that time, but not to worry about her getting into bad habits, as once she is over this, it should be easy to break her of them again.
She has had a couple of sponge baths, and screamed her head off throughout, but her cord fell off at 10 days, so next time she will get a proper bath, which will not be popular either. But she will get to love it in time I am sure. She also hates having her nappy changed, crying until her clothing is all back in place again, then stopping like she has a switch that has just turned to off.
Reggie does not like all the crying, usually moving away, and I am sure she is wondering when this little bundle will be going back again!
1 Comments:
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Spencer and Phoebe want to jump on a plane right away to see you and the baby :) (SO DO I!!!)
Feel free to call me if you have questions about all this crazy motherhood stuff! I am so excited for you all and look forward to talking with you soon. Lots of Love~Karen & family xoxoxo
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