Hello Hello Hello! Sorry I haven't been around - been SUPER busy with this little piggy of ours ... I have been keeping notes though, so I'll post some of those - and yes, eventually I'll get pics up too!
The following entries are snippits from emails I've been sending out...
10/3/07
Had a REALLY rough start to the night last night...but it all turned out okay by morning. Our little piggy girl finished 2 oz at 9:45... fussed and fussed and fussed... took another bottle of 3 oz at 11:30... and then awake again at 12:30 for another ounce and a half!!! Mommy can't keep up! :P Then she let us get 4 hrs of sleep...took her 2 oz... and is now on her second set of 4 hrs of sleep. Just starting to wake now. I'm going to get breakfast, Richie is going to shower and head to walmart for a nipple shield for me to try today. Target, Kinney, and Rite Aide didn't have them... so much for an easy to find item... Go back today at 2:30 to see Kit. Not sure Laura has made any progress at the breast, but at least she's eating and peeing and boy oh boy is she pooping!!! (And it stinks too!) Took Richie's breath away overnight...thought it was going to take his dinner away with it!
10/4/07
Last night was wonderful :) Got home from our appointment at around 6:30... then Amanda stopped by to drop off the blanket from Laura's "Great Great Aunt Hannah". It's a blanket that will be passed down to all the baby girls in the family. Laura will be the third baby to use it.
I was starting to feel on edge when we got home so I knew I needed a nap if I was going to make it through the night. I got a 1 hour nap...then we did a feeding...then I was able to get another 1 hour nap while Richiew was up with Laura. She has a very awake period of time LATE in the evening (like 9-midnight...) Hopefully we can switch that awake time to earlier in the evening so we're not up so late with that last feeding once Richie goes back to work. We finished the last night feeding at around 1am and she was zonked out afterwards. She took a little at the breast at that time and then a full 3 oz bottle! She slept for 4 hours... ah, who ever would have thought 3.5 hours (for me) would be so refreshing? I got up with her at 4am and did a feeding/pumping session until 5:10am... she took a little more breast and another 3 oz. We let Richie sleep. He got up with us, but I told him to get his sleep while I was feeling awake and okay. Back to bed until about 8:15 this morning...so I think we both totaled about 7 hours of broken sleep last night.
I'm going to get another nap on the couch now before her next feeding at 11:30. I NEED to try better during the day to get naps so it doesn't catch up with me and make me feel crazy once it gets dark out at night. Had one nightmare last night - I was falling out of bed and yelling "help" but nobody could hear me. When I woke and looked at the clock, I had only been in bed for about 15 minutes! Talk about falling asleep fast and hard!
We're doing okay... it's really rough being tired all the time and not knowing exactly what to do at other times, but I am so in love with our little girl. Richie is too. He tells me I've been replaced! We're still having quite the time trying to get Laura to latch to the breast, but the lactation consultant at the peds office says she's confidant that she WILL figure it out in the next couple days. That'll make life much nicer when we don't have to have to be watching a clock and pumping every 2 hours as well as feeding...
10/5/07
Last night was okay. She had 1 session of 4 hours of sleep, and then when she was awake at 3:20...she was up for almost 2 hours...but that was still okay. I let Richie sleep while I got her back to sleep. ... I figure I can sleep much better than him during the day, so he needs the night sleep. I NEED the evening naps though to make it through the night... not sure how that'll work out once richie is back to work. Hopefully by then we'll have the whole latch thing down so it's not so mechanical at feeding times.
10/6/07
We had a really good evening here last night... Laura was able to latch on for 5 min at one feeding (after using the nipple shield) and then the next feeding she did 5 min (after the shield) and then 4 more min after the shield again. She hasn't gotten that good yet today, but she IS taking from the shield which means she's still taking from me, not from the bottle!!! YAY! We ARE making progress now and it's visible progress. She comes off the boob with a happy little content smirk on her face. :)
She certainly has her nights and days mixed up a bit though... two nights in a row now when we're "supposed" to be able to sleep while she's having a 4 hour break from feedings every 2 hours - she's decided to be awake for 2 of those 4 hours... so she's awake when ~we~ want to sleep. Oh well. As she gets stronger she'll be awake longer, and she already has been awake today for a total of about 4 hours since midnight. Yes, 2 of those hours were from 2:50am-4:45am... but awake is good!
Mom is here for the week and it's going to be a big help. Richie heads back to work Monday morning. He just went to Lowe's and got a few things to keep him busy puttering around here. Picked up the mirrored door for the nursery closet... a couple dimmer switches... he'll be starting to build the shelf for the nursery sometime... and later in the week mom and I are going to head to Lowe's and pick out handles and knobs for the kitchen so we can stop using our duct tape handles :P
Gotta go do some skin to skin with my babe. She's been asleep for a good 4 hours (yea, slept through the last feeding - how weird it must be to be able to eat and sleep at the same time!) ... so after 4 hours of sleep, hopefully she'll be ready to wake up a bit and maybe latch on for this next feeding :)
10/7/07 (My Due Date!)
I only slept for about 1 hour on Laura's first 4 hour stretch between feedings last night and then she was up at the 3.5 hour mark both times asking for food before the 4 hours. We let Richie sleep since he has to get rested to head back to work tomorrow. We'll do the same tonight. Mom has been sacking out on the couch since she snores - so that we don't hear her... and we always thought it was dad!!! :P
Today has been a pretty good day. She isn't taking the full 2 ounces from the bottle anymore - so we're convinced she IS getting food from me. Certainly isn't that I'm not making enough for her... I'm making enough for her and enough to freeze a bunch too! I think the past three days, I've been able to freeze about 8 ounces each day!
Laura's REAL success was at 6:30 tonight though... she took the breast for 5 minutes...then needed to burp...then latched on and nursed like a champ for a full 15 minutes straight!!! We were all joking yesterday that she would get the hang of breastfeeding on October 7th since she wasn't due until today - sorta like I was on contract to feed her for 40 weeks so she was going to let me do that until it was time for her to come out...well, wouldn't you know it... that's what she's doing! I say that, but I can't get ahead of myself yet - that was only for 1 feeding today. She has been refusing the bottle after the feedings the past 2 times though, so we're thinking she's just SO FULL that when we try to wake her up at the 2 hour mark, she's not interested, and there's no way to force a boob into her mouth when she's so sacked out. We're going to try stretching her feedings to between 2-3 hours and WHEN she nurses good for 15-20 minutes, not even offer the bottle afterwards if she looks content. She's so adorable - smiles when she's content and full. Richie and I are both convinced that her smiles are just that - contentment - not gas. Although, she sure does stink when she fills her diapers!
We're doing good with the cloth!!! Doing sposies at night and cloth during the day. Once she's bigger and fits into the "pocket" type diapers, we'll try those overnight, but for now she's using just the preemie prefolds and the covers over those - and they only last one wet - so they're not good for overnight. ...but, we're only using about 4-5 disposies overnight/early morning so we're definitely saving money by doing cloth!!!
10/10/07
Monday we all got out of the house and went for our first walk with Laura. We put her in just a onsie because it was almost 90 degrees here...even though it's already October! We put her in the carseat and then in the snap-n-go stroller. We walked up the hill just to the shady part where the stream crosses under the road. Then we came back and tried to cool off! When Laura looks back at the first couple weeks of pictures of her...she'll wonder why nearly all she wore was diapers, receiving blankets, and burp cloths!
Monday evening we had another good nursing session. She latched on (without me even trying to coax her!) for 5 minutes on the left...then once that started to hurt, I switched and tried her on the right - and she got that one too for a good 4 minutes! Here it is Wednesday though, and we have no successes like that to share from yesterday :(
Monday overnight went pretty well. "grandma" was up with us at the first feeding to help us out, but Laura and I managed the early morning one (~4:30am) on our own...and then we also did the 8:00am one on our own too. We heard grandma snoring on the couch so we decided to let her sleep and tried it on our own in the nursery.
Richie is back to work now. He's getting his hands on Laura for a few hours in the evening. He's going to work with Bob this evening while Mom is here with me - but next week when I'm on my own with Laura all day - he may not get in the wednesday evening work.... if I have a long day that day, he'll be coming home to be with us. But we're going to see how Mon/Tues go before deciding that.
We were going to go to visit Richie's mom yesterday at work, but she called yesterday morning and said she had a sore throat... today she's going home sick probably so it may be next week before we get down to show Laura off to the staff in the office there.
Yesterday we did go on our first outing besides a doctor's visit though... we made our way to the bank, then to Aldi's, then to get gas, then to the farm stand, then home just before the HUGE thunderstorm hit! Laura fusses when the car isn't moving - stop lights and then getting gas... she likes movement! The trip to the grocery store went okay with 2 of us there --- but I'm curious how that'll go when it's me, baby, and a shopping cart! I may have to start using the front carrier I got sooner rather than later - or... leave Laura home with Richie and scoot out while they're having some time together.
Today is Laura's followup with the lactation consultant (Kit) again - I think that Laura has definitely put weight back on. The past couple days I've noticed her fingers look more full...and yesterday morning I thought her legs looked like her little rolls were pudging up a bit - and then last evening I thought her arms and chest looked a bit bigger too...
10/11/07
So yesterday we had a fairly long outing. First stop was Laura's 2 week check up. We saw Kit again (the LC). Laura is now 8 pounds... 50th percentile. And she's 21 inches long! ... 75th percentile! They say that by 2 weeks, baby should be at or above their birth weight, but Kit said Laura is doing just fine considering how much she had lost. We're to keep doing what we've been doing - offer breast, then use shield, then breast - offer bottle when she's frustrated or if she needs to be topped off after a feeding. We were told that we can let her go for 3 hours during the day, and let her sleep until she wakes at night ... she's big enough now, and getting enough food that she'll let us know when she's hungry. Laura has a tad bit of diaper rash starting so we were told to not use wipes on her - just water and dab with a towel.
After the appointment, we went to Lowe's - picked up a few different handles and knobs so we can see which we like and then send Richie back to buy the lot of them for the kitchen. We'll probably look through them tonight and maybe pick one. The duct tape handles are getting old :P Laura had her first public diaper change at Lowe's... we found out that Lowe's has a very nice big clean bathroom with soft paper towels (for wiping her butt!) ... good thing they have a nice bathroom as we are at Lowe's quite often!
Next stop was Kmart - just picked up a few odds-n-ends really. Then when we left there, Mom said we should get ice cream - so we went to Purity. Mom had a "Turtle" sundea, and I got a 2 scoop sundae with banana icecream, chocolate ice cream, caramel, and strawberries! YUMMY! After that, we drove across the street and visited Richie and Bob. Bob was supposed to come visit this past weekend, but our times with when we were feeding, and when he was available didn't quite match up.
We got home at around 6:15pm... so that was a fairly long outing. We had left the house at 1:30! That was about where the good evening ended... Laura ate a few times when we got home - just suckling really - but she's getting better - opening her mouth much wider now and rooting a lot more! Well, I was holding her and I felt that very warm sensation drizzle across my lap - I knew it was flowing too fast to be my boob leaking! ha ha ha! Yep, she peed on me. Not the first time she's peed on me, but the first time her diaper leaked on me. The first time she peed on me was the day before... they say boys pee up, but girls do too!!! She peed during a diaper change and it went up - onto the wall - onto my arm - onto my belly - all over the changing table... yeah, it was all over! :P Anyways, we got her cleaned up last night and then she was wide awake for a couple hours! She started fussing and I thought she was hungry so I latched her on with the shield - well, I guess her fussing wasn't that she was hungry, but rather that she had to burp because mid feeding she turned into a volcano! HUGE amounts of milk came back up...all over me. I didn't know I could laugh and cry at the same time... I was crying because I felt bad for her... and laughing because the whole thing was just funny. Richie's question was - "Did she get any on my chair?" (yes, after he made sure she was okay!) ... no, didn't get any on the chair - just the 3 pillows I was using and all over my (second pair of clean) pants. She settled in pretty well after that.
...and then she slept for a 5 1/4 hour stretch overnight! Kit had said to let someone else (Mom or Rich) do the ~1am feeding with a bottle so I could get a good stretch of sleep. Well, I woke up at 1am and thought it was awfully quiet - figured I slept through the feeding and mom got her settled back in without her getting really upset. Woke up again at 4am when I heard Laura fussing ... I got up to pump and I asked mom if this was Laura's first time up for the night... YEP! She slept from ~10:45-4am! I doubt she'll do that everynight, but it sure was nice!
Today Laura has been really sleepy. She's going through a growth spurt or something... probably tomorrow she'll be a ravenous piggy!
10/16/07
We're settling into a little routine... yesterday and today I was able to crawl back into bed for a nap after Richie left for work - got to sleep for a couple hours while Laura was dozing too. Got her up at around 9:30 each morning to feed her again - and now she's sacked out again.
We tried to wake her up last night around 8 or so - but she was having no part of it! I took that as my clue to pass her over to her daddy so I could grab an hour of peaceful sleep in bed - then when I got up at about 9:45 we changed her diaper and she started in on her ~2 hours of fussy awake time. I think I tried lying her down in the bassinet 3 different times before she actually would stay asleep in there. I have to remember that she likes the water running and it calms her. I pulled a bottle out of the fridge at around 11:30 or so and ran the water to start warming it up - and she calmed right down. Of course, still took another 45 minutes or so for her to be OUT, but the water running helps! I'll have to play with the clock in her room and see what sounds it has on it... She was up at 2:15 and awake/eating until 3:30... Then I awoke with a startle at 5:20... I was leaking and I thought I was feeding her ...in bed... I patted all around me and couldn't find her! I didn't remember getting back into bed at 3:30. I clearly remembered getting up with her, but thought I maybe just crawled into bed with her and I couldn't find her. Sprang out of bed to find her peacefully sleeping in her bassinet... I guess I'm just losing my mind, not my baby! She was up again at 6:15 to eat, and back to sleep just as Richie's alarm went off at 7am... So, not a bad night - but definitely need that am nap to feel like the day can really get started good!
Hannah is supposed to be down today - she called last evening and said she'd head this way after dropping Xander off at school. I would have expected her here by now, but haven't heard from her yet. She'll stay the night and head back in the morning and go from here right to work.
I hope to get out for another walk this afternoon. We went all the way around the circle yesterday. That's 1 mile :) I could feel it in my abs when we got home!
We tried a fuzzi bunz and a happy heiny diaper yesterday - both worked okay! (read: no leaks). The fuzzi bun is still huge on her, but the happy heiny fit really well! I slapped that one on as Richie was watching and he said "Hey, I think even ~I~ could do that one!" :)
10/18/07
Yesterday we had her 3 week appointment and she's up to 8.9 ounces! Yay! Finally at (slightly above) her birthweight! 21.5 inches long too! She's got a bit of diaper rash and still hasn't figured out how to suck properly...but other than that she's a perfectly healthy and cute newborn. We did her first bath tonight... (well, first besides sponge baths!) ...She is 3 weeks old today so we did her bath in the little yellow tub like I had a bath in when I was 3 weeks old. She LOVED the warm water! Hated getting out and getting dried off, but LOVED the actual bath part :) So...so far likes the sound of the water running, enjoys the bath... she just might like swimming after all :) I've mainly tried waking Laura up at roughly 2-2.5 hour increments during the day. Typically if I do a diaper change for her, she's awake enough afterwards to eat. She's still doing really well on the overnights though - typically lasting about 3.5-4 hours between feedings. That 2 hour fussy period in the late evening is straining though... I just wish there was a way to move that forward a bit...so we could all be in bed at a decent hour. Last night she was done and over it by 10 so we were all in bed at 10:!5 and that was heaven! Then I was up at 2:15 to feed her (back in bed at 3:30) and then she was out until 7:15 :)
(same day, different email)
Laura got her first bath tonight! We put a towel in the bottom of the little yellow tub and set her right in it... she LOVED it!!! Didn't fuss at all! Smiled and made cute little faces - hands just a flailing! She smells so much better now! The sponge baths just weren't enough to combat the stinky milk smells anymore. Laura didn't so much like being taken out of the water... she was totally fussy getting dried off...but as soon as she was dry and laid down for a new diaper she was her smiley bright eyed self again. That aquaphor stuff is really working on her butt! It looks tons better in just 24 hours. Probalby tomorrow I'll go back to using cloth and see if it stays clear. We've used disposables all day yesterday and today.
We ventured out today again - went to walmart to buy "Transformers" for Richie. ALso picked up a huge tube of the aquaphor stuff. Laura was super fussy most of the time in walmart - so we didn't end up going to aldi's... Maybe I'll go saturday when Megan is here to help. After walmart, we decided to go over and stop in at work. I just didn't feel like coming right home. We stayed for a couple hours and visited. Everyone was super happy that I brought her over and they all had the same comments "How beautiful" "what pretty hair" "What chubby cheeks"... I did my first breastfeeding in public with her ... we went into Katie's office and I fed her (with the shield) ... standing up no less! There wasn't a chair in there... it went pretty well. I was wearing that nursing bra though instead of a sports bra - I just had a feeling that I'd have to feed her while we were out and that was easier than the sports bra.
10/22/07
We had a nice visit with Aunt Megan and Uncle Matt...and we'll actually be seeing them for the next 3 weekends too! We're going up to Rochester for Mason's christening this weekend - service starts at 9:15am...there is NO WAY I'm going to be able to have Laura and I ready and there on time unless I start at 4am... so, we're going to go up Saturday night and stay with Megan and Matt. I just don't see how I'd juggle feeding Laura and pumping etc if we're riding with Richie's parents.
Megan and I were able to get out and go to Salvation Army - I picked up 3 pairs of pants that actually fit me...and they have a waist band, not elastic! :) A couple sizes bigger than I used to be, but I feel much better wearing those than the maternity pants!
Yesterday wasn't such a good day here... I cried. A lot. Just the same old things... exhausted, sad that I can't just roll over when Laura cries as she wakes from our nap and just feed her - have to find the shield - and then after a feeding we can't just snuggle for long or I'll burst...have to get up and pump. It's like we have the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding, but the annoyingness of bottles - washing, pumping etc. No changed in how she's eating - still the same as when you were here... she looks for the nipple, but then grabs on too quickly and squeaks and flattens the nipple. Hasn't latched in a long time.
We tried to have Richie do the night feeding on Friday, but that didn't work so well... Laura gagged the whole way through the bottle like it was coming out too fast for her. Then once she did take 3.5 ounces from it... she was fussy and wanted to comfort suck from the shield - so it didn't really shorten the amount of time I was out of bed - just made both Richie and I be awake. Last night Richie got up with me and laid on the couch ... just for some company I guess and he got me my snack and was able to burp Laura and hold her upright and then tuck her back into bed while I pumped... so although he may not be able to give her the bottle much - even that little bit helped. Cut my hour and fifteen minute night session down to about 40 minutes.
10/25/07
Last night was trying... she was awake (and not too happy) from 8pm-11:45pm... then up from 2-3... then up from 5:15-6... then up again at 8:30... I hope this isn't the end of her 4 hour stretches...because by the time I pump and get back in bed, that doesn't give me any solid sleep. I will be napping with her today though. Yesterday we missed out on any daytime naps because we were gone all day! Went to the nurses meeting in the morning. They all want me to come back now! Nicole is out on FMLA, Cassie was in the hospital last week with pneumonia and an unknown liver thing, Cathe is supposed to go on vacation for 2 weeks... it's just really busy with three or four of us out... After we left there, we dropped off a tub of milk in Richie's mom's freezer. All four of those tupperwares are full already! I'm fitting roughly 3-4 days in one tub. Then we headed down to visit Rachel and Logan. Logan was napping so we had lunch and then we all went for a walk - 2.4 miles! Left there at a little before 5 and had to stop at Target on the way home - picked up more diapers and some bigger parts for my machine. My nips are SO sore these past few days ... I was wondering if the horn parts were too small so I got bigger ones and it doesn't hurt when I'm pumping anymore...I also turned the suction way down. I don't know why it would have been okay for 3 weeks and now it's not...but I hope it clears up soon... they burn and it hurts to have anything against them...makes it tough to hold/burp Laura sometimes. Rich has to stop and pick up another pack of diapers tonight - the ones I got yesterday don't fit her at all. They're supposedly up to 10 pounds but they don't fit well at all. They're pampers and we were using huggies - I got the pampers cause they were on sale, but I guess I learned my lesson - go with what we know fits, not what's on sale! I'll just pack this pack away with clothes as she outgrows them. So far she's still fitting into everything - but the pink sleeper with the giraffe is getting a little short on her! I'm tempted to take her to the post office to weigh her ha ha ha! Laura has now started to cross her eyes when she's trying to focus on something... looks kinda freaky with one eye looking straight and the other trying to cross over! :P
(same day, later in the evening)
I ended up calling the Kit today about me being sore and we went in for an appointment... I have a yeast infection in my boobs... NOT fun or comfortable. have to take diflucan twice a day for 2 weeks. Laura is now 9#3oz (86th percentile) and 22 inches long (97th percentile)! She's a little piggy and she's STUBBORN...that's why she won't take the boob ... just stubborn. Hmmm... wonder what her teen years will be like! ha ha ha! Kit told us to go ahead and do the long stretch with no shield - so, Monday when I get back from my appointment with Graham, that's the plan. Then maybe we'll do it again tuesday (if it doesn't work Monday) ... then we followup with Kit again on Wednesday.
10/30/07
It's been 24 hours since we've used the shield!!! WHOOPIE!!!
Saturday before we went up to Rochester, Laura gave the boob a really good try... that got my hopes up. Then we didn't try boob at all while we were away ... She gave it another good try when we got home Sunday evening... and then Monday morning we used the shield because we were in a hurry to get to my appointment. Had some extra time at my appointment so Graham said she'd watch us try if Laura woke up... she did pretty good and had a smile on her face when she was done. When we got home, she ate around 1:30 - and ended that feeding by spitting up a whole lot while she was still on... no doubt she's getting her fill if that happened!!! ha ha ha! So, we're headed in the right direction! YAY! ... she still hasn't gotten a good latch yet though - still just putting the tip in her mouth and I think because I'm so full that it's just free flowing for her... She is opening much better for it though!! Even improved with that since yesterday morning. I guess now I have to figure out how to decrease my supply. Graham told me I'm making enough for triplets...!
Well, Saturday night at Megan and Matt's was miserable - not the company, just the way Laura handled the overnight. I think Richie and I each ended up with ~maybe~ 4 hours of broken sleep - I don't know if Laura could tell we weren't in the comforts of her home, or if she was too cold, or what was going on... but she was awake from 8pm until about 11:10 (fussing on and off) when I thought she was out... put her down and then she popped back up at 11:30 and was up screaming until 1:30... then up again at 3... and again at 4 ... and again at 6:30. I wanted to feed her before church, so we tried to wake her up at around 8:30 - she wasn't having any part of that! ... she ended up sleeping until 11:30!!! Poor girl definitely got her night and day mixed up there!!! And poor me - I was hurtin'! I hadn't pumped my right side when I got up that morning because I figured she'd eat off of it before church - OUCH! Got 5 ounces in one sitting that time (yes, from one side...) After the crazy night we all had on Saturday (sleep wise)... Rich and I were dreading Sunday night ... but she fussed for a coule hours when we got home and was in bed by 10:15 and right back to her normal routine for overnights here :)
I had my follow up appointment yesterday - I'm down 32 of my 52 pounds!!! only 20 to go! yay!!! She also too my stitches out...those things were hanging on tight! The receptionist said that I look like a totally different person than when she met me (about half way through my pregnancy) ... she said my face is totally different - I told her that's becaue I don't have my double chin or my wide nose anymore :) Now, if only my left ring finger would get the message and shrink a little, I wouldn't have to keep looking like an unwed mother when I'm out and about! ha ha ha! I'll probably have to get my rings resized though...they were a tight fit to begin with!
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