Today you are two weeks old. You celebrated by staying awake from 8:30 AM to 11 AM this morning. I guess you think since you are two weeks old can do anything you want now! (Including trying to pick your head up and look around) The past two weeks have flown by and I think it's only an indication of how quickly you are going to grow up. I am constantly amazed at how rapidly you are changing and how our family dynamic is changing daily. Each day I have more confidence as your mother and it is slowly getting easier to get into our routine. I am sorry the first couple weeks recap will be limited. I think about blogging at all hours, but don't have the energy to translate those thoughts to letters. I know that I will get back to blogging more frequently as time permits. Here is what I remember about the past two weeks. After you were born, we stayed in the hospital until Monday afternoon. During that time, we started to get to know each other and were interrupted. A lot. Mostly by doctors and nurses doing their jobs. It seemed like each time your Daddy and I got to hold you someone else needed you. You had a circumcision, pediatric visits, I had checkups with nurses or doctors, nursery time, or grandparents holding you. Your Daddy and kept you with us every night except for the last when we finally broke down and sent you to the nursery. It's true what they say about the lack of sleep. It will get to you. Plus I was still feeling pretty sore from the operation and having to sleep in the hospital bed. It was really uncomfortable and I was anxious to get home. In fact, I was pretty anxious about everything. It's funny how over the moon you can be about having a child and at the same time have intense "overwhelming" feelings. Nobody really ever filled me on that part. Thank goodness for your Daddy and Grandma. Every time I had a moment, they were right there to support me. I literally don't know how I could have survived the first weeks without them. We got home on Monday and made it through our first night. We went to the pediatrician on Tuesday morning and your weight was down to 5lbs 14oz. Unfortunately, my milk wasn't coming in and we had to start supplementing with formula. At this point, both of us were getting pretty frustrated with breastfeeding. My dear friend, Emily, gave us the gift of seeing a lactation consultant named Linda. We meet with her on Thursday and she gave me tons of helpful advice which included starting me on a herbal supplement. I continued to pump up to 10 times a day in hopes of stimulating my milk production. I promised myself that I wouldn't give up on the idea of breastfeeding for at least two weeks. By Wednesday of this week, I still wasn't making any milk and had to face reality. It was a extremely difficult decision to stop pumping and switch to straight formula. But feedings were getting to a point where both of us were extremely anxious and it was taking so long. By the time I finished, we had to start right back over again and it wasn't healthy for either of us. Of course, we were still giving you formula so you have gained weight and were not going hungry. Here a shot of a happier moment:
On Saturday you had your first bath:
It was a sponge bath. You weren't too happy with the process but hopefully you will get used to it and learn to love it. On Sunday, we went on our first stroller ride. It took 30 minutes of prep time to walk 6 houses. But it was well worth the effort to get outside into the fresh air and sunshine. Your Grandma Lumsden left for home on Tuesday. It was a very sad day. We were all upset and miss her terribly. Hopefully she can come back soon. Really soon. Like tomorrow would be nice.
Your Daddy has stayed home with me the rest of this week. He goes back to work on Monday and we will be on our own for real. The good news is that I am able to drive and we have been on a couple outings, so I think I might be able to handle things. I am sure that it will get easier day by day. I hear you stirring in the next room, so it's off to make a bottle for me!Love,
Mommy
3 comments:
Hi there,
This is so cute, love the story. You will do just fine, it all comes in due time as I am sure your Mom shared with your while she was there.
Love Grandma W
p.s. can't wait to hold him, too Cute for words!
Jenny:
I hear all the worry and concern in your words and I PROMISE it does get easier. My Jacob was premature and as a first time mom everything was scary and new. I couldn't breastfeed either, but you will see that it really is o.k. in the grand scheme of what is important and what is not. Mostly try to relax and enjoy your son. Two weeks is not nearly enough time to really adjust and be comfortable, but I promise at the three month mark you'll see you've turned a corner. Almost every mommy (and daddy) out there can tell you that. It's like the flick of a switch, plus children tend to start smiling then and to know that you can give your baby joy and see it in his face makes all the frustrations melt away. Hang in there!
Hey Jenny... I totally understand - we were in the same boat about this time last year! :) Even though your feeding plans didn't work out, what's best is that Owen is (a) eating, and (b) growing. I beat myself up for a long time about not being able to breastfeed, but in the end... Sydney is developning just like other kids. And, although this is selfish, it was nice to share those late-night feedings with Michael... which I wouldn't have been able to do! In the end, it all works out the same... don't be discouraged! Let me know if you need anything! Owen is still a cutie!
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