Charlotte is nothing if not consistent. Every night for the past 4 nights, like clockwork, she wakes up hungry at 2AM and then at 6AM. It's pretty eerie, actually. This doesn't seem to matter whether she goes to bed at 8 (her normal bedtime) or later. On Monday, we went out to dinner for a friend's birthday and didn't get Charlotte to bed until 9:30. Two o'clock rolls around and there's that crying on the monitor! Now, two weeks ago, I was a wreck with this change in sleeping, but it's become the new normal. After I feed her at 6AM, she falls back to sleep on our bed and I get ready for the day. So technically it's only one nighttime feeding, but it's still strange that she went from consistently sleeping 8 hour stretches to now not going more than 6 hours at one time. I've done a lot of researching online and a general consensus is that at four months, babies just start undergoing major developmental changes and this affects their normal sleep habits. Of course this had to coincide with my going back to work, which might be a coincidence or it might not be. All in all, it's really not so bad. She forces me to actually get to work early, which is a good thing.
My Thoughts on Co-Sleeping
I've also read that when you go back to work, it's not uncommon for the breastfed baby to start waking up at night to get some extra quality time with mom. The solution in this book I bought by Dr. Sears was super preachy -- something along the lines of "the experienced mother will just accept this new routine and enjoy this new bonding time with her baby." So when I read this, it was 2AM on one of the nights I was frustrated and crying, and I literally threw the book across the room. How dare you tell me that I'm supposed to just accept sleeplessness in the middle of the night when my baby used to be such a great sleeper? This is also the same book that suggests that adoptive mothers can breastfeed their adopted babies if they just "try" hard enough, and that working mothers should bring their babies to work and "wear" them (please tell me which place of employment allows you to bring your baby to work). And that the solution is co-sleeping with your baby. Now, I'm not opposed to co-sleep per se, but the thing is, I can't sleep when Charlotte's in the bed with us. She moves a lot, and I just can't settle down knowing I might pull the covers over her head and smother her. So that's why we don't co-sleep. Wait, let me rephrase this. That's why I don't co-sleep. Charlotte and her daddy sleep just fine together. :)
So in sum, we're coping. I'm definitely a little more tired than I'd like, but I actually get up in the morning and have time to take a shower, eat breakfast, actually blowdry my hair, all while Charlotte blissfully sleeps off her 6AM feeding (her daddy is also often sleeping still!). And of course, my heart melts when we finally wake her up for the day and she just grins and grins like you're the best thing since sliced bread.
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Mmm...Maple Syrup!
So I spoke to a lactation consultant the other day, the one who taught our breastfeeding class and helped me out so much when Charlotte was about 5 days old. She gave me some advice including trying to pump one more session during the day, pumping longer, and taking fenugreek supplements. I have to say that it's almost impossible to pump one more time at work, and hello, I'm already pumping for half an hour! Half an hour at a time -- I feel like an industrial dairy cow! So I'm taking fenugreek pills three times a day and like the lactation consultant warned me, I now smell like maple syrup. I sweat maple syrup and I pee maple syrup, and now Charlotte smells like maple syrup. Weird. But I guess there are worse smells to have?
So far, I haven't noticed any upswings in the milk supply area. Not pumping any more, but not pumping any less. The real difference? Charlotte has not been sleeping as well. I think I've boasted about her ability to consistently sleep for 8 to 11 hours at a time (like 8 to 4 or 6) and then eating and sleeping for another three hours. But now? She's been waking up at 2 or 3 for the past few nights. On Wednesday night, when she woke up at 2 AM, I lost it and just cried and cried. I mean, I haven't seen 2AM in weeks (like maybe since she was about 6 weeks old)! My poor baby. Is she such a crazy eater during the day that she was used to eating more than the 16 ounces Linda feeds her at daycare? Does she miss nursing? Ack. And of course, this just means that I am exhausted and stressed and worried.
Chris and I decided to try something new for my sanity. We put Charlotte to bed at 7:30, I went to sleep at 9, and Chris brought Charlotte in at 11PM for me to feed her again. But I was so out of it that she ate and I pretty much slept through her eating until 12:30, when Chris put her back in her crib. And then she woke up again at 4, ate, and then slept until 8:30 (I'm working from home today).
I guess I'm just worried that she's not sleeping enough. When I dropped her off at daycare this morning, Linda said that Charlotte slept a ton yesterday - two hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. I certainly don't want her mixing up her nights and days, but then again, Charlotte was used to sleeping through the night, eating, and then sleeping again for two to three hours.
This insanity really feels like I'm starting all over again. We need to come up with a new schedule or I'm going to be a wreck at work.
So far, I haven't noticed any upswings in the milk supply area. Not pumping any more, but not pumping any less. The real difference? Charlotte has not been sleeping as well. I think I've boasted about her ability to consistently sleep for 8 to 11 hours at a time (like 8 to 4 or 6) and then eating and sleeping for another three hours. But now? She's been waking up at 2 or 3 for the past few nights. On Wednesday night, when she woke up at 2 AM, I lost it and just cried and cried. I mean, I haven't seen 2AM in weeks (like maybe since she was about 6 weeks old)! My poor baby. Is she such a crazy eater during the day that she was used to eating more than the 16 ounces Linda feeds her at daycare? Does she miss nursing? Ack. And of course, this just means that I am exhausted and stressed and worried.
Chris and I decided to try something new for my sanity. We put Charlotte to bed at 7:30, I went to sleep at 9, and Chris brought Charlotte in at 11PM for me to feed her again. But I was so out of it that she ate and I pretty much slept through her eating until 12:30, when Chris put her back in her crib. And then she woke up again at 4, ate, and then slept until 8:30 (I'm working from home today).
I guess I'm just worried that she's not sleeping enough. When I dropped her off at daycare this morning, Linda said that Charlotte slept a ton yesterday - two hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. I certainly don't want her mixing up her nights and days, but then again, Charlotte was used to sleeping through the night, eating, and then sleeping again for two to three hours.
This insanity really feels like I'm starting all over again. We need to come up with a new schedule or I'm going to be a wreck at work.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Frustrations with Returning to Work
Before I went back to work last week, Charlotte had never had a drop of anything but breastmilk. Now, here we are on day four of daycare and she already has to have half and half (formula and BM). She literally has been drinking every drop I've been supplying. Apparently I cannot pump anywhere near what I need to get Charlotte fed. I guess I should have been pumping more often before returning to work to stockpile the milk in the freezer.
It's very frustrating. We have an unused office in which to pump, but it simply has a fold out table and a phone, so it's not very inspiring. I've been making myself miserable by pumping every chance I could over the weekend, and now I'm achy and sore -- it feels like the first week Charlotte was born all over again. Linda convinced me last night when I picked up Charlotte that it's okay to mix the two. She called this morning to tell me that Charlotte did fine with a mixed bottle, but still, I'm sad.
I guess I'll just do what I can and let Linda mix the rest. The thing is, I don't even know how to mix formula to make a bottle. I've never done it. Tomorrow, I'm driving to San Francisco for the day to attend our organization's quarterly board meetings. It will be a 12 hour day, and I'll be lucky if I get home in time to feed Charlotte before she goes to bed. This means that Chris will need to feed her when he picks her up from daycare, and all I have is a lousy 3 ounces saved up. Chris will have to decide if he wants to feed her formula or not.
In the meantime, I'm awaiting a call back from the lactation consultant on whether or not I can use some herbal supplement to try and increase my milk supply.
On the flip side, work itself is going really well. I'm happy to be back -- in a way, it feels like I never left. I just wish that an hour of my day wasn't filled with such frustration.
It's very frustrating. We have an unused office in which to pump, but it simply has a fold out table and a phone, so it's not very inspiring. I've been making myself miserable by pumping every chance I could over the weekend, and now I'm achy and sore -- it feels like the first week Charlotte was born all over again. Linda convinced me last night when I picked up Charlotte that it's okay to mix the two. She called this morning to tell me that Charlotte did fine with a mixed bottle, but still, I'm sad.
I guess I'll just do what I can and let Linda mix the rest. The thing is, I don't even know how to mix formula to make a bottle. I've never done it. Tomorrow, I'm driving to San Francisco for the day to attend our organization's quarterly board meetings. It will be a 12 hour day, and I'll be lucky if I get home in time to feed Charlotte before she goes to bed. This means that Chris will need to feed her when he picks her up from daycare, and all I have is a lousy 3 ounces saved up. Chris will have to decide if he wants to feed her formula or not.
In the meantime, I'm awaiting a call back from the lactation consultant on whether or not I can use some herbal supplement to try and increase my milk supply.
On the flip side, work itself is going really well. I'm happy to be back -- in a way, it feels like I never left. I just wish that an hour of my day wasn't filled with such frustration.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Adventures in Baby-Traveling
We're back in Sacramento after our week-long trip to Chicagoland. Let me start right off the bat by saying that we had a great time and for the most part, the trip went off without a hitch. However, we discovered many things about traveling with an infant that would have never crossed our minds before and definitely are worthy of a rant.
Airlines - how much worse can they treat a family traveling with an infant?
Our flight to Chicago last Thursday was an extremely early one -- 6AM. We had packed almost everything the night before so we could just get up, feed the baby, and hit the road. I woke up at 3AM, got dressed, and woke up Charlotte. She was completely dead to the world, so it was hard to wake her up enough to be interested in eating, but I managed to get her to eat a little bit before she passed out again.
We got to the airport with no trouble, even managed to shove two suitcases, the car seat, the car seat base, the stroller, the Boppy pillow, the diaper bag, the bag with my breast pump and bottles in it, the backpack, and Chris' work laptop all onto the parking lot shuttle in one try. Checking in was no problem and security was fine, although I had to pull a sleeping Charlotte out of the car seat in order to carry her through security and she didn't like that very much. The lady at the United check-in desk even changed our seats so we would have a center and aisle instead of a center and window.
It was when boarding was about to start that we discovered something new. We watched an old lady with a portable oxygen machine pre-board and then a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. So Chris and I went over to the lady at the gate and asked when they were pre-boarding families with infants. The lady curtly replied that United no longer pre-boards families with children and that we would have to get in line with everyone else. My jaw just about dropped to the floor. I mean, I can understand a family with a four year old, but here's my clearly infant daughter, sleeping in her car seat. How could we would not qualify for pre-boarding? So of course, by this point, we weren't even in line to board, so we had to sort of shove our way in once they called our boarding group. Chris, who was pushing the stroller, was practically run over once they called our group number by the masses of people trying to board the plane, which I don't understand since we all have reserved seating. At the plane door, Chris hurriedly unstrapped Charlotte, handed her to me, while he pulled the car seat off the stroller frame and attempted to collapse the stroller. Meanwhile, the people behind us were simply going around us and boarding the plane, which was fine. Once we were almost ready to board the plane, a nice lady told us to go in front of her, but I waved her forward since Chris was still busy collapsing the stroller. The next lady, however, gave me the nastiest, most exasperated look I've ever seen, as if we were purposely holding up the line. I was appalled - what on earth had we done to deserve that nasty scoff? I actually shouted to her as she walked in front of us: "I hope we sit right next to you, and I hope the baby cries the entire time!" Fortunately for this lady, we didn't sit next to her, and Charlotte didn't make a peep the entire time. But this all goes to show the entire point of pre-boarding! If we had been given the opportunity to pre-board, we could have had a few extra minutes to get situated without holding up the line or feeling stressed out.
Once on board, things went fine. Charlotte mostly slept, and I fed her about halfway through the 3 1/2 hour flight. The real problem happened when Charlotte had her usual post-feeding poop explosion. This one was a blowout, shooting up her back and getting everywhere. Luckily, it was at a point when we could actually get out of the seat and go to the lavatory. Now, I've been on planes several times since I got pregnant and noticed that most of the them have changing tables above the toilet. This plane, however, did not because, in the words of the flight attendant, it's an older plane (which is a ridiculous excuse, we're not the first people to have traveled with a baby before). Chris and I were forced to change her (outfit, diaper and all) on the floor at the rear of the plane. The flight attendants were actually somewhat helpful in that one of them held Charlotte briefly while I went to wash my hands and attempt to wash out her soiled clothes.
On the subject of changing tables.
You just don't think about things like that until you have a baby. And it's bizarre the places they show up or fail to show up. For example, when we went to Mammoth a few weeks ago and stopped in Gardnerville to feed and change her, neither the Starbucks nor the Burger King had a changing table. You'd think that at the very least Burger King, with it's marketing to children, would have one. Then, about two weeks ago, we went to Total Wine, which is a huge store with, you guessed it, wine, and lots of it. Charlotte had another explosion while we were there, and that place, which clearly does not count children as its customers, had a changing table! So it's completely random. However, you'd expect them to be in at least one of the lavatories on a plane. I mean, come on!
Why I Now Have Fully Come to Appreciate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The rest of the flight went really smoothly. I'm super grateful that I brought the Boppy pillow with me as it was a great way to hold the baby without feeling like your arm would fall off after a four hour flight. When we got off the plane in Chicago, changed the baby again (this time in a convenient and private "family restroom"), we followed the signs for the baggage claims area and came straight up to down escalators, no elevators in sight. After walking one hundred yards in each direction, and still not finding the elevator, we gave up and pulled the car seat off the stroller base and go down the escalator. I'm sure the elevator was somewhere (by law they have to have one), but don't you think it would make sense to put it near the escalator? Oy.
The Spoiled White Gold
One of the main reasons for our trip to Chicago was so I could go to the committee meetings at our national association's conference. In order to be in meetings all day, I brought along my breastpump and several ounces of frozen expressed milk in a small cooler so that Chris could feed Charlotte in my absence. When we checked in at the hotel last Thursday, I asked for a crib and a refrigerator. We received both within minutes of getting to our room, and the gentleman who brought them plugged the mini-fridge into an outlet and went on his way. It wasn't until 1PM the next day that Chris called me out of a meeting to tell me that the outlet didn't work and, consequently, the refrigerator had not been on the entire time we were there! The milk, which we have dubbed white gold, was completely spoiled. I was so mad. You're never as effective at pumping milk as your baby is, so those ounces represented a lot of time and effort. Luckily, I was mostly able to leave meetings early in order to feed Charlotte, but I still had to pump to build up enough supply so that Chris' mom could watch her while Chris, his dad, and I went to a White Sox game. So another lesson learned -- make sure the fridge is up and running. Don't count on it being plugged in to work. Needless to say, I called the front desk and complained and got them to comp the fridge rental.
All these annoyances aside, Charlotte was amazingly well behaved the entire time we were traveling. So many people on the plane from the flight to and from Chicago remarked about how good she was and how, if they hadn't physically seen her, they wouldn't have known she was there. Charlotte also learned some new skills on her vacation. She is cooing a lot more and has discovered her hands. She interlaces them constantly now, which we've learned is a precursor to grasping things. In addition, she managed to roll over from belly to back for the first time, albeit, she did use the back of the couch as leverage for her feet.
We did a lot of fun things, and Charlotte was with us for the entirety (except for the White Sox game). It's so great that we can take her everywhere. I just wish that other people and corporations would be more baby-friendly. On the way back to Sacramento, a number of people who were in the line with us to board the plane were astounded by the fact that United doesn't pre-board infants. I hope they'll write a letter. I know I'm inclined to. I just can't see how spending five extra minutes to help families board safely could so severely impact their bottom line. Oh well.
Airlines - how much worse can they treat a family traveling with an infant?
Our flight to Chicago last Thursday was an extremely early one -- 6AM. We had packed almost everything the night before so we could just get up, feed the baby, and hit the road. I woke up at 3AM, got dressed, and woke up Charlotte. She was completely dead to the world, so it was hard to wake her up enough to be interested in eating, but I managed to get her to eat a little bit before she passed out again.
We got to the airport with no trouble, even managed to shove two suitcases, the car seat, the car seat base, the stroller, the Boppy pillow, the diaper bag, the bag with my breast pump and bottles in it, the backpack, and Chris' work laptop all onto the parking lot shuttle in one try. Checking in was no problem and security was fine, although I had to pull a sleeping Charlotte out of the car seat in order to carry her through security and she didn't like that very much. The lady at the United check-in desk even changed our seats so we would have a center and aisle instead of a center and window.
It was when boarding was about to start that we discovered something new. We watched an old lady with a portable oxygen machine pre-board and then a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. So Chris and I went over to the lady at the gate and asked when they were pre-boarding families with infants. The lady curtly replied that United no longer pre-boards families with children and that we would have to get in line with everyone else. My jaw just about dropped to the floor. I mean, I can understand a family with a four year old, but here's my clearly infant daughter, sleeping in her car seat. How could we would not qualify for pre-boarding? So of course, by this point, we weren't even in line to board, so we had to sort of shove our way in once they called our boarding group. Chris, who was pushing the stroller, was practically run over once they called our group number by the masses of people trying to board the plane, which I don't understand since we all have reserved seating. At the plane door, Chris hurriedly unstrapped Charlotte, handed her to me, while he pulled the car seat off the stroller frame and attempted to collapse the stroller. Meanwhile, the people behind us were simply going around us and boarding the plane, which was fine. Once we were almost ready to board the plane, a nice lady told us to go in front of her, but I waved her forward since Chris was still busy collapsing the stroller. The next lady, however, gave me the nastiest, most exasperated look I've ever seen, as if we were purposely holding up the line. I was appalled - what on earth had we done to deserve that nasty scoff? I actually shouted to her as she walked in front of us: "I hope we sit right next to you, and I hope the baby cries the entire time!" Fortunately for this lady, we didn't sit next to her, and Charlotte didn't make a peep the entire time. But this all goes to show the entire point of pre-boarding! If we had been given the opportunity to pre-board, we could have had a few extra minutes to get situated without holding up the line or feeling stressed out.
Once on board, things went fine. Charlotte mostly slept, and I fed her about halfway through the 3 1/2 hour flight. The real problem happened when Charlotte had her usual post-feeding poop explosion. This one was a blowout, shooting up her back and getting everywhere. Luckily, it was at a point when we could actually get out of the seat and go to the lavatory. Now, I've been on planes several times since I got pregnant and noticed that most of the them have changing tables above the toilet. This plane, however, did not because, in the words of the flight attendant, it's an older plane (which is a ridiculous excuse, we're not the first people to have traveled with a baby before). Chris and I were forced to change her (outfit, diaper and all) on the floor at the rear of the plane. The flight attendants were actually somewhat helpful in that one of them held Charlotte briefly while I went to wash my hands and attempt to wash out her soiled clothes.
On the subject of changing tables.
You just don't think about things like that until you have a baby. And it's bizarre the places they show up or fail to show up. For example, when we went to Mammoth a few weeks ago and stopped in Gardnerville to feed and change her, neither the Starbucks nor the Burger King had a changing table. You'd think that at the very least Burger King, with it's marketing to children, would have one. Then, about two weeks ago, we went to Total Wine, which is a huge store with, you guessed it, wine, and lots of it. Charlotte had another explosion while we were there, and that place, which clearly does not count children as its customers, had a changing table! So it's completely random. However, you'd expect them to be in at least one of the lavatories on a plane. I mean, come on!
Why I Now Have Fully Come to Appreciate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The rest of the flight went really smoothly. I'm super grateful that I brought the Boppy pillow with me as it was a great way to hold the baby without feeling like your arm would fall off after a four hour flight. When we got off the plane in Chicago, changed the baby again (this time in a convenient and private "family restroom"), we followed the signs for the baggage claims area and came straight up to down escalators, no elevators in sight. After walking one hundred yards in each direction, and still not finding the elevator, we gave up and pulled the car seat off the stroller base and go down the escalator. I'm sure the elevator was somewhere (by law they have to have one), but don't you think it would make sense to put it near the escalator? Oy.
The Spoiled White Gold
One of the main reasons for our trip to Chicago was so I could go to the committee meetings at our national association's conference. In order to be in meetings all day, I brought along my breastpump and several ounces of frozen expressed milk in a small cooler so that Chris could feed Charlotte in my absence. When we checked in at the hotel last Thursday, I asked for a crib and a refrigerator. We received both within minutes of getting to our room, and the gentleman who brought them plugged the mini-fridge into an outlet and went on his way. It wasn't until 1PM the next day that Chris called me out of a meeting to tell me that the outlet didn't work and, consequently, the refrigerator had not been on the entire time we were there! The milk, which we have dubbed white gold, was completely spoiled. I was so mad. You're never as effective at pumping milk as your baby is, so those ounces represented a lot of time and effort. Luckily, I was mostly able to leave meetings early in order to feed Charlotte, but I still had to pump to build up enough supply so that Chris' mom could watch her while Chris, his dad, and I went to a White Sox game. So another lesson learned -- make sure the fridge is up and running. Don't count on it being plugged in to work. Needless to say, I called the front desk and complained and got them to comp the fridge rental.
All these annoyances aside, Charlotte was amazingly well behaved the entire time we were traveling. So many people on the plane from the flight to and from Chicago remarked about how good she was and how, if they hadn't physically seen her, they wouldn't have known she was there. Charlotte also learned some new skills on her vacation. She is cooing a lot more and has discovered her hands. She interlaces them constantly now, which we've learned is a precursor to grasping things. In addition, she managed to roll over from belly to back for the first time, albeit, she did use the back of the couch as leverage for her feet.
We did a lot of fun things, and Charlotte was with us for the entirety (except for the White Sox game). It's so great that we can take her everywhere. I just wish that other people and corporations would be more baby-friendly. On the way back to Sacramento, a number of people who were in the line with us to board the plane were astounded by the fact that United doesn't pre-board infants. I hope they'll write a letter. I know I'm inclined to. I just can't see how spending five extra minutes to help families board safely could so severely impact their bottom line. Oh well.
Monday, July 6, 2009
First Date Night and My Milk Making Machine
Hi Everyone!
We had a great first 4th of July with Baby Charlotte. We went over to our friends' place for a BBQ, and Charlotte did great (it's easy when she sleeps all the time!). It was also so nice of my mom to hold Charlotte since she absolutely hates being put down -- how this is going to work when I'm the only one to hold her, I have no idea. It was so great to see all our friends, socialize, drink some beer and wine and eat some yummy food. It's easy to get isolated (self-imposed or not) when you have a newborn, but I think this outing showed that we can hang out with folks for a few hours at least. And the only time Charlotte cried at all was when I was feeding her and accidentally scratched her forehead with my fingernail. Oops! I felt so bad. She got over it pretty quickly though and went back to being a happy (sleeping) baby.
Yesterday, I successfully pumped breastmilk in large enough quantities to warrant an actual night (two hours) away from baby! This week is Sacramento's Wine and Dine week where a number of restaurants are offering prix fixe menus with wine pairings. We decided to try the Firehouse Restaurant in Old Sacramento for the first time. Once we got there and saw that they had a "Chef's tasting menu" with much nicer wines (and 5 courses), we splurged and got that instead. Oh my GOD. The food and wine was amazing. We had everything from an amuse bouche (a spoonful of melony/prosciutto goodness) to a chilled crab cocktail to a housemade chocolate truffle at the end with wonderful wines throughout. The pesto-marinated quail and pine nut/brie encrusted filet mignon were probably the most delicious meals I've had, maybe ever. It was fabulous. Thanks Mimi for taking care of your grandbaby while we wined and dined!
This morning Chris and I took Charlotte to her two week appointment. I'd been wondering if I'd been giving her enough milk, and we sure got our answer today. At her last appointment, two weeks ago, she was 8 lbs 15 oz. Today, she weighed in at a very healthy (95th percentile) 10 lbs 3 oz! She gained 20 oz in two weeks. And she's grown at least another 1/2 inch and officially is 22.5 inches long, although we suspect it might be closer to 23 because it was hard to get her unfurled for the measuring. She's in the 98% for length. This is great news, not only because it means I'm successfully feeding my baby, but that we don't have to wake her up to feed her anymore -- this will hopefully mean more sleep for us! Charlotte will now dictate to us when she wants more food (and she does have a set of lungs on her!).
So all in all, a great weekend and Monday morning! My mom flies home tomorrow, and then will begin the all alone during the day routine for me. More on how that goes soon.
We had a great first 4th of July with Baby Charlotte. We went over to our friends' place for a BBQ, and Charlotte did great (it's easy when she sleeps all the time!). It was also so nice of my mom to hold Charlotte since she absolutely hates being put down -- how this is going to work when I'm the only one to hold her, I have no idea. It was so great to see all our friends, socialize, drink some beer and wine and eat some yummy food. It's easy to get isolated (self-imposed or not) when you have a newborn, but I think this outing showed that we can hang out with folks for a few hours at least. And the only time Charlotte cried at all was when I was feeding her and accidentally scratched her forehead with my fingernail. Oops! I felt so bad. She got over it pretty quickly though and went back to being a happy (sleeping) baby.
Yesterday, I successfully pumped breastmilk in large enough quantities to warrant an actual night (two hours) away from baby! This week is Sacramento's Wine and Dine week where a number of restaurants are offering prix fixe menus with wine pairings. We decided to try the Firehouse Restaurant in Old Sacramento for the first time. Once we got there and saw that they had a "Chef's tasting menu" with much nicer wines (and 5 courses), we splurged and got that instead. Oh my GOD. The food and wine was amazing. We had everything from an amuse bouche (a spoonful of melony/prosciutto goodness) to a chilled crab cocktail to a housemade chocolate truffle at the end with wonderful wines throughout. The pesto-marinated quail and pine nut/brie encrusted filet mignon were probably the most delicious meals I've had, maybe ever. It was fabulous. Thanks Mimi for taking care of your grandbaby while we wined and dined!
This morning Chris and I took Charlotte to her two week appointment. I'd been wondering if I'd been giving her enough milk, and we sure got our answer today. At her last appointment, two weeks ago, she was 8 lbs 15 oz. Today, she weighed in at a very healthy (95th percentile) 10 lbs 3 oz! She gained 20 oz in two weeks. And she's grown at least another 1/2 inch and officially is 22.5 inches long, although we suspect it might be closer to 23 because it was hard to get her unfurled for the measuring. She's in the 98% for length. This is great news, not only because it means I'm successfully feeding my baby, but that we don't have to wake her up to feed her anymore -- this will hopefully mean more sleep for us! Charlotte will now dictate to us when she wants more food (and she does have a set of lungs on her!).
So all in all, a great weekend and Monday morning! My mom flies home tomorrow, and then will begin the all alone during the day routine for me. More on how that goes soon.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
My Brest Friend Might Just Be My Best Friend
**** I started this post last Tuesday. Clearly didn't get around to finishing it until now, so it's a bit disjointed.****
So I thought I'd write a brief update to let you all know how we're doing. First, Charlotte is a great baby. She sleeps a lot so far and has only had one episode of crazy screaming. Of course that happened at 3 AM last night, so that wasn't great. But normally (at least so far), it's been kind of hard to wake her up to feed. Anyway, she had her two day follow up visit with the pediatrician (what Chris called the Idiot Check to make sure you're on the right track and not starving your baby), and the doctor says she's great! She's only lost 6% of her birth weight (10% is when you have to start supplementing with formula) and she has no jaundice, so this is all really good. Her next doctor's appointment will be in two weeks, and I imagine that appointment will be a little longer.
After the doctor's appointment, we went to the drop in breastfeeding clinic that Kaiser has at their South Sacramento office. It is precisely the reason we have her going to appointments at that medical office because the clinic is only for babies and moms getting treated there. The door to the clinic is locked and only opened by the lactation consultant, so you don't have to worry about random patients coming in unexpectedly while you're topless. Yesterday was really busy and there was another new mom there who had given birth on Friday as well (in fact her baby was born 7 minutes before Charlotte). The other mom had more serious issues with breastfeeding than I have had, so I didn't get the attention I might otherwise have gotten.
However, I did learn how to better get Charlotte to latch on and I purchased My Brest Friend, which is a breastfeeding pillow that attaches around your back with lumbar support.
-deluxe_pic.jpg)
It is way better than the Boppy Pillow because it doesn't fall down and has a truly adjustable strap. It's been a lifesaver! I'm sure the Boppy will find other uses like helping her to sit up, and it's smaller, so we may bring it on plane rides.
Okay, so being a mom. I now know why other moms call it the hardest job you'll ever have. For one thing, you're still recovering from giving birth, which means that you're hurting all over, you're exhausted, and all you want to do is sleep to feel better. But then you have a baby who depends on your body for food -- no one but you can do this for her. It really is cruel and unfair to have this going on all at the same time. I'm not saying all this to complain, but mostly to show that the AHA moment happened and we truly understood why other new moms were telling us to enjoy our last moments of freedom.
***** Fast forward to today*****
Charlotte is now almost 2 weeks old. After three horrible nights last week where she was screaming like crazy from 1 until 4 in the morning, and I was sobbing because the only thing that would calm her down was the boob, Chris and I agreed that something had to change. We broke down and gave her a pacifier to help soothe her. The lactation consultants don't recommend this because it can cause "nipple confusion," but believe me, she knows the difference between the two (because you know, one gives her milk?!). Now she sleeps for 3 to 4 hours at a time, I wake her up to eat, and then we put her back to sleep and give her the paci. This has helped tremendously. Eight or nine hours of sleep, albeit not all at once, is way better than being up for hours in the middle of the night frustrated that I can't do anything to calm her down. Breastfeeding has also gotten a lot easier now that she and I both learned how to get her latched on -- my milk has also come in, so that's made things easier as she is finally somewhat satisfied after feedings.
And as for me, I'm finally starting to feel better. Last week, in the middle of all the frustrating middle-of-the-night crying, the area around my stitches was stinging so badly that I could barely walk. I put a call in to the doctor the next morning who prescribed some much more powerful pain meds. Those definitely helped and allowed me to actually get around without wincing in pain everytime I moved. I've also lost 30 pounds in 10 days (I gained 55, so I still have a long ways to go to be at that pre-pregnancy weight) and my feet and ankles are back to their lovely selves -- near the end of my pregnancy I would look at everyone else's feet with downright envy.
Also, where does all the time go? Seriously? With diaper changes and feedings, the hours just fly by. We wake up around 8 or 8:30 and then the next thing I know it's time for lunch! But now that breastfeeding is much easier, it's just a chore rather than something I'm dreading. And I'm reading a lot and watching Wimbledon on TV. Charlotte is learning how to play tennis by osmosis. :)
Finally, it's been great to have my mom here to help hold Charlotte and clean and cook for us. A huge help! My parents, Charlotte, and I all went out for lunch yesterday and she slept the whole time. It was so nice to just be somewhere other than my house, even for just an hour or so.
And of course Chris and I really appreciated all the yummy food that our wonderful friends dropped by after we came home from the hospital.
So I thought I'd write a brief update to let you all know how we're doing. First, Charlotte is a great baby. She sleeps a lot so far and has only had one episode of crazy screaming. Of course that happened at 3 AM last night, so that wasn't great. But normally (at least so far), it's been kind of hard to wake her up to feed. Anyway, she had her two day follow up visit with the pediatrician (what Chris called the Idiot Check to make sure you're on the right track and not starving your baby), and the doctor says she's great! She's only lost 6% of her birth weight (10% is when you have to start supplementing with formula) and she has no jaundice, so this is all really good. Her next doctor's appointment will be in two weeks, and I imagine that appointment will be a little longer.
After the doctor's appointment, we went to the drop in breastfeeding clinic that Kaiser has at their South Sacramento office. It is precisely the reason we have her going to appointments at that medical office because the clinic is only for babies and moms getting treated there. The door to the clinic is locked and only opened by the lactation consultant, so you don't have to worry about random patients coming in unexpectedly while you're topless. Yesterday was really busy and there was another new mom there who had given birth on Friday as well (in fact her baby was born 7 minutes before Charlotte). The other mom had more serious issues with breastfeeding than I have had, so I didn't get the attention I might otherwise have gotten.
However, I did learn how to better get Charlotte to latch on and I purchased My Brest Friend, which is a breastfeeding pillow that attaches around your back with lumbar support.
-deluxe_pic.jpg)
It is way better than the Boppy Pillow because it doesn't fall down and has a truly adjustable strap. It's been a lifesaver! I'm sure the Boppy will find other uses like helping her to sit up, and it's smaller, so we may bring it on plane rides.
Okay, so being a mom. I now know why other moms call it the hardest job you'll ever have. For one thing, you're still recovering from giving birth, which means that you're hurting all over, you're exhausted, and all you want to do is sleep to feel better. But then you have a baby who depends on your body for food -- no one but you can do this for her. It really is cruel and unfair to have this going on all at the same time. I'm not saying all this to complain, but mostly to show that the AHA moment happened and we truly understood why other new moms were telling us to enjoy our last moments of freedom.
***** Fast forward to today*****
Charlotte is now almost 2 weeks old. After three horrible nights last week where she was screaming like crazy from 1 until 4 in the morning, and I was sobbing because the only thing that would calm her down was the boob, Chris and I agreed that something had to change. We broke down and gave her a pacifier to help soothe her. The lactation consultants don't recommend this because it can cause "nipple confusion," but believe me, she knows the difference between the two (because you know, one gives her milk?!). Now she sleeps for 3 to 4 hours at a time, I wake her up to eat, and then we put her back to sleep and give her the paci. This has helped tremendously. Eight or nine hours of sleep, albeit not all at once, is way better than being up for hours in the middle of the night frustrated that I can't do anything to calm her down. Breastfeeding has also gotten a lot easier now that she and I both learned how to get her latched on -- my milk has also come in, so that's made things easier as she is finally somewhat satisfied after feedings.
And as for me, I'm finally starting to feel better. Last week, in the middle of all the frustrating middle-of-the-night crying, the area around my stitches was stinging so badly that I could barely walk. I put a call in to the doctor the next morning who prescribed some much more powerful pain meds. Those definitely helped and allowed me to actually get around without wincing in pain everytime I moved. I've also lost 30 pounds in 10 days (I gained 55, so I still have a long ways to go to be at that pre-pregnancy weight) and my feet and ankles are back to their lovely selves -- near the end of my pregnancy I would look at everyone else's feet with downright envy.
Also, where does all the time go? Seriously? With diaper changes and feedings, the hours just fly by. We wake up around 8 or 8:30 and then the next thing I know it's time for lunch! But now that breastfeeding is much easier, it's just a chore rather than something I'm dreading. And I'm reading a lot and watching Wimbledon on TV. Charlotte is learning how to play tennis by osmosis. :)
Finally, it's been great to have my mom here to help hold Charlotte and clean and cook for us. A huge help! My parents, Charlotte, and I all went out for lunch yesterday and she slept the whole time. It was so nice to just be somewhere other than my house, even for just an hour or so.
And of course Chris and I really appreciated all the yummy food that our wonderful friends dropped by after we came home from the hospital.
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