Quick update and Sleep

I realize I haven't blogged in while. I was really hoping my blog wouldn't get neglected post baby. The reality is my time is precious now. I've returned back to work full time, so I get up at about 6 am and get ready for work. I've got to get myself showered, dressed and ready... pack my pump, pump parts, cooler bag, my lunch, snacks, water... and remember to eat breakfast and drink a cup of coffee! I always try to "top her off" by nursing her right before I leave! It's a busy and hectic morning for sure! I usually don't get to spend much quality time with her in the mornings unless she's nursing, so as soon as I get home I try to spend every possible second with her AND do my best to cook/eat dinner, before she goes to bed at night.

I'm currently in week 2 of being full time at work, and I'm really starting to feel the emotions. I miss her like crazy, and I'm noticing that I'm rarely with her. That makes me sad. :(

It does make me think things like "I wish I could stay home" and "I wish I could be a stay at home mom", but the reality is I wouldn't be happy at home long term. I'm positive of it. I know many many SAHMs, and most of them become miserable eventually. I know I would too.

So, BF'ing is still going very well. I'm constantly keeping a close eye on my supply, because there's been a lot of changes in our nursing schedule lately. I nurse when I'm with her and pump when I'm away. We went from nursing 10-12 times a day to 8-10 and now only 4-7ish. Scary.

I used to be very OCD about waking her up every 3-4 hrs at night to BF. I started to notice that sometimes when I would wake her, she'd be in such a deep sleep that she'd hardly wake up at all to eat. Then, her naps while I was gone would extend to 4-5 hrs sometimes! So I built up the courage to let her sleep at night and see how long she went. The first night she freaked me out and went 6-7 hrs. Then, the next night nearly 8. Eeeeeck. I felt like this was too long for me to go and not pump. The long stretch of sleep is nice though! Then, last night she woke up every 4 hours, and I'm actually most comfortable with that! :P

I'm still struggling with the sleep/pump/nurse schedule at night. I'm not sure how my supply will react to the long stretch, so we're taking it a day at a time.

Here's a recent picture of Aiyana... 6.5 weeks.

1 month

Wow. One.Month. Wow.

I ask myself everyday "What in the world did I do to deserve this beautiful child?"

Everything is going so well. I'm so thankful. DH asked me today, "So how has this first month been for you?" and we both agreed that it's been much easier than we expected. I think I was expecting the worst. I read up on newborn development, colic, and how to mimic the "4th Trimester". All tools to assist, but, honestly, we haven't needed much! She's such an easy and happy baby, and we are so grateful.

In the beginning, I really didn't want to set a schedule for her. I was willing to follow her schedule and BF on demand. My child was in charge! Well, as time has gone on we've learned that she's usually in bed by 10 pm and awake by 6 am, so we've adopted this "schedule" and we wake up once at night for a feeding at 2 am. We swaddle her up and BAM she's fast asleep again!

I've returned to work part time this week. I'm pumping at work once a day and nursing while I'm with her at home. My supply doesn't seem to have been effected by this first week... yet! But I'm keeping a close eye on things!

She's growing soooooo much! We have retired the newborn size clothes. We've even retired a few cloth diapers. I need to pack away my maternity clothes that are crowding my closet. All of this is just overwhelming. My baby is growing so fast!

Here are a few photos from her newborn photo shoot at 12 days old...

And her 1 month pictures we took today with her beautiful embroidered blanket (a gift from her Aunt!)...

Breastfeeding...

I knew BF'ing was going to be best for my daughter. I didn't know some of the reasons, but I quickly learned all of the advantages during my research and reading before she was born! I was already convinced I wanted to give BF'ing a try. I was determined to try and give it my all! During pregnancy, my greatest fear for after delivery was successful breastfeeding.

So how did it go? And how's it going now at 11 days PP?

Immediately after delivery, Aiyana and I shared skin to skin time and an attempt at breastfeeding. We quickly learned she didn't have a good latch. She lifted her tongue, so it was in the way, and her mouth was so tiny that it wasn't taking in much of my areola. So we called the Lactation Consultant.

They recommended I use a nipple shield and use the football hold. We had success with this for the first 4 or 5 days. When my nipple was being sucked all the way through the shield (and causing me pain!!), I knew her suck wasn't an issue at all. She has a wonderful strong suck!

We started to try nursing without the shield and she loved it. The shield was making her work harder, and she's my daughter = lazy. She preferred to do the work on her own and get her meal quicker!

At 11 days PP, we are still having some issues with latch. I have to squeeze my breast/areola like a sandwich and literally, shove as much of it as possible into her mouth when she finally opens wide, which is rare. When we do this correctly, there's no pain... and I prefer no pain!

I'm waking her every 3 hrs to eat. Sometimes she's hungry after only 1 - 2 hours, so I feed her on demand. Luckily, she loves her sleep and at night she's content with nursing every 3 hrs.

Overall, it's going well. It's so true what they say... it takes about 2 weeks for mom and baby to learn. Then, it will just click.

One of the best things about BF'ing is the weight loss! The weight FALLS OFF! I'm 3.5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight! That's a weight loss of 21.5 pounds!

If you want to breastfeed, I highly recommend only 7 things:
- determination
- a lactation consultant
- an online resource (forum, support group, facebook group like The Leaky Boob, LLL, etc.)
- nursing tanks (so much more comfortable than nursing bras)
- the Brest Friend Pillow (don't bother with the boppy for nursing.)
- Lanolin
- determination

If you have those 7 things, you can do it!

My favorite picture of her so far! This was after a hair washing and towel dry.

1 week old

Aiyana is 1 week old! Okay, yes, one week was yesterday, but better late than never! (I'm starting to accept that I will probably no longer be "on time" for much of anything from now on!)

I have to say that time is flying by! It's going way too fast!! I'm already noticing changes in her and it makes me sad. I don't want her to change from this tiny precious girl...

Our first week was amazing! Daddy is totally smitten and says this week was the best week of his life! We're so in love with our daughter!

When we were discharged Aiyana weighed 6 lbs 14 oz. At our first breastfeeding follow up appointment she had gained one ounce in 2 days. Ok... it was a gain and I was happy with that! Then, today she was 7 lbs 7 oz - back to her birth weight!!! We have a chunky monkey on our hands! She's going to gain weight so quickly = fast changes that Mommy is not ready for.

Overall, breastfeeding (BF) is going well, obviously! But I'm still struggling a little. I don't have much of an appetite for some reason and I'm horrible with my water intake. I must get these things "fixed", before my supply is jeopardized!

Talking with Grandma on video chat...

Thing I don't want to forget about our first week...
- Aiyana fits into the newborn sized clothes! We thought all of those cute clothes weren't going to be used! We're actually trying to find clothes that fit her tiny body!
- Aiyana LOVES to have her hands in her face! Makes for some frustrating BF'ing!
- The BF'ing books were right! When babies are full they look drunk!! Mommy and Daddy laugh at Aiyana when she's full. She totally looks drunk!!
- Mommy got pooped on on day 6 while changing her diaper. It was a single stream of about 2-3 feet in length directed straight for my face!