Tyler is 1 month old today!!! How is that even possible??? I feel like I just gave birth, blinked and here we are a month later. I'm trying really hard to get caught up on blogging. What a relief to have the marathon birth story done, now to catch up on Tyler's last 4 weeks. Here's week 1 for starters (beginning after our hospital stay).
June 25-29, 2010 (2-6 days old)
Breastfeeding:
I've continued pumping colostrum and syringe feed. As the colostrum increased and changed to a more watery consistency (transitional milk), I moved to feeding with a bottle. This is something I did not want to have to do as it just created more nipple confusion and furthered our issues with latching, but I really had no choice since Tyler would not get enough milk with his poor latch. I've continued to work on his latch at the beginning of each feeding. He
sucks bites on just the nipple and doesn't take in the areola which is so so so painful and gets very little milk out.
Part of my doula's services is to provide a 1 hr. lactation consult after your milk comes in. So I was very happy when it came in as I was desperate for help. She checked his latch and suggested we do suck training with him as he's still keeping his tongue back and not putting it over his lower gums. Basically you stick your finger in his mouth with your finger tip on the roof of his mouth and try to guide his tongue over his lower gums and pull his lips out if they are sucked in. I can't say this really helped much, or maybe I just didn't do it correctly. She suggested using a nipple shield which extends the surface area of the nipple to provide baby with more to attach to and also minimize some of the pain. While my nipples aren't flat or inverted, they are on the small size and are a challenge for him to get ahold of. She suggested getting a supplemental nursing system (SNS) which is a bottle that holds milk and has thin tubes that run from it to your nipple. When baby sucks at the nipple, milk from the SNS enters their mouth and provides them with instant gratification and increases their desire to stay at the nipple. I ordered one. She suggested adding Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle to my vitamin regime to increase milk supply. Lastly she suggested taking him to the chiro to get his neck and jaw adjusted.
I started using the nipple shield at every feeding as it was the only way he would latch on. I grit my teeth through every feeding as he chews on my nipple through the nipple shield, but at least he's getting fed. I found it was best to keep ahead of him and not let him get hungry because once he's hungry, he really tears my nipple up as he gets so aggressive with his suck. I continue to bottle feed occasionally when he's still hungry after nursing. After feeding, I pump and store to increase my supply. I bought a manual pump for the car when I'm stuck away from home and don't have access to the electric pump. I'm sure it's quite a view with me pumping in the back seat of the car going down the highway.
I added the Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle to my regime. My doula said that Fenugreek makes you smell like maple syrup. Within one day of taking it, my armpits started smelling like very strong maple syrup. Kerry loves smelling my pits, lol! One night I asked Kerry to bring me my nipple butter (an ointment for sore nipples) and he replied with, would you like some pancakes with your maple syrup and nipple butter? Too funny!
Video: Tyler bottle feeding
Video: Tyler's squeeky bottle feeding
Video: Tyler bottle showdown
Video: Tyler lip smacking good
Diapers:
Tyler has a great working digestive system! This little man passed all his meconium and solid poop phase in no time and is pooping away with mustard yellow breast milk poo several times a day. He's definitely a Morris, this little guy can fart like a man! He makes us laugh so hard. I'd say he's definitely getting enough to eat judging by the amount of times this guy pees! We're having a few issues with diaper leaks with all name brands. We've learned we have to put them on tighter even though we hate how the elastic leaves red marks around his little thighs. We also learned that we have to point the nozzle down, but he still manages to spring a leak. That's ok, just means mama gets to put him in another cute outfit. We haven't been able to start cloth diapering yet as he currently swims in them.
Well Visit:
Tyler had his first well visit at 5 days old and is healthy as could be. His jaundice is getting better by the day.
Weight: 6 lbs 10 oz - 13th %tile
Length: 20.25" - 58th %tile (I'm pretty sure this measurement is longer than reality as the nurse was sloppy about it, I highly doubt he grew 1.25" in 5 days)
He's up 2 oz from 3 days ago. Still not back up to his birth weight of 6 lbs 15 oz, but the doctor was not concerned.
What's Tyler like?:
Small!! So we have this huge closet of clothes for this little guy and almost nothing fits him! We had to go buy smaller clothes as he was drowning in everything else.
He loves to make faces of all kinds and even unknowingly smiles. We could sit and watch him all day.
He has crazy arms that uncontrollably flail all over the place. They are sometimes his own worst enemy as he punches himself or knocks my nipple out of his mouth. Swaddling is usually required at bed time as his arms keep him awake and frustrated. He hates getting swaddled, but once swaddled, he becomes very content and peaceful.
He hates being cold and will scream to let you know it. He loves being hot hot hot, like 95 degrees is perfect. He loves being wrapped up in cozy blankets.
He does not like to sleep on his back. He can roll to his side right out of the womb and that's how he prefers to sleep. He does not like his pack-n-play and insists on co-sleeping with us. I never thought I would be willing to do that, but I have to admit, I'm loving every minute of it. I do find myself checking him for breathing throughout the night... mama bear!
Show and Tell:
Mmmm, good knuckle sandwich
Soooo tiny!
He's got daddy's frame. He loves sucking that bottom lip in!
Kerry washing my pump supplies very early in the morning.
He wasn't wanting to wake up, therefore the shades, lol!
Is that a smile?
Tyler's 1st chiro adjustment
Sweet burrito
Mama Update:
Down 24 lbs at the end of this week, 12.5 lbs to go. After a few days of extreme urinary incontinence from all the excessive swelling, I'm very happy to say that I'm completely rid of the swelling and incontinence. I'm shocked at the size of my ankles and legs, they are sooo scrawny compared to pre-pg, I think I lost a lot of muscle. My belly has gone way down but still has further to go. The extra skin feels really weird, like sponge.
I've had to deal with the dreaded after birth bowel movement. I've been unwilling to push as I just can't bear to handle that pain. The doctor gave me colace twice, didn't work. Then he gave me milk of magnesia and that did the trick. Whew! Still pretty sore down there, but it's looking a lot better.
They weren't kidding when you hear parents of a newborn talk about exhaustion! OMGosh, it is brutal! Around the clock feedings stop you from ever getting a good amount of deep sleep. Speaking of sleeping, it's now 1 am, I really should get to bed. Nighty night!
