Getting Out For a Visit

We visited Stef & Julie's. It was great. We celebrated Ryden and Dylan's birthdays with a mini cake and champagne. Their house is so beautiful now and full of sunlight. New floors, new stairs, new paint, new huge durable dining room/kitchen table from Crate n Barrel. Their house remodel has made their place so much more efficient and larger.

Had a very rough night. Ryden is back on the bottle and me pumping. My breast are just too sore and I'm too tired and my abdomen too sore to not use the bottle. It allows Z and Sara (our postpartum doula) to feed him. I slept til 9:40am.

Julie has her baby!

Julie had her baby Dylan on Thursday! 7lbs +!! We all think that when she came over to babysit Ryden for 2 hours that something was triggered. She was ready. I was sound asleep the whole time she was here so I haven't seen her since before Ryden was delivered. Anyway Z talked me in to going to visit Stef & Julie tomorrow. I am feeling much better, off the medications or at least the heavy duty Percocet. My stomach has reduced itself now to looking like I'm 3-4 months pregnant which I can accept. I can deal with that.

Ryden is a champ at gaining weight

Ryden had his second pediatrician appointment and has gained lots of weight. The doctor was surprised and asked what I did. I just said I switched to just breastfeeding to stop the nipple confusion and to make sure his intestines aren't upset by the Similac formula. I also am feeding him on demand rather than spacing feeds to every 2-3 hours. He weighs 4.8lbs.

Mother's Day

The little guy is here and today was the first day where we had a few hours in the house together just the two of us. Time to stare at this little creation and the new realities. He's here. He's healthy and he's our responsibility, a part of our life from here on forward. So beautiful.

Kay and Peter were here to greet us when we came home. I was feeling pretty good. I was on top of my medications so I wasn't feeling any pain. My belly is still huge. Looks like I'm six months pregnant. I look down and can't figure out what's in there. They say it's my intestines, swelling from surgery and leftover stuff in the uterus. Very discouraging. It was major surgery so...

Z has been great, no, wonderful. I have yet to change a diaper. I stay upstairs pretty much. Z sent out a mass mail to friends and family with a single close up of Ryden. He's got reddish blond hair, my chin, Z's hair line and cowlick spiral :-) so cute. I went to the pediatrician to get a basic check up with Dr. Risse. All looks well. He just barely passed the Belly Rubin test for Jaundice. The yellow skin is going away now. It gets passed through in his urine, etc.

Feeding every 2-3 hours is exhausting. I'm very emotional when I haven't slept enough, but it's okay because I know it's hormones so I just accept it. Mostly just weepy, especially if I have been separated from Ryden for more than a few hours.

Lactation Advice

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First few days after birth
- Place hot compress on breasts before breastfeeding in order to soften engorged breasts.
- Try breastfeeding baby for 5 to 10 minutes then if necessary offer your bottled breast milk or formula
- Formula does take more energy and effort for the baby to absorb and digest.
- Try to breastfeed for 10 to 20 minutes on each breast
- If baby isn't stimulating the breast enough you may need to pump your milk from your breast in order to get ample milk for the baby. This may be because the baby's sucklin is not vigorous enough.
- Sleep is just as important as breastfeeding. You should be able to get a minimum of 2 hours of sleep in between feedings.
- If baby doesn't nurse well then pump for longer to compensate and to keep milk coming. Pump for 6-7 minutes. Stop. Massage breast to encourage more milk, but don't overdo it.
- Baby should have approximately 4 or more stools a day.
- You can always do breastfeeding and continue to give your baby formula to help ensure that the baby is receiving sufficient nutrition. You may need to eventually pump more milk to increase your milk supply when you want to stop using formula.