Posts Tagged ‘newborn’
N – Nursing
Posted on: February 15, 2015
- In: ABC | Parenthood
- 13 Comments
Read about my ABC blog series here.
Look back – A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L ,M
When I was compiling my list of topics that corresponded to the letters of the alphabet, I picked nursing for N because I was going to write about my love/hate relationship with it. I love nursing K, but I hated the way my breasts always felt so sore and heavy.
But now, as I type up this blog entry, it’s about how my nursing days are most likely numbered…
This was the similar scenario I dealt with when I had M.
Because K came early, 36 weeks, my milk didn’t come in fast enough and her preemie status meant that they were watching her initial weight loss like a hawk. K was also developing jaundice and they wanted her milk intake to be enough for her to pee and poop enough to get rid of the jaundice fast. Because of all these factors, I had to supplement my breast milk with formula.
All went well, her jaundice passed, and she eventually started relying solely on my milk for her nourishment.
When she turned a month old, I noticed that she would take both breasts and still seem unsatisfied. I started supplementing again with an ounce or two and she would feel so much better. I also noticed that my breasts wouldn’t “fill up” as quickly, no matter how much I pumped in between or how much I let her nurse. I know the doctors and nurses would tell me that pumping and allowing her to nurse would trigger my breasts to produce more milk, but it just wasn’t the case with me.
More and more I found her less satisfied with drinking solely my milk. More and more I found myself supplementing with more and more formula.
I tried eating oatmeal. I tried drinking more water. I tried leafy veggies that were on my list for increasing milk production. I tried soups.
Nothing. Nothing would increase my milk supply. K was getting less and less satisfied.
Now, my milk is being used as the supplement and the formula is her main source of milk. She’s a lot more satisfied. She cries less. She sleeps longer.
No matter how much I wanted to be her sole milk provider, I just don’t think my body was made for it. I’m ok with that. It happened with M when she was an infant. I thought I could change it with K, but my physiology proved otherwise.
My nursing days are numbered. I know it. I know I’m going to miss it.
It was easy. The night feedings were simple. No one had to get up to make a bottle.
She is just starting to hug me as she nursed. She was just starting to hold my breast like a huge bottle in her face. The description might be crass, but believe me, it’s a cute thing to see.
I’m not giving up hope. I’m going to continue to give her my milk, as little as it may seem to her. Some milk from me is better than no milk from me. I know I’m probably never going to produce enough for her to rely on completely again, but knowing that I can still give her something is good enough for me.
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K – Kisses
Posted on: February 12, 2015
- In: ABC | Parenthood
- 16 Comments
Read about my ABC blog series here.
Look back – A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J
Kisses, kisses everywhere…
M loves to give K kisses.
Every morning, M covers her little sister in kisses. I think it’s adorable.
I think it’s really sealing their bond as sisters.
I feel like it’s definitely made an impact on how K feels about her sister. There is a definite bond between them now and I can see it whenever K looks at M.
K, at this young age, loves to look at her sister. Her little eyes follow M where ever M goes. She’s even given M a big, gummy smile, something she hasn’t even done for me yet…
As each day passes, their sisterly bond just seems to get stronger and stronger. It’s all thanks to those kisses!
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G – Growth spurts
Posted on: February 8, 2015
- In: ABC | Parenthood
- 20 Comments
Read about my ABC blog series here.
Kids are like weeds.
They just grow, grow, grow…
K no longer fits in anything “newborn” sized. Her 0-3 clothing is starting to fit her perfectly and it seems like it won’t be long before she will outgrow them too…
M wears 5T clothing, and depending on the brand, ban even wear size 6/6x clothing. That means I’m shopping in the toddler section AND the girls section at clothing stores. She’s three! She’ll be 3 1/2 next month…
These growth spurts are great. I’m glad they are healthy and growing normally…
But they aren’t doing a favor on our wallet…
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F – Four
Posted on: February 7, 2015
Read about my ABC blog series here.
Most of the nights, K wakes up about every three hours. It’s a diaper change and a feeding every time. While a solid three hours of sleep seems good, it’s exhausting. Sometimes, I’m too awake after a feeding that I can’t sleep right away and I find that I stay awake for about an hour after she fell back asleep. That leaves me with only two hours of sleep before she wakes up again!
By the time M wakes up, I’m exhausted and feel so sleep deprived.
However, there are those miraculous days where K decides to give me FOUR hours of sleep between a feeding. That means I really only wake up once in the middle of the night..
It feels soooooo good.
Who knew that one extra hour of sleep and know that I only have had to wake up once in the wee hours of the morning can feel amazing!?
After a four hour span of sleep, by the time M wakes up, I feel so refreshed and ready to tackle the day…
Now that K is approaching 6 weeks old, I’m hoping these 4-hour spans occur more often..
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B – Burpees
Posted on: February 3, 2015
- In: ABC | Parenthood
- 25 Comments
Read about my ABC blog series here.
Look back – A
Ok.. so your definition of ‘burpees’ may differ from mine..
I don’t even really know what a burpee is. I just hear that word a lot from my fit friends. I know they are hard. I know my fit friends have a love/hate relationship with them.
But that’s not what I’m here to talk about..
My burpees? Burping a newborn, of course!
I have to be honest here. Two kids into this parenting thing, and I still don’t know how to burp a baby. Yes, I know the techniques. Over the shoulder, pat the back. Sit the baby down, lean them forward with your hand supporting her head, pat the back..
Still.. I’m probably 40% successful.
I can pat, pat, pat until I feel like I’m going to pat her lungs out.. no burps.
However, those nurses in the recovery room can burp those babies like no other. Several times, the nurse would come in, pick up little K, pat her once, maybe twice, and K would just belch.
They can explain it to me over and over again, I just don’t have that burping magic.
Any burping tips to share?
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A – Adjustment
Posted on: February 2, 2015
Read about my ABC blog series here.
Before K was born, I had this expectation that M would just immediately fall in love with her sister.
I would picture M running into the hospital recovery room and just be automatically drawn to her baby sister. She’d kiss her, hold her, and just be the best big sister in the world from that moment on..
Reality didn’t prove to be that way at all.
When M first came into the room on that first morning after K was born, it was awkward. She was awkward. She wasn’t sure what was going on and I could see the discomfort in her face.
She missed me. I know she did. She gave me a huge hug, but that was about it. She couldn’t really look at me. I’m not sure what she was thinking, but I think she just felt out of place. I was wearing a hospital gown, I was sitting on a different bed, I didn’t quite look like myself, and I was carry things other little person.
I felt like I was forcing K on her. M didn’t know this little baby and yet I was making her kiss and hold her. She obliged, but it wasn’t heartfelt. She’s three, what was I really expecting from her?
I cried a bit after M went home for the night. Part of me was disappointed that I didn’t get the reaction I wanted. Most of me was worried for M. I knew it was going to be a huge adjustment for her, but until that day, I didn’t know how huge it really was going to be..
As the days went by, it got better. She started looking at me and interacting with me more. She starting looking at her sister. She started accepting the little baby I kept taking care of.
And then we took her home.
M cried a lot more. M demanded a lot more. M’s potty training seemed to just fly out the window. It was frustrating, especially when I was sleep deprived. M also started crying in the middle of the night, like she was having a bad dream. Once, when she heard K cry in the middle of the night, M, in her half-asleep state, grabbed onto my arm and hugged it tight.
I decided not to force K on M. I never asked M to hold K after that first day. I would tell M to sing or talk to her, but that was it. I didn’t want to force the relationship until M was ready. What I did do was have M help out with taking care of K. She would grab diapers, hand me wipes, bring me blankets… she loved doing that, and it eventually helped develop the relationship I was looking for between her and her sister.
Hubby and I also made sure we made time for M. Dividing time between the two is definitely not easy, especially since I’m always so tired from the intermittent sleep, but it’s definitely worth the sacrifice knowing that M has been thriving through this adjustment period.
She absolutely LOVES her sister and constantly kisses her. The moment I knew everything was going to be ok was when M finally asked to hold K. It brought tears to my eyes knowing that everything is going ok.
(To all the parent police out there, don’t worry, the didn’t nap like this. I posed them to be next to each other for the photo. The hand thing, they did that themselves.. )
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One month..
Posted on: January 29, 2015
Yesterday was K’s one month birthday.
Can you believe it’s been one month already?
She’s definitely grown a lot since her birth. Her last weigh-in was at about three weeks old and she weighed about 7lbs, 11oz. By now she’s got to be at least 8lbs. She definitely feels like it. Nursing her and only using one arm can get really tiresome, really fast. I can feel her weight against my arm and that’s definitely a change from when she first came into this world.
She wakes up for several hours several times a day. When she is awake, she is alert and loves to look around at her surroundings. I love watching her little eyes dart around the room. She is attracted to lights and can stare at them for awhile. Her little arms and legs flail and kick when she’s wide awake. She opens and clothes her mouth and sometimes can get a little sound out.
Her cry is slowly changing from that familiar “newborn” cry. She’s also developing distinct cries. She has her hungry cry, her annoyed cry, her wet cry… I don’t know if I ever noticed it with M, but I notice the difference in the cries with K.
Two days ago, we used the last of her newborn-sized diapers and officially moved her on to size 1 diapers. She had been ready for a week or two, but we wanted to use up the rest of the newborn diapers before we sized her up. I can’t believe how fast she out grew those newborn-sized diapers!
She’s also out grown several of her newborn sleepers, but that was a week or so ago. She now fits snuggly in 0-3mo sized sleepers and onsies. She no longer swims in that size anymore. My baby is definitely growing.
Happy One Month, Little K. We love you so much and love how complete you’ve made our family feel. Keep growing and developing. May God continue to bless you always.
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3 weeks..
Posted on: January 20, 2015
On Sunday, K turned 3 weeks old..
Three weeks.. that went fast.
She’s starting to become more aware of her surroundings. She can hear our voices and will turn her head toward the voice that is talking to her. She still sleeps through most of the day, but will find several hours of the day to be awake. Those hours are usually around 6-8am..
She gives me a good 4 hours of sleep at night between feedings.. Four hours of sleep feels so much better than three hours. It’s amazing how refreshing having that extra hour of sleep feels..
M is getting more and more adjusted to having a little sister around. She loves to give K kisses all over. She’s becoming a very loving big sister.
I can’t believe K has been here for three weeks already. She feels like she’s been with our family for such a long time. She just found her place in our little family and I love how complete we all feel.
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Two weeks…
Posted on: January 12, 2015
Yesterday, K turned two weeks old.
Two weeks.
Can you believe it?
Two weeks!!!
These two weeks have flown by so quickly. She’s changed so much in these past two weeks. There is about an hour or so during the day that she stays awake. She just stares off into space and waves her arms in slow motion like baby tai chi. I try to talk to her during those moments she’s awake. Sometimes, I swear she and I make eye contact.
Her face has filled out and she’s doesn’t swim around in her newborn sized sleepers. She’s probably gained back the weight she lost right after birth and I’m hoping she’s heavier than her birth weight already.
I forgot how much two weeks can make a difference in the life of a newborn. I forgot how quickly they grow at this stage of their lives. I wish time would slow down just a little bit. I want to savor every little moment I have with this little newborn of mine. Before I know it, she’ll be running around with her older sister and I will be wondering where all the time went… again.
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Things I forgot… about newborns..
Posted on: January 9, 2015
- In: Parenthood
- 1 Comment
It’s been over three years since I’ve dealt with a newborn. I had forgotten what it was like to live with one.. here are some of the things I’ve re-discovered about life with a newborn..
- Newborns make A LOT of noises
- They can make putting on a diaper VERY difficult, especially when they refuse to straighten their legs
- Beware of every little fart
- Just when you think they are done pooping… they really aren’t.
- Newborns stretch.. A LOT
- They really aren’t as fragile as they look
- Girl’s pee can fly just as much as boy pee
- When changing a newborn, bring more than one diaper with you because chances are you will use at least three before you are done changing her.
- You will break into a sweat just changing their outfits.
- When you don’t bring a change of clothes, that’s when they will wet themselves
I’m sure there are other things I’ve forgotten, but.. you know.. sleep deprivation..
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Living life in the carpool lane.. 