Monday, June 2, 2008

My First Week

Maya had a squeak of a rough start. She has a very "give me what I want now" attitude about breast feeding, coupled with the fact that she has a very, very hard time waking up. She started out on her birthday at 7 pounds 15 onces, and by the time we left the hospital she was 7 pounds 5 ounces. She was close to the hospitals "can't lose more than 10 percent of birth weight" rule.



It would be time for her to eat, and she wouldn't wake up. I mean, this child can not be woken from her sleep (could it be from the IV drugs they gave me before the epidural guy came? I don't even remember it happening). So we would wake her just enough to latch on, and she'd fall asleep within five minutes. Or, she'd get really frustrated because not enough would come out and she'd say, "What's the point?" shut down, and fall back asleep. One nurse gave me a breast shield, said it would help her. Another gave us a SNS or finger feeder (a little tube hooked up to some boob milk which you attach to your finger and she sucks on it) which we've had to keep using because now she associates the boobies with frusration and sleepiness.



The finger feeder is nice, but I feel like I should be having her at the breast. I have shed tears over it- she's frustrated, mommy is frustrated. So we keep trying, and she keeps gaining weight! The lactation consultant/home visit nurse is wonderful and came back a second time to give me replacement tubes for the breast pump. She told us that some babies will magically latch on a month or two later because it was offered to them everyday. So, we'll see. She also said that Maya now weighs 7 pounds and 11 onces. What a difference a finger feeding makes!!



And mommy is a milk machine. I could sell this stuff they way it comes out. Milk gold.



Now that you know the skinny on that situation, the fun stuff.



Maya loves the sound of birds. She'll be in daddy's lap getting fed and hear them and perk up.

Maya also loves tummy time when her daddy plays the guitar for her. Especially Led Zeppelin...of course. Maya has started to wake up and tell mommy and daddy when she is hungry- this is helpful since all she used to do was sleep and sleep. Maya has elf ears, we think she came from Rivendale. Maya was awake for almost two hours when Allan and Woo came over to visit and ooh and ahh over her. Two whole hours awake! This made for very good sleeping for mommy and daddy. Maya's nicknames so far are: Monkey, Babyboo, Pumpkin, Sweetpea, MayaMy (this are the names mommy calls her). Daddy calls her Babe.



Grandpa Greg and Grandma Peggy came on Saturday and brought a beautiful changing table that Grandpa made. They also bought us a porch swing which the neighbor kids keep trying to climb on. We had a nice visit with them, and took Maya out on her first outing..to Zio Johno's for lunch. She slept, we ate. Shauna and Max came over too. Max seems to really like his baby cousin ("where's my baby cousin, where's my cousin?").



Thanks to everyone who helped out with shopping and visiting at the hospital (thanks for the clothes momma, they have been wonderful). It helped a lot and we're super appreciative of our wonderful families and friends. Just having people come visit keeps us sane. And thanks to all who brought flowers or sent them, I actually had a nurse say, "I'll give you your meds if you give me those roses." Thank you, thank you, thank you.



Hmm, I guess that's it for now. Banana bread in the oven calls to me.

4 comments:

Aaron Prime said...

Elf ear pictures! Side by side with Orlando Bloom!

Mommy of Jacob, Jessie Rose and Jackson said...

I was so frustrated too with breastfeeding, I cried, and I felt like I wasn't a good mother, and that Jacob didn't want me. But, looking back, I can see that he probably just picked up on my frustration, which led to him having trouble latching (and staying latched) on. A book that helped me immensely was "Operating Instructions", I forget who the author is, but she wrote from her own experiences with the first year of her babies life right from day one. Also, the La Leche League helped, they have an 800 line to call if you feel like tearing your hair out one night. Maya is soooo adorable!

lilismama said...

how strange is it that you are struggling with breastfeeding and i have a screaming teether on my hands. where did the time go?! the good news about the breastfeeding is that it gets easy and she is gaining weight. and you are giving it your best try...a lot of women would have given up by now. and even if you do...it does NOT mean you are a bad mother. i quit earlier than i wanted to just because i wanted to get some sleep and lose some weight...both VERY selfish reasons and i struggled with it for a long time.
i hope you liked the lilies that we sent! i thought them appropriate. and speak of lilies i better get back to mine as the screaming continues despite the tylenol, teething tabs, and cold bottle. see what you have to look forward to?? but isn't it all worth it? at least it will be...once everything isn't clouded by a haze of no sleep and breastmilk and spit up all over your clothes. oh man...i want another one!

Leah said...

Oh, I wanted to recommend "The Nursing Mother's Companion" as an excellent and tremendously useful book on BFing. If you don't have it or can't find it used, let me know - I can send you mine.