I'm really off my game with these blog posts, but I figure if I can get them done the week they're supposed to be done, it's all good.
So as of this week Samantha is 6 weeks old. And she had her first Halloween. And I had my 6-week postpartum check-up. Busy times, indeed.
But first things first - HALLOWEEN!
Sami was a big puffy butterfly... and she HATED it.
... well, it was really more like she hated the hate, but still.
We didn't actually take her out trick-or-treating this year, and good thing too, because it was COLD. I did pack her up and bring her to my parents' house so that they could see the full effect... it didnt last long, and soon we had another costume change.
She was much happier/comfier in this one, I'm sure.
And because we didn't get to see Chris' family on Halloween night, we went over last night with the costume and did it all over again... Sam was NOT happy with that, let me tell you, but everyone got pictures, so it was worth it.
So what else is new...
Sam's starting to get more fussy between the 9pm and 11pm hours... we think she's getting more gas now than she used to. Either that, or she's just getting to be a night owl like her dad, and those are the times when she just starts to get bored. We know it'll get better as she gets older and we can get into a routine, but in the meantime we'll make due... and I'll talk to her pediatrician about how she feels in regards to gas drops.
But despite the fussiness, her sleeping schedule is starting to get predictable. She'll stay up with Chris until 12-1230am, and then will sleep until anywhere between 2:30am and 4am. She'll usually fall right asleep after I feed her, and then start to wake up for another feeding around 7am, where I'll either stay up with her, or we'll go back to bed with her on my chest. But there was one night where I fed her, went to bed early, and I wasn't woken up for a meal again until 5am. Crazy!
The one this I had been concerned about this past week was Sami's latching. Every since we started initially introducing the bottle, I felt like she wasn't latching as strongly as she had been. And then, because of the gassy issues she was having, I was feeling that her latching was bringing in more air then usual, not to mention I was just getting so frustrated because I felt like I was doing her wrong and we were going to have to stop breastfeeding sooner than I wanted to. So I took the advice of both my husband and my midwife, and I went to the weekly lactation clinic they have up at the hospital. It was actually a great experience, and I'm quite pleased that I went. Basically, it's for mothers and their babies only, and when you go, you strip the baby down to a dry diaper, weigh them, breastfeed, and then weigh them again once their done to see how much they ate. While I was there, the lactation consultant was able to sit with me for a little while and watch Sami's latch and help me out. Other than how to better get her to initially latch, everything looked fine. The issue wasn't her - it was me, and it's really not much of an issue as it is... it's just that I seem to be very good at producing milk, and the air I felt she was taking in was really her trying to adjust to the milk flow as she sucked. So now, knowing that, I feel much better when I feed her, and a lot less frustrated in thinking I'm doing something wrong. And now I think I'm going to make a point to go every week now... plus, I was able to meet a couple of mothers there when I went, so maybe this will be another way to get to know other women with similar interests (or life experiences).
Oh, and her initial weight was 9lbs 2.3oz... post-feeding weight was 9lbs 5.2oz. Hungry baby!
And now for me... my 6-week appointment was Tuesday, and everything is all good. I am, however, anemic, and have been instructed to start taking iron supplements along with the prenatal supplements I haven't been taking, but should have been this whole time. Whoops.
So this week I have a few items I need to check off:
One - I need to call my PCP and get my left thumb looked at. Ever since I ripped the IV out of my hand while I was at the hospital, I've been getting shooting pains when I try to use my thumbs. And it's getting worse as the days go on, and sometimes it's so bad I have to stop myself as I go to pick up Sam, so it's getting serious. I think it's nervous, because sometimes it will tingle, but my midwife thinks there might be scar tissue in there from the IV and it might just need some physical therapy.
Two - I need to call Sami's daycare and let her know she has officially arrived, bring her up there so that they can meet her, and finish filling out her paperwork to get the ball rolling come next year. Hopefully they'll also be able to tell me if she's going to be starting in January or February... if Feb, we're all good, but if it's Jan, I need to let people know they have to plan to take vacations once I go back to work. Our fingers are crossed for Feb.
Three - Pump every day and start working on getting my supply up. There are a lot of events coming our way when I'm either going to need to leave Sam with Chris alone, or we're going to need to leave her with a babysitter while we're out, so I'm going to need to make sure I have bottles to provide while I'm not there. Not to mention, daycare starts in 2 months, give or take, and I'm not going to have any other choice but to send along bottles.
We'll see how well this week goes...
