Avery's Firsts

My baby girl has been having a lot of firsts this week. How fast time flies. She has:

• Been to her first restaurant. Olive Garden!
• Had her first trip just with mommy to Marion to meet mommy's coworkers and have lunch with grandpa. We took a little 30 minute detour at the gas station at nurse and change a massive blowout diaper (complete with a totally dirty outfit). First time I've used my lap as a changing station.
• Went to church for the first time on Wednesday evening.
• Had her first bottle of breastmilk. First time to be fed by her daddy. (I cried the whole time... I can't believe how much I've gotten attached to breastfeeding, even though it still hurts sometimes.)
• Tomorrow will be her first Halloween. Next week I'll post pictures of her in her little ladybug outfit.

Avery was weighed again today and is still progressively gaining weight. She has gained a little slower this past week than the week before, but it is good that she is still gaining. I am going to take her in again on Monday.

Avery is spending a lot more time awake in the mornings now. If we get a decent night's sleep, she is usually awake for 2-4 hours in the morning just hanging out and intermittently nursing. She really hates baths, but does like getting her hair washed. She really likes snuggling and nursing right after her bath in just her diaper. We are occasionally having some good nights where she will sleep 2-3 hours and then we'll be up about an hour for nursing and kind of do that for a while. Tuesday night though, she was up from 10p-6a without going to sleep. That means I was also up without sleep. Avery and I have been cuddling for some afternoon naps the last few days to catch up.

We leave for our trip to Mississippi in a week and a half and I go back to work in just over a month now. I can't believe my maternity leave is halfway over. :( I am going to have a really hard time going back to work and leaving this little chica! I can't believe it's almost November...that means the year is almost over and we'll be having Avery's first Christmas very soon.

I'll post more later... Avery is ready to eat!

Relief

Avery enjoys her first time in the Sleepy Wrap.

Avery and mommy enjoy going for a walk with the Sleepy Wrap. She was as quiet as a mouse!

My hilarious cross-eyed little girl!

Avery and cousin Ethan (3 months older).

Trying to smile in her sleep. Nathan would say that angels are talking to her right now.

Avery let me sleep for 3 uninterrupted hours last night...twice! What a difference in the way I feel during the day. AND...right now, she is sleeping without me. She is in her carseat napping, but she isn't attached to my chest at the moment. Usually when I put her down, especially in her bassinet, she wakes right up and even if it has only been 30 minutes since she ate, she wants to eat again. This is wonderful!

I changed pediatricians today. I called to make her 2 month appointment and went ahead and changed her to the doctor we saw in the hospital. We were so much more impressed and really felt like he was on our side. I just have never quite felt settled with the doctor we started seeing, so hopefully this will be a better move. Unfortunately, if it doesn't work well (which I don't forsee), we can't change to anyone else in that practice and we would have to go elsewhere. Here's hoping!

Tomorrow, I am taking Avery to WIC and the lactation consultant is going to weigh her for me and work a little bit with us on nursing. People think the baby comes out and you just throw them on the boob, but it is SO not like that. Things are getting better though, but no signs of any schedule yet, except eating every 2-2 1/2 hours. The lactation consultant said that she would just weigh her to keep my mind at ease since the doctor decided to make such a big deal about Avery's "weight problem" (which I don't think exists). But at least this way, I'll know for sure she is gaining weight.

Overall, it has been a good week and I can't believe how fast time is going. Enjoy the new pictures!

Avery is 2 weeks old!

Wow, time goes so fast. I can't believe my little one is two weeks old already. She went for her two week check-up today. All her reflexes were totally normal. She is also up to 7lb 4oz, which is just 3oz short of her birth weight. She should have no problem gaining that in the next few days.

Avery has been cluster feeding the last two nights. My understanding is that often happens when the baby is getting ready to go through a growth spurt. It is NOT supposed to mean that I am not producing enough milk or that she isn't getting enough. It's just a marathon session of nursing where Avery keeps Mommy up all night. Haha! The doctor told me that I absolutely should NOT let her do this because I will become one big human pacifier and I will never be able to do anything without her needing to suckle. I will never sleep and it's a terrible habit. Everthing I read suggests it is just a phase of a few days and then they go back on schedule. Nathan and I are heavily considering finding a new pediatrician for Avery.... one that is a little more breastfeeding friendly and doesn't treat us like idiots every time we are there.

She is supposed to go back in 6 weeks and she gets her immunizations at that time. I don't want to see my baby get her shots! Nathan's parents left to go home today, so Nathan, Avery and I are spending the first night in our home just the three of us. Tomorrow, it's just Avery and I! Hopefully all will go well tonight, and we'll get some sleep and have a good day tomorrow.

I will try to download some more pictures soon. Have a great week!

Avery's Pictures

Weight gain and weight loss

So, there's been some weight loss, but fortunately...it's ME, not Avery! Today I actually squeeze gracefully back into a pair of pre-prego jeans and couldn't believe they fit. We went to see Nathan's coworkers today and they couldn't believe I even wanted to wear jeans yet (but as I type, I am back in my comfy pants).

I took Avery back to the doctor to be weighed again this morning. She has gained 2 oz back (but they misrecorded her weight from the other day...but that's a whole other story to vent about). The doctor wanted me to feed her 30cc of formula to supplement and try to continue to boost her weight. I said, "Um, no...I don't want formula." She said I could pump and give her extra breastmilk by syringe every 3 hours then. She just wants to make sure Avery is getting full.

I guess my Aunt (who works on the pediatric floor of the hospital in Marion) talked to my former pediatrician the other day and told her our story. She said she would not be concerned at all, as breastfed babies do tend to lose weight. She isn't lethargic, she seems full and content, she has good color, etc... so why are we so worried about my 9 day old losing a couple of ounces that are acceptable? In the hospital, the doctor said she only lost 5% of her birth weight and they were okay with her losing up to 10%. I really feel like we are okay here, and I'm confident everything will work out. I've been saying lots of prayers for my little one and I am sure God is looking over her.

Anyway, I am going to snag a quick bite to eat while Avery is sleeping. Keep us in your prayers...that Avery will STAY healthy and I will keep my sanity!

Frustrated

Today we went for Avery's one week weight check. I wasn't totally sure what to expect since she has really only had two good days of eating "the good stuff." So we went and she had lost 6 ounces since leaving the hosptial. The nurse was extremely rude to me and acted like I was an absolutely idiot about how I should feed my baby (I'll admit I don't know everything) and said she just wasn't happy and we needed to wait to see the doctor. So the doctor came in and the nurse had misrepresented several things I had told her. Once the doctor understood everything about how our feedings have gone over the last week, she said "Well it seems like you are on the right track now, which is good because I was on the fence about admitting her to the hospital." My jaw almost hit the floor! I was so irritated.

My take is this: Come on, I'm a first time mom, this is my first baby and I'm doing this all for the first time. Can you expect me to know everything? If I'm not doing something right, explain it to me...educate me. Don't be rude, treat me like I'm retarded, and tell me you might put my baby in the hospital. Let's just say that for most of the rest of the day, I have been pretty emotional. I have to take her back in Wednesday to be weighed again and have to follow the doctor's specific orders about breastfeeding. Hopefully she will have gained a few ounces and we'll be totally worry free. I had better not have that rude nurse again or I think I might mention my displeasure... and I probably will anyway when I meet with the doctor again next Monday.

I have had the hardest time letting Avery out of my sight or not holding her constantly today. I feel so protective of her, and pretty offended that someone would imply that I might not be taking care of my baby. I love her so much and I am doing the best I can! My discharge instructions said as long as I feed her, change her, bathe her and love her, that I'm a good mother. Not that I doubt it, but I am so frustrated!!!!

Nathan is going back to work in the morning and he is having a really hard time with it. He doesn't want to leave her either. His mom is here staying with us through the rest of the week and helping me out, so I fortunately won't be totally alone and I might still get some sleep in the mornings. Anyway, just wanted to vent. Tomorrow will be better!

Life with Avery

Day 5 with Avery and things are finally starting to resemble some normalacy versus chaos. Our first night home was very frustrating and we were up most of the night. I think I slept maybe 3 hours and that was from 8-11am when Nathan took her so I could sleep. Friday morning about 1am, my milk came in...what an adventure in weirdness! The funny thing was Avery was acting so hungry all the time and at first she just wasn't satisfied. Then my milk came in and she wanted nothing to do with me. She would try to latch on, then scream the most high pitched scream EVER, and fight me all along the way. I cried A LOT that night.

When I woke up, I called the La Leche League and the advisor told me to pump out my milk and then feed her little bits of it on a spoon. Tried it and it worked wonders! She was a little more satisfied and a little less frustrated before she started eating. By midnight last night, she was latching the best she ever has and was eating for 40-50 minutes. The little girl has quite the appetite! It has been very challenging trying to pick up on all her hunger cues and feed her before it gets to that frustrating point for both of us. Because the feedings were more successful, so was the sleep. We slept 2 hours, up 2 hours, etc, for most of the night. It was so much better.

I am feeling better every day, but still having some pain from the tearing during delivery. I think that I kind of had a re-tear last night of a little bit because I have been slightly more uncomfortable and have had some extra bleeding, but it should improve in the next little while. Fortunately, I don't really need pain medicine anymore, but I do still take my antiinflammatories. It's hard sitting and laying on my back all the time, but Avery comes first!

Avery has had lots of family visitors the last few days. She is so happy to meet everyone. She had a wonderful visit this afternoon with both sets of grandparents. We will be making our first outing on Monday for her 1 week weight check.

Well, that's all the time for updating that I have...Avery is starting to wake up and I hear those little lips smacking. :)