One of her newborn pictures!!!
It has been kind of CRAZY around here the past week or so being the reason we are so behind on posts!! Lyla decided she wanted to start sleeping 5 hours at night...which was music to her momma's ears...but along with that sleeping came the afternoons of my hands being filled with a baby from around 5p.m. to 10 p.m. for the past few nights. We have no idea what is going on all I know is that she would only be happy if she was nursing those few hours and it was wearing me out..especially when Jason was working and even when he was here it didn't help much except to go and get me something because she only wanted me. I am praying that I came up with a solution today though. Every time I pump a 3oz bottle she was so content and she would sleep for hours..the reason she was sleeping at night for so long. Well I am thinking that she is just using me as a pacifier for those few hours and not getting her belly completely full. So this week I have decided to only pump bottles, and hoping to get my milk supply
up, and see if she will go back to my happy little Diva she was the first week. So far it is working because Jason fed her a bottle at 12:30 today and it is 4:00 and she is still sound asleep. I am getting to blog, I got a pedicure, got my homework done and it has been a quiet afternoon...I really don't know what to do with myself..ha! Now let's just see if that works for our 5-10 time frame that has been CRAZINESS the past few days.
What Lyla has been doing the past few days....besides being a nursing queen and loving her some momma she has started staying awake for a few hours during the day and afternoon. She is very alert and loves for you to just sit and talk with her. She will just grin and laugh..these are the moments I love. She grins the biggest when she is deep asleep..I just want to hold her and stare at those sweet faces but I know this may be part of our problem of her not wanting to be put down now..ooops! She hates having her diaper changed, unless she has a full belly, and she is not a fan of getting her clothes changed either...She likes to be a warm clothed baby! She still has not slept in her bassinet or pack-n-play all night...her bouncy seat is permanently situated in the middle of our bed..I really need to work on that this week as well. We took our
first outing to the grocery store yesterday and once again after she had her 3oz bottle she just laid in her car seat watching her little duck until she finally dozed off to sleep and stayed that a way for a few hours. Even after we got home I took her out and put her in her swing and she slept like a baby...hence the reason I think the whole pumped bottle thing is going to start getting me more afternoons like this. While we were out she discovered her thumb..it was so cute watching her start sucking on it now she does it a few times a day. We are still waiting for her umbilical cord to fall off so we can have a good bath but she loves to get her hair washed and her sponge baths!! I love to lotion her up after her bath and just snuggle up with a good rock to sleep! Other than that she is the apple of our eye and we love her to the moon and back!! I think daddy is really enjoying the bottle feedings also..he feels like he is helping out and he has no idea how much he really is!!
Today is Valentine's Day so we wish you a Happy Valentine's with much love from our little Diva!!!
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Oh Amber, I love her newborn picture!!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to nursing-- I've been there. I remember being in the hospital with my first and saying to the nurse "I think he's using me as a paci" and she said "so give him one!" I was afraid of nipple confusion, but both of my babies were given paci's and had no trouble with nursing. I nursed both a little after their 1st birthday. So if you happen to be like I was with the first--don't be scared to give her a paci.
Also, just to give you comfort-- no matter how much you pump-- I promise she gets more at the actual breast. She is more of an expert than any pump. The way I was told to increase my milk supply was to let the child nurse and then pump a bit after they were done. Supply and demand. However, from what I read on the LaLeche League website-- you rarely ever need to incrase your milk supply. It's just a common fear in nursing mamas because you can't see how much they are getting.
I HIGHLY recommend the books "Babywise" by the Ezzo's and "The Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg. They are all about feeding/sleeping schedules and both my kids slept through the night by 6 and 8 weeks old!! Everyone that I know thats done the scheduling has had very similar results. Friends of mine who refused to schedule, had 2 year olds still waking them up at night.
Sorry for the unsolicted advice-- but I am grateful for the dear friends who told me about those books!