She was trying to lick more than latch for the first feeding, but new things are hard. I thought we were starting to do better later but it still wasn't a lot. The lactation specialist was even having problems getting her to latch correctly, so now I don't feel so bad. She understands that she needs to put the part that releases the food into her mouth, gives one or two sucks, then gets frustrated when it just doesn't flow.
The goal for her first 24 hours was to get one pee and one poop. In her first change we got both at once. She then proceeded to poop 7 more times and peed once more. Her poop was like sticky tar, and I'm glad Bill tackled that. She impressed the lactation specialist because Bill changed her before she got there, then again once she got there, and then there was another after she ate some.
She tried to put the hospital into lock down twice. Each baby has a little tracker that looks like a house arrest ankle bracelet. If she got too close to the doors to leave, they would lock unless you had the appropriate scan badge. If the tag senses that it has been removed, the whole woman's hospital goes into lockdown until they can find the baby in question. At one point we noticed that she had worked it down to her arch. We slid it back and later Kelsey found it right back down there. She carefully tightened it down.
Noah was so funny, he asked if I wanted to see my incision and I said sure. He told me that it was a trick question and that I was going to look at it either way. He also knew that Kelsey was the one to give Spud her first bath because of the hat with a giant bow on it, or as he called it "a very Kelsey bow."
We had a really rough 6am on her second day. She wants to start to cluster feed, but still isn't totally understanding how to feed on the colostrum. She will suckle 2-4 times and then just sit there and fall asleep. We did some hand expressing to get something into her. We called the lactation specialist and she tried to get her to latch and suck. Turns out she has a bit of a lip-tie. She was just using it to self soothe and wasn't actually eating enough, so she was tired and hungry. They got her to settle in the nursery so we could all get some sleep. They didn't want me to start pumping too soon, but after we all got 3 hours of sleep and she was too tired for her next feeding, we went over how the pump works. It was so easy and I got 20ml of a milk and colostrum mix for her to eat. It is so relieving to be able to easily get some food inside of her. Once she's bigger we can try directly nursing again, but with the lip-tie it might not happen.
6lb 8.21oz = 7% weight loss
She's only 3 days old and if we don't have her swaddled well enough, she can turn herself on her side. She impressed one of the pediatricians by how she just tried to lift her head when she was put on her belly.
We were told that we were the least demanding of the new parents. We asked some good questions, but I also didn't freak out when she cried every time anyone took the swaddle off or Bill changed her diaper.
I was worried that Tank would try and lay on top of her or try and make biscuits on my belly. He has been very gentle with me and has laid either on the pregnancy pillow or touching my back when he is near me. Otherwise Bill has become the person to snuggle with. He was really unsure of Spud when he first saw her, but now he's fascinated by her and will watch her when she makes sounds in her sleep.
On the way to her first pediatrician appointment she had a blow out. As Bill finished cleaning her she had another poop that might have been a second blow out. Doc said to start aiming for 45mL today and 60mL by Saturday. Her little tummy wasn't quite ready for that amount and we had a rough time.
The Internet says that babies should be able to roll themselves from their back to their side around the age of 3-5 months. She started trying to do that about day 3 and managed to roll from one side to the other on day 4. I don't think she could roll all the way from one side to the other reliably and she even startled herself and made herself cry from doing it the first time.
We are all learning how to communicate together. We are getting better at recognizing her hunger and full signs.
Around day 7 she grabbed her umbilical cord stub and ripped it off. It was supposed to fall off on it's own between 10-14 days.
They were hoping that she would be back to her birth weight by two weeks, but she managed to do it by 10 days. It'll make it easier to take her places once she's over 8lbs and can fit into the wearable carriers we have.
She likes having the bottoms of her feet rubbed. I wonder if she remembers that from when I would rub the spot when she would kick out and hold it.
~ Dr Kusic
Had my two week check up and was told that everything looked good and like I was about 80% healed. I was cleared to take a bath, drive, do stairs as I felt. He said that the first two weeks were the hardest. He showed me how big some of the incisions were. He mentioned that the tenderness, and tug/twitching is all very normal.
She hates to have her mouth wiped. If you take the cloth and use it on your finger to wipe out the inside of her mouth, that is less of a big deal than wiping her face off.
We've been calling her poops "making mustard" because of the color and consistency they have become on milk. It also helps me because I was most worried about diaper changes. At some point they are going to get bad, probably once we start adding solid foods.
I think it's interesting some of the reflexes they are born with that they then have to learn how to do. At some point she is going to lose her grab reflex and have to learn how to grab things.
We got her a play mat with dangling toys. So far she has been able to hit the high contrast ball. I'm pretty sure at two weeks she doesn't know she's the one doing it, but she's having fun with it anyway. She really doesn't like it when she is trying to look at the high contrast ball, but someone keeps hitting it with a tiny fist that looks a lot like hers. Tank also really likes the play mat.
At one point when she was having tummy-time during week 3 on Bill's chest she moved her elbows in on her own. I also learned that all the movement she does with her limbs is something she would normally be doing at an older age.
It was interesting to watch some of her arm movements become more intentional. She was feeling her own hair, though to be fair, it is very soft. She watched herself grab my finger or her chew-raddle a few times.
Waking up in a panic has also gotten a lot better and less frequent. I woke up thinking that I fell asleep with her in the bed and was laying on her so many times. I also thought a skein of yarn was her crying, but not making a sound, so I panicked then too.
She was having troubles getting her food straight from the source, so we were really trying the nipple shields. The most recent lactation specialist, Megan, says that bottle feeding and breast feeding are two different skills for them. The shield would make it seem more like a bottle to her and it would make it easier for her tall palette to get stimulation to cause her to suck. However, she didn't seem to be the biggest fan of the shield. I decided to go bare again and even though she's probably not a lot bigger at 3 weeks and 3 days, she successfully fed. I think all the pumping had helped to make things more malleable. I'm also hoping that adding direct feeding along with pumping will help prevent blocked ducts. They feel like sharp rocks are under your skin. Unfortunately now I get to feel her mighty chomping along with her powerful suction.
To celebrate her one month she rotated while swaddled in her bassinet. She also started sleeping almost or over 4 hours a few times. I love it so much when she smiles because she doesn't know what a smile is, but feels so happy that they just happen.
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