Better Now
Sherwood is 3 weeks! I can’t believe it. We’re starting to get a little bit back to normal now. Because my physical recovery went so well I was on a high for the first week or so. But when that wore off, and the hormones (and sleep deprivation) kicked in, I was a bit of an emotional mess for a few days. I’d forgotten about the baby blues, but they seem to be inevitable.
The nursing is going a lot better, and I successfully nursed him in public for the first time yesterday. He’s having a crazy growth spurt right now—he’s nursed for the entire evening for the last several days. I’m serious. We’re talking about 6 pm to 10 or 11 pm each night. But he’s only getting up once or twice during the night, so I won’t complain.
Something else I find hard about nursing is the fact that it’s all on me. I hate the fact that I can’t even go to a movie, or out for a drink (do you know how badly I want to go for a drink on a patio before the summer is over?) For the past few days we’ve been trying to get him to take a bottle of pumped milk. I’ve left the room, we’ve tried when he’s hungry, middle of feeding, end of feeding, while rocking. We’ve tried several different nipples. He’s not interested. Any other suggestions? When do you think is the optimal time to introduce the bottle? My midwife says it’s OK to start now, but I’m curious to know when other have had success.
The good thing is that I can now nurse and read at the same time! I’ve read about 4 books in the past week—I’ll post on them as soon as I can. I can also tweet on my iTouch. I fuck up a lot though, and do random tweets that make no sense, so please disregard those. I can retweet with one touch, so I’m doing lots of those. I still type terrible slow on the iTouch, so if my replies seem terse, please forgive me.
A few people have asked about Cakes. She’s doing well, but I’m feeling terribly guilty about not spending much time with her. I’ll write more about her soon. I’ll post a pic of the two of them once I get a good one. Every one I’ve taken so far has someone with their eyes closed!
That’s all for now. I still need to nap, shower, eat and answer email before the little man wakes.
posted by metro mama @ 2:18 PM
7 Comments:
Scooter never drank more than a couple ounces from a bottle. We figured out one of the problems just as he learned to drink from some sport spouts and straws (which was just generally easier). Anyway, we had Avent bottles and were using the slowest flow nipple since that's what was suggested for breastfed babies. It would take forever for him to get 2 ounces. We eventually tried medium- and fast-flow nipples--turns out I was a fast-flow mama. He still didn't like the bottle that much, but could suck back a few ounces in about the same time he'd nurse.
We're already brainstorming about the next time. We'll try more than the two types of bottles we did with Scooter and be willing to move up in nipple flow much more quickly. (Of course, this baby will probably be his opposite and willing to take any-old bottle without complaint.)
i didn't want to use a bottle with my first (silly me) so she never took a bottle until she was six months i think. my youngest was introduced to a bottle almost straight away and refused it until she was maybe four months old if memory serves me correct...but i didn't pump with her i just used formula (the kind premixed and ready to go, it was so much easier than having to worry about prepping the formula just so i could pop out once in a while!).
sherwood seems to be nursing like my girls both did. our doctor refered to it as 'cluster feeding'. it was great, both girls were excellent sleepers through the night. it was a bit of a drag after dinner until bedtime for me (having to nurse so much) but well worth a good nights sleep!
sounds like you are doing an excellent job. i hope you get out for your drink on a patio at least once this summer.
Since Peanut started on a bottle and then went to breast, I'm not the best source of info on this, but I can tell you that we used both Avent and Gerber bottles. Those are the ones that she was happiest with. I also understand that sometimes the bottle feeding goes better if you aren't around at all... If they can't smell the source, so to speak.
Holding a book and BFing at the same time is fantastic news! It really does make the time go so much faster (we never really got that good at it). Also, so lucky with the iTouch. I really wish that had been around when Peanut was a baby. A sanity saver!
Can't wait to see you, and meet little Sherwood!
You sound v. happy! Great that the breastfeeding is going well. I remember those cluster feeds - you just hafta sit tight and ride it out.
Can't wait to meet Sherwood...
I'm glad things are going better for you. I was thinking about you today and wondering.
Anyways, my son never really took the bottle, so I got nothing...
I totally learnt to post and email one-handed with G.
The guilt about the older kid is absolutely wretched, but everyone goes through. You feel like you are ignoring them, but try to look at more in the light of the fact that it's imperative that you bond with Sherwood. Remember that Cakes had you all to herself for years, and Sherwood will never have that. That got me through the guilt.
IT GETS BETTER. And then, IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER that you can't stand it. And then it gets even better.
Hang in there! Can't wait to meet S next weekend.
I was never successful in getting my breast-fed babies to take a bottle. Looking forward to your reviews. Love the name Sherwood!
Post a Comment
<< Home