Thursday, May 7, 2009

Bath time, sleep time!

In the middle of the night, Paige peed all over herself while changing her diaper.  I stripped her down, wiped her down with a baby wipe, and swaddled her up with just her diaper on.  At 3 AM, I really don't care if my kid is dressed cute!! But she did look so cute when we woke up in the morning : )
Little power nap before her first bath!
Paige's belly stump fell off a few days ago, so we were able to give her a bath in the sink! She really liked it...

...until we took her out.  Please excuse the scariness of my appearance.  Two nights ago was awful.  It took a few hours to get Paige down for the night.  After her bottle at 10, she just didn't want to go to sleep.  I finally put her on my chest in bed, and got about an hour and forty-five minutes of sleep.  She woke up again at 2 to eat, and I put her on the breast.  She ate for a while, and we tried to put her back down.  At 5 AM, she finally went to sleep.  Then woke up again at 6:30 to eat again.  So add that up - I slept a total of 3 hours, and not at the same time.  Many tears were shed.

I started thinking:  I wonder how much milk Paige is actually getting from the breast?  It seems like she struggles and gets frustrated nursing.  So yesterday, I did an experiment.  I pumped every 3-4 hours and gave her bottles.  She ate like a champ each time (between 3 and 4 ounces), had plenty of dirty and wet diapers, and was just a happier baby than she had been the last week.  Then last night, she went down right away after her 10 PM bottle, and slept until 2.  David gave her a bottle while I pumped, and she went right back down until 6:30.  We got at least 6 hours of sleep last night, and I feel like a new person.  I feel like I have a new baby.  I am not thinking of this as giving up - because Paige is still exclusively getting breast milk...it is just coming from a bottle.  And if it makes for a happier baby and a happier mommy, well then that is just what we are going to do.  Pumping is easy and takes 15 minutes at the most, and I don't mind doing it every 4 hours.  It is important to me that she gets breast milk. Wow, that was long.  But my point is - every baby is different, and every mom has to find her own way.  

4 comments:

Jamie Dearle said...

Megan I know I keep saying this, but Paige is so freaking cute! Good for you and David for coming up with a system that works for you guys! See you guys soon!

PS- Bought Paige a little something yesterday!

Stacy said...

So damn cute!! What pump are you using? We are registering this weekend and I am SO undecided!
Thanks!

Megan and David said...

Madela!! Get the madela! It is great and was recommended to me by the LC and the nurses at the hospital.

Christi said...

love the new pics, paige is such a cutie!

thanks for your comments on my pics, I am totally pumped! I was already so anxious for her to get here, that US did NOT help, now I am going stir crazy... I want to squeeze her so bad!