Home for 1 week

We have been home for 1 week as of last night. We left the hospital last Friday around 5:00 pm and came home happy but exhausted. It has been a week of ups and downs, ins and outs.

Sophia had a lot of trouble with nursing. She would scream violently and arch her back when I got her into position. When we came back up to a vertical position, she was perfectly fine. This would go on for about 30 - 45 minutes before she would finally exhaust herself enough to nurse. I knew this wasn't a good thing when she refused to eat for many hours. In the mean time, I was so tired and scared and anxious about everything. I think that first night I got up several times just to see if she was still breathing. It's such a great responsibility and I was definitely overwhelmed. People could tell me I have to relax and calm down, but I could not! I cried at the drop of a hat for everything! Mostly it revolved around the nursing episodes. I knew she was hungry, but I didn't know how to get her what she needed. We ended up with a few supplemental feeds of both pumped milk and formula. I hated doing it. I always wanted to nurse and never imagined having this much trouble with it.

At this point, I must interject that I love my small hospital and the wonderful people who work there. We have 2 lactation consultants that both gave me their home and cell phone numbers and encouraged me to call them for anything at anytime day or night. When we went back Monday for the second n-billi test (she was a little jaundiced), we went over to labor & delivery and told the consultant what was going on. She got us into a room and worked with us off and on for about 2 hours! It took a while, but Sophia finally latched on. We did this again in the afternoon and the next day...twice! They were so wonderful and encouraging. I would have given up if it had not been for those two ladies! She had lost nearly 1 1/2 lbs by the time I went to get my staples out, which was almost 10% of her birth weight. We were able to weigh her before and after the feeds and she was taking milk, once we got her latched on. I was encouraged to keep trying and keep pumping to ensure my milk supply would be there. By the 3rd day of consulting, one consultant suggested giving her some pumped milk before trying to nurse. Just a little to whet her appetite. This actually worked like a charm! We did that for 2-3 feedings. After that, she began latching on without the "preview". What a miracle! Since then, it is heaven compared to that first week!

But we still had another problem. ****WARNING**** Bodily functions about to be discussed*******
She had not had a bowel movement in 6 days. And her skin turgor indicated she might be dehydrated. Luckily, when I went to see my doc to get the staples out, he checked her over too. It also helped that the lactation nurses had consulted with him the day before so he had a head's up. We were instructed to try to get 4 oz of water in her to help with the dehydration and get some movements going. She does not like the water! Especially now that she's doing so well nursing! But, we were able to get some in her and it worked like a charm! I've never been so happy about a bowel movement!

As I mentioned earlier, she was a little jaundiced after birth. Most likely, this was due to our blood types being different, but can also be caused by the induction. Her levels were never critical and she didn't have to go under the billilamps. But, she did have a nice yellow tan for a few days. I think it's better today. We've been keeping her near the window and taking her for car rides. Today, we even walked around the block.

We're working on getting some good pictures for the birth announcements. I had this plan to have them already done and in the mail, but....well, I just had a baby and all... :)

Mom has been an absolute blessing this week! I do not know how I would have made it without her. John's been studying pretty hard for some things, and mom helped pick up the difference. Although, no one changes a diaper more willingly than my sweet hubby! And he's so protective of her!

I am so blessed to be a mom this mother's day! I wish all you moms out there and wonderful day! Thanks for keeping up with us!