The Happenings

Breastfeeding
*It's still frustrating, but not in the way I was expecting.  We pretty much "have it down".  I just hate that I have no idea how much she's getting.  She seems to be hungry sooner than I think she should be (as in anywhere from a half hour after she just ate, to an hour and a half after...instead of the two to three hours 'they' say).  This makes me feel like she's not getting enough/I'm not producing enough.  And yes, she IS hungry and not just crying.

*Sometimes she'll eat for five minutes and act like she's done.  She's not.  Other times she'll feed for literally a half hour.  The unpredictability of it all is just not me.  This worries me for the future when I actually have to go to work and be on somewhat of a schedule.  I'm hoping it's just because she's a newborn and is still figuring it all out.

*She goes from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds.  She'll be fine and then all of the sudden she is MAD and screaming for food.  I have no idea where she got her impatience from. ;)

*I am probably not eating or drinking enough.  I need to do better about that since it could affect my milk supply.  I eat when I'm hungry, but I am definitely not eating the 500 extra calories that they say you need.  I'm barely eating my normal amount of food.  I went from drinking 120 PLUS ounces of water a day while pregnant to hardly making my 64 ounces now.  Everything they said about breastfeeding has not been true for me so far---I'm not starving, I'm not thirsty, I don't feel my "let down", I don't leak (and have a box of breast pads not even open!).  Oh well.

*I am still giving her a bottle of formula at night.  Mostly because I want to make sure she's getting enough.  Also, to help her go to sleep on a full belly.  I may stop this at some point.  I just don't feel comfortable yet that she is getting what she needs.  She will drink 4 ounces. That's more than I've ever been able to pump.

*I need to pump more.  I just don't have time.  She's hungry so quick between feeds that if I did pump there would be nothing left for her to eat.

Fluids and such
*She is having the correct number of wet and dirty diapers, so that does make me feel a little better.

*She does have some stomach issues though, which makes her fussy.  I have to work her legs to help her out sometimes.

*She pukes.  A lot.  I'm not talking baby spit up.  She pukes and it's projectile puking at that.  It's also an excessive amount.  This is also probably why she's hungry so much.  I don't recommend you look this up on the internet.  They'll tell you your child is dying.  OK, not really, but they scare the crap out of you.  I called the doctor and they said try to keep her upright for a half hour after every feed.  If it doesn't get better over the weekend, then we'll have to take her in on Monday.  It seems to have gotten a little better.  I'm also going to try to cut out dairy as much as I can.  Cutting it out all together is nearly impossible for me.  I'm hoping that's not the issue.

*Because of that, we had to buy sensitive formula.

Sleep
*We are on no sort of schedule.  From what I understand, it's basically baby led until 6 to 8 weeks.  Since I've been off work this whole time, there hasn't been much need for a schedule.  She still only sleeps on 2 to 3 hour intervals.  A few times she's slept 4.  She basically slept all day long the first two weeks of her life, so it's just this week that we have been dealing with awake time.

*She hates her bassinet.  Hates it.  She will be dead asleep and I will lay her in it.  Immediately she starts crying.  I even tried putting a blanket under the mattress to try to make it a little softer.  Nope.  Didn't work.

*She loves our ottoman.  It's a big one that goes with an over-sized chair.  She will sleep on it for hours.  She will lay on it while awake and look all around.  We lay her on it and play with her.  We even put her play mat on it one day.  Michael was tempted to put it in our room at night. :)

*I decided it may be time to try out the pack and play.  Michael put it together and we are going to see if she'll sleep in that better than the bassinet.  I think she just likes to be held.

*Her favorite position is to be vertical on your chest.  I think she'd sleep better if it was safe to let her sleep on her belly.  I'm guessing that when she starts to roll over, she'll end up on her belly in the middle of the night.

Other
*Bath time is suppose to calm and soothe a baby and make them sleepy.  Our doctor even told us to do this at night time to try to tell her that it's almost bed time (pretty common).  That's all well and good, but bath time does not make her sleepy.  Every single time we have given her a bath, she is WIDE awake after.  We'll still do night time baths--it's what is going to work with our schedule.

*Her hair is lightening up.  It's not turning blond by any means.  It's just not the super dark color it was when she was born.  It's a real pretty brown right now.  It's closer to Michael's color.  It's not quite as thick as it was either.  It gets super fuzzy after her bath.  I love it.

*I am happy to announce that she has worn all of her newborn clothes!  Most of them she has worn 2 and 3 times.  We have about 20 outfits.  Some we bought, some were gifts, and some were given to us.  When I heard how big she was going to be, I was worried that I had this whole section of clothes she'd never use.  I feel pretty good that they weren't a waste.  Yes, she's been alive 24 days and she's worn 20 outfits 2 and 3 times.  Mostly it's because of puke.  There has only been one blow out.  I finally got smart and bought a pack of bibs.  (You know--those things everyone said not to register for because you'd get a ton and I got none! :)

*She's still wearing newborn clothes, but some are getting small.  Then again, some are still pretty big on her.  It depends on the brand.  I know most babies grow out of newborn within a few weeks.  I think since she lost almost a pound in her first week, she's taking a little longer to bulk back up.