Nursing issues
No such thing as nipple confusion?
Originally uploaded by kicksie.
So we are still working out our nursing issues, but I think he's figuring it out. What do you think?
July 04, 2008
June 29, 2008
Busy weekend
His eyes are, uh, newborn color
Originally uploaded by kicksie.
It's been a little crazy around here the past few days, so I still haven't finished the labor story or been able to add many new photos or anything, but things are going pretty well.
On Friday, Mike and Peggy (Judah's dad and stepmom) got into town for Isaac's bris, which was Friday evening. Mike did the ceremony and the procedure (the latter of which I declined to watch). Fun fact: The first bris he ever did was Judah's. We invited the Waldmans and Orloffs over for the proceedings, and it was a very nice evening. Isaac was such a good little trooper and adored by all.
We've been having some nursing issues, but we're trying to work it out. He lost a fair amount of weight the first couple of days, so we've been supplementing with formula, and I've been trying to increase my supply by pumping. I'm not sure it's working, though. At least we finally seem to have figured out a position that works for both of us -- he has been latching on like a champ and feeding from both sides for a total of like 45 minutes each session all day. But he is still ravenous, so I'm not convinced he is getting much, if anything, from me. I never see milk in his mouth. Plus, the most I have ever gotten from a pumping session is 20 ml (that was today, and the session after that I only got like 7 ml). Sometimes I get this "filling" sensation in my armpits, like someone has turned on a valve, but I haven't felt like my breasts are really full of milk or getting emptied when he is nursing. But it's also kind of hard to tell since they are so heavy to start with (thanks, fibrocystic tissue!). I bought some tea that is supposed to help with supply, so we'll see how that goes.
Mike and Peggy left this morning with plans to return in the fall. My mom was supposed to come tomorrow, but she was hospitalized this week and probably won't be able to make it until some time later. (She will be OK.)
Overall, things are good. Pictured is the pacifier, which we are no longer giving to Isaac. The nurse at our first appointment suggested we use it and said he wouldn't get nipple confusion from it. The nurse at our last appointment said we shouldn't use it because he could get nipple confusion from it. He wasn't really into it anyway, so we decided not to risk it for the time being. He doesn't seem to mind.
I love this kid, you guys. He is just awesome.
June 26, 2008
Great
Because now is the perfect time to be having to make such decisions.
June 25, 2008
A laugh for the day
We're on a steep learning curve over here, but not quite that bad. :)
Isaac is doing great, though he and I will both be doing better once we get the hang of this feeding thing. But we're headed in the right direction.
June 24, 2008
My guys
Me and Isaac
Originally uploaded by jkelber.
Aren't they cute? I wish the lighting had been better because this was one of the highlights of well, of ever. After I took the picture, I went and sat on the floor by them and watched them sleep.
One of these days I will get the labor story posted, but for now, we are taking it day by day. (Or feeding by feeding.)
June 21, 2008
Mom, Dad, and baby Isaac
Mom, Dad, and baby Isaac
Originally uploaded by kicksie.
He's here!
Things went fast, then slow and ended (or began?) with three hours of pushing. Still at the hospital, but he's awesome!
Stats: Isaac William, born 12:32 p.m. on June 20, 8 pounds, 10.1 ounces, 20 3/4 inches long.
More to come, of course!
June 19, 2008
Here we go ...
My water broke around 9:30 this evening, now (10:15), we're just waiting for active-labor contractions to start. Once they get to 5 minutes apart for an hour at an intensity I can't talk through, we go to the hospital. If that hasn't happened by 7 a.m., we call the midwife again and either go to the office or the hospital to get evaluated, depending on how things are going.
Holy wow -- this is a-happening!
Update: This is so weird, like a switch has been flipped. I've been so ready for this to start, and now it has, and wow, what freaky things it does to the brain. That was a lot less comprehensible typed out than it was in my head. But I'm in labor, so cut me some slack.
Sleep is overrated, right?
A few weeks ago, I read this story about a former blogger for Gawker. She had had a personal blog about her life and relationship and ended up working at Gawker and exposing a lot of her personal life there -- and getting involved with a coworker and some other messiness.
Anyway, at the beginning of this enormous, self-indulgent NYT Magazine story, she says:
One of the strangest and most enthralling aspects of personal blogs is just how intensely personal they can be. I’m talking “specific details about someone’s S.T.D.’s” personal, “my infertility treatments” personal. There are nongynecological overshares, too: “My dog has cancer” overshares, “my abusive relationship” overshares.
One, I think you can blog about whatever the hell you want (provided it doesn't make you lose your job, which is why my blog is pretty focused on personal issues and not anything that strays into work territory). But it annoys the crap out of me that she singles out infertility treatments as an overshare she wouldn't ever commit -- she blogged about problems with her boyfriend even though he asked her not to! And that was what seemingly got her the gig at Gawker. Come on!
And, as I mentioned a few days ago, I found so much comfort in other people's blogs about their experiences with infertility that I don't know how I would have gotten through some of the days without them.
In sum: Shut up, Emily Gould.
I should sleep now.
June 18, 2008
Cervix says ...
... nothing. No exam at the appointment today. I'm scheduled for a non-stress test on Saturday, after which point we'll schedule an induction date. We did get to hear his heart rate again, and the kid is pretty dang content right now. So that is good.
I, on the other hand, am going a tiny bit bananas.
The house is clean, the bag is packed, I've watched nearly four seasons of The Office and gotten a lot better at Mario Kart and I'm reading a 1,300-page book. I might actually get yet another pedicure since I don't really like this color that much, and I messed up the big toe before I left the salon last week. Saw The Incredible Hulk, not really excited about anything else in the theater right now.
So ... biding time.
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