Today was the last day of my first week back at work. Luckily, it was a four day week because of the Columbus Day holiday so it was a nice, short week. Tuesday was really hard. I got up, got myself and Tommy ready, and brought Tommy to daycare. I'm so glad that we decided on this center. I really trust them and know that Tommy will be in good hands while he's there which makes leaving him a lot easier. My cousin's two kids go there and I was very fortunate that his wife was dropping their kids off at the same time as I was on Tuesday. She waited for me and walked me out. I was crying of course and she gave me a hug and told me that he would be great and that it would get easier. She was right.
Wednesday, Bill dropped Tommy off and it was a lot easier leaving Tommy with Bill than at daycare but I was still leaving him for the day. Thursday and today were each easier than the previous time I left him. I only teared up for a quick minute today, no actual crying!
Tommy only ate 2 oz at a time on Tuesday so only 6 oz total for the whole day. He cluster fed like crazy that night but I didn't mind. By today, he was eating 3, 4oz bottles. I'm glad that he is taking to them. He has only been cat napping for the most part but today he did take one, hour and a half long nap! I think they'll get him on an eating and napping schedule before we know it!
For now though, they are feeding on demand.
That brings me to pumping. I have a small freezer stash but can't use any of it since it all was pumped before I found out that Tommy is sensitive to dairy, which I'll add another post about later. We can't use any of that milk. Pumping at school has been interesting. Technically, my employer is required to provide a place to pump and a time other than my lunch or planning period but that really isn't practical. If I pump outside of those two times, I have to leave my class with someone which means writing sub plans everyday. It just won't really work. So I've been feeding Tommy around 5:30 then putting him back to bed while I get ready for work. I pump at 10:00 during my planning period and at 12:00 during my lunch. I pick up Tommy by 4:00 and feed him when we get home if he's hungry, if not, I pump then too.
This has worked alright so far but I don't pump enough. My first pumping session usually gives me a good amount, about 7oz. However, I get 5oz from the right side and only 2 on the left. During my lunch I've been getting about 3-4oz, 2-3 on my right and only 1 on the left. I've only had to pump once when I get home and I got 3oz on the right and 1oz on the left. My left boob is a dud. I bought some fenugreek and planned on starting to take it this weekend in hopes of boosting my supply but now I'm not sure if I should or not. I get a good amount on the right side, I just want to boost my supply on the left. I leave the pump going on the left the whole time I'm getting milk from the right. It takes about 10 minutes to get the right completely "emptied" and only about 3 on the left. I think I'm going to try to call the lactation consultants on Monday and see what they suggest. I have noticed that Tommy definitely eats on the right side much longer than the left irregardless of which side I start him on. I've tried offering him the left side again after be pulls off and he just gets frustrated.
Tommy has also started to get a hang of our bedtime routine! He even moved his bedtime up for me! He was going to bed around 10:00 but decided on Monday night that he was tired around 8:00 so I started our routine then and he was asleep by 8:00 and slept until I woke him up at 7:00am just waking up long enough to eat twice! He kept his early bedtime all week and went to bed about an hour ago tonight!
Overall, my first week back went pretty well. Things are a bit crazy at school and I have to put in some hard work to get my class the way I would like them but it will be fine. My sub did a great job, there are just some things that I do differently! I'm glad to be back at work and even though I miss Tommy terribly, I think it's good for both of us!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Back to work
I go back to work tomorrow. I'm really excited to get back to school and my students but I'm really nervous. I'm not really very nervous about leaving Tommy at daycare, I really like and trust the center but I have this irrational fear that Tommy will forget that I'm his mom or something. It's a weird thought because I know I'm being ridiculous but I feel like I'm handing the responsibility of raising my child off to someone else. I will be okay and so will Tommy.
Ok, I can do this.
Ok, I can do this.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Feeding...again
So there have been two major issues that we've been dealing with so far: sleeping and eating. We have started to get the sleeping issue under control but the feeding issue has gotten worse. I wrote about it here, here, and here. I mentioned what was going on to the pediatrician at our appointment on Monday and she said that the reaction Tommy's skin had to the formula would make her think it was a milk protein allergy but since he didn't seem to have any problems with my breastmilk and the soy formula was going fine, then to keep doing what we were doing.
Of course that meant that on Tuesday he started rejecting the soy formula. Yesterday he started rejecting the breast. Well, rejecting is the wrong word. He would suck then pull of and cry, suck and pull off and cry, until he finally gave up. I called the doctor and they got us in this morning. They think Tommy is allergic to dairy. I should also mention that Tommy cries all the time. Like he's either sleeping, eating, or fussing. He rarely will entertain himself and even if we're holding him, he's usually fussing. I really thought this was just normal, that we just had a fussy baby but the allergy could be the cause of this.
The pediatrician said to eliminate all dairy from my diet for at least 3 weeks and when formula is needed, we should give him Nutramigen which is a hypoallergenic formula. They said it tastes terrible and we should mix it with breastmilk until he got used to the taste.
I am more than willing to cut dairy out of my diet but I'm nervous that it's going to be really hard. There is milk in a lot of things. I started looking at labels of things we have around the house and you wouldn't believe the weird things that have milk in it, like chewable vitamin C. I did find this website, The Fussy Baby Site and there is a page devoted to non-dairy diets and resources.
So here I am, cutting out dairy. I really hope it works. Poor Tommy has terrible gas and is so uncomfortable all the time. The doctor said I should have a new baby within 3 weeks. I hope she's right.
Of course that meant that on Tuesday he started rejecting the soy formula. Yesterday he started rejecting the breast. Well, rejecting is the wrong word. He would suck then pull of and cry, suck and pull off and cry, until he finally gave up. I called the doctor and they got us in this morning. They think Tommy is allergic to dairy. I should also mention that Tommy cries all the time. Like he's either sleeping, eating, or fussing. He rarely will entertain himself and even if we're holding him, he's usually fussing. I really thought this was just normal, that we just had a fussy baby but the allergy could be the cause of this.
The pediatrician said to eliminate all dairy from my diet for at least 3 weeks and when formula is needed, we should give him Nutramigen which is a hypoallergenic formula. They said it tastes terrible and we should mix it with breastmilk until he got used to the taste.
I am more than willing to cut dairy out of my diet but I'm nervous that it's going to be really hard. There is milk in a lot of things. I started looking at labels of things we have around the house and you wouldn't believe the weird things that have milk in it, like chewable vitamin C. I did find this website, The Fussy Baby Site and there is a page devoted to non-dairy diets and resources.
So here I am, cutting out dairy. I really hope it works. Poor Tommy has terrible gas and is so uncomfortable all the time. The doctor said I should have a new baby within 3 weeks. I hope she's right.
Two Months!
Tommy is 2 months old today!!!
Tommy is 11lbs 14ozs and 23 inches long. He is getting much better at napping and sleeping at night by himself. He's definitely not sleeping through the night but he does sleep all night long. He goes to sleep around 10 and sleeps until about 8am just waking up to eat every 3 hours or so. He was sleeping longer stretches but has been waking up more since he's been in his PNP. It's okay though, I think he'll start lengthening the stretches soon. I'm not sure what will happen when I go back to work next week but I'm hoping he'll adjust easily! Happy 2 months Tommy, we love you!
Tommy is 11lbs 14ozs and 23 inches long. He is getting much better at napping and sleeping at night by himself. He's definitely not sleeping through the night but he does sleep all night long. He goes to sleep around 10 and sleeps until about 8am just waking up to eat every 3 hours or so. He was sleeping longer stretches but has been waking up more since he's been in his PNP. It's okay though, I think he'll start lengthening the stretches soon. I'm not sure what will happen when I go back to work next week but I'm hoping he'll adjust easily! Happy 2 months Tommy, we love you!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Hopfully I Don't Jinx Myself
Monday morning, Tommy fell asleep for a nap and I put him down in his Pack N Play. He slept for 2.5 hours. That afternoon, he slept for another 2.5 ours in it after his shots. That night, he slept for 3 hours in it. Yesterday he took one 45 minute nap and slept from 10pm-4am (waking up every 2 hours) in it. Today, he took a 3 hour nap in there and he even went down drowsy but awake!
I'm not going to get excited or anything but could we have made progress????
I'm not going to get excited or anything but could we have made progress????
Monday, October 3, 2011
8 Week Appointment
Today was Tommy's 8 week doctor's appointment. He is weighing in at 11lbs 9oz and 23in long. His head circumference is 39.5cm. This puts him in the 50th percentile in all three areas, perfectly average! He was given 3 shots (Hep B, Pneumococcal, and Pentacel) and a drinkable (Roto Virus) immunization and I cried longer than he did. He cried so hard and kept looking at me like, "why are you letting this happen." I had heard how hard shots are on parents but had no idea until it was my baby.
I went into the appointment with a whole list of questions and things to discuss with the pediatrician and here's a quick run down. He has an umbilical hernia but that's nothing to be concerned about until he is 3 years old, it should fix itself by then. The number of times a day he gets the hiccups is normal (3 on average!). She is confused by the whole formula thing, she said that if he was exclusively formula fed, she would think that the reaction he had to the Gentlease was a milk protein allergy but the fact that he doesn't react adversely to the breastmilk means he probably doesn't. She said to keep him on the soy formula if it seems to be working. His fussiness is probably gas but there isn't much that can be done, he's just a gassy, fussy baby.
Then I brought up his sleeping issues. She told me I need to get him to sleep on his own. She told me that as long as he's fed, changed, and comfortable when held, to put him down and let him cry. She told me to let him cry as long as I am comfortable with, that in her medical opinion, there is nothing wrong with letting him cry. I'm not sure what to do. I don't believe in letting a baby cry it out this young but I really don't want him sleeping in our bed either.
Completely randomly though, he is currently taking his second nap of the day in his Pack N Play. I put him down in it this morning for his nap and he slept for an hour and a half in there and I just put him down in there again. I put him down on his side both times since he hates being on his back and both times he wiggled himself to his belly. So he's sleeping soundly in his Pack N Play, but on his belly. I'm fine with it for naps since I can sit right next to him and keep an eye on him but I don't know about letting him do it at night.
This whole being a mother thing is really hard.
I went into the appointment with a whole list of questions and things to discuss with the pediatrician and here's a quick run down. He has an umbilical hernia but that's nothing to be concerned about until he is 3 years old, it should fix itself by then. The number of times a day he gets the hiccups is normal (3 on average!). She is confused by the whole formula thing, she said that if he was exclusively formula fed, she would think that the reaction he had to the Gentlease was a milk protein allergy but the fact that he doesn't react adversely to the breastmilk means he probably doesn't. She said to keep him on the soy formula if it seems to be working. His fussiness is probably gas but there isn't much that can be done, he's just a gassy, fussy baby.
Then I brought up his sleeping issues. She told me I need to get him to sleep on his own. She told me that as long as he's fed, changed, and comfortable when held, to put him down and let him cry. She told me to let him cry as long as I am comfortable with, that in her medical opinion, there is nothing wrong with letting him cry. I'm not sure what to do. I don't believe in letting a baby cry it out this young but I really don't want him sleeping in our bed either.
Completely randomly though, he is currently taking his second nap of the day in his Pack N Play. I put him down in it this morning for his nap and he slept for an hour and a half in there and I just put him down in there again. I put him down on his side both times since he hates being on his back and both times he wiggled himself to his belly. So he's sleeping soundly in his Pack N Play, but on his belly. I'm fine with it for naps since I can sit right next to him and keep an eye on him but I don't know about letting him do it at night.
This whole being a mother thing is really hard.