Update... Our 2 Week Appointment

I figured I should post an update here since I'm not doing very well at keeping friends/family updated lately. I’m spending most of my day sleeping and the rest of it I have my hands full with Miss McKenna. I managed to return one call (my Dad) the day before yesterday and it was cut short when she started crying because she was hungry. I’m lucky if I check email once every 2 days lately. It's quite a departure from my usual online presence. I suppose I could do more if I put her down every single time she slept, but to be honest I don’t always want to put her down. I try to split it down the middle so that she doesn’t get too accustomed to being held, but I can’t help but think about the fact that I’ll never have this time with her again and I’m going to take advantage of our time together. Not to mention, before too long I won’t have the chance to hold her during the day when I have to go back to work. I dread that day. :(

The Pedi appointment went well. The Dr said everything looked good. They did another heel prick :( to do more screening tests (evidently they repeat the ones they did in the hospital) and she got her first vaccination. That’s probably the worst part of her appointments, hearing her scream like that... It rips my heart out. She gained 6 oz since our last appointment, which he said was good. So as of Tuesday, she’s up to 8 lbs 14 oz. I think it’s on the low end of the ideal weight gain, but he said it was fine. I read that ideally babies are back to their birth weight by 2 weeks old, so she’s a bit shy of that goal. I asked about supplementing with formula and he said I could try to switch over to exclusively breast feeding and bring her in every 3 days to check her weight and make sure she’s getting the nutrition she needs. Easier said than done. I’m trying to pump after her feedings and taking supplements to increase my supply, but she’s still hungry in the meantime, so I’m still giving her 2 to 3 bottles (2 to 3 oz) a day. I’m sticking with the breast feeding and will see how my supply is, but I may continue with the formula if she still seems unsatisfied with just breast milk. I’m still having a hard time keeping her awake while breast feeding. I’ve tried everything, even a cold wash cloth most recently (thanks Allison!), and she still falls asleep much more quickly than when she’s bottle fed. I’m hoping the pain starts to subside soon. It certainly doesn’t make things an easier. While it would be great for her to be exclusively breast fed, I’m not going to kill myself to make it happen. It’s been so much more challenging than I expected. As long as she's getting some breast milk, I'm going to be happy with that.

She had two decent nights recently and then last night was awful, she was up every hour. At least every night isn’t like that. Aside from fatigue, I’m feeling ok. Physically I feel pretty good (healing well), emotionally I’m feeling better, but still not 100%. I didn’t make it outside today, after our rough night, but am trying to make an effort to get out and walk more often. The fresh air definitely helps a lot and I need to get out there more often.

Well, it’s 8pm and we still haven’t had dinner so I’m going to get going. Hopefully I’ll get better on keeping everyone updated soon. I know many of you are waiting on calls from me to fill you in on everything. Right now I can barely manage to get a shower each day let alone return phone calls. lol I’m waiting for the day when “it gets easier” like everyone keeps telling me. In the meantime I'm just enjoying every minute with our little girl and reminding myself that she won't be this precious tiny little thing forever, so enjoy every moment... even the most challenging ones.

Some pics from the other day....