Monday, June 27, 2016

Nursing My Clare Bear

It *almost* feels normal enough now that it's only once or twice a week that I sit back and think wow, I'm nursing this baby with no supplement. My body is making enough milk! It's so crazy how different this experience is. Between Clare nursing a ton from the very beginning, getting the tie more effectively dealt with right away, my knowing more, and taking Domperidone, Clare is getting enough from me without my needing to pump, supplement, or seek out and drive to the ends of the earth to pick up donor milk. It is AMAZING. Honestly, I don't know that I could have kept up with all of that with 2 kids anyway, so thank God that my experience has been different. I mean, I know Clare would have been fine however she was fed, but this has been such a huge boost in my morale and makes life so much easier!!! Things that are new for me: not having to take a pump with me if I will be gone longer than 2 hours, not having to pump in the car, not having to pack bottles, not being asked a million times "what kind of bottle is that??" because of the weird bottle we used to make Felicity work harder, being able to feed my baby wherever without anything but myself! It is so crazy convenient to breastfeed and I never realized how much crap I had to prepare, take with me, and clean until I didn't have to do it this time around! The only thing I miss about bottles is that it was easier to feed while doing other things (wearing, walking, would be easier dealing with Felicity) because nursing is still a 2 hand event for me. But everything else is just so much easier. I love that Felicity is getting to see me nurse in a more normal way. She brings me the boppy which she's dubbed my "nursie pillow". When Clare cries, she often says "I think she's hungry! She needs nursies!". I just love it.

I tried to wean myself off domperidone a while back and went about a week before suspecting it was affecting my supply, so I'm back on. I figure I will re-evaluate at 6 months, then at a year. I hope to nurse longer than that but also hope to be able to stop the medication since Clare will be on solids, too. The medicine is not a big deal, but also medicine carries risks, however small, so I don't want to be on it longer than I need to be. A lot of people struggle with weight gain while on it but, with the help of My Fitness Pal, I'm down 11 lbs! Woohoo! Still 8 to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight and I don't want to nor need to stop there, but hey, progress! :) I'm pumping once in the evening, most nights, which is probably silly since Clare has no interest in bottles. But I don't think I want to do to cow's milk with her (a whole other post!), so I figure I can use this eventually in sippies.

Anyway, it's amazing how different and... normal?... nursing Clare has been. Such a sweet experience!

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Clare Sophia: 3 Months

Isn't this the point where a baby goes from newborn to infant? I can't say I have a newborn anymore, can I? Excuse me while I sob like a.... well, baby. *Sniff, sniff* While older babies and toddlers are my preference, it still makes me sad when my tiny babies grow up! 

Weight: My guess would be 13 lbs.
*edit* We went for her dtap shot on the 23rd and she was 13 lbs 7 oz and 24 inches :).

Height: At her 2 month appointment, she was 22 (and a half?) inches. So I don't know... maybe 23? I should really quit including weight and height since I never know the actual measurements!

Medical issues: NONE :). Healthy baby!

Sleep: Well you still never know exactly how Clare is going to want to go down, but she's easier in that we have about 3 things up our sleeve that usually work... nursing, walking, or car seat in the car or stroller. At night she almost always prefers nursing to sleep and then we move her to the rock n play (otherwise she wakes up a lot). In the past week, she's been going to bed early and waking up early. And by early I mean as early as 4:45am. NO, SWEET BABY! So I've been trying to make her stay up "later" again... all the way until 6 or 6:30 which sounds easy until you have a newborn, I mean infant, screaming her head off because all she wants to do is sleep and it's only 5pm! She's also super fussy in between naps which I'm assuming is developmental. But hey, we've had 11 easy week so I guess we were bound to have a week or two where she's difficult, right? Let's hope next week she's back to her chill self :). 

Clothes/diaper size: Clare is in 3-6 months clothes, although some are pretty big on her, and solidly in size 2 diapers. It's funny to me when people comment on how big she is. To me, she IS big, because she's wearing clothes that Felicity was wearing at 6 months. But she's still just 50th percentile, so very average, and I find it funny that people comment on her size. 

Likes: nursing, being sat up, smiling, seeing her sister and her mommy, classical music (I kind of love this!), being outside... these have all stayed the same from last month. New ones are being tickled under the neck or on her ribs, warm baths, and occasionally her little rocker seat.

Dislikes: being laid back, being put down for more than about 10 minutes, cold water

Nicknames: Clare Bear, of course, and sometimes Steven and I refer to her as "other one" because Felicity use to say "other one" for anything that had a pair, like leg and other one leg or shoe and other one shoe. So Clare is our other one daughter :).

Milestones: She's done a lot just in the last week. Clare did her first unprovoked (ie not because of being tickled) belly laughs while watching the neighbor kids swing a few days ago. She laughed for a solid 3-5 minutes and I was laughing so hard at her that I had tears. It was the cutest!!! She also is grabbing toys on her activity mat, often with both hands. Clare is very much like her sister was in that she's already trying to sit up! Any time I put her in one of her seats or lay her back on the boppy she starts straining to sit up and gets very mad. Work those abs, baby.

I don't want to forget this: Well definitely the laughing thing I wrote about above. Her laugh is SO joyful and she doesn't laugh much yet so it was music to my ears. I also love how quickly I can make anything better for Clare. She could be crying out of boredom, hunger, pain, etc and she stops seconds after I scoop her up. I love the feeling of that connection and how easy it is to make it better just by loving her! I have the most fun seeing her in clothes Felicity wore and some of my favorite outfits are in the rotation now, like this simple yellow and white duckie dress I got for a dollar. Something about a sweet little baby in a white, summer dress just melts me! Felicity is still in love with her and now likes to say "I love my baby sister. My baby sister loves me!". Both very true :). She introduces Clare to everyone, including her grandparents and friends who see us often lol. Ok... I guess those were more about Felicity, but I don't want to forget how much Clare is loved! She fits so well in this family. Our adjustment to her, though she's been fussier recently, has been so easy.