2 wk Appointment

We went for our 2 wk appointment this morning - at 8am! Ugh! Normally I am up with Aidyn around 6am eating, but then it's back to bed. Not this morning. He woke up around 5ish crying. He's been on this "growth spurt" where instead of eating every 3 hrs, every now and then he wakes up at 2hrs and wants to eat.

So I got up at 5 and noticed he had gone to bed without a pacifier, which isn't unusual, but I thought I'd try that before getting "off schedule". With the dr this morning and my hair appointment afterwards (my dad watched him for me), I really wanted to try and keep Aidyn on schedule.

Luckily, with the paci he went right back to sleep and slept until 6. During this time, since I was up, I decided to go ahead and pump and get in the shower. We are still pumping and putting the breastmilk in a bottle. I really like this (even though the pumping can get tiresome) because other people are allowed to help feed him and I'm able to keep track of how much he eats. With breastfeeding the only indications are watching diapers ("if it's coming out, it must be going in" according to the drs and my books I've been reading). With nursing, he should eat 15-20 min on each side, for now, which is like 30-45 min per feeding plus burping time. :) By using the bottles, since he still isn't able to latch on, I not only can see how much he's eating, but we also are usually done within 15-20min. Now, add on my pumping time - 15 min and that equals about the normal time to feed.

Sorry for that sidetrack note, ha. I'm sure you were just dying to know all that.

Anyhow...
At our last appt the lactation consultant, Gloria, said to double his intake from 30mL to 60mL. She said if he wants more, than let him have it. She also said that during his 7-10days and again around 3wks (which would be next Monday) he will hit a growth spurt and probably want more milk - somewhere around 80-100+mL. Well - she evidently didn't know my chunky monkey to well at that time. We have been putting 100-125mL in his bottles so that if he wants more, he can have it without me having to warm up some extra to put in his bottle. He has been eating ALL OF IT! On a few occations, that I would consider his growth spurts, he has eaten anywhere from 140-165mL!!! So what she said would be his growth spurt amounts he's eating regularly and then plus some for the growth spurts. HOLY COW! Ha

Luckily, with pumping, my milk supply is very good and I'm able to fix a bottle and store some with each pumping. We are constantly combining the cooled milk and adding it to the freezer. After a day or so there, we are placing it in my mother-in-law's deep freezer where if necessary will be good for up to 12 months according to Gloria.

So within the 24hrs that she had us double his intake from 30mL to 60mL during his first week, he gained 4oz when we went back for a check up the next day. 4oz in 24hrs! So....with his increased eating, I was VERY interested to see what he weighed today. His head has grown from 33cm to 35cm (that brain is growing smart!!!) and his weight has gone from 6lbs 13oz to 7lbs 14oz all in 12 days. Wow! He is growing like crazy!

Both the dr and Gloria were pleased with his progress. Gloria said that if I decide to keep trying to nurse and need help to let her know, but that she felt like I needed to do what we (Ben and I) felt was best and worked best for us. She is so wonderful and supportive! The biggest thing is eating breastmilk and getting the nutrients and antibodies...and since Aidyn is getting all that, she said the mode of delivery, ha (breast or bottle) didn't make a bit of difference.

So we go back for his 2month on March 16 and we will also begin shots then. I'm sure he'll cry like crazy...but then again he didn't cry for any of his newborn shots, his circumsicion, or his tongue clipping...so maybe not. We'll see.