Family Photo Shoot

For those of you that know my mom, you'll know she LOVES photography! She has won many contests with her photographs and even converted the laundy room into a dark room, for when she isn't doing laundry. :)

Ben and I, however, are not fond of pictures. Well, I actually love taking them, just not being in them. :) A week or two ago I was talking to my mom and she said, "Well, I've been researching baby photos and family photography and I AM going to take some pictures of you guys!" No discussion, haha. Normally I would probably be like, "Uhhh, I ok, I guess." But...since these included Aidyn and I REALLY was wanting some good baby photos of him, not just ones I took with my digital camera, I said, "Sure!"

About a week ago, maybe a little more, Aidyn's face broke out with little pimples. The doctors call it "baby acne". At our 2wk visit he just had a few and the dr assured us it would go away. Fortuntaely, his skin has started looking better...he still has the acne, but not as bad. My mom asked if I wanted to wait for him to be a little older and/or his face to clear up...but I really wanted some photos while he was still little.

My mom and dad came over this afternoon and below are SOME of my favorite photos. It was really hard to get them down to a "reasonable" amount. I do realize there are quite a few, haha, but these aren't even a fraction of the pictures taken today. I love them and am very glad we let my mom come and take some photographs!

Mommy's "Reflection" Time...

Here is my attempt at "reflecting" on being pregnant, our time at home so far, people not understanding or liking our parenting decisions (already!), and me just blowing off some steam...

It doesn't seem possible that we have already had Aidyn 24 days! He will be 4wks in just 4 days! I can remember (not that it was so long ago, ha) thinking, "Will this child ever decide he's ready?!?" I just knew I was going to be pregnant forever! haha

Not to sound ungrateful or mean...but you know how some poeple say, "Oh, I just LOVED being pregnant and can't wait to be pregnant again!" Well, sorry, not me. I thought the whole experience was neat and totally indescribable! I have told many people that I wish for just one day (towards the end) when Aidyn was so active, that Ben could have experienced the sensations and feelings of being pregnant. He always said, "I can feel him and see him when he moves"...but we all know, that isn't the same. The feeling is amazing and kinda weird all at the same time. :) I am SO GRATEFUL for Aidyn and for the entire experience, however, it is not something I am just dying to turn around and do again. Or atleast no time soon...we hope. ;)

Ben was telling me, and our friends John and Lori, that someone at school the other day asked when we were going to have our next one. Keep in mind Aidyn is only 4wks old. Ben said he told them, "Well, I won't say no time soon...but I will say that we HOPE no time soon!"

Our friends John and Lori didn't plan their first, nor the second that was born 13 months later. We (as much as we are totally in love with Aidyn now) didn't plan him either. So, needless to say we all got a kick out of his answer.

As we have gotten more into a routine and "groove" with the whole parenting thing, we have answered many questions that people ask about Aidyn and our family. There are times I feel obligated to explain my answers or decisions, which the more I think about it, I shouldn't feel obligated. Ben and I have read several books on parenting, new babies, feeding/sleeping theories, etc. Granted they are just books - but the information all makes sense and for the time being is working great! I know there will be people that don't always understand or agree with our decisions, I just wish they wouldn't get mad when we stand up for them.

Ben and I love Aidyn with 200% of our hearts and would do anything for him...anything! Including:
*getting up every 2hrs to feed him
*pump the breasts every 3hrs, haha - sorry I couldn't resist
*change his dirty diapers
*inquire with each other about the consistency of his diapers - that's when you know you've reached a whole new level in your life, haha
*get spit up on, pooped on, or peed on...and it doesn't even phase you
...and much more.

We love him, cuddle him, nap with him on the couch, play with him, sing, and talk to him. But we don't hold him or carry him around ALL THE TIME and some people act as though this is an issue. I don't think so. We don't want him to get used to being held or carried around because then he won't be content when he isn't in the future. We also don't let him sleep in our bed and at night we not only close his door, we close our door too. This isn't because we don't care. But...our room is right next door to his. If the wall wasn't there, Ben could literally take 4 steps away from the bed and be at his crib. So with the close proximity, and our baby monitor, we literally hear every little thing if the doors are open. Even with them closed, we can hear him breathing and hiccuping with the monitor. Closing the doors is just our small attempt at trying to get some sleep without hearing every little grunt and sneeze.

In the book, BabyWise, it talks about establishing a sleep routine. They (the authors) suggest this routine - Sleep, Feed, Awake. For instance, the baby should sleep until his next feeding time. Then after you change him, feed him, and in our case - usually change him again, he then should stay awake for 10-30min or so depending on the age. After being awake for the feeding and "wake time" (usually up to an hr total)...he should sleep, or nap, again until his next feeding. If you let him go right back to sleep after eating and not stay awake for a few minutes, he will wake up sooner than his next feeding and want to eat sooner than needed. This is true; we've seen it happen.

In saying this, we've had problems with people (family and friends) that come over or see us out with Aidyn and get their feelings hurt because we won't let them touch him, pick him up, or wake him up...just so they can see him or see him awake. I hate to sound rude, but I'm not going to mess up his routine, and ours, just to make someone else happy. Someone that won't be at home when he wakes up early unhappy or fussy because he didn't get the sleep he needed. I can promise people that in his lifetime (and even theirs) they will eventually get to "see him" and see him awake. And then this same thing applies with people not LETTING him go to sleep...people have shown up to visit, which is totally fine - we love the company, but when he starts falling asleep as he should, they start saying, "No, don't go to sleep! You stay awake and look at me" and they start playing with him, picking it at him, and try forcing him to stay awake. I hate to say it...but he isn't even a month old! He isn't supposed to stay awake all day! I don't usually let this go on long before saying, "It's time for him to go to sleep. He really shouldn't be awake right now...it's time for his nap." And sometimes people seem to get pissed off or get their feelings hurt. I wish they would realize it IS NOT PERSONAL...it's about keeping HIS routine.

We have discussed our decisions with the dr (not just read a book and said OK). There are reasons behind our decisions and THEY WORK, so I just wish people would say ok and not get mad. We don't make these decisions to purposefully hurt someone's feelings or not let them see or hold him. We made them because it gets him into a routine, and us...which is IMPORTANT.

Aidyn NEVER cries; we count our blessings daily! He only cries if he wakes up hungry or has a dirty diaper. We usually change him before we feed him and again afterwards...not because we are anal - because he fills it up that quickly, ha. But if he isn't hungry, he sometimes won't even cry while we change him. He also eats every 3hrs, like clock work. I started this the day we came home from the hospital. At night we don't set an alarm...we let him sleep until he wakes up on his own - which is almost always every 3hrs. A few times he has slept 4hrs and then once he slept 5hrs and another time 6hrs. On those nights I woke up feeling so refreshed like I'd slept for days, haha. Compared to 2hrs at a time, I guess I had. :)

I love him dearly and have grown to love my husband, Ben, even more as I watch him with Aidyn each day. He is totally in love and I think he would say surprised at how quickly he jumped in to help and be an awesome daddy. I always knew single parents had it hard, but I never REALLY KNEW until now. I am constantly telling Ben how thankful I am for his help because I COULD NOT do it without him...or atleast it wouldn't be easy.

I am glad things worked out the way they did, even with my anal OCD of planning and being in control, haha. I do not want to wish time away, yet I cannot wait to see how he grows and becomes a little person of his own.

First Church Visit

Today was Aidyn's first visit to church - Love Chapel Christian in Erwin, TN. This is the church that Ben and I attend and where Ben is the youth minister.

Aidyn wore his Polo shirt that was a gift from Olivia, one of our youth. He looked very handsome and was well behaved the entire service. :)

Today was also Aidyn's first chance (and our's as well) to meet Laurel, Tim and Sarah's baby girl. Laurel was born 3 days after Aidyn. They both weighed 7lbs 1oz at birth, but Aidyn was 2 inches longer. They are both growing and doing beautifully after overcoming cases of jaundice. Laurel is a cutie and her hair looked great today, hahaha...her daddy combed it so it would almost look like a spike or mohawk on top. Poor Laurel, haha.

L-Aidyn ........R-Laurel

Happy Valentine's Day

We celebrated our first Valentine's Day as parents yesterday...by going to a basketball game. Ha. With Ben being a coach, and games rescheduled because of the huge snow last week, we were at the gym and then ordered pizza afterwards (at like 10pm) for dinner.

Normally, I would have been disappointed by this scenario. Luckily, I've gotten used to realizing there are going to be times when we are just going to be at the gym (together) or I can stay home (alone). It used to bother me, but being a teacher (even though I'm not a coach) there are things you need to do and sometimes "have" to do for your "kids". Being a coach, if a game is rescheduled, you can't just let the kids play without you and not show because it's Valentine's Day. Ha...that would be terrible.

It worked out pretty good since it was one of the last home games and we haven't taken Aidyn out yet, except to Amigos for dinner one night. :) There were quite a few people but not TONS like the usual packed crowds since it wasn't a huge rival game and a holiday. I looked all over the stores for a Valentine's Day shirt or something red for Aidyn and couldn't find a thing...just girls! I've been told to get used to that. Luckily our friends John and Lori (whose son Cole is a little over a year old) have given us TONS of stuff! One of the shirts they gave us is dark red, or maroon, and says "Lock Up Your Daughters!". hehe I figured that would work for Valentine's Day. :)

Aidyn had a GREAT time at his first basketball game. We took him in with him still in his car seat carrier. Since he was asleep we decided to just leave him. I unbuckled him but left him in there. Didn't want to wake him up if not necessary. He NEVER STIRRED...not even once!!!! I knew he was a sound sleeper but didn't realize how much. With the warm up music, buzzers, whistles, etc...nothing. I guess this is a good thing since he'll be attending many a basketball game during his lifetime, so I hope his sound sleeping continues. He ended up staying in his carrier even though he looked all squished since he never woke up, and he finally began waking up as we left - dinner time!

Valentine's Day was great and even though I've never been "crazy" about the holiday, I have enjoyed doing things with Ben, getting flowers, etc. But now that we have Aidyn it kinda puts things in perspective I guess. I would much rather, and I think most women would agree, receive flowers ANY day of the year besides Valentine's Day because that really makes them special. However, I totally LOVE my 2 bouquet of tulips that Ben got me. Tulips are my absolute favorite flower! We had them in our wedding and my parents just helped me plant over 100 in front of our house. (Well, they actually planted them FOR me.) I wasn't home when they did it. I can't wait for them to start blooming!

Ben also got me a new Vera Bradley diaper bag which I love...I got him a coffee grinder - romantic, huh? Ha I felt bad for not spending more on him, but I couldn't think of anything. His coffee grinder had just died and he HAS to have his coffee, plus - I haven't quite been able to just go out shopping for much lately. :) I don't think he minded.

Aren't they beautiful! I just wish you could save and dry tulips like you can roses. He bought them at Walmart - they have the best flowers sometimes! I actually think he has bought my flowers that last couple of times from Walmart - I love it, haha.

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.

Date Nights

Aidyn was 2 weeks old yesterday - it's hard to believe 3 weeks ago I wondered if this time would ever come, ha. But anyways - Ben and I have already been on two "dates", if that's what you want to call them.

Normally I would not call running errands and eating dinner a "date", but now we have to consider schedules (both Aidyn's eating and my pumping), and trying to find someone to keep him. Ofcourse its never hard, or hasn't been yet, with two sets of grandparents that go through "withdrawals" according to them if they don't see him, haha.

We went on our first date last Tuesday (he was 1wk old). We needed to return some things to Target and BabyRUs and pick up some things we'd realized we needed or needed more of. Ben's mom offered to come to the house since it was cold and beginning to snow. Apparently this HUGE snow storm was on its way. When we left the house at 4:30pm it was beginning to snow pretty good. On our way to Johnson City, about 25 miles away, the closer we got the bluer the skies got and the sun was out. It was like a beautiful spring day. We completed our errands at Target and BabysRus when some friends called to tell us the interstate was terrible and it was getting bad at home. Still no snow in JC.

We decided to eat dinner and head back; so we went to Applebees. Yum! When we got in the car at 7:00pm it was beginning to flurry (barely). Once we got on the interstate the snow began to pick up. When we were within about 20 miles (we hadn't been far) it got bad. What normally takes about 20-25min to get home took us over 30 min. It was slick, snowing like crazy, and you couldn't see a thing! I think we ended up with about 5in of snow at our house after the 2 days of snow. I find it so strange at the differences around us though...my parents who live in JC barely got half an inch to an inch.

Our 2nd "date" was to a concert - Old Crow Medicine Show last Thursday. Ben was supposed to have a game that night but it got canceled due to weather. He came home from practice and said, "My game was cancled and I was thinking abou that OCMS show." I said, "Sure, that's fine if you want to go." He had been so bummed out when he realized he had a game on that particular night. He just looked at me and said, "Well, I was thinking we both might go." YAY! Haha, ok! I hadn't considered that, haha.

My mom was planning on coming over that evening to see Aidyn. Some girls from work were bringing us dinner (Olive Garden!) and it was delicious! Then we fed Aidyn, I pumped, and we packed up and headed to my parents. They live about 2 min. from Freedom Hall Civic Center where OCMS was playing. The concert began at 8pm and we ended up leaving at 11pm. They were finishing up their encore songs and my back was killing me. Plus, Aidyn was going to need to eat again at midnight and my mom had to be at work the next morning. We had a grea time!

I told Ben that I would like to make it a point to do something, just the two of us, atleast once a month -> February (Valentines Day), March (our annivesary), April (my birthday). I figured we should be in a good "routine" by May. Ben agreed but then kinda suprised me. He said, "How about we make a commitment to go out twice a month that way each of our parents can keep him atleast once." I thought that was a great idea!

So many times you hear about the parents' relationship getting "lost" in parenting and over time losing their relationship they had previously. I absolutely LOVE being a mom and I can tell Ben adores Aidyn...but we both want to keep "us" around too. I think we are so lucky to have parents excited and willing to keep Aidyn as well as many friends with young children who also like to go out periodically. I think our date nights are going to be a great success!

Pictures

I decided to post just some random pictures. I know several people check our blog so I thought pics would be nice. They are in no particular order. Enjoy!

Taking a nap with my daddy - 5 days old.

My first bath - 3 days old.

Going to sleep in my new bed on my first night home - 2 days old.

Being checked by the nurse - just minutes after I was born.

Getting to know my daddy after being born.

Meeting my mom-mom after being born.

(My mommy's mom)

Dressed and ready to go home - 2 days old.

Meeting my papaw after being born.

(My mommy's dad)

Holding my mommy's finger

My daddy watching carefully as the nurse checks me over.

3 Weeks Early?

Wow, I can't believe how much I'm getting done on our blog. Ben finally took Aidyn bc my back began hurting sitting here leaning over him to type. Let me just take a moment to tell how ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL Ben has been!!!! I honestly could not do it without him and have so much respect for single parents. I already knew their job was hard, but now I really know.

Ben has probably changed more diapers than me, or I definately know he did in the beginning. Since we are using bottles, he gets up at night to feed him so I can pump and go back to bed. Otherwise between feeding, pumping, and getting another bottle ready it takes about 90 min. With the cycle coming every 3hrs, that doesn't leave a lot of room for sleeping in the middle. It is very obvious how much he loves Aidyn and it has made me love him even more. He is amazing!

But now - let me explain this whole 37wks thing:

At the dr on Thursday the lactation specialist said, "There are several reasons I think he's struggling to nurse. One is your shape (which I won't explain on here, ha, but feel free to email me or ask me if you want me to explain). Secondly, his being tongue tied - but we got that fixed. And third, I think he's early."

Apparently the hospital does a test, not the Apgar, that measures a baby's age. They test muscle tone, flexibility, and things like that. Aidyn's results (even thought I had no idea this type of test was done) came back that with each thing he tested at 37 wks. She said that even though he has a strong suck reflex, he won't suck until something is PLACED in his mouth. He doesnt try sucking the bottle in, which she said was developmentally. And when we explained to her about how we didn't find out I was pregnant until much further on...and the ultra sound that was supposed to be our 8wk (to see a blob) turned out to be 16wk (and we saw an entire baby!) she was shocked. We told her the dr that did the ultrasound was too, ha...we all where.

They estimated his age at that time, and my due date, by his head measurements on the ultrasound. She told us that babies have different sized heads. If we had been monitoring his growth and progress from the beginning then that would be accurate. But since we jumped in at 16wks (4months), that really wasn't accurate and so he could just be early. She also commented on his size...not that he's overly small bc he isn't, just smaller. Knowing that I gave birth to a 7lb person makes me thing he's quite HUGE, haha.

I wasnt sure what to think. I was upset, but I guess it all made sense. But then I also added this last little bit in...Sarah, our friend from church who had her little girl 3 days after us, had Laurel 3 weeks early. She was actually suppsed to go for her 37wk appt that day and her water broke early that morning.

Anyways, Laurel (being 3 wks early) weighed 7lbs 1oz. The EXACT SAME as Aidyn. He was 2in longer, but really, they were exactly the same. So, who knows...maybe he was early.

All I know is, and I'm sure Sarah would agree, if they both were 3 wks early...I know for me that I could not have gone 3 more wks! I was becoming sooo uncomfortable and having such pressure pains at night that I just wanted to have the baby. Plus, with my small size (and Sarah's too), I don't know that with 3 more wks of growth we could have delivered these babies, ha. Seriously.

So we wont' really ever know I don't think...but it is a possibility.

First Pediatrician Visit

Before we left the hospital, one of the nurses said she thought Aidyn looked a little jaundiced and that they'd probably want to keep him an extra day. If so, I could "room in" with him, but I wouldn't be considered a patient anymore. Ugh!!!
Luckily, when the pediatrician came through, he said no. He told us that Aidyn did look a little jaundiced but nothing to serious...but he did want to see us the next day to keep an eye on him.

Aidyn did well that night. Once we got home from the hospital my milk came in and so I was able to drop the formula and give him 30mL of pumped milk at each feeding. He drank it down and then would go back to sleep. We truley have been SO LUCKY! Everyone has told us, "Stop now while you're ahead. The next one definately won't be this good." Ben would get up to feed him so I could pump and return to bed. This was tiring since we were both up every 3hrs, but helpful as well bc I only had to worry about pumping. We both finished at the same time (feeding Aidyn and pumping) and could return to bed - AND, most importantly, Aidyn in HIS bed in HIS bedroom.

Thursday morning came VERY early. We fed Aidyn and left the house at 7:30am. Our appt was at 8am. We were totally exhausted! We met with dr first. Aidyn was born 7lbs 1oz. When we left the hospital he was 6lbs 10oz. At the dr on Thursday he was 6lbs 9oz. The dr said he still looked jaundiced and said he hadn't even had to clip a tongue a second time, a little more, but that he thought it might be necessary. We were also meeting with the lactation specialist at the dr and so he wanted her to check before making a decision. She didn't find that it needed to be done.

After trying several "techniques" of nursing and "substitute" nursing, the lactation specialist suggest switching to a bottle, just for now. She explained that we could put the pumped milk in a bottle and feed him that way. She said we don't want to stress him out by thinking eating time is hard, uncomfortable, and unsatisfactory. She assured us that once we got the jaundice cleared up and him where he needed to be, we would work on breastfeeding again. She suggest trying during his 2-3wks bc that would be when he hit a growth spurt and would be anxious to eat. She also suggested increasing his intake from 30mL to 60mL.

I felt MUCH better after talking with her, until she said that. I was just able to get enough milk pumped to not have to use formula (not that formula is bad) and now she's telling us to double?!? Well, wouldn't you know the minute we got home and I pumped...60+ mL. I was thrilled! We spent the day/night giving him 60mL and had to return to the dr AGAIN on Friday for a follow-up to check his jaundice. Our appt Friday was at 10am and that was much better. We were able to sleep a little more, feed him at 9am, and head that way.

We met with the lactation specialist first. She thought he looked better and was pleased with his progress. She said he should be hitting his first growth spurt during his 7th-10th days (Feb.2-Feb.5). She said 60mL was good but if he seems to want more, give it to him. She also said during this growth spurt, he may want 70mL-100mL.

We (Ben, myself, and the lactation specialist) decided he had a small case of jaundice that only intensified due to my lack of supply of milk and the nurses not letting me supplement all those hours! She said had he been hydrated, it wouldn't have been so bad. Also, doublling his intake to 60mL also helped. He apparently was starved.

In the 24 hrs since the dr on Thursday, he had gained 4oz!!! Most babies gain about 1oz a day...he gained 4oz! We were so excited! The dr said his color was looking much better also. Phew! The dr checked his tongue once more, his circumsicion, and then we went home. Well...we went through Chic-fil-a for breakfast (yum!) and then headed home. :)

Since Friday we have been putting about 70-80mL in all his bottles, just to see how much he'll eat before getting full and stopping. On 3 occasions since Friday morning he has eatin 100mL!!! He is such a little pig! Since I have been pumping more than enough, really you have no idea, ha...today we started putting closer to 80-100mL in each bottle. He hasn't eaten the larger bottles, but most of it.

We got back to the dr NEXT WEDNESDAY for his 2wk visit. He'll actually be 2wks and 2days old. I can't wait to see how much he's gained after all of his eating! I'm hoping they tell us to back down from 3hrs to every 4hrs if we can. This may mean more per feeding, but it would def leave us with more sleep between. :)

Hospital Stay & Breastfeeding

With Aidyn propped up on my lap in a pillow wide awake (he ate at 9:15 and has been wide-eyed ever since)...I thought I'd try to update our blog some more.

Our hospital stay was decent I guess. I hate to say nice simply because a hospital, for whatever reason, is never "nice". But anyhow. With the exception of one nurse in training, everyone was WONDERFUL! The moment I began to push for the delivery, they had a shift change in nurses. Good timing, huh? I was totally blown away by this, but what could I do? So we went on pushing, ha. Luckily, my new nurse was the BEST! She was my nurse until Aidyn was born because she really was a nursery nurse. But seeing how she was his nurse, she was in my room a lot and extremely helpful!

As soon as Aidyn was born and everybody cleaned up, Tamika - the nurse, helped me try and nurse Aidyn. He kept trying with all his might, he was starved I guess, but wasn't able to latch on. Finally, Tamika had be use a pump to express some milk. On that first attempt I pumped 37mL! The nurses and doctors said that was crazy - more than double most mom's on their first time. I was excited. So that Aidyn didn't get used to a bottle right away, Tamika cup fed him. That means she poured 20mL of the milk (actually colostrum) into a small cup like what comes with liquid NyQuil. She would barely tip the cup so he got a little on his lips and he would suck that in. The remaining 17mL she put in the fridge to cup feed him again later.

After that, she had me pump every 3hrs to feed him. Unfortunately, the abundance of milk was over. At the next feedings while at the hospital I went from 1/2mL to 3-5mL and that was it. On Tuesday evening I asked one of the nurses about supplementing with formula bc I was quite concerned he was not getting enough. I was told, "I'll check and let you know." I had asked if they were supplementing in the nursery. I didn't mind if they were since I wasn't getting enough, but I just wanted to know.

Side Note: I kept Aidyn in the room with Ben and me all day, but not at night. During the evenings I took everyone's advice and let him stay in the nursery so we could try and sleep. Sleeping of course with nurses coming in to take vitals, give meds, etc. Every 3hrs they would bring him to me to feed and then I would call a nurse when we were through. I recommend this to everyone, just so you can rest up bc you are exhausted after such work. :)

So anyhow, I never heard back from the nurse. So the next time Aidyn was brought to me I asked again and was told, "Let me ask and I'll let you know." Never heard anything again. As I thought about all this later, I thought - why didn't I keep calling the nurses and instead say, "Bring me some formula." I think I was just to exhausted to even think about it. Finally, the next time when Aidyn was brought to me (9hrs since I first asked) a different nurse said, "Have you considered supplementing with formula?" I think I almost blew my top! I said, "Yes! I have been asking for hours and no one will tell me anything or bring me any!" She went straight to get it and I was so thankful.

During all this time I had not been using the "cup method". Instead I had been using a small plastic syringe like you use to give meds to a baby. I would pump milk for 15 min using a hospital pump and then put it in the syringe. Aidyn had several reasons for struggling to latch on: 1)my shape 2)his age, they think he is younger, but I'll explain that later 3)he was born tongue tied.

Tongue-tied means the little connective skin under the tongue was connected to the tip, therefore he couldn't stick out his tongue past his gum line. The pediatrician clipped this skin when he did Aidyn's circumcision. He didn't even whimper when getting his newborn shots and check up, and the ped dr said he didn't make a sound during these last two procedures either! We were impressed. Only did we know this was an insight to his personality - we hope it continues. :)

Once I was able to supplement with formula (for his last 3 feedings in the hospital), I was feeling much better! The lactation specialist for the hospital gave us some formula to take home, that the ped dr recommended, not what the hospital gave us. I was able to rent the hospital breast pump and take home with us. This was great because it is quick, good, helpful, and "sucks" like a baby would so it helps with milk supply. And believe me...we've got a supply! I'm already pumping more than extra and beginning to freeze it for later.

We were admitted to the hospital Monday @ 6:00am. Aidyn was born that evening at 7:36am. We could have gone home earlier Wednesday but I was waiting to meet with the lactation specialist one more time and rent a pump. I DID NOT want to leave without a pump as ready as I was to go home. We finally were released to go home around 5:00pm Wednesday evening.

Both our mom's came over that evening and Ben's home had a big pot of Chicken and Dumplings ready with some fresh broccoli...yum! I felt A MILLION times better just showering at the hospital, putting on my sweats, and even better once we got home!