Marlee's First Week
September 25, 2003 - 2:48 p.m.
Marlee�s first week:
We came home from the hospital when Marlee was 2 days old. We got home, settled in, tested out the swing (she likes it!) and cleaned up the house and took a nap. Then we all went to a friend�s housewarming party. Marlee was a perfect angel � she slept most of the time in her cars seat and woke up to feed just before we left. I sat in a bedroom for almost an hour while she nursed away! More than she ever had. She got kind of fussy and cried on the way home, which broke my heart.
Sleeping proved a little difficult so she ended up in the bed with us�
Sunday was our first real day with her alone. We woke up and made breakfast, cleaned the house up (again) and made a trip to the grocery store. I got in a good nap and so did Tim, so when I was up with her from 1:30am to 4am it was something to fall back on. By the way, it should be stated that for as much milk that goes in this kid�s mouth, 2 times that comes out. And she still manages to swallow enough to blow through her diapers.
We finally got her sleeping on her own in the bassinet next to our bed.
Monday was Marlee�s first doctor�s visit, we saw Dr. Glassroth, who said she looked perfect. We wanted her to check out the blister inside Marlee�s mouth (no concerns since she was still nursing well) and her belly button was bleeding (again, fine) and everything else was fine. We had a little bit of difficulty in the waiting room with Marlee fussing and fussing because she was hungry and I didn�t want to feed her until we got back into a room, and stuck my finger in her mouth for comfort. That was enough for her to get confused and she wouldn�t latch on when I finally took her to the restroom to nurse. She seems to get confused going from one breast to the next though, so it might be a while before we give her a bottle.
She�s doing really well sleeping on her own though and actually didn�t like it when I brought her to bed when I was too tired to do anything but lift my shirt for her� she cried until we got up and went in her room to nurse. It�s either in her room with some music playing or in front of the computer�the light from the monitor puts her right to sleep.
My milk decided to come in fast and hard Monday night, just as Tim�s parents were stopping by to see the baby. It was awful and painful since I couldn�t wake Marlee up to feed, and I spend quite a bit of time trying to pump it out with no luck. They wanted to stay until she woke up (this kid wakes for nothing) and it was killing me- my stitches are getting worse it seems and then my boobs hurt so bad it started aching in my armpits and upper arms. Finally they left and I nursed Marlee the whole night and it seems to have helped a little, I am still a little painfully engorged but it is getting better with each feeding. The problem is, she is a cluster feeder and will nurse every 10-15 minutes for several hours, then sleep 4-5 hours. So in that 4-5 hours I just keep filling up�by the time she wakes up and nurses just a little bit I leak like the Hoover Dam.
Here�s what I read about cluster feeding, and it describes Marlee to a �T�.
Cluster feeding, also called bunch feeding, is when babies space feeding closer together at certain times of the day and go longer between feedings at other times. This is very common, and often occurs in the evenings. It's often -but not always- followed by a longer sleep period than usual: baby may be "tanking up" before a long sleep. For example, your baby may nurse every hour (or even constantly) between 6 and 10 PM, then have a longish stretch of sleep at night - baby may even sleep all night.
Cluster feeding often coincides with your baby's fussy time. Baby will nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry, nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry... on and on... for hours. This can be VERY frustrating, and mom starts wondering if baby is getting enough milk, if something she is eating is bothering baby, if EVERYTHING she is doing is bothering baby... It can really ruin your confidence, particularly if there is someone else around asking the same questions (your mother, your husband, your mother-in-law).
This behavior is NORMAL! It has nothing to do with your breastmilk or your mothering. If baby is happy the rest of the day, and baby doesn't seem to be in pain (as with colic) during the fussy time - just keep trying to soothe your baby and don't beat yourself up about the cause. Let baby nurse as long and as often as he will. Recruit dad (or another helper) to bring you food/drink and fetch things (book/remote/phone/etc.) while you are nursing and holding baby. Don't give baby a bottle -- supplementation will only tell your body that you need LESS milk at this time, and that will not help matters. Also, keep in mind that formula fed babies experience fussy periods in the evening, too -- fussy evenings are common for all young babies, no matter how they are fed.
Marlee got her first bath Monday night, it was quite eventful. Tim spearheaded it�we managed to get her squeaky clean, lotioned up and into her pj�s�we spilled the little basin of water all into the bassinet of her pack-n-play and got her cord a little wet. She didn�t cry or fuss too much though and that is an accomplishment since she HATES being naked�she absolutely hates it when her diaper is off. That makes every diaper change a challenge, especially those late-night ones where you�re trying so hard not to wake them too much�
Tuesday was the first day that we didn�t get out of bed right away in the morning, Marlee let us sleep in until noon. We had a lazy day and then went to Wal-Mart, where she decided to freak out and cry like we�ve never heard before � I ended up nursing her in the front seat of the car for a few minutes to calm her down. I can�t seem to nurse without leaking all over myself�this is the second time I�ve been in public with huge wet spots all over my shirts. The smart me actually packed an extra shirt for myself this time. Marlee is also a big time spitter-upper�she�s one of those kids that has to wear a bib all the time. I hate that.
Tuesday night was such a fussy night. She was up for hours and cried, fussed, wouldn�t nurse�when I finally got her to sleep I got in bed and just sobbed. I thought I was going out of my mind.
When I woke up on Wednesday I was so tired and depressed. She was still fussy and wasn�t nursing well. My mom came around noon to come stay with us for a while. I heard her describing Marlee to my step-dad on the phone as fussy. Not a lie, but hard to hear.
Wednesday night was marvelous though, we went to bed around 10pm and Marlee didn�t wake up until 2:30am to feed. She nursed for a half hour, then went right back to sleep. Then she woke up again around 6am, and again at 7, but then she slept with me until 9:30. I can handle more nights like this.