Best laid plans...

My first week with Jason was quite an experience. When I was pregnant there were a few things that I was sure I would not do. These didn't quite pan out in the real world

#1: I will not feed my baby any formula

The first few days of breastfeeding were rocky to say the least. Jason demonstrated a good latch on our first session with the lactation consultant and since I was determined to breastfeed I figured we'd be in good shape. Unfortunately with the stress of being in a hospital and recovering from labor and the episiomy I got off track with nursing him often enough so that first night in the hospital was rough because all he wanted to do was nurse but nothing came out except colostrum and he didn't seem happy with that. The next day I vowed to follow a "nurse every 3 hour" schedule. He did a lot better that night but was still pretty fussy. By wednesday, Jason was having fewer wet and dirty diapers than he was supposed to and he would cry for a long time. My milk hadn't come in yet and I was really upset that I couldn't comfort my baby. I was instructed in the hospital by the lactation consultant how to use the supplimental feeding system, which was composed of a syringe and a small tube you can put into the baby's mouth and when he sucks he can get a bit of formula at the breast. I didn't want to have to use it but after what seemed like tons of dry mouthed crying I decided to give in and give him some formula. The decision was really hard for me and I think I was crying as much as him but at least he finally was able to calm down and get some sleep and get his little system working again. I called the lactation consultants first thing in the morning on Thursday (since the lactation clinic is only open Mon-Wed-Fri) and they gave me more instruction on using the supplimental feeding device and how much formula to use (I had no idea on how much formula to feed him because I had no intention of doing that). Fortunately, I started to feel like my milk may be coming in. I even tried feeding him in the afternoon just on the breast and he seemed ok. Unfortunately a few hours later (right before my parents showed up) he had another fussy meltdown and I had to break out the formula again. It was very disappointing since I was sure my milk had come in....it just wasn't letting down enough yet. After feeding him I pumped for about 2o minutes and got enough to give him breastmilk through the supplimenter that night so that made me feel better. I was able to breastfeed him all that night and since then he has been doing better and better. Now he's nursing like a champ and peeing and pooping like he's supposed to and he's such a happy baby. I'm so glad we got through that rough patch!

#2: I will NEVER co-sleep!

I know how dangerous it is to sleep with the baby in bed with you. I've seen some sad cases come in the hospital so I was adement - My baby would sleep in his crib (or pack-n-play bassinet in the bedroom). Well.....things didn't quite work out that way...

At the beginning of the week when Jason was so fussy he would barely sleep at all, let alone let us put him down because at least being held gave him some comfort. Besides, we were both so freaking tired it was easier to just keep the baby in the bed and cuddle him to sleep. We keep a low wattage light on all night so we can keep track of where he is and make sure he's safe. However, this became a problem in that he never let us put him down! We had to carry him everywhere because the second we put him down he would start crying. On Friday it was a beautiful day and we took Jason for a walk and then came home and gave him a bath. After all that excitement he was really sound asleep in my arms and my mom said "maybe he'll sleep in the bassinet if we put a really soft blanket in there". We tried that and it worked!! I felt like I got the gift of time. I got so much done in the 2 hours he was down for his nap that it was motivation enough to really push this sleeping in his bed thing. That night we tried it and got him to sleep in his own bed for a couple hours but he was pretty fussy so a lot of the night was in our bed. Last night he spent most of the night in his bassinet so we're making good progress on that front.

Things are going great now. Jason really is a happy baby. He nurses a lot but that probably means he's growing good. He is just so cute it melts my heart constantly. I thank God every day for this beautiful blessing.