i never totally realized how having a newborn could take over my life and all my time. i always *knew* new parents were busy but i never really understood until now. i think our situation is a bit more complicated because of how we're feeding little R. since he was born so small (5#2oz) and started losing weight, we were tasked with feeding him every 2 hours (yes, around the clock) which entails the following routine:
1. change diaper
2. breastfeed on one side for 10 minutes with nipple shield
3. give bottle with breastmilk (or formula if no breastmilk available)
4. pump with medela symphony hospital grade pump (daytime only)
(repeat every 2 hours!)
if i do this all myself, it takes an hour total, which gives me exactly that much time to sleep if little R isn't being fussy and also wants to sleep. if i have someone else to help, i am lucky to get an extra half hour of free time.
little R is doing very well with this feeding routine and has managed to get up to 6# as of yesterday. yay! keep growing little R!
i am writing this while pumping (hands free thank goodness) and hopefully i can keep on with these mini posts because i have a lot of thoughts to put down and want to remember about this time period.
Outrage Machine
15 hours ago
yeah..hands free! That is the way to go completely! Yes..my baby was born 5lb12 ounces at 37 weeks and would not latch. it was a lot harder than I had ever imagines and it is still hard. I do not know how single moms do it! I have a complete and utter change is respect for all women and especially single moms. It was so hard those first few weeks..but eventually it all works out.I am glad I am not the only one who struggled!;) Good luck..join me on my blog..I will be talking about this subject and I am so proud to be a mother after my fight with infertility. We are a strong group.
ReplyDeletewww.marilynandthetan.info..that is my baby blog now:)