With a newborn in the house, the kids get to see me breastfeeding a lot. This results in some pretty sweet pretend play.
Amelia has been breastfeeding her dollies. Here was her instruction on what to do: "Lift up your shirt. Put the baby's mouth on your booby. Now say, 'Ouch!'"
Sam attempted to breastfeed his stuffed bear. He lifted up his shirt, but wasn't sure what to do next. After lots of searching, he settled on nursing the bear from his belly button.
Thankfully, Rose's latch has gotten much better over the last week. Pair that with the breaks I get from Jeff giving her a bottle, and I'm saying 'Ouch!' a lot less these days!
We survived our first two weeks as a family of six! I think Jim Gaffigan, now a father of FIVE, best described what having four kids was like. "Imagine you're drowning," he explains, "and then someone hands you a baby."
Yep. That's pretty much what it's like. It is a rare moment that I'm not busy meeting someone's immediate needs. The day is a blur of dressing, wiping, feeding, changing, brushing teeth, more feeding, more wiping, and so on, and so on. And this is with Jeff still home on paternity leave! The thought of having to do this alone all day makes me break into a cold sweat.
This time around, we only spent just over 24 hours in the hospital. (Special thanks to our friends, Amanda, Nancy, and Mike, who all stepped in to watch the big kids while we were at the hospital!) And we hit the ground running as soon as we got back. In fact, I really felt that I overdid it on our first day home, and was in a lot more pain than I should have been that first week.
It's been two weeks, and I'm feeling pretty good, physically. Eventually, I'll post Rose's birth story, but basically, it was fast. I felt the first contraction around 2 o'clock that afternoon. By 3 o'clock we were eating ice cream outside of Husky Deli. We arrived at the hospital at 5 o'clock, and were admitted to the birthing room around six. Rose was born at 7:10 pm. Phew!
Since all my other kids had some degree of tongue tie, it was one of the first things I looked for with Rose. I could see immediately that her frenulum was tight and attached almost all the way to the tip of her tongue. Our family doctor said she could perform the frenotomy right in the office as soon as we wanted. I brought Rose in on that Monday morning to have it done at less than 2 days old. I'm SO glad I didn't wait. We didn't have Sam's done until he was a week old, and by then nursing had become so painful that I was in tears every time I had to feed him.
Feeding Rose is still painful, but it's getting better as she learns how to extend and use her tongue properly and not rely on her lips and gums (ouch!) to nurse. We actually have a bunch of tongue training exercises that we're supposed to do before each feeding. She's doing great, though, and has already surpassed her birth weight: She was 8.5lbs at her 11 day doctor's appointment. She's doing so well that Jeff gave her her first bottle of pumped breast milk yesterday, which she took like a champ.
The other kids are adjusting, too. Marley adores Rose, and is excited to hold her each morning. In fact, he and Amelia usually fight over who gets to hold her first. Amelia is probably the most interested in taking care of Rose. She always wants to hold her, change her diaper, and dress her. And then there's Sam. He's really not very interested in Rose, but he does miss having Amelia to play with all morning.
We are all at home now, and getting used to life as a family of six! A few people have asked what we need. A friend set up a meal train calendar for us. We've had our first two dinners at home delivered, and it's been wonderful! Here's the link, if you'd like to sign up: Food Tidings.
As always, Bella Baby Photography did a phenomenal job with the newborn photos. Our photographer was able to capture the first moments of the big kids meeting their new sister.
To view the photos go to Bella Baby Photography and enter the password Lyou0301franklin.
I went in for another NST today, and baby did great - very strong movement and heartbeat! Hooray! We bought ourselves another few days. My next appointment is scheduled for Monday morning. If baby doesn't come over the weekend, I will have my regular appointment with NST, followed by a trip downtown for an ultrasound to check fluid levels, placenta, etc.
After that, things start to get down to the wire. Though, I know a few people who've gone beyond, 42 weeks is pretty widely (though NOT completely!) accepted as the end of pregnancy. Since I've chosen to have a hospital birth with an OB, I guess I've agreed to this (as opposed to a birth center or homebirth - midwives tend to be a bit more flexible with going beyond the 42 weeks). But, I have to say, I NEVER thought that I would have to be even remotely concerned about a pregnancy of mine going too long!
Inductions are really common, and many people opt for them, even before their due date. And most of those have no complications and result in a healthy baby and mom. But, it's just not the experience I want to have. Especially since I've had THREE spontaneous vaginal deliveries! I KNOW my body can do this on its own.
Not only that, and this may sound crazy, but I actually enjoy labor and childbirth. Sure, it's painful, and a little scary. But, it's also exhilarating and empowering, especially when I get to do it the way that I want to. I love my hospital because they are very supportive of allowing women to labor how they want. I've had great experiences there so far. I'm really hoping to have one more great experience.
Even if I end up being induced, hopefully I will have at least given my body enough time to begin the process on its own, and I'll only require the smallest dose of drugs.
And of course, in the end, all I really care about is holding my new baby girl!
