Saturday, January 15, 2011

Days thirty & thirty-one

Things have been pretty interesting around here lately, with lots of changes, the main one being that Elliot moved to the brand new children's hospital and into HIS OWN ROOM yesterday! His room is complete with two comfy reclining chairs (one that folds out into a little bed), our own sink (so we don't have to wash in the scrub room anymore), and our own closet for our coats and bags (no more lockers, yay!). I'm able to pump right at the bedside now which is GREAT because I always hated dragging myself away from the nursery to go pump.
We like our new room so much better than the old nursery setup. It's so much quieter and less chaotic, which means that Elliot sleeps more peacefully. In addition, we get more privacy and are able to feel more like a "real" family.
It was easy to see that Aaron felt so much more comfortable in our new room. He spent a lot more time than usual holding, cuddling, and talking with Elliot, and it was so heartwarming to watch. I seriously love this man so much- he has been incredibly supportive and I don't know what I would do without him. He is a great husband and an even better father.
We're slowly making progress with feeding. Lately, Elliot takes 5-15 cc's from us before either getting really mad or falling asleep, and then we gavage the rest of his feeding. He now gets 38 cc's at each feeding, and he is only getting 8.5 cc's/hr of TPN. He hasn't gone to breast in a couple days because he has been breathing so hard, but I think we'll try it again tomorrow, along with some more skin-to-skin time.
He spends a HUGE portion of each day grunting and squirming while trying to poop, and is producing 1-2 HUGE bowel movements a day. Why didn't anyone ever tell me that breastfed poop is often BRIGHT ORANGE?! The first time I saw it, I freaked out because I thought something was wrong. Apparently, it's quite common for the babes lucky enough to eat from the boob. His poop really doesn't smell that bad either... my husband and I have both decided that it smells almost exactly like mustard.
Yesterday, I was holding Elliot and he pooped ALL OVER me. It was pretty funny! He felt so much better (after losing SIX OUNCES from one poop!) that he stayed awake for several hours.

Mama Update: I've been taking Fenugreek for five days now with no results. Everything I've read says that "most women" see results in 24-72 hours. I'm increasing my dose tomorrow and REALLY hoping that it's just taking longer than usual to kick in. Otherwise, my lactation consultant is probably going to write me a prescription for Reglan to increase my supply. I'm also drinking 2-3 cups of Mother's Milk tea a day.
I was really hoping to go home with an exclusively-breastfeeding baby, but I see now that it's not going to happen. Unfortunately, I will be pumping and bottle feeding (breastmilk) every three hours AND breastfeeding a few times a day, too. We'll probably go home doing 2-3 breastfeedings a day and slowly increasing from there. I have no idea how I'm going to juggle all of this and am REALLY hoping Elliot gets the hang of breastfeeding SOON.

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Daddy and Elliot bonding.

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Kisses! ♥

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Why, what big eyes you have!

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Just hanging out in his bouncy chair.

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YAY for my new room!

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Sleeping in the boppy with Mommy- the boppy helps to bring his shoulders and arms forward. He has a very bad habit of letting his arms fall limp at his sides, which is very unnatural for a baby his age but is not uncommon in NICU babies. Forcing him to have his shoulders forward and arms and hands up by his face improves his muscle tone.

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Zzzzzzzzz

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Don't worry mom, I can hold my own paci.

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20 comments:

  1. The new room sounds awesome! Way to go HDCH.

    Hopscotch is the name of the store. It's on Cherry near Lake. Marie Catrib's is a yummy restaurant nearby.

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  2. It's only been a week, but breastfeeding is HARD. Good luck to you! I hope the meds work out.

    He is too cute. And yay for a private room!

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  3. Amber- awesome, thanks! I actually used to eat at Marie Catrib's all the time when I went to AQ... I loved it.

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  4. That's fantastic that you are in your own room. I'm curious to find out if you'll be able to pump more being in the same room - I've heard of this happening. I've also heard that fengugreek is much more effective if taken with blessed thistle (available at most health food stores). It's worth a shot!

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  5. The above comment made me wonder if you were looking at any photos of Elliot while pumping away from him? Or holding something of his to smell. I hear both of these things can help produce more milk.
    Good luck, I hope you guys can get to the breast sooner rather than later!

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  6. So sweet! I hope you get to take him home soon and yay for more poop! lol :)

    The Sweetest Life

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  7. Randalin- Blessed Thistle is on my shopping list. I got the Fenugreek and tea at GNC and they didn't even know what Blessed Thistle is, so we haven't had a chance to find any/pick any up yet. Hoping it helps, though!
    Samantha- I usually look at pictures of him while pumping at home. I have no idea if it helps or not, but its worth a shot!

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  8. I'm so glad Elliot is in a private room!. And it also seems he is doing a lot of progress with his feedings. Just think from 5 to 38 in just a couple of days. That is awesome!

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  9. that's awesome you moved to a new room! Yay for poop!! You all look soo happpy. I love reading about him everyday. It makes me smile he is the cutest little guy!

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  10. Jesssss, he's been pooopin!!!! That's awesome!! What a handsome little guy!

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  11. such good photos...he is just adorable as always!

    oh...and the poop...starts to smell!

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  12. What great updates! Between the room, the feedings, and the poop, I bet you're on cloud nine!

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  13. I was going to suggest Blessed Thistle for your milk supply but saw that you already know about it. :) I looked everywhere and couldn't find it so I had to order it online.

    The 3rd picture of Elliot is so adorable, really priceless!

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  14. Have you tried eating cream of wheat? For some reason that always made my milk come in crazy fast. Also, I left you an award at my blog!

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  15. The new room sounds wonderful! I hadn't thought about it until you posted about your dh- but being a first time parent with everyone watching can't be the easiest thing. So glad you guys can have a little privacy now!

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  16. He is getting SO big! Handsome guy!

    I've taken fenugreek with both girls but I had to take like 4 pills, 4 times a day (so 16/day) to get real results and then after a couple weeks it quit working. I've been using the Motherlove More Milk Plus for the past week and a half (you can get in on Amazon) and it's amazing. They say to take 4 pills/day but I've only been taking 2 and I've seen a HUGE difference. It's expensive but oh so worth it and I would've spent the same on Fenugreek anyway at the rate I had to take it.

    So glad you guys got a new room and glad to hear things are going well :)

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  17. Yay for a new room!!

    Another question about how much fenugreek are you taking? I had to take 9 a day (3 3x a day) to see results! I also found eating oatmeal in the morning helped! (Which I wasn't a fan of, so I switched to lactation cookies which have oatmeal, flaxseed, and blessed thistle in them)

    For the first 8 months of my son's life, he wouldn't latch on to my left side so I had to pump that side after every feeding. Pumping AND breastfeeding is a never ending schedule to keep up with, but it CAN be done! You can do it!!

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  18. Jess- thanks for commenting on my blog recently...it's taken me so long to get back to blogging since having little Kaleb. But whenever I do get online I always catch up with your blog. I had the same problems with breast milk production when I had my first son, I took fenugreek and nothing happened...then I went on reglan and that didn't work either. I know how frustrating it can be...I really had no milk for my older son. I'm basically having the same problem now but have found more success with an avent pump than the hospital grade medela (weird i know!). I've also heard oatmeal and drinking tons of water a day help your supply so I've been drowning myself in oatmeal and water, lol. My supply is better this time but I'm only getting MAYBE two ounces each session I pump (Kaleb won't breastfeed no matter what because he was bottle fed in the NICU and I couldn't get to him because of the surgery...so sad). I'm trying really hard not to give up this time too...but it is definitely frustrating. Elliot looks amazing and I think about you guys often!

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