We've been having appointments with Emmett's pediatric doctor and my lactation consultant every other day. He has been sloooowwwwlllyyyy gaining weight back. Today, he was up to 6 lbs 1 oz, which is no change from Wednesday and still eight ounces from his birth weight, but at least he's maintaining and not losing. While we were there, we did a weighed feeding, and he managed to get 20ml in about 15 minutes, which isn't as much as a full term baby would consume at the breast, but still not bad. Considering how rough things were in the beginning, with him not latching at all, we are all pretty happy with his progress. He is doing SOOOOOO much better with the help of the nipple shield. In fact, they now upped his time at the breast to 15 minutes per side before offering the bottle, which makes me happy. We are slowly but surely getting closer to our ultimate goal- exclusively breastfeeding.
Elliot is adjusting REALLY well to his new baby brother- much better than I expected, to be honest. He pretty much does his own thing most of the time (busy, busy toddler!) but he likes bringing me things for the baby- pacifiers, burp cloths, etc. I think he does it just to hear the enthusiastic "THANK YOU" afterwards, but either way, it's pretty cute. He also likes to poke Emmett and give him kisses. :)
I'm feeling GREAT! I don't even feel like I just had a baby, and always find myself doing things I'm not supposed to do {like picking up Elliot}. So far, I've already lost 21 of the 35 pounds I gained during my pregnancy, without trying. I gained 45 when I was pregnant with Elliot, and lost the weight quickly and easily, but I thought it would be harder this time around. Looks like I might have been wrong! Fingers crossed!
Emmett wakes up to eat about every two hours. We're cosleeping, so he never cries because I wake up right when he starts to stir. I absolutely love having a little baby to snuggle up to again every night. The pack & play was originally set up next to the bed, but it has since been taken down and put away since we never used it.
Aaron goes back to work on Monday, but his mom is flying in tomorrow to stay with us for a week, to help me out while I sort out this whole 2 under 2 thing. So far, in the few times I've been left alone with the boys, things have gone pretty smoothly. There was one giant Elliot meltdown when I was nursing Elliot and his cup needed to be refilled. He doesn't have a whole lot of patience- after all, he's used to his mama devoting 100% of her attention to him and getting whatever he wanted whenever he asked for it. He'll adjust.
