... minus the honey. But, oh, how the milk is flowing.
Lydia is now 12 days old and I thought I'd give a quick fill in on what's been happening since the birth.
There have been some struggles with breastfeeding. Lots of pain and soreness, followed by Lydia not taking the right breast, followed by engorgement. Thank God for Kim, who attended the birth and is with La Leche League. She's paid us 2 home visits and we've finally figured things out. I'm pumping the right breast until it heals up a bit and Lydia grows a little bigger.
However, even with her feeding on just one breast she is definitely getting enough milk! She has plenty of dirty diapers and, even more impressive, she's growing! Doctors want babies to have regained to their birth weight by two weeks. Lydia had gained almost a full pound by day 10.
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I'm still reflecting a lot on the birth. Overall, I would say it was a lot worse than I ever thought it would be. I'm still glad I did a home birth, because there were so many perks to being at home: the women who attended me, the role Travis played, the comfort I felt being home, not having to transition to the hospital and then home again. Plus, because it was such a difficult labor who knows how it could have turned out had we been in the hospital. Would I have ended up taking an epidural? Would that have led to complications? Would I have been one of the 31% of women who have a c-section? But if I'm going to be honest, I have to confess that the pain I went through in labor was the most horrible thing I've ever experienced in my life.
These past two weeks have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster and I have been struggling with the "baby blues" a lot. Things are getting better, especially since we've worked out some of the breastfeeding issues, and I've been able to delight in my daughter a lot more.
She really is a cute, sweet little booger. Even when she's pooping. :)
4 comments:
I love the many faces of a newborn baby. She's beautiful, Bonnie!
you look so stunning in that picture, bonnie.
she looks so much like you!
i struggled with the baby blues too, and ppd more recently, as well. it gets better, i promise! keep your chin up, i'll pray for you!
Hi, Bonnie. Sarah's sister here again. Just as an encouragement - I've been praying for you (and Travis and Lydia..) regularly. It is a difficult time adjusting to everything those first few weeks. I remember being a bit upset with my girlfriends that they hadn't been brutally honest about how hard it is with a new baby. The hormones are a huge factor to be sure. For me, though, it was the sleep deprivation. I would cry frequently while saying "I just need to sleep!". *It does get better, I promise.* Hang in there. For me, it was week 5 when my mood lifted a bit. And I think my learning curve was slower because our daughter had feeding issues, and I was mourning having had a c-section (when I'd planned a homebirth!). My girlfriends say it happened sooner for them. Just keep on keeping on. You are being prayed for by many people! - Audrey
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