Little Victoria had come into our lives a week and a half early. We had our initial troubles with breast feeding - both being first timers! She was demanding of Bryan and I - refusing to sleep unless nestled into someone's arms - not a huge deal as she would only be little for so long.
Then it was time for her first official weigh in - she was 10 days old and should be close to her birth weight. Except she wasn't. She was skinny - she had lost a significant amount of weight. I felt pretty much like the worst mother in the history of mothers. How did I not notice that she lost that weight? I couldn't even figure out how she managed to do that - she was nursing every 2-3 hours. She seemed full as she slept between feedings. They took some blood to test how much bilirubin (level of jaundice and not Billy Reuben) was in her blood. We were sent home from the health clinic with instructions to try and feed some formula and wait for results.
The results came back and Victoria needed to go back to the hospital. Back at the hospital they hooked her up to IV (strong girl - it took three of them to hold her down) and set her up under three phototherapy lights.
Then it was time for her first official weigh in - she was 10 days old and should be close to her birth weight. Except she wasn't. She was skinny - she had lost a significant amount of weight. I felt pretty much like the worst mother in the history of mothers. How did I not notice that she lost that weight? I couldn't even figure out how she managed to do that - she was nursing every 2-3 hours. She seemed full as she slept between feedings. They took some blood to test how much bilirubin (level of jaundice and not Billy Reuben) was in her blood. We were sent home from the health clinic with instructions to try and feed some formula and wait for results.
The results came back and Victoria needed to go back to the hospital. Back at the hospital they hooked her up to IV (strong girl - it took three of them to hold her down) and set her up under three phototherapy lights.
We spent 5 days in the NICU at Grey Nuns - nothing but amazing things to say about the nurses and doctors here. They were all awesome. She spent a total of three days under the lights and four on an IV. By the time we left she had gained back most of the weight and was eating a three course meal at every feeding - breast milk at the breast, expressed breast milk and formula. Thankfully, that episode is behind us and she is now gaining weight like a champ - she is almost 10 pounds now and is showing no ill effects of our hospital trip.
Since then, we've celebrated our first Christmas and New Years Eve together as a family. We've experienced the lure-poop...this is where she has pooped and you have taken her to change and as you have the diaper off she poops (and sometimes pees) again. Most often this is followed by a smile and sometimes the middle finger (yes, from her).
I have discovered that I function better if I schedule appointments/outings for late morning or the afternoon so that I can catch an extra nap in the morning. Sleep when they sleep. So easy to say and much harder to execute (as she is sleeping in her carrier right now and I obviously am not).
For all of you that have texted, called welcoming Victoria - thank you. For everyone that attended her baby shower when she was still an unknown - I almost have the thank you cards done. Almost - I'm getting a lot of things almost done now that I'm a mom.
Soon, hopefully next week, I'm going to make my return to the gym! Hopefully she enjoys it as much as I do!
I have discovered that I function better if I schedule appointments/outings for late morning or the afternoon so that I can catch an extra nap in the morning. Sleep when they sleep. So easy to say and much harder to execute (as she is sleeping in her carrier right now and I obviously am not).
For all of you that have texted, called welcoming Victoria - thank you. For everyone that attended her baby shower when she was still an unknown - I almost have the thank you cards done. Almost - I'm getting a lot of things almost done now that I'm a mom.
Soon, hopefully next week, I'm going to make my return to the gym! Hopefully she enjoys it as much as I do!