People have been so nice to us. From the hospital and their awesome meals, to friends and neighbors bringing meals over, to John's coworkers giving us a $150 gift card and flowers. It's nice to have friends :)
I have to admit, I sorta forgot about all the unpleasant parts of the post partum period. Every orifice just seems screwed up in some way, and there's no end in sight lol. But Frankie is worth it of course. I really tried to nurse Frankie exclusively, (whereas with the other 2 I exclusively pumped which was fairly easy for ~6 months since I had a copious supply) but I have to say--I don't have the nipples for it. They just don't protrude enough and Frankie gets pissed, so by the time he is sorta latched, he's angry and it hurts since it's not going back far enough, and then he bites. Because of this frustration, I was engorged for 2 days, and my boobs were so hard and sensitive I had to pump to release some of the milk...only to find out I could only get 2 ounces out! I used to bust out at least 6 in no time, but this was different. I was retaining water and couldn't release the milk, and his nursing wasn't getting enough out. So I put him skin to skin on me for a long time, to encourage the hormones to 'fix' things, I read online remedies like cabbage leaves (basically a cabbage bra--sorry no pictures!) and drinking lots of water which I do anyway. Eventually my supply came up but the nursing never got better. I was cracked and bleeding and wincing the whole time. I used these expensive Medela hydrogel pads to relieve pain, and tried using nipple shields again, but Frankie wouldn't have it. So I am again going to exclusively pump my milk for this baby--nothing I can do about my flat nips. I am pumping about 5 oz every 3 hrs, so my supply is ahead of demand right now. I plan to start freezing the milk so it will last a month and I can defrost it as needed. I will be happy if I can do this for at least 6 months, when he will start trying some foods.
I wanted to share an awesome app that I have on my phone. It's succinctly called "Feed Baby". It keeps track of which boob you nursed and when, or how many ounces you bottle fed and when, how many pee/poo diapers and when, and how many ounces you pumped and when. And then it texts me reminders every 2 or 3 hours of what to do next, i.e. "Time to change baby", "time to feed baby", "time to pump!" which seems easy to remember, but time flies and you don't want to lose your supply etc. There are other things you can track, but I don't need all of them. It's free and very useful. It will also help to show your doctor your daily schedule to see if anything is wrong. I am up every 3 hrs at night at least, whether or not Frankie is up, so I can pump and keep my supply. For some reason, my left boob makes more milk than my right. Anyway I highly recommend getting it--it's free.
At Frankie's checkup last monday, I knew he would be jaundiced and he was. But the levels were low enough not to worry. The doctor said it might have to do with my blood type (A Pos) and his (O Pos)...but in any event, all 3 of my kids livers eventually developed enough to process the bilirubin. Unfortunately, the pediatrician we went to, which is the closest to where we live, doesn't accept patients that don't fully vaccinate :( So we are finding a new one...in the meantime he has his 2 week checkup on thursday at the hospital. I am pretty sure gained and is over his birth weight--since he's peeing and pooping a lot.
Here are some pictures of the past week:
Daddy showing Frankie his ginger beard
This is Beverlynn, her husband Joel, her son Junior, and daughter Lorelai--a tball teammate of Lucas'. We all had fun and they generously made us chicken alfredo and salad w bread :) thank you!!
Big sister :)
Aunt Susan :)
Tball practice--we finally got to use Frankie's stroller. Got pretty cold though.
I want to take the time to acknowledge what a great husband I have; he has done so much for all 4 of us the past week. He is such a good dad and I can tell loves being with Frankie. He has so much more time this time around since hes not in the Navy. He's washing dishes, feeding me and kids, washing laundry (wow), washing pump supplies, driving to pharmacy at night to get me some Gas-X lol (another postpartum pain...inability to fart freaking hurts). When he's gone I not only feel lost in chaos of things I need to do, but I truthfully miss his company and cuddling :) I love him <3 p="">
Frankie enjoyed his warm bath last night.
Lucas worked in the classroom on his own and made this under the sea drawing---it has a fish, whale, shark, octopussy, and a crab---which he drew after watching "The Deadliest Catch" with us. We love that show.
And miss Olivia drew us in the backyard--and she tore scraps of paper and glued them up there to make a horse! Guess they miss school!
He hasn't smiled at me yet :( but he smiles and looks around A LOT during his sleep--kinda creepy. Dreaming I guess.
What I woke up to the other day :) so cute. He loves his baby brother. I let him try a little of my milk (in a cup) and he liked it at first, then tried again and spit it out lol..Olivia says it tastes like vanilla haha...I'm still too scared to try it. :P
Oh and thank you Tara & Jacob (our neighbors who have 6 kids themselves!) for bringing us pizza last night ! So sweet!
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