Thursday, March 4, 2010

One for the record books

This morning at the end of our 11am feeding, Seth let go of me and looked up into my eyes. I smiled and he smiled back, a REAL smile - so big, and my heart melted. So today is going down as the first smile in the baby book. I've had my suspicions before this but today there was no doubt about it. He smiled.

Sleep really does beget more sleep. I've noticed a definite improvement in his mood the last few days where we've spent more time sleeping and less time running around town. And we're slowly but surely inching bedtime earlier and earlier. Just last week he was not going to bed until 11pm, and last night he was asleep shortly after 8pm. YES! The earlier I can get him to bed, the more "me" time I get before I have to force myself to bed at 9pm. Because no matter what time he goes to bed, he pretty much wants to eat at 4 or 5am consistently. And after that my night is pretty much over. He never eats much at that time so I have to get up and pump or else I feel like I'm going to explode... which brings me to my next topic...

Seth's poops tell the story pretty clearly, but I've also noticed that he seems to have a love-hate relationship with my boobs. He dive bombs them like he's starving and then spits them right back out repeatedly, sometimes because he's choking and coughing, but other times for no apparent reason. Anyway, I did some reading and I'm pretty sure we are dealing with an overabundant milk supply on my part. God has blessed me with more milk than we know what to do with. My left side seems pretty normal but my right side is super enthusiastic and I can consistently pump 5 or more ounces from it if I am full. Unfortunately, Seth really only drinks 3-4 oz max at a time.... so I've realized he is often filling up on foremilk and not getting a whole lot of the yummy fat and calories. Anyway, we'll have to do some experimenting to see if we can even things out. I guess it's not that unusual and tends to work itself out naturally over time, but it sounds like too much foremilk can lead to abdominal pain and excess gas. So might as well be proactive and see if we can't make my already happy baby into an even happier one!

It's funny how you get motherhood amnesia and forget all about those first few really hard weeks. I suppose you have to or else no one would ever have more than one child.

2 comments:

buttakwup said...

Yay! Smiles are THE BEST.
Are you serious? 5oz from one side in one pumping!?
I had to pump for about 40 minutes in two sessions (both sides) to get 4oz to give to my Mom yesterday so that Craig and I could go out to dinner. My goodness. No wonder you're always referencing how they wake you up, and how you have to pump to relieve discomfort.
Twins next time, perhaps?

Amanda said...

For realsies. Now that is FULL, like full as in it's been like 6 or more hours since I nursed (the first morning feed after he's had his late night bottle).