1 Week Old

Where has the time gone? I can't believe our sweet angel is a little over a week old. We've had a pretty good week. It's been stressful as we've both been figuring out the "breastfeeding thing" and getting to know one another. We've had my mom here everyday since Emma and I came home from the hospital and are REALLY going to miss her next week. She's been my moral support so far and it's going to be tough to transition to life on our own.

I think we've done pretty well so far. Nights are the toughest because that's when WE'RE used to sleeping and Emma's used to doing her own thing. We've been feeding every 2 hours during the day and 3 hours at night, per the doctor's orders. It's often hard to get her back to sleep after a feeding - she's either passed out afterwards, or wide awake with no hopes of going to sleep for at least an hour.

We've had 2 doctor's appointments this week. The first was a wellness appointment to check her out. She had lost more weight - down to 8lbs. 1oz. She was also looking a little jaundiced, though it wasn't bad enough for the doctor to test. She got her hepatitis shot, which was painful to watch. The entire appointment was pretty painful for me. Emma wanted to nurse constantly before we left and I had to stop her so that we could leave in time. She didn't want to be in the carseat so she screamed the entire way to the doctor's office. She calmed down once I took her out of the carseat and was ok until they had me take her clothes off to weigh her. That's when it hit the fan! She screamed bloody murder until we left, at least 20 minutes later. We discovered that she had uric acid crystals in her urine while at the doctor. It's caused from dehydration, and is often common in babies who are breastfed in early weeks. She also refused to nurse in the office because we had really just begun to get the breastfeeding pattern down. Needless to say, when the doctor recommended a follow up appointment to check her weight, I could have cried.

Today was that follow up appointment. She gained 0.5oz since Friday, which I thought was good. The doctor was glad that she didn't lose more, but wanted her to have gained more. Everything else checked out well. The uric acid crystals are gone and Emma was much more pleasant - she slept through most of the appointment. We have to go back AGAIN on Friday to re-check her weight. I'm dreading it, but hoping and praying for a better number on that scale. The doctor's only advice was to feed her more often. We're going to start to feed every 2 hours even at night and let her have small meals whenever she wants them. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

I'm going to cram some photos in quickly while Emma naps - she's starting to wake up! I'll update when I can with the results of her next appointment. Keep us in your prayers!