Well it's almost 10pm on a Friday night and I should be trying to sleep while Aubrey is but I'm a crazy man. Actually I've really wanted to update everything because I know people have been dying to know what's going on.
If you follow Facebook updates from us you probably know it's been rough since we came home. Breastfeeding has proven much harder and unnatural than you'd think. Kristina really had a rough start not long after we got home. She was in a lot of pain, and to top it off the baby was seemingly hungry all the time. We ended up getting some nipple cream to help.
Then came the exhaustion factor, Kristina realized she was becoming a 24/7 milk machine. Couple that with not being able to really go out b/c first of all baby can't really go out until 2 month when she gets her shots, plus baby needs to eat often so where do you find the time?
We stayed at Kristina's parents the week of Thanksgiving. I had some time off from work already scheduled so it worked out. Kristina's mother has been an ENORMOUS help since we brought Aubrey home. She even took care of Aubrey one afternoon so Kristina and I could go to dinner and a movie, New Moon because Kristina LOVES the Twilight books. There were still plenty of rough nights though at her mom's house with Aubrey.
The thing is this girl just doesn't want to be laid down. This is basically what happens: she eats for a while and slips into a "milk coma", and she's out. I mean the girl is sleeping. Try to lay her down in the bassinet and in 5 minutes she's up and screaming. We've tried different positions: back, side and stomach. Sometimes she sleeps but most of the time she doesn't. The main ways that have worked to get her to sleep for an extended period of time is either a) in her carseat or b) laying on one of us.
One other thing happening is that she really seems gassy or has an upset tummy a lot. I think that's half her problem when she's so fussy, not that she's still hungry or didn't get enough to eat. The pediatrician and lactation consultant family friend have made several diet recommendations for Kristina including no dairy, no spicy foods, no sugar - we're also now trying to stay away from wheat and soy b/c they can be allergenic. I really think this is the cruelest part of parenthood so far, at least for Mom because going through pregnancy and labor's hard enough and she had to cut out enough during that time. Why can't she now eat whatever the hell she wants? NO FAIR MAN!
Anyway, we made a doctor's appointment this past Monday to see if he had any recommendations for Aubrey's fussiness. Baby hadn't gained weight for the whole week since the last appointment, so we set another for the end of the week. We went back yesterday and she had gained 2 ounces, right on target at 1/2 oz a day. So for now I guess everything's ok. We got some Gripe Water to help settle Aubrey's tummy. That seems to be helping.
The little girl will be 1 month old on Monday! Craziness. This whole year's been nuts. I'm really bad at remembering years in general, but I'll never forget 2009 and everything we've been through. This may have been the longest month of our entire lives. Everyone reassures Kristina and me it gets better. I certainly hope so because it ain't easy lately!
Click here for my Facebook album of Aubrey with new uploads. I've added some videos below too from the last couple of weeks. Hope everyone enjoys them.
