Monday, October 3, 2011

Puking, pooing and lack of sleep

So we're a little over 3 weeks onto our new lives, and what a three weeks its been! The first few days in the hospital we're actually nice. Shaun took time off work so he came in at 8am and left at 8pm (usually a bit later, he'd push it until they kicked him out). The first night I was so exhausted, I had woken up on Wednesday morning at 8, slept from 12 till 2 that night and then nothing until 11pm on friday evening, where I was to be found a sobbing heap with a screaming baby who couldn't latch. It was a nightmare. I didn't know what to do and I was beyond exhausted. Eventually a nurse came in to see what was up and I begged her to take Lily to the nursery so that I could just sleep for an hour. Her response? No sorry the nursery is closed tonight because we're having a maternity open day tomorrow. So we're only taking first night babies. Whew I thought, good my baby is a first night baby! Oh no she says, only ceasar babies. So I cried some more and asked her to just help me feed her. Eventually she saw that I was just not coping and said she'd take her, but would have to give her a top up feed of formula. Although I had been so adamant not to give her formula, I agreed. Its very difficult to stick to your guns when your baby is hungry! So I slept for four blissful hours and went to fetch her. She had also slept and eaten and was much happier. That night she had to go under the lights because she was a bit jaundice from the vacuum the used to pull her out. That was so traumatic! Now I can see that I was being overly dramatic but I was tired and scared and overwhelmed and she was all alone in the incubator with these little sunglasses stuck over her eyes and no clothes on and SCREAMING. She was meant to stay with me in a private room but I just couldn't take seeing her cry like that so they took her to the nursery. Again she had to have top up formula feeds, because under the lights they can dehydrate. The next day we went home, so wonderful to be in my own home with my own things! That night I gave her a bit of formula because she was hungry, but the next day my milk came in and since then we've had no problems.
She has pooed on Shaun and mom, ha ha. So funny! As soon as they open her nappy to change her it all squirts out! Ha ha. She also has a bit of a puking problem and she puked all over all of us. She projectile pukes and manages to totally cover us. So much that you have to change your outfit all the way to underwear. Ha ha. So now I have to hold her upright for 30mins after each feed so her tummy settles. Difficult to do at 3am when I'm exhausted but worth it. She slept in a two hour routine at first but is now on a 3.5 or 4hour one which is much better. I sleep with her when I can, which means that not much else gets done!
She's very very sweet and shaun and I are very much in love with her. We're slowly finding our feet and getting used to things. I'm breastfeeding and its going well, although I I can understand the allure of bottle feeding. Much more socially acceptable to whip out a bottle than a boob!

1 comment:

  1. Keep up the breastfeeding!!! As alluring as bottle feeding may be, a formula-fed, constipated baba is NOT fun! I managed to breastfeed Luca for 5 months and if he's been constipated once in his 29 months of life thus far, its a lot! Well done on surviving your first 3 weeks - it just gets better and better! x

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