Sunday, February 14, 2010

Steep Learning Curve


= FREEDOM



Disclaimer: This post is all about babies and nursing. After 10 months of fussing/bottle-REFUSING, cutting date nights short, phone calls from a stressed Daddy or Grandma, excessive night wakings, etc. etc.

Lily just spontaneously decided to take a bottle about a month ago...

...and it has changed our lives!

I am not trying to bash nursing, because I believe in it and I will try to nurse all future children... and I am definitely not trying to bash my child, but I will just say that some things have a very steep learning curve and for us keeping Lily happy and satisfied via nursing has been one of them. It all started making sense to me ( the way-too-frequent feedings, inability to nap, slowed growth) and I have come to the frightening conclusion that she has been borderline starving for the last 10 months. She's been eating solids since 4 1/2 months, but she eats like a bird and her weight percentile has been steadily decreasing since her 4 month appointment--definitely a worry since she was a peanut to begin with. I think she just never got enough milk. I literally tried the bottle weekly and sometimes daily...to no avail for 10 whole months!! THAT STUBBORN LITTLE BUGGER!!!

I'm not really even sure why I am posting this except that it has been this huge life-altering phenomenon as a fairly new mom to be able to leave for longer than an hour and a half and know that my child will be happy and full; to actually be able to go on a childless date with my husband- heaven forbid; to be able to go to my hair appointment and not have to leave the chair in a frenzy with wet hair when I get a frantic text!

My sister tried to drill the concept of getting a nursing baby on a bottle asap so you aren't stuck as her only source of nutrition/comfort... and I just didn't listen. I'm sorry Whit! (boy am I sorry...)


Anyway...I truly feel like Lily's whole temperament has changed this past month...not even kidding. EVERYTHING is now better, easier, less stressful and less dramatic than it used to be. I guess you have to learn some things the hard way...

3 comments:

Aaron & Amy Norton said...

i just updated my blog and looked at yours and realized we both picked a baby blue background! i feel ya!

kat said...

I listened to your advice when you told me to keep giving Julia a bottle so she would be used to it, and it seems to be working. I still get a few frantic texts for help when I leave her every now and then though:) I'm so glad things are looking up for you now!

Chrystal said...

Sigh...I've been there! I'm happy you're doing good and that Lily is doing well too. Nursing can be really HARD! (It was for us, colic thrush, low weight %'s, PPD from hormones...man guilt and worry can sure make a mom stick with something miserable a lot longer than she would in any other situation!) CELEBRATE that you have some freedom again! GET OUT! Let's do a lunch or something! I'd love to see you guys!! (sorry for not commenting much lately - my blog list showed you hadn't posted in over a year - I guess your RSS feed is off...)