First outing and long night...

09.16.2009
Wednesday morning we were scheduled to go to H2H for a simple weight check. Brodie was born 6 lbs and so they wanted to make sure that he wasn't losing too much weight. Unfortunately he was. He had dropped down to 5 lbs 6 oz. , which was more than anticipated. Our midwife was a little concerned so she brought in a lactation consultant to work with us. It turns out that Brodie wasn't latching right and so he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed. She explained that 37 weekers tend to be a little weaker in the feeding category and don't have as strong of an instinct to suck. She referred to them as the "great pretenders". She and our midwife decided that it was in the best interest of Brodie to go ahead and supplement with formula while waiting for my milk to come in. She also suggested I start pumping as a way to stimulate the milk. Hearing all this after several nights of painful feedings (who knew it was painful because he was latching wrong) that kept us up all night was hard on us. I began to feel like a failure and a bad mom because I had no idea he wasn't getting his basic needs met. I was a wreck. Worn out and disappointed we decided to meet up with April, Wes, and the boys at Tijuana Flats for lunch to lighten our spirits. This was our first family outing...which I guess is a little bit of a family tradition since April's first outing with Casey and JJ was TF. It was also the first time that Brodie got to meet his cousins! Here are some pictures from our visit. That day we began our regiment of feedings every 2 hours beginning with breast feeding, then pumping and feeding, and the supplementing formula. Brodie did not take to the bottle very well, so by the time we got all the food down it was time to start over again. It was very wearing. Damon and I set up camp in the family room to make it easier to access the bottles, pump, and formula. It was a very long and exhausting night, but we were glad to know that our son was finally getting the nutrients he needed. I was still a pretty big wreck throughout the night, still feeling like a bad mommy. It took a little while and a lot of support from Damon and our lactation consultant to really spin my outlook and stop being so hard on myself. By the morning Brodie's disposition began to change and he seemed more alert. We were also increasing the amount of soiled diapers, so that was a great sign and helped me feel better about the situation. Also, one of the suggestions that the midwife and lactation consultant had was to continually have skin to skin contact (especially with mommy so that it would help with milk production). Below are pictures of Damon and Brodie sleeping. They were just to precious not to post!