Breast Feeding....

Caylee is 5 days old and doing great! I really could not be happier.

I planned from the beginning to exclusively breastfeed her (introducing bottles around 5-6 months). Of course, I know that things don't always go as planned...but here's to hoping.

In the hospital after delivery I had a very hard time figuring things out. I was nervous holding her and doubting myself in general.

I didn't feed her right from the start. I tried to feed her however, we just could not get the hang of it. I did get her to latch on while being wheeled to the recovery room.

Things were pretty bumpy to begin with. She had a terrible latch (would not open her mouth wide enough) and I hurt just thinking about her eating! I tried to feed her every 2 hours but was exhausted both mentally and physically throughout the whole hospital stay.

She started losing weight and everyone was concerned about how she was doing. On the last night in the hospital a nurse even asked if I just wanted to formula feed her. ...Talk about feeling defeated.

Caylee was not eating enough, her urine was rust colored (sign of dehydration), and she wasn't pooping (during the whole last day).

I decided to just keep trying and so met with a lactation specialist (while still in the hospital). She was very nice and really helped me stay calm. We decided that I'd keep going and then pump if things continued to go poorly.

When Caylee was born she weighed 7 lbs and 6 oz. When we left the hospital she was only 7 lbs 1 oz.

We scheduled a Saturday appointment (the day after she came home) to see her ped. She wasjaundiced and the hospital staff was also concerned about her not eating/having dirty diapers.

Much to our surprise, at her appointment, we found out that not only was she gaining weight but she was HEAVIER than she was at birth! We left the doctor with a 7 lb 7 oz baby girl!!!

After that appointment, things got much better! I felt so much more confident! We have slowly been working on correcting her latch. After being sore and bleeding for a few days things are really looking up.

She no longer has to eat every two hours which makes things easier (I feel less overwhelmed). She eats on demand which is actually still pretty often (about every 3-4 hours-starting and stopping twice).

She now does cute things like puckering her lips and sucking while asleep!! She gets squirted now because she likes to go from eating to sucking her hands! I am taking tons of pictures because I want to remember all of these fun moments.

So...breastfeeding and the pumping are going great and things are finally seeming manageable.