5 weeks:
Around 9-11pm I would breastfeed and then AB help supplement another 2-4 ounces with bottle. It has helped sleep well and wake up once overnight around 3am. And then after bottle feeding 4oz, he can sleep till the morning (6-9am).
The challenge lately is knowing when to burp. He will not stop eating on his own. Occasionally he has vomited 0.5-1 ounce when we fed him too fast or too much or without burping enough. Sometimes when we try to burp him, he would be crying so hard for more food. But we know we have to burp him and not give up otherwise he may have a big spit up/vomit.
Positives: gaining a bit of weight, alert during the day, good eye contact and tracking. A tiny bit of cooing (making noises other than crying).
Recently I had a day when I was my myself (my mom went back home and AB was at work before starting paternity leave), and it was rough! I felt like I was constantly multitasking and doing things. At one point I was trying to pump while bottle feeding baby and eating delayed breakfast at 11am. It definitely helps to have another person help! Even mundane tasks like turning on the fan was difficult while breastfeeding or pumping. Definitely helpful to have a cordless pump (thankful for friend who let me borrow hers).
Now at the middle of the night pump I can get 4-4.5oz! Before I was only able to get 2-3, so a big improvement! But during the day, still ranges from 0.75 to 3oz, so still has ways to improve. And varies depending on how recently baby bf.
Funny moments:
*YW: while baby breastfeeds and doesn't make eye contact with me: "typical male, he doesn't look at my eyes and only looks at my boobs."
*Alan: "look, I'm breastfeeding"
*Alan: "have you seen him with his shirt off? He's definitely gained weight! (Pointing out his man-boobs). He's definitely got a double chin!"
*Alan: calls baby "Mr. Bao Bao" because he looks like an old man when he scrunches his eyebrows.
6 weeks:
*Smiled while awake for the first time!
*Did a weighted feed and found he took less than 1 ounce after 40 minutes :( So he isn't breastfeeding well. That's probably why even after breastfeeding for an hour he would still take 4 ounces!
6.5 weeks:
*Now I pump less at night - maybe I'm not pumping enough?
*Also when we weight him, sometimes he takes 1 ounce, sometimes he doesn't take any. We had a lactation person come visit us in house to give some advice. Sometimes he does latch, but then quickly reverts to a shallow latch where his lower lip is at the base of my nipple instead of covering the areola. And his lip is always turned in. When the LC was here, we also pushed on his head a lot to try to keep him latched on, and he got soooooo frustrated. The next day, it appears he won't even try breastfeeding anymore - not even a little bit for comfort. He would just cry, cry, cry until we give him a bottle. I suppose he's too used to the bottle now. Maybe it's too late. Seems like a catch 22 because if we don't give him his bottle, he won't gain weight, and if we do, he won't breastfeed. I suppose I just have to be okay with pumping and giving bottle. We have to give him bottle because he's only 7th percentile by weight! I wish had watched these latching videos earlier. But then again, maybe it wouldn't have helped because my nipple size is too big compared to his small mouth.
7 weeks:
*I think my milk supply is finally increasing a bit. Or maybe the flow is slightly increasing. I even saw a squirt one time (previously just drops). We did a weighted feed and baby took in 1-2oz now. So it's possible that it's not the latch at all because his latch is still the same. We shall see. I was worried my supply was decreasing a few days because I was only pumping 6 times a day, so I'm trying to increase frequency and also do some power pumping along with messaging and expressing. But I've come to terms with pumping and bottle feeding. Prayers that all will be well.
*Baby is definitely more alert during the day. Surprised he is actually staying awake during some breastfeeding sessions. Perhaps he's actually getting milk? However, recently he's been fussy every day at 8pm.
*He's been pooping every 5-6 days. Initially kind of disconcerting, but now we are used to it. So many wet diapers though, so we think he's getting plenty - at least 24oz/day.
*After my mom left, we finally gave him a bath...2.5 weeks later O_o
8 weeks:
*He was started to have a social smile and do some back and forth cooing. So cute! He also laughed in his sleep. I was so surprised by the sound when I first heard it!
*He is resisting going to sleep at night. He will stare off in the distance, but cry when we put him in the crib. We got a fancy mamaroo crib, but he doesn't seem to like it that much. Sometimes we can fool him into falling asleep in it by swinging him and imitating the mamaroo motion.
*I've determined my supply is low and his tolerance for waiting for next letdown is low, so he often falls asleep at the breast or gets frustrated with lack of milk. We are still supplementing with bottle after breastfeeding to help him gain weight. Now almost 10 percentile. I'm coming to appreciate bottle feeding and it's convenience, and ability to see exactly how much he takes. Our goal is 24oz/day. Also he is still pooping every 5-6 days!
*Now AB went back to work, so I'm at home alone with baby. It's been tough but manageable. I've had to really learn to multitask like pump while bottle feeding baby in the bouncer while myself eating using my left hand. Church friends have been so nice to start a meal train for us! It's also been hard having to pump and bottle feed in the middle of the night bc AB has to work now. He still tries to help at night...so sweet. It's also been hard to fall back asleep after getting up at night.
*I've been trying out different pumps including spectra s1, s2, freemie. It's nice with s1 I can move around, although the S2 power seems better. Freemie is nice bc it can fit in my pocket, but still a lot of tubing and not as effective. Trying out larger 28mm flange. I tried pumping 15-20min, but I think to empty to have to pump 40min! Also when I decreased to 6 pumps a day, I think my supply went down. Also trying oatmeal, mother's milk tea.
2 months:
*I was worried about being home by myself, but it's been okay. Taking it day by day. And Alan has a full week off for paternity leave next week, so looking forward to that. AB had been worried about getting sleep when he has to work the next day, but it's been ok. There have been some frustrating days, when he will wake up after 2 hours. But since we go to bed early, and I finish some of the night feeds, AB has been able to sleep a bit more.
*My milk supply has been increasing little by little and my breastfeeding has been improving slowly. Now I have enough milk for a full days supply!
*We finally made it to vaccine day! He got his 2 months vaccines, but afterwards he had been very sleepy and didn't want to eat very much. He even lost a little bit of weight! Fortunately, the third day he recovered.
*We went to our small group costume party at someone else's house, which was our first outing seeing so many people indoors. I also took him by myself to the park (MOLO) one time. I was a little nervous taking him somewhere by myself, but we made it okay. Although we were very late because he wanted to eat right before we were about to leave and I realized I forgot to change his diaper after I put him in the car.
