How on earth are we blessed with all four of these souls?!
This has been a very busy few days. A postpartum whirlwind!
This week, John learned how to ride his bicycle without training wheels! (Chris was there, I was upstairs resting.) For Christmas, the children received Striders, which are glider bikes lacking pedals, the purpose of which is to allow children to teach themselves to balance. John and Mary have spent the last month gliding and zooming all over our drive way and the trails in the back yard. When Chris tried taking off the training wheels from John's regular bike, John just took off! No teaching, no parent running alongside, no fear. Very cool! (And then John lost his second tooth today!)
So cute! One little benefit to having had a son is that I can still call Margaret my "baby girl." She doesn't have to automatically lose her "baby" status!
It's so odd--each morning Margaret has taken a nap (having not taken morning naps in months), putting herself to sleep with a pillow and blanket in a random location in the house. The above nap was taken while Aunt Erica was loudly playing piano and singing songs in the same room. Fine by me!
Joseph actually awake for a few brief moments! Getting his sun bath in the window.
Now I have learned the paced feeding method and hope that will help him get over his preference for a fast, easy flow. In the meanwhile, my IBCLC tells me to be confident that I am a very experienced nursing mother and we will get Joseph back to nursing once his bilirubin (15 as of yesterday) is gone and he wakes up. In the meanwhile, I continue a two-hour cycle of attempted nursing, pumping, feeding via bottle, putting Joseph undressed in a sunny window (sun breaks down bilirubin), changing his diaper, and letting him fall back asleep, all to start again at the two-hour mark. The good news is that Joseph is gaining weight very well with this bottle-feeding: two ounces per day for the last three days! The plan is working!
I am grateful that Joseph is my fourth baby because I can work through these difficulties with fewer tears and panic than I would otherwise. I am grateful to have two other adults in the house helping take care of me and everything so I can take care of Joseph. I am grateful that my family is so well-fed with meals delivered to us.
It has been a luxury to post to the blog!
Funny how tiny he looks in John's lap and so much bigger in the photo with Mary!
ReplyDeleteSarah: Just goes to show what camera angles and distance can do to change perspective!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it nice that you're already an experienced nursing mom? These things are so much harder for the newbies!
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is interested, you can achieve the same effect as the Strider by removing the pedals and lowering the seat on the child's bike. Then when you put the pedals back on, the same magic happens!
Sorry to hear you are having issues, but like everyone else said, it is so much easier being educated and not a newbie. I had to pump round the clock it seemed like with Madi and bottle feed with her. I did go to a slow flow bottle to get her back to liking nursing. She started back with the night and "comfort" nursing and we were add in feedings from there.
ReplyDeleteOh how familiar those feeding issues sound :-) Yes, I'm sure you'll be able to transfer him after a little more plumping, but it's an exhausting ordeal in the mean time! Joseph is just beautiful. Definitely looks like big brother.
ReplyDeleteThank you for updating. I was wondering how it was going, I was about to ask actually.
ReplyDeleteI see I've missed a lot! Welcome baby Joseph! He is precious and so tiny! Praying for the feeding issues to resolve quickly!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to John on both his milestones this week! Blogging comes in handy-- I already cannot remember exactly when my oldest lost his first few teeth, and I wish I'd written it down! I'll have to search through my photos!
Though we are enjoying our snow, I am envious of your bike-riding year round weather! My four year old had just mastered two wheels on his older brother's bike when we had to put them away for the season!
Thank you for all the encouragement, ladies! Thank you to those of you sharing your pumping experiences, that helps me so much.
ReplyDeleteHe's a sweet little peanut! You're in our prayers!
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