We can't believe Gianna is already 17 days old! This coming Wednesday she will be 3 weeks old! Like they say, "Don't blink or you might miss something!" She looks so much like her Daddy still!
Gianna is getting on a pretty good sleeping pattern so far. She wakes up for the morning around 10 A.M, and stays up until around noon. Then she takes a 30-40 minute nap, and is usually awake the rest of the day until 2:00-3:00 P.M, when she will take a 3+ hour nap. After that she is usually up until bedtime when we change her into her nightgown, read her bedtime stories and then I breastfeed her or Jebo will give her a bottle of breast milk.
We have tried a few different things at night. We have a snuggle nest in our bed for her but she squirms a lot in it, and now that I have practiced breast feeding laying down and feel comfortable with it, she has been sleeping next to me and I have gotten great sleep, and so has Gianna.
Every 3 or 4 hours we wake up, I change her, we switch sides (aka change breasts) and I feed her again. For a few nights we tried giving her bottles in the middle of the night also, but it didn't help. It was more hassle to get up, go downstairs, heat it up and feed it to her. Breast feeding is much easier. Plus, with implementing the bottles, I would have to get up at 3am and pump to empty my milk supply and I would get 5+ ounces at that pump as well as 7+ a few hours later when we would wake up for the morning. I definitely don't have a milk shortage!
It's much easier to empty at her feedings than to have to pump multiple times a day. Now I only pump in the AM, the afternoon and sometimes in the early evening.
We saw a lactation consultant yesterday and Gianna is feeding well. She weighs 7 pounds, 7.5 ounces now, so she is gaining weight as she should be.
The lactation consultant showed us how to feed her a bottle properly so she isn't gulping faster than her tummy can register the milk. Instead of holding her in a laying down position, you hold her sitting up, and let her take 5 sips then angle the bottle down so she can rest for a second. She said that is the pattern babies breast feed in. They take 5 sips, take a breath and pause, then they sip again.
It is quite clever to bottle feed this way. We practiced this morning, and Gianna fed very well and was actually full after 1.5 ounces, whereas before we were feeding her 2.5 ounces and she still seemed hungry. This morning however, it took her 10 minutes to finish 1.5 ounces, yet before she would drink the 2.5 ounce bottle of breast milk in 2-3 minutes flat.
Gianna is very alert, and loves to look at her toys and stare at Mommy and Daddy. She really seems to focus and listen when you talk to her. She is quite clever!
Jebo and I take nightly walks with her around 7pm when it starts to cool down. She really enjoys the fresh air and the stroller.
We are all learning slowly but surely as we get to know each other. Every day is new and exciting. We love being her parents!
"When in doubt, pinky out!" Hehe!
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