Friday, February 18, 2011

2nd week thoughts

In roughly 7 hours Jay will be 2 weeks old.

So glad this week is finally over - it started out good, but got boring real quick as plans were tenatively made but then canceled and yeah... didn't help that while it was supposed to hit 50 today, it was really damp and rainy-looking out so I didn't get out to take that much needed walk, pushing Jay in the stroller, on the nearby walking path.

I gotta say, this week turned a bit boring during the daytime. I'm looking forward to hubby being around a little more next week, as he scheduled his vacation at UPS for the week after Jay's due date - these last 2 weeks, being the one mainly taking care of Jay, has been rough.

I really want to make a better effort at getting him to sleep by himself, preferably in the bassinet. Hubby doesn't mind him co-sleeping with us for now (currently he often sleeps curled up on my chest with me laying on my back, slightly propped up), but once mommy has her 6 week post-partum check up and is cleared for "stuff", well, kiddo needs to give mommy and daddy their space in bed.

I also really would prefer to supplement his feedings with formula too.

Tomorrow we have Jay's weight follow-up appointment at the doctor's office... one of the things about breastfeeding that is annoying is that I have no clue how much he's actually eating, whereas with a bottle you can know how many ounces kiddo is getting. I also *hate* how I'm the only one that can feed him while exclusively breastfeeding. Yes, I can pump, and I have, but again, I have no idea how much he's actually eating and so who knows if I'm pumping enough! I can get anywhere from 1-3oz per pump session... but how much does that feed him? I would really like for hubby to be help out with feeding him - when he was getting up with Jay in the middle of the night to calm him, he'd always end up waking me up anyway just to feed him. I've also read that formula doesn't digest as quickly as breastmilk too, causing there to be more time between feedings, which if logic serves correct, means he'd sleep a little longer between nighttime feedings and mommy and daddy would be able to get a little more sleep. Who knows, maybe he'd be able to sleep alone a little longer too if he's not waking up so often for food.

I figure it's worth a try.

I don't mind breastfeeding him when we're at home here during the day or in the evening, etc, but it would be nice to get a break and be able to have a little time to myself, not having to drop what I'm doing to give him a boob because daddy or whoever is over helping me out can't feed him.

We have a smaller can of Enfamil premium newborn formula that the hospital gave us - I figured I'd try it out, at least see how he takes to it, as I'm pretty sure the doc is going to tell us to supplement tomorrow anyway.

To be honest, I wasn't originally planning on ever breastfeeding my kids, as neither my sister or I were breastfeed - in our house, formula was the norm. Hubby is the opposite though - in his family breastfeeding was the norm so he just figured that would be something we would be doing. I figured I'd give it a shot, especially seeing the price of some formula brands, knowing it could save us money. But it's been 2 weeks and I've stuck it out like everyone suggests and I really feel like for my own sanity and for the sake of my nipples we NEED to supplement (some nights Jay can sleep a good 3-4 hours straight, others, like last night, he wakes up every hour wanting food).

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