Things have certainly gotten a bit easier on the homefront since my last update. Aerin has finally started to sleep in 2-hour stretches and my sore nipples are starting to toughen up some. Our new life — whilst typically difficult of ones with new babies — is admittedly easier than we had expected, so J has decided to go back to work a full 2 weeks early so that he could save up vacation days for the holidays and possible emergencies.
We took Aerin in for her first pediatrician’s appointment yesterday, and the doctor declared her as healthy as can be. The only possible note of concern is that Aerin has a very slight tongue tie. But the doctor told us that just as long as she is breastfeeding without any problems, we do not need to be worried about it at the moment. He warned us that she may run into some speech problems later in life, but that we can deal with it then rather than perform the minor yet unnecessary surgery on a newborn.
She had lost some weight when we were discharged from the hospital — down to 6.6 lbs from her birth weight of 6.11 lbs — but had gained more than a full pound in just 4 days! We can only credit this to her voracious appetite. I had no idea just exactly how much she was eating until a couple of days ago, when we began to feed her some pumped breastmilk — she can down more than 3 oz in one sitting!
I think our biggest struggle at the moment is her day-night reversal, which we had experienced with Claire as well. We’re trying our best to keep daytime bright and noisy and interactive, and nighttime dark and quiet with minimal interaction, but I think that only time will help at the end.
But because she is still only sleeping 1-2 hours at a time, and craves more interaction in the middle of the night, I still remain utterly exhausted and am eternally grateful that J’s parents arrive every morning to help with both babies. Luckily, I am pumping enough breastmilk for them to feed Aerin throughout the day, and so far there seems to be no sign of nipple confusion.
I still remain a bit envious of mothers whose newborns are mellow little things who want to sleep all the time…because neither of our children have fit this mold. (Aerin already has quite a pair of lungs on her — you won’t believe the amount of noise that such a tiny baby can make!) But for now, I am thankful for their health and well-being…and hey, Aerin’s only been with us for a week so things can certainly change, right? 😉
Claire seems to be handling the adjustment pretty well. For the first few days, we had to avoid letting her see me hold Aerin, because she would get overly upset and jealous, but she is getting better now. She’s even tried sharing her toys with Aerin, and imitating her when she cries.
But the cutest yet has to be when we’re burping Aerin, because Claire will grab her giraffe and try to “burp” the giraffe too!
