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I'm chugging along at work. Having Mondays with Mina is both amazing and exhausting. My work week flies by and my nights away from her for dance class (Tues and Thurs) are made more tolerable by having Monday with her, and Wednesday night with her.
I've managed to make *just* enough milk for her 4 daycare bottles each day by the pumping I'm doing. I'll breastfeed at home or when we're out when able* and she gets at least 1 bottle of formula each day (at night before bed). My supply isn't adequate for her, so if I have to supplement at all, doing it at night to 'knock her out' for bed is most helpful. Despite drinking a ton of water and taking the suggested supplements, my milk is just where it seems to want to be. I'm sure a big part of it is due to not successfully emptying out when I'm not pumping.
*If Mina is well rested she eats well - in a reasonable(ish) amount of time and to completion. If she's tired or very hungry however, she had a hard time eating. She fights me over it, keeps pulling me/pulling off and grabbing at me. It is a combination of her less than perfect latch and my less than easy letdown. Typically she won't eat much early in the day due to these difficulties so I'll give her a bottle (sometimes milk, sometimes formula) to make sure I get some food into her. Later in the day we may have a leisurely feed on the couch before my own dinnertime.
We weighed her at Isis last weekend and with clothing she's up to 14 pounds! She's doubled her birth weight in three months. This is huge! Where she was looking tiny and underweight before now she is looking almost overweight (the app on my phone seems to think she's in the 86th percentile - she was in the 8th when we first brought her home). One of the MDs I work with who used to be an OB asked me how big she was at birth (because of how chunka she looks now). I'm curious to see what her pedi says. I've been sending her to daycare with 5oz bottles, because she was eating so often. Babies don't pack on more than they need with breastmilk (what isn't used up by the body is released via waste) but can do that with formula. I'm hoping to get some advice from my Pedi at her next appt in a couple of weeks. The Pedi and various lactation consultants have told me that the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance issue isn't a problem if she is gaining well and having enough wet diapers (to indicate that she's not dehydrated). She totally is, but I have to wonder if getting more of the high sugar milk (foremilk) and less of the fatty stuff (hindmilk) is leading to rapid weight gain - more rapid than is good for her. It is funny though, she looks more and more like me now that she's got fatter cheeks and 'sausage legs'. I was a ginormous baby.
She's starting to vocalize more - I think we will be in trouble. Apparently I was the same; I would babble on and on and not shut up as a baby. She's also discovered her feet and puts her legs up in the air with knees bent to grab onto them with her hands all of the time. Her Daddy isn't so happy about such an unladylike position. :) She doesn't seem to have interest in standing (if I hold her up) like my brother's son Mason prefers, but she is trying so hard to crawl! She's super strong with her head, shoulders and abs during tummy time (yoga pose baby), rocks all over the place and seems just about ready to roll over her left shoulder to her front if she is on her back. The other day she was trying so hard to roll over - she started grunting and then crying with frustration because she could just about get over there, but kept rolling to her back.
It is amazing how quickly they develop! Before I know it she'll be up at the dance studio. She does love singing and dancing and music - they have quite the calming effect on her. I have to wonder if all of the time with me singing to myself in the car, going to shows and at dance class is to blame. I have particular fun on Wednesdays, when Brian heads to the basement to work on costuming and Mina and I catch up on our arts-related programming (Dancing With the Stars, Glee and Smash). I did watch the latter this morning while feeding her - OMG the Bollywood number was great! :)
I've managed to make *just* enough milk for her 4 daycare bottles each day by the pumping I'm doing. I'll breastfeed at home or when we're out when able* and she gets at least 1 bottle of formula each day (at night before bed). My supply isn't adequate for her, so if I have to supplement at all, doing it at night to 'knock her out' for bed is most helpful. Despite drinking a ton of water and taking the suggested supplements, my milk is just where it seems to want to be. I'm sure a big part of it is due to not successfully emptying out when I'm not pumping.
*If Mina is well rested she eats well - in a reasonable(ish) amount of time and to completion. If she's tired or very hungry however, she had a hard time eating. She fights me over it, keeps pulling me/pulling off and grabbing at me. It is a combination of her less than perfect latch and my less than easy letdown. Typically she won't eat much early in the day due to these difficulties so I'll give her a bottle (sometimes milk, sometimes formula) to make sure I get some food into her. Later in the day we may have a leisurely feed on the couch before my own dinnertime.
We weighed her at Isis last weekend and with clothing she's up to 14 pounds! She's doubled her birth weight in three months. This is huge! Where she was looking tiny and underweight before now she is looking almost overweight (the app on my phone seems to think she's in the 86th percentile - she was in the 8th when we first brought her home). One of the MDs I work with who used to be an OB asked me how big she was at birth (because of how chunka she looks now). I'm curious to see what her pedi says. I've been sending her to daycare with 5oz bottles, because she was eating so often. Babies don't pack on more than they need with breastmilk (what isn't used up by the body is released via waste) but can do that with formula. I'm hoping to get some advice from my Pedi at her next appt in a couple of weeks. The Pedi and various lactation consultants have told me that the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance issue isn't a problem if she is gaining well and having enough wet diapers (to indicate that she's not dehydrated). She totally is, but I have to wonder if getting more of the high sugar milk (foremilk) and less of the fatty stuff (hindmilk) is leading to rapid weight gain - more rapid than is good for her. It is funny though, she looks more and more like me now that she's got fatter cheeks and 'sausage legs'. I was a ginormous baby.
She's starting to vocalize more - I think we will be in trouble. Apparently I was the same; I would babble on and on and not shut up as a baby. She's also discovered her feet and puts her legs up in the air with knees bent to grab onto them with her hands all of the time. Her Daddy isn't so happy about such an unladylike position. :) She doesn't seem to have interest in standing (if I hold her up) like my brother's son Mason prefers, but she is trying so hard to crawl! She's super strong with her head, shoulders and abs during tummy time (yoga pose baby), rocks all over the place and seems just about ready to roll over her left shoulder to her front if she is on her back. The other day she was trying so hard to roll over - she started grunting and then crying with frustration because she could just about get over there, but kept rolling to her back.
It is amazing how quickly they develop! Before I know it she'll be up at the dance studio. She does love singing and dancing and music - they have quite the calming effect on her. I have to wonder if all of the time with me singing to myself in the car, going to shows and at dance class is to blame. I have particular fun on Wednesdays, when Brian heads to the basement to work on costuming and Mina and I catch up on our arts-related programming (Dancing With the Stars, Glee and Smash). I did watch the latter this morning while feeding her - OMG the Bollywood number was great! :)
