Now that things are settling down, we've definitely had some hiccups.
1) The Bilirubin Blues - Stella had a slightly elevated bilirubin count when we left the hospital, so we had to follow up with an appointment the next day. Each day, her number went up, and we had to go back to the pediatrician over and over. It was so annoying, but we knew it was important to track. Finally, it was back down to 13.8 yesterday, so we were good. We have to make sure we feed her regularly, and we try to let her get some sun. She was never in a "bad" range, and she didn't require a sun lamp. However, we didn't want it to get out of control. You can definitely tell in this picture that she's a little orange-y:
Either way, her numbers have dropped, and she's just following up with Dr. Kreh in 2 weeks. Her weight dropped from 6 lbs 15 oz. at birth down to 6 lbs 10 oz, but yesterday, she was back up to her birth weight. Overall, she's doing very well and eating a lot.
2) Nursing woes - Nursing started off SO well. She latched right away, and I was definitely producing enough milk. On Sunday, I noticed I was a little sore in the morning. We survived the day 3 clusterfeeding madness - weeew! - but my breasts were definitely a little worse for the wear. On Sunday afternoon, I was feeding Stella in the nursery. I pulled her away, and I looked at her mouth. There was blood coming from my breast, and I was absolutely freaking out. I panicked and had no idea what was going on. I tried later in the evening to feed her again, and it hurt so bad that I screamed in pain.
Immediately, I started crying because she was upset from being hungry. I couldn't bear having her latch because of the pain, and I didn't know what to do. I was literally sobbing and feeling like a terrible mother. Thankfully, I had my breast pump already, so Kathi, my mother in law, helped me get everything together and sterilized, and I started pumping just to make sure she had something to eat. For the past couple days, I've been pumping every 2 hours, and I've been working on getting her to latch again. Yesterday, I had her latch once, and today, she's latched twice. We aren't using the right side just yet since it was the one that received the brunt of the clusterfeeding action - it's been her favorite all along. After she latches, I pump to make sure I'm empty to keep my supply up. I suspect we'll be back to regular ol' nursing in a couple days. I just needed to heal.
3) Boost for breakfast, an Ensure for dessert - Since delivery, my body has definitely been tired. I don't have much of an appetite, and most foods sound disgusting. This is really weird for me since I'm typically a big eater - even before I was pregnant. I've never had an issue with appetite. Well, I realized the other day that I had barely eaten enough to keep me going - a banana, a small salad, and some gatorade before dinner - and I knew this wasn't good. I was lightheaded and I kept feeling faint. We decided to buy some Boost to help me get calories in, so now, I try and drink those and have meal bars to be sure I'm getting enough calories to keep my milk supply up. The supply is fine but I don't want to risk losing it. I totally feel like an old person drinking them... it's pretty hilarious.
Other than those small issues, everything has been great. She's a great sleeper, and Derek and I get plenty of sleep - it's just broken up into stretches of two to three hours. Her fussy period is typically in the evening, and the only way to comfort her is to let her nurse and lay on my chest until she falls asleep.
Derek is a diaper-changing master - all I need to say is, "I think I smell pee," and he's on top of it. He even took some poop to the shirt at the pediatrician the other day. It was hysterical. Poop was everywhere, and he was a total champ about it! He even gets excited about it. We'll hear a big squirt from her diaper, and he goes, "Oooh! Yeah!" He's also great about swaddling, and he likes to just lay with her while I take a shower or eat. We've been walking every day for about 20 minutes, and I seem to be recovering just fine. My belly is definitely smaller every day, and I can't wait until it's finally gone. I'm down 12 lbs from my last pregnancy weight, so we're making progress. I'm glad we haven't had any major issues, and we're finally getting into a routine. Oh, and we can't realistically use our cloth diapers yet because she's so tiny. They start at 8lbs, so we're doing Pampers Swaddlers for now. Once she's a little bigger, we'll switch over to the gDiapers.
I absolutely love spending time with her. Everyone made it sound like it would be so exhausting, but honestly, it's no worse than pulling fire guard in the Army. You just wake up, pull your shift, and then go back to sleep. No big deal. She's so sweet, and even when she's angry, it's adorable. If you can't tell, I'm absolutely crazy about her :) We've already given her a nickname - Pig - because she snorts and farts and makes the cutest little squeal-y noises. I love it. :)
I better get a shower before she wakes up to eat again. She's been sleeping since our walk, and I thought I'd use the time to blog about her. We took some pictures of her yesterday as she was sunning by the glass doors. You can definitely tell her color is better:
