2 nights ago I started pumping. It's just a one time a day thing, in the evening, after Ellery's eaten. But Cary really wanted to help out more and requested that I do it so he can feed her around midnight and I can sleep a bit longer. Can I just say that pumping hurts a LOT worse than breastfeeding? I mean, oh. my. gosh! And then to feed her again shortly after pumping is down right PAINFUL. It makes me second guess how much "help" it's actually providing!
Friday night seemed to go alright. Cary fed Ellery and he got her to sleep (which is turning out to be a feat unto itself), then I took over. But last night was a different story. Maybe my body didn't have enough time to recuperate after the pumping and before her next feeding but something happened and she was awake and cranky for a long time. Poor Cary was pushed to the limit last night.
We'll see what we do tonight.
Right now our biggest challenge is trying to keep Ellery awake during the day so she will fall asleep at a decent hour in the evening and stay asleep through the night (with the exception of feedings of course). How can you tell if a baby has their days and nights mixed up? She was awake last night from 9:30ish until 1:00 AM, and according to Cary nothing would satisfy her. But when I took over around 2:00 AM she was fine! Her sleep was a bit more "broken" than usual. Broken means that she would have a full feeding and shortly there after wake up for about 10 min., sleep for a bit longer and then wake up again. Strange. Maybe she's still getting use to this life outside the womb.
Me...I need a routine! I'm starting to get frustrated because I can sleep from 7 AM to 10 AM (the entire time between feedings assuming she's having a 3 hr. feeding day) and then I feel like the majority of my day has gone by because it's 10:00 before I get started again. Not to mention I have to feed her AGAIN, which means I really don't get started until 11:00. Today I wasn't able to put in my contacts and brush my teeth until 1:00 PM! In the evenings Cary and I are a bit on the hesitant side to do anything other than watch TV b/c we feel like we have to be in bed at 8:00 to brace ourselves for what ever Ellery might give us that night. We have GOT to figure something out.
Any pumping/feeding/sleeping/awake/schedule advice is greatly appreciated!! :)
Now, I think I might take a nap!
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2 comments:
the rhythm that we used was feed, wake time, sleep, feed, wake time, sleep.... Really, this early in the process, it is hard to get them too scheduled. The best book for me was Babywise. It gets a lot of criticism but it worked like magic for us - not throwing your own instincts out the window. It gave me a goal to work towards and we did get there by about 8 weeks old.
Oh YEAH! i finally got to see the pics and hear the story. I am SO happy for you guys. Ellery is beautiful! You and Cary are glowing! What you are experiencing is SO fresh in my mind. Hang in there!
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