Update this week

Greetings Everyone,

We have had the changing of the guard this week, as the Boones headed back to Ohio, and my sister, Rachel, has arrived from Chicago. She has been learning the ropes of being Aunt Rachel (neither one of us had much baby experience before Owen came on the scene) and she has been cooking us yummy meals to help out.

This week with Owen has brought many of the same challenges that the first week brought, and we are only on week number 3! Owen had some unusual changes to his how shall we say, "diaper deposit" along with some spitting up of blood a few days ago that warranted another trip to the pediatrician. This coincided with me having some serious soreness/pain when nursing. So, we had some question as to whether the blood Owen was ingesting (and he was, unfortunately) was coming from me or from his own system. The Pediatrician decided to treat both possibilities, so little O is on a baby dose of Zantac, in case the problem is acid reflux...and I was put on nursing hiatus until I had a chance to heal for a few days. Well, I finally got the boy used to nursing, and denying him that opportunity in the last few days has been an upsetting turn of events as far as he is concerned. There has been many hours of fussy protest about everything.

Today, I went to a support group meeting for new moms. My lactation consultant hosts these meetings twice a month, and offered to give me some extra consulting time after the meeting was over. I found the meeting SO helpful...hearing other mom's concerns and questions that were the same ones on my mind. I also found the meeting rather hysterical; 15 moms and their babies, all making noise, moving around, having individual conversations and one person attempting to present information over all of the chaos. It was a zoo, and I found it impossible to focus on any one thing. -that could be the sleep deprivation too, dunno.

My nursing consultant, Ann, spent time observing my nursing technique, and concluded that I was doing the right stuff, but my dear baby is clamping down on my nipples when I nurse. She assured me that the pain I was experiencing was not the typical dry/cracking skin that most women deal with in the first week or two of nursing...she described it as "crushing" pain, and what a relief to learn that I was not just being a wuss! She said that Owen may outgrow this method of nursing on his own, or that I might consider having some cranial sacral work done to help him release the tension in his jaw. I am going to look into that referral tomorrow.

I am back to nursing on a limited basis. And right now, I've got to go!