Ansley Elizabeth-1month old

All things Ansley:

• Weight: 8lb 2oz, 20%(birth weight 6lb 9oz)
• Height: 20.25inches ,25%(birth height 19.5inches)
• Head:15%
• Hates: Breastfeeding, big burps, sucking(no paci either), getting her noses sucked out
• Loves: cuddle time, sling carrier, to be swaddled, big hairbows(oh wait that’s Mommy!), sleeping on us, her side or her belly, looking at the chandelier in the kitchen
• Eats 2-4oz every 2-4hours of breastmilk from the Avent bottles
• Her defense mechanism when she is stressed(shots, lumbar puncture etc) is sleeping and lots of it
• Sleeps most of the time, she does wake and have very short periods of awake time in between. At night she is either swaddled and in her bassinet or snuggled with one of us. Daytime sleep is anywhere!
• She is very tolerable of Caleb’s sweet and not-so-sweet touches, kisses, rubs, hugs, and pokes.
• Lost her umbilical cord stump(it was hanging by a thread and the doctor cut it off at her one month appointment)
• Wears newborn clothes and some 0-3(because they are just too cute to wait), and newborn diapers
• Finally got her room finished(pics coming soon!)
• Number of:
• Times Hospitalized:2(birth included)
• boo-boos:4(IV, spinal tap,diaper rash(s) and umbilical cord)
• Colds:1
• Times rolled over from front to back(even if it doesn’t count):3
• Times pounded in the head by big brother:too many to count
• Times went to church:2
• Trips to Mommy’s work:3
• Trips to Daddy’s work:1

Library Story time

Our first full day by ourselves was today and we took a trip to the library. They have a free story time almost every Tuesday mornings. His class is up to 23months, luckily there is a 2’s class too! He loves it. The guy in the yellow shirt leads it, he reads a couple of books, sings a few songs and gets out shakers and toys to play with.

Caleb is really into “dog” books here lately, so on our way to the library we were talking about getting some dog books. Lucky us, it was DOG week. He he is petting the big stuffed animal dog!

Ansley had some happy awake time and then drifted off to sleep.

Once we got home(and I had to pump), Caleb enjoyed some of his library finds a “dog” book and a “choo” dvd.

Strong girl

Before:

During:

After:(she even smiled after, like she was proud of herself!)

This girl is so strong. She will just wiggle and push and squirm and move until she gets where she want to be.  She has actually rolled over from tummy to back 3 different times(one of the times she wasn’t even upset. I’m not thinking that it “counts” but it’s still pretty impressive!  She is also very good at holding her head up and with her head control in general. You have to be careful where you put her. Even putting her laying across your lap, she will kick and wiggle right off!

Helpers version 2.0

Nana came and helped us out for a week. She was such a blessing to have her with us. She helped us feed and take care of Ansley, clean up, wash pumping parts and bottle, organize pumping parts and bottles, cook dinners and play with Caleb(and rock Caleb in the middle of the night). She was such a great help that she was worn out by the end of the week! She spoiled us all by bringing some cute clothes for Ansley, treating Mommy to Yamato(a favorite Japanese restaurant) and other yummy meals, giving Daddy a break after work and getting Caleb new toys.

Nana and her grandbabies.

Nana helping feed and burp Ansley.

Caleb showing Nana what happens when she spends too much time with Ansley and not enough for him!

Lots of Nana/Caleb time was spent reading books and playing with one of his new toys, Thomas the train-“choo”.

Nana took Caleb for his first trip to Toys-R-us. They came home with this double slide climber! Daddy, Nana and Caleb all worked very hard to put it together! (early birthday present!)

We moved his sandbox and pool and made a little playground area in the backyard for little boy! He loves going out there now.  He will go to the back door and move the blinds(which he shouldn’t do!) and look for his new play area, asking to go outside. We put it in a mostly shady area so Ansley and I will have a place to hang out while big brother plays.

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Papa and Grandma Vicki came as our last set of helpers.  I cant believe how fast and slow time is going all at the same time. Caleb learned how to say “Papa” and  “Grandma”. Grandma made us lots of yummy meals! They were a nice transition because they didn’t stay with us(they stayed at a hotel), so we didn’t have them first thing in the mornings or in the evenings after dinner. Both times of the day are hectic and busy for us, so we got to ease into our days alone, doing just parts at a time.

Papa and Grandma

Papa had his fair share of helping out. Lots of snuggle and feedings with Ansley.

And lots of playing with Caleb. Caleb asked to go outside with Papa all day, even the minute they came back in! Thanks for being a trooper,Papa!

Rainy day #3! Papa, Grandma and Caleb all got their raincoats on and took a field trip. Papa said “ok, Sport!”, when he was picking him up in the garage to run him out to the car in the pouring rain! I love that Caleb gets some good Papa time!

But Grandma had Caleb’s heart in the kitchen. That boy loves to eat and that grandma loves to feed that boy!

So many (healthy) options!

Thanks Papa and Vicki for all of your time and generosity! We loved spending that time with you and are very thankful for all your hard work!

Go BIG or….

go hungry!

The epiphany: The lactation consultant we saw once(at the very beginning of the feeding struggle) suggested we use the nipples and bottle on the right. She said that it would be better because Ansley was eating so little, that way we could really monitor(better more exact measurements) how much she was actually eating. So I happily switched from the bottles that I had(Avent) to the free disposable hospital bottles. She takes those bottles great, the only problem is she still won’t breastfeed.  Where does my epiphany come in? “I" look nothing like the nipple on the right! Avent nipples are known for being good to use with breastfeeding because they resemble(believe it or not!) a mom.  Ansley HATES and I mean HATES having the nipple flair out.  She acts like she acts when she breastfeeds when she tries to drink from the Avent bottle.

The plan: To take away all things that don’t have the “boob flair” and make her make the transition. If I can win her over to the Avent bottles then I will have won her over to the boob.

The immediate future isn’t looking so fun. She is going to fight us and feedings are going to take FOREVER! I told Josh that we need to really support each other and not cave, especially in the night, and go back to the small nipple(which includes the hospital paci she takes too). Oh, when is this feeding struggle going to end?

Praise God!

Our celebratory picture with milk all over Ansley’s face! I couldn’t get downstairs fast enough to share(and show) our good news! Ansley just wanted to keep eating!

We had a truly successful breastfeeding! And when I say successful, I mean swallow after swallow after swallow, with a choke in the middle, add 3 extra minutes and a burp at the end SUCCESSFUL! And when I pumped afterward I got 1oz less from the side I feed her on! (side note: when I fed her on Tuesday at my Breastfeeding support group, she got 0.3oz from me!)  We have had a couple of good sessions but it would be like a total of 2-3 swallows the whole time.  We have been praying for Ansley like crazy! And Praise God, we can say Thank you Lord! We are still a bit away from loosing the bottle but I am thankful for every little success! I was singing “Cast all your cares” and “How great is our God” over and over the whole time she was eating trying to remain calm and relaxed(Penny, our smart start nurse, said that when you aren’t relaxed it shuts off the milk flow), and to remember Who is in control.

Sorry for another Breastfeeding post, but as you can tell feeding our Little Miss is running our lives right now!

“…and again I say rejoice!”

Helper in the night

I forgot to mention one very important helper, Uncle John! He just recently moved up here to go to law school and fortunately for us was available the night we went into the hospital.  Saturday evening before things started really hurting(the day before Ansley was born), I called John and asked him if he would rather come spend the night(SLEEPOVER!!!!) just in case or be called in the middle of the night when we really needed him. He voted for the sleepover! We really didn’t want to have to wake up Caleb in the middle of the night and either have someone watch a wide awake toddler or take him with us and then it be a false alarm. So we were very relieved to have John!

Thanks Uncle John! We are so very grateful for you!

 

Allie, John’s girlfriend, wasn’t here when she was born, but she came up the next weekend!

Pumping world

My life these days is centered more around pumping than anything else.  Josh thought it was bad when I pumped 1-2x/night a couple of nights a week with Caleb(when I was at work). I thought it was bad too. We were both really not looking forward to that part of breastfeeding. Our worst nightmare,pumping wise, has come true! I pump 8-10x per day. I have been for over a week now. It not only takes the actual time and annoyance of pumping(15-60min at a time).  But you can probably add hours of dishwashing now too.

On a SUPER positive note though, I think that I might be getting ahead of her! Since I started pumping after every feeding about a week and half ago, I would have only one bottle in the fridge. The bottle that I just pumped, ready for the next feeding, and usually I would have to pull some of my frozen milk out to get the right amount that she needed. But just since last night I have 4+ bottles ready to go! I am so excited and hopeful! Praise God! She is still nursing for about 10minutes(every now and then she gets herself extra time added to the end if she is actively eating) and then takes about 2.5oz. Although she does “demand” an extra ounce every now and then.

But look at that cute little face. She makes everything worth it!

It’s a tough job being a big brother…

but someone has to do it.

Caleb has been down to one nap for several months now. But since Ansley was born, he is falling asleep so easily. And then still taking a good nap in the afternoon. No matter where we go or what time we go he has been falling asleep in the car! And then today we had our first day of bible study, and he actually fell asleep in his class. He didn’t fall asleep because he was crying and then someone was holding him or rocking him, no, this boy laid down on the carpet and went to sleep. Never cried or whined. He had carpet imprint and a dazed look on his face to prove it when I picked him up!

Smart Start

Our county has a free program called Smart Start, where a RN follows you and your baby until they are 6weeks old. They keep an eye on baby’s weight, mom’s blood pressure and any other problems that you and your baby might have. Here is our nurse, Penny! She weighed Ansley today and she weighed in at 6lbs 14oz! This picture makes me laugh because you can add a conversation bubble from Ansley about not wanting to see her weight!

“Don’t tell me…”

Here is Penny when she came when Caleb was first born!

Wordless Wednesday

Breastfeeding Support Group

Hi. My name is Leigh Anne and I have a problem.

The hospital started this breastfeeding support group that you can go to every week. I decided to go because I need all the help I can get! The benefits that I was particularly looking forward to was 1. I could weigh her and see how much she had gained, and 2. I could get a chance to talk to the lactation girls again.

When I got there, there was a circle of chairs, with about 8 moms and their babies and their BOOBS! Some a little less shy than others. Being a labor and delivery nurse, I help moms breastfeed, but there was just something different about a boob circle! The lactation nurse that I last dealt with, Bev, was there and I was so happy to see her again.  I immediately took Ansley over to the scale and weighed in. She was 6lbs 10.4oz! Yay, Ansley! Our goal is .5-1oz/day weight gain. Our weight gain over the past 5days was just under 1oz/day! ‘Weigh’ to go baby! Now to work on more of the milk from me than from the bottle!

The whole time that I was there I felt like I was apart of a documentary. Maybe the family that was from San Francisco in the movie-“Babies”. Most of the moms were a little “hippy”, “earthy”, or just plain weird for me! They were all really nice and welcoming, apparently most of them go to many different new-mom groups now.  I guess it was nice to know that I am not the only one worried about weight gain or milk supply. But the biggest help was coming up with a few more “tricks” to do by talking to the lactation consultant.(like doing Kangaroo care,skin to skin, again).  I don’t know if I will go again or not. We will see how I feel next week…

Here’s what 6lb 10.4oz looks like. (Above birth weight of 6lb 9oz!)