Friday, May 15, 2009

One Week

So, I have the "refrain" from the Barenaked Ladies' song "One Week" in my mind. I never realized how annoying it is. :)

Yesterday Elsie was one week old. Mom and I took her up to the pediatric clinic to have her one week weigh in, and....(drum roll)...

After 7 days, she weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz.! My, oh my!

Remember, her birth weight was 8 lbs. 1 oz. In actuality, we went to have her jaundice checked on Monday they went ahead and weighed her. She was already back up to 8 lbs. (from her discharge weight at 7 lbs. 14 oz.). I thought that must be a fluke since it had only been 4 days since her birth, but I guess not.

Today I follow up with the lactation counselors at the hospital. They're going to be plum pleased at her weight, but I'm wondering if it's normal for a one-week old baby to nurse for ONE HOUR at a time. Geez. This may be too much information, but I'm pretty tender.

So, a couple of things that have hit a nerve lately:

The pediatric clinic nurse called for her by calling for "Elise". I waited, and when she didn't say anything else, I said, "Elsie?" She just looked at me and said, "Okay." I may have come across a little harsh, but I wanted to make sure she was calling for us. Turns out that all the hand-written notes in her medical record have her name right, but the actual type-written label on the folder actually says Elise! I'm afraid this is something my dear daughter will have to contend with her whole life.

And then, a friend from church came over to bring dinner to us, for which we are very thankful, but when she sat down to chat for a while, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Please tell me you're going to call her Elle." Excuse me? This friend's a little rough around the edges to begin with, but I really wanted to slap her. You don't have to like my baby's name, and you also don't have to comment on it. We're starting a revolution, people! Single-handedly bringing back the old lady names, one baby at a time. They will be in vogue soon enough and you will scoff that you ever scoffed that Elsie is the name of the Borden cow.

Anyway, I'm trying to find my groove. I got the most sleep last night without keeping my mom up all night, so I felt good about that, though my emotions are all over the place. Sleep when baby sleeps. Cry when baby cries. That seems to be the way things are going down these days, but I do see a light at the end of the tunnel. At least until my mom goes back to Texas on Sunday, then I'm going to have a breakdown because I'll be all by myself with baby all day. I'll let you know how it goes when I have the wherewithall to blog about it.

Thanks for the prayers and moral support!

3 comments:

Craig-Jen said...

People have "warned" me to not share our baby names prior to giving birth, because people will critique the names. When you wait until the baby is born, people won't say anything 'cause the name is associated with a cute baby. Guess that's not true in your case...

I don't think we'll wait until the baby is born to share the name...that is if we can agree on one!

Misty said...

Can I just tell you what my pediatrician told me, and has worked for us for both babies. Totally just advice (she nursed her baby for 13 months, and I did 13 months with Cara and so far almost 7 with Micah). Nurse on each side for 10 minutes. That's it. The first few weeks I did 15 minutes on each side...but that was it. She originally told me to nurse on each side for 10 mins, then pump for 10 mins to get my milk in (but I don't think you have a problem with that!). Anyways, I nursed for an hour or so the first few days in the hospital because C was slightly jaundiced, and my ped said it wasn't doing anything, she wasn't getting any extra milk for nursing that long. Anyways, just an opinion....I cried like a baby when my mom left too!! :)

Kelly said...

Erin,
Hey, ok I nursed Hannah for10mos, she was a big baby, 8lb5oz...wanted to eat a lot. I'm guessing it took about 45min or so to nurse her....when she got a little older her suck was better and she would eat faster. But after the first several weeks...i too would limit to 15min on each side.

With Caleb...totally different he was only 6lbs, spit up ALL the time. The doc said he was probably eating too much...I tried 10min on each side, then eventually it got down to 10min total 1 side per feeding....which was really screwy because then you know one side was all messed up.

So I would say nurse both sides for sure each feeding....you know they say you want to nurse long enough on each side to get the "hind milk" the good rich stuff not just the watery stuff.

I know so much to take in and first baby....it's all so new...but you are obviously doing something right...she's eating like a champ!! Lanolin works great for after she eats...keeps you from getting so tender. I used it for several weeks then didn't have to use it anymore.

Feel free to e-mail of facebook anytime, I had an amazing lactation lady at the hospital when hannah was born....came to help me with every feeding...so awesome.

I enjoy your posts so much....and such a precious baby.