I am looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend! This week has been nice. Thursday we had our first Dr. appointment. They weighed her in at 7lbs 9ounces. This contradicts her weight earlier in the week at 7lbs 12 ounces, but the earlier weight was the same scale as her discharge weight, and it was an electronic scale, so I am going to say that she could easily be 7lbs 12 ounces. When we got to the Dr. Office, they had paperwork for me to fill out, but I was a little perturbed about that because I had gone to the office almost two months before she was born and filled out all the same paperwork for them... and they didn't have them all in the computer and so I had to start over. But it was minimal. And Ardyn was sleeping in the car seat in her stroller, right up until the second we got called back.... when she started crying because she had to poo.
The appointment was pretty uneventful... after I changed her they looked into her eyes and ears and mouth. Dr. was performing a c-section so we saw the nurse practitioner and she was incredibly nice and Ardyn really seemed to like her. What I liked the best... when she got done checking Ardyn, and she noticed that Ardyn was hungry, she told me that I was more than welcome to stay in the exam room and nurse her before we left, and she put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. That was incredibly nice, and that meant that we got to leave the office with a happy baby whose tummy was full of milk.
Actually, I really have been surprised at how astute other people (women especially) are to knowing when she is hungry, and how people seem to not even flinch at the fact that I need to breastfeed. I fed Ardyn first away from home and hospital while at Evan's grandma's last Saturday. She did well. Then I fed her in OB on Tuesday while at the hospital visiting... and At Anya's house that night.
Today we went to our first of three Infant Massage classes... and I nursed her there in front of all the other moms and kids, and in front of the 15 ladies who were there becoming certified in infant massage. It was held at the hospital and the woman who teaches the class is from Masachussets. She also has an impressive career and mothering history, with 5 children (some of whom are adopted) and is a La Leche League Leader and lactation counselor, and was the president of the Motherwear catalog for 20 years.
I love Motherwear. Before having Ardyn I spent about $100 and 4 nursing camisoles, a pair of nursing capri pajamas, and a 3/4 sleeve black shirt. I have already been wearing them as staples. Today it was so nice to have on a tank top that lifted from right under the bust so that I could nurse without being all exposed during class.
Ardyn did really well, and we were massaging legs and feet today, but when I got to her second leg and foot, she was fussy and sucking her hands wasn't pacifying her anymore, and another mom with a new baby had already breastfed, so I was like... here goes. And she latched right on and sucked away for a long time. No one seemed to even begin to mind. Tomorrow there will probably be some dads at class... so I don't know how that will be if she needs to eat again. I do the football hold, and not many other moms apparently use that, but it is so much nicer in my opinion. I can have an entire hand free if I want, and her little body fits between my hand and elbow... I wonder how that will work when she gets bigger! LOL.
So the Infant Massage was very cool. I have been giving her a little lotion massage each day, usually after her bath or perhaps before bed. But this was wayyy better. We got some wonderful massage oil for babies in a tiny bottle, and we learned actual massage strokes that feel good to give, so I can't even imagine how well they feel to receive. She did seem to relax and enjoy... even more than with a little lotion massage that she was getting before. Tomorrow we work on bellies and backs, and Sunday we move the arms, hands and face. We got a taste of bellies today, but the babies were fussy and so we decided to continue tomorrow. Ardyn loved the Belly massage, and I think that it will help well to get gas bubbles out. Right now she likes to nurse when she has gas bubbles... although that doesn't happen really often. Actually she likes to nurse to soothe just about anything. It soothes me too.
I really am surprised at how easy nursing is for us. I really expected tons of difficulty, especially from what you read and hear about. It was pretty easy from the beginning, I only had one night of difficulty.... I think I was just made to nurse. I know she was. When my milk came in I wasn't even engorged. She is doing wonderfully and regulating my milk supply. She tends to feed often and well in the late evenings, and last night she slept for SIX hours straight! At 10 days old! YAY! We didn't get to sleep till 1:30, but she slept clear till 8am, ate again and slept clear till noon. I got up for good at 11am, and was able to shower and dress and do my hair and make-up before she got up.
Last night my sister came over and we went to Wal-Mart. I took back some huggies (we use Pampers) that someone bought us, and grabbed a few things that we needed. Liz and I sifted through newborn clothes and picked out two little sweatsuits... one purple and one pink and grey. She has nothing to wear because everything 0-3 is still so big on her. Even the newborn pants from the sweatsuits are too big in the waist, but once you put the hoodie on it holds her drawers up. She looks so cute in it! I was holding her up today and she is now starting to try to put her feet down and put weight on them. It's totally cute. I held her up and for a few seconds she straightened up her legs and looked at us and I said "look Daddy, Ardyn's going jogging!"
It's funny because people are like "I bet you are going to get so much scrapbooking done!" and I am like.... nope. I can't put the baby down! She's too cute! I need to cuddle with her. ALL the time! LOL. Tonight after I fed her, I tried to lay her down and she just wanted to cuddle. I held her for a while and then transferred her to the swing. After about 15 minutes she was fussy so I moved her into the sling and went about putting away clean laundry and picking up here and there, and as soon as I put her in the sling she was happy and within 10 minutes she was asleep and like a limp noodle. I sat down to watch a little TV and blog and check my email, and took her out of the sling after a bit. She is sleeping next to me on the couch. We took a LONG nap this afternoon too, after massage class. from about 3:30 till 6:30 when Evan got home from work. I hope that she still sleeps through the night some... but I am not tired yet.
We have taken so many pictures of her, that just the photos from the day we got home through yesterday won't fit on one CD. Insanity! How do you scrapbook that?! How can you scrapbook when you take pictures so fast and she keeps growing and doing cute things and you can't barely keep up? I guess I will have to quit my job so I can scrapbook. LOL. But I have been filling out her baby journal, a little each day or so, as events happen.
I guess I should attempt to wake her up a bit and feed her soon. Everyone take care!
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