I gave up MY plan yesterday and life is so much better. It's not that I have anything in the least against formula feeding - apart from the price. It was just the fact that I had done months worth of research and decided that this was the way to go for us. Everyone says the first few weeks is hard - so I was anticipating that. What I didn't anticipate was that Matthew's struggle to feed - every time, him not sleeping well between feedings and my inability to sleep at all was taking it's toll on all of us. Because I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't making enough milk to stisfy him.
After our doctor visit yesterday - which she said he looked healthy - but sounded like we did need to supplement and come back next week for another weigh in - Mark and I decided to just go the formula route, I would continue to pump as much as I could to keep up production and give him as much as we could. Amazingly enough, after we made that decision, I felt the weight and stress just fall off!
Mom and Dad spent the night at our apt so Mom could get up with Matthew and feed him while I would try to pump. After the 11:30 feeding - Mark said - no more for me that night - I needed to stay in bed and sleep.
Thankfully, I finally fell asleep!!!!! I probably got 5 or 6 hours - that's about as much as I had had in the past three days!
Matthew is a different baby now that he can get a full tummy. This mommy has a better outlook on life and Daddy can get enough sleep now, too instead of trying to keep Matthew quiet so that I could try to sleep.
God has been very gracious to us!!!
5 comments:
Way to go Kristi, you have to make decisions that are right for you and the family. Nothing wrong with bottle feeding, it is the loving and cuddling that goes along with the feedings that is important and I know you are doing that. I can just imagine grandma Hightower lovin' on that grandson. Please greet her for me. Did you have any trouble pulling up the pictures from Picasa? Yeh, suffering for Jesus here in Peru :)
Kristi-
Matthew is so cute and so blonde--I love his hair. Congratulations on a safe full term delivery, what a blessing! I'm glad you were able to make the feeding decision that is right for you and I'm thankful you were able to get a few hours of sleep!
love ya!
Oh Kristi!
That sleep thing is AWESOME isn't it? Just remember, my two HUGE boys got formula from the start... Matthew even wound up on the Parent's Choice Brand from Walmart and he's obviously great!
I'm still actually leaning towards formula for this baby, too... I am a woman who needs her sleep...
I am so proud of you making such a big Mommy decision like that and that you have peace with it, too! I'm praying for you...
Happy New Year!
Love,
Leanne
I'm so glad you found a solution that works well for you guys! Glad to hear that Matthew got a good report from the dr., too! That is always encouraging! Enjoy that sleep you are getting...your body needs it! I'm sure you are all much happier and more relaxed now. Take care. Praying for you.
Kristi--Sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get caught up! First of all, Matthew is absolutely adorable. Secondly, I totally relate to the breastfeeding thing--NO ONE ever can prepare you for how hard it really is. I am so glad that you were able to let go of "your" plan and do what was best for both of you. Breastfeeding was the best thing that I did with Jack, but it was also the hardest. I cried the first time I gave him formula because I was just so "stuck" on doing things my way. Formulas these days are extremely good, and I can't believe it, but I am actually considering doing it full-time with this baby. What is most important is that Matthew is growing and you are healing and getting sleep. You are making great MOM decisions! God bless.
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