the arndt family: One Month of Madeline!

Madeline is officially one month old as of yesterday! Sleep has gotten MUCH better. In fact, I believe she almost slept for five hours straight last night. That was exciting! Anyways, here's what has been going on since Maddie was born:

Week 1: We were in the hospital for three days after Maddie's birth. Once we were home, my Mom pretty much held Maddie all the time except when I had to feed her (obviously)... Although, she held her a lot in the hospital as well. We had to supplement Maddie with formula through a tube while she was latched on because she lost 10 ounces in her first two days of life (but gained an ounce before we left the hospital). We struggled with feedings because she would ALWAYS fall asleep too early. Then that weekend, she decided she didn't want to breastfeed or something. She cried for 10-15 minutes while I was trying to get her to latch on (this happened twice in the same day). I cried. And then we decided to just give her a bottle of formula (we were trying so hard to avoid giving her a bottle). Anyways, I eventually gave into the bottle that weekend because I was dying from sleep, and she was still struggling with the breastfeeding thing. So Jon and I took turns feeding her overnight.

Week 2: We took Maddie into the pediatrician's to get her weight checked since she had lost so much at the hospital. She was almost back to her birth weight (yay!). She had also grown a whole inch. She got better at breastfeeding for a few days until Thanksgiving day. We were at my sister's house, and I tried to feed her but struggled again. She cried and fussed a lot again, but I persisted in trying to get her to latch on. She eventually did, but it wasn't fun getting to that point. We also got her newborn pictures taken early in the week, which turned out awesome! She started to get pretty good at sleeping at night (3 hour stretches!!!). However, towards the end of the week, she started spitting up and vomiting A LOT, which would wake her up if she had been asleep in her crib. After almost no sleep Thursday evening, we decided to take her back to the doctor's the next day to see if we could get a prescription for some reflux medicine... Unfortunately, the nurse didn't think Maddie had reflux but just a lot of gas that she was struggling to get out. She gave us some suggestions on how to help with that and some over-the-counter medicines that we could use as well.

Week 3: Maddie's spitting up and vomiting continued... She decided she wouldn't let us put her down at all during the day and wouldn't sleep in her crib at night. It got to the point that I would just have her sleep in my arms in our bed. Co-sleeping sounded much better to me instead of no sleep! We went to see the lactation consultant towards the end of the week because Maddie was struggling with latching on correctly (or I just couldn't get her to do it correctly, at least), and she was very fussy and pulling away while eating. I thought the lactation consultant might be able to help us figure out why she was so fussy when she ate (was it just reflux or a fast letdown?). Unfortunately, the consultant was no help at all and Maddie decided to be absolutely perfect during the session. The only good thing to come from it was that I can get Maddie to latch on correctly almost every time now (Which is definitely a HUGE bonus, I just wish she had helped us more with our questions. She seemed very uninterested and done for the day). On her last night this week, we finally got her to sleep in her crib overnight again. It was such a happy day (or night) for me! This week was definitely the toughest on me. I cried probably every single day because I hated breastfeeding and because I wasn't getting any sleep. I just didn't know what to do about feedings because I didn't think I could last until at least 6 weeks (my goal for breastfeeding before I decided what I wanted to do). I was convinced I was going to end up pumping all the time, and then feed her from a bottle.

Week 4: Maddie continued to sleep in her crib (yay!), and we were also getting her to take naps in her pack and play in the living room. She has also done so much better with breastfeeding (I think I can do it)! This last week has been SO much better! Jon has been so amazing because, after I get up to feed Maddie several times in the evening, he gets up with her around 8AM to feed her (usually pumped breastmilk, if there is some), and I go back to sleep for at least two more hours. I am so grateful that he has been around to help me out because I'm pretty sure I would be a zombie right now... and my child would be eating formula all the time... and I would stink from not being able to shower for a whole month. We have also started to notice her slowly adding some "coos" to her noises. They are much more pleasant than her grunting and squawking noises. She has also started to look at us instead of past us. She tracks pictures we move in front of her face (she even tracked my face one day- advanced learner!!). She is also awake during the day much more often. She gets quiet and listens to me when I am talking to her. We are loving this new stage of development she has entered into. We can't wait for her to interact more with us and with everything around her.