5 1/2 weeks

Can't believe its almost 6 weeks since she was born! We've had a busy week. Cadence went to the pediatrician on Wed and weighed 9lbs and 8oz!! We are really pleased at how big she's been getting. She's definitely eating a lot! She was 20 1/2 inches long so she hasn't really gotten much longer. The doctor said she looked good. I was still having trouble with breastfeeding but she didn't have thrush which is good. I went and saw Grandma Dibby on Monday to get the Maclaren stroller frame thingy and Val and Brian were there. Val recommended the Breastfeeding Center on K Street--she had had a good experience there. I made an appt for Monday when I'm going to have lunch at FIDM but then realized I shouldn't wait that long so I made one for Thurs afternoon. Yesterday (Thursday), I had plans to go shopping at Old Navy with Dr. B and her hot sis so I made the breastfeeding appt for after that. At the doctors on Wed though, I told her that Cadence had been spitting up a bit--more like projectile vomiting every once in awhile (maybe once a day or every other day, really not that often but its scary!) To rule out pyloric stenosis (I think its called), the doc recommended an ultrasound next door but the place was closed. I called Thurs for an appt and we went that morning at 11am. We didn't think she had it b/c usually boys have it and she wasn't vomiting with every meal but we wanted to make sure. Cadence didn't really like the ultrasound (I was supposed to bring her hungry so that didn't help) and the gel was cold but she did ok. Halfway through, when the doc came in, I had to give her a bottle of water which she took pretty well. Apparently the doc could see that her tummy was full with milk, water and gas. Who knew you could see gas on an ultrasound!

So after the ultrasound, we had lunch with Dr. K and Ashley and then went to Old Navy. I had to nurse her in the dressing room which was funny. I wanted to make sure she was hungry for the lactation consultant at 3:30 and she wouldn't eat around 1pm before we went into the store. She nursed fine in the dressing room though. :) I got some cute clothes and then we had some Starbucks and I headed downtown. The Breastfeeding Center (at 2141 K Street) was SO helpful. Pat, the nurse I saw, weighed her (9lbs, 6 oz I think) and got a history, looked at my really painful nipples and offered some great hints/tips to help me heal. She recommended the nipple shield which I had stopped using b/c of the mess it made since my milk came out so fast. But she gave me a hint as to how to sit (laying back) so that it didn't flow into Cadence too fast and that seems to work. She recommended some nipple cream (and saran wrap for a day or two) after each feeding and to take the weekend to do a lot of pumping and bottle feeding instead of nursing. Hopefully that will help my nipples do a lot of healing (its so much more comfy to feed with the shield now that I know how to put it on right!) and then we can go back to regular nursing after a few more days with the shield. She seems to take the bottle fine and Pat said she's past the point of nipple confusion which is what I was most worried about. Hopefully things will be better next week when she hits 6 months on Tuesday! That hour had to be the best $122 I've spent. I bought a nipple shield, the ointment and a new flange for the pump that is bigger (27mm) so there is more space around my nipple when I pump. I'm feeling so optimistic! She also told me that I can let her dictate her feeding schedule at night. Last night wasn't a great night since I think she had a big day, but I set my alarm for 5 hours after her last feeding. I actually woke up about 45 min before the alarm b/c my boobs hurt! I pumped the left one (since that's the one that is more sore) and then fed her with the right. She wasn't very interested in going back to sleep after that but she finally did after a little 2oz bottle. It'll be a process. I don't think I'll be able to go cold turkey overnight but I'll probably space it out a little over the next week or two using the alarm clock.

We're running low on newborn diapers so I think we're going to try the number 1s next. Baby is getting big!

Off to get more nursing pads. I'm leaking everywhere! (It didn't dawn on me to put pads on last night when we went out to dinner. I thought the saran wrap was enough. :) Ooops!) At least my bleeding from the birth seems to have stopped a few days ago and I'm no longer wearing any pantiliners. But my hemmroids are horrible. They need to go away. I've been using the witch hazel pads and eating raisin bran every morning and I'm still bleeding when I poop. :(