Although we still have moments where the reality of the responsibility and commitment involved in taking care of such a small being sinks in, and we look at each other and ask "did they really let us leave the hospital with our baby?"...
So far, the hardest part has been the breastfeeding. We were doing well the first 2 days - as long as Jack wasn't really hungry, but as soon as hunger kicked in he seemed to completely lose patience and only managed to latch on for a few seconds before wailing as the milk wasn't coming fast enough. After 2 frustrating days - for both of us - I was offered a breast shield, which immediately solved the problem, or more acurately postponed the problem as I will have to wean him off it eventually.
Back home, I'm dealing with his strange feeding rhythm: once every three hours seems to be the rule, except for between 7 pm and 1 am when he needs almost constant feeds, leaving me drained and teary-eyed most nights. I've built in a mid-afternoon nap for myself that definitely helps, but now he's extended the hourly feeds to other times of the day too... leaving me wondering if he's getting enough milk. Sigh. The good news is my nipples are healing and most feeds are now pain-free.
Bart's been very supportive but on seeing me so tired and upset has already suggested dropping the breastfeeding, hitting the bottle and giving him a teat. I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet though.
On a more positive note, I weighed in at 90.9 kg / 200.4 lbs this morning, just a few hundred grams higher than my lowest recorded weight last year. So the pregnancy weight is virtually gone! I have to admit this is better than I expected, especially considering I was no saint during the last 4 months. Seems the fat gods decided to spare me this time around ;)
The plan is to keep eating healthily, which seems easier to do knowing everything I eat is passing through my milk to the little guy, and hopefully lose a constant 0.5 kg a week till the end of the year. That'll get me out of the 80's by the second week of next year... which would be amazing!
I think I can hear Jack rousing from his afternoon nap so will sign off now and leave you with the first pic of him with his eyes open:
