Week 3 - just call me Buttercup (moo)

I never imagined what it would be like to be a cow, or a vending machine. But I have a slight glimpse now. I feel like a milk producing animal, and it's constant like a vending machine. It seems like there is no break - it's just hour after hour of constant feeding. Emi seems to want to eat every 1.5 to 2 hours, and sometimes it takes over an hour to feed her, then pump for 15 minutes. Then 10 minutes later, she wants to eat again! I might as well not ever put a shirt on again!

Bema and Papa came to visit this week. It was a good visit, and they did a great job at spoiling their grand daughter (which is a grandparent's job, right?). We finally put some clothes on Emi, who pretty much stayed in just a diaper for the first 2 weeks because it's been so hot, and she was swaddled the majority of the time. She also got her first bath this week - yes we kept her dirty too (are we already bad parents?). Hopefully this is not an indication that she is going to be the smelly kid at school who always seems to have snot hanging out of her nose. She loved her bath, BTW!

Emi also seems to have come down with a case of baby acne - and I also hope this isn't a preview of her skin during puberty. If so, we might want to start stocking up on the clearasil now. She had her 2 week check-up, and weighed in at 7lbs 4 oz. Still going in the right direction, and she said we could start weening her off the supplement. I think that's going to be easier said than done - because she seems to have gotten used to the milk coming pretty fast and not having to work for her food. I also still need to work on making sure my milk supply is at the level that she needs.

The trick to sleeping at night!
We give her a bottle of formula for her last feeding of the day (usually around midnight, or 12:30am). This gets her to sleep all night, usually until about 5am. What a difference this makes for our sanity, and we figured she was already getting formula, so what the hell? I had a hard time with the idea of giving her a bottle (I was scared of nipple confusion), but a lactation consultant who came to the house courtesy of the state of CA said that there is no way to tell if she is going to get confused until you try it. She suggested giving her one bottle, and then seeing how she latches on the next time. If she seems fine, then there is nothing to worry about. So we did this, and it was the best thing ever!

So week 3 was much better than the first 2 weeks, but we are still learning how to all live in harmony. I have been pooped on, peed on, and seem to change diapers 1 minute before she goes again. She will put us in the poor house just with diapers alone! And what are these crying bouts that she has for no reason at all? We're still learning...