Days 7-8
Day 7
The jealousy is getting worse. Now Sam’s is getting violent towards Ben, hitting him and trying to pull him out of my lap. Today I was in tears after Sam hit me, hit Ben, then tried to push Ben out of the bouncy chair. Ben didn’t notice, but it kills me to see my sweet Sam act so terribly. I know that adjustment issues are common and that it won’t last forever, but I’m afraid of being on my own for a full day with them.
The engorgement is getting better. Ben’s nursing more and sleeping less. It still hurts like hell when he latches on, but it goes away after a minute or two. He’s a fast nurser, gulping down breastmilk quickly then looking around for a while trying to decide if he’s still hungry. It’s amazing how different he is from Sam. Sam used to nurse forever. Most days he’d nurse for about an hour out of every two hours. I know he’s only a week old, but so far Ben couldn’t be more different. He’s done in 10 minutes easily, gasping for breath after drinking so hard.
Day 8
Ben’s first doctor’s appointment was this morning. Bob took the day off from work to go with us. When the nurse weighed him we were astonished to see that he’s lost weight after being discharged from the hospital. His discharge weight was 7 lbs 8 oz. His weight a week later was 7 lbs even. But he’d grown a full inch. He nursed for a while after being weighed and measured before the doctor came in.
The pediatrician was concerned about the weight loss and asked a number of questions. She wanted to know if he was nursing 8-10 times in a 24 hour period and if he was gulping while he ate. She asked if my milk had come in. Hoping she’d weigh him again I mentioned that he’d nursed after he was weighed. The doctor’s scale isn’t as sensitive as a lactation consultant’s, but she thought she’d weigh him again just to see. Sure enough, his weight the second time was 7 lbs 11 oz. She weighed him again just to make sure and it was the same. I don’t know what happened the first time. Bob and I were both watching the nurse as he weighed Ben and he didn’t do anything wrong. I was so relieved that he’s gaining weight.
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