I am lurking a bit when I get time. The first two weeks were rough. Breastfeeding didn't go as well as I had hoped. Asha became pretty dehydrated around day 3 and we ended up in the ER. We have been to many pediatrician and lactation consultant appointments over the past several weeks, which has been really time consuming and draining. We ended up having to supplement with formula and I am pretty much exclusively pumping now since Asha doesn't latch well and when she latches, she doesn't feed well. We have almost eliminated the formula supplementation and transitioned to breast milk, though supply is still a bit of an issue that I am working on. That is also very time consuming and draining.
Otherwise, Asha is very good and has been gaining weight like a champ. She is so amazingly adorable and I love her to bits. DH is amazing with her and helps so much. DH went back to work last Monday and my mom went home last Thursday, so I was home with the baby on my own for two days last week and will be on my own for two days this week as well. My mom stayed for two weeks, which was both helpful and stressful at the same time since she is a very picky eater and was playing "Dr. Google" with the breastfeeding issues.
My MIL arrives on Wednesday. I am hoping that she will be helpful, but I am worried that she is going cause stress as well, since she has a lot of strong ideas about what we should be doing with the baby and what I should be eating. I like Indian food, but I don't want to eat Indian food 24/7, so I am worried about that. Also, my appetite has been pretty low in general, which surprises me since everyone says that with breastfeeding, you feel hungry all the time. MIL is probably going to try to over feed me and that will really make me freak out for sure.
I have been finding it hard to break away and just get time to read disboard. Everything seems to take forever and I just don't have time to myself much at all at this point. My friend said things get better after 6 weeks. We will see. I wouldn't trade her for anything, but I do hope things start to feel a bit easier soon.
And, for your enjoyment, another Asha picture from a newborn photo shoot we did on October 22 (the last day of really nice weather).
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