Weighing In

Today I went over to The Pump Station in Hollywood again to have the baby weighed and have my loaner pump checked out. It was slightly akin to the old ultrasound days although with obviously far less at stake - the worst results today (not gaining enough, losing weight) would only mean having to work harder at bf-ing and/or change strategies. Still I held my breath as the numbers came up - and hooray, he's back at birth weight, even up a little, a week out. So the LC seems to think whatever I've been doing is working, and I'm glad, because I kind of cheated for my own convenience. She wanted me to feed every two-three hours, supplement with syringe feeding, and pump after every feeding. If I did this I would literally do nothing else but feed and pump, so for the sake of sleep, meals, and showers, I've just been feeding every 3-4 hours and nothing else, and even then rarely for the required 40 minutes. There's a certain point at which you just can't force a baby to eat anymore. He gets those little pursed lips and I know it's over.

Once again I can't wait to be out of this era of constant worry about weight and regimented feedings. It'll be great to just feed him when he's hungry and not always feel like I'm forcing him when he just wants to sleep (I hear ya, buddy).

I did think with some melancholy the other day how long it's going to be before I get an uninterrupted night's sleep again. Not that I slept that great in the pregnancy either, but I at least got more than two or three hour stretches. It's brutal forcing both of us up for feedings all night. Still, I'm extremely grateful he's such a good sleeper and that I manage to get plenty of sleep even though it's broken up throughout the day and night. It could be so much worse, I know.

I may start the cloth diapers soon. I hope they'll help with this little problem I've been having - mainly, my son pees all over me. I soaked several outfits of both mine and his today, because somehow the pee doesn't absorb into the diaper at all but instead rolls over his belly (when he lies down, which is most of the time) and wets everything in a four foot radius. It drives me nuts - what's the point of even wearing a diaper...? I'm hoping the cloth will be bulky enough to absorb something. So I may be ready for that step now.

Next week it's time to "get back to work" - I have tons of clerical stuff to do, bills to pay, checks to deposit, packages to mail. I also need to call Kaiser to double check that $3000 charge to my credit card; it's supposed to be for the hospital stay, which first of all I thought was covered, but that's $500 more than it should be even if it's not. I also got a $400 bill today for the blood work and NSTs which it turns out were $30 each. Argh. At this point I don't even blink - everything is so outrageously expensive right now, every time I get a bill I just throw it on the pile. It'll all get paid...eventually!