Feeding Lily

So, the first few days Lily was home we thought she was going to be an amazing baby because she would eat, then sleep for a long time. Come to find out, that's not really that great. After two weeks Lily had not gained any weight. Apparently she was to sleepy because she was hungry and yet too tired to nurse. After a few days, this started to make her quite fussy because she wanted to eat, but then fell asleep eating, but then was upset to still be hungry. We hit a wall of trying everything we could think of to soothe her vs. allowing her to cry (which is torture for mom!). Turns out that the poor thing was running on low batteries. So, this week we started supplementing her nursing with some bottles.

At first I was really upset about this. I really wanted to nurse her exclusively, and felt like something of a failure for not being able to provide enough for her. I started to wonder what I had done wrong along the way. But, thanks to the encouragement of some good friends and Josh, I've come to terms with it. She only gets a few ounces of formula or a few of pumped breast milk along with her normal nursing, and it has made a world of difference! She can now have some happy awake time (for the first time) and sleeps soundly when she is asleep. Josh enjoys being able to comfort her. It is wonderful for all of us. In the last four days, she has gained 8 ounces, and at three weeks, she is back above her birth weight at 7lb 3oz!