The week of Easter and a nursing scare

Last week was busy.  On Tuesday Andrea went to the doctor for her four month appointment.  They put her on the scale to weigh her and it read 10.13.  I have people tell me all the time how small she looks but I was pretty convinced that she's finally broken the eleven pound mark.  So when I saw that number that began with a ten I almost started crying.  I worried they would tell me she's not getting enough food and they'd make me stop breastfeeding.

Honestly, I have never really wanted to breastfeed before.  I had seen the trouble my mom had and I thought I would encounter the same problems.  I planned on bottle-feeding but perhaps try to nurse for maybe a couple of weeks just so I could tell people I tried and couldn’t.  It might have been the health food store bubble I lived in but it seemed that a lot of women looked down on formula feeders.  However, this judgment was less harsh if you at least tried to breastfeed and gave up because of pain or low milk production.  I wanted to do whatever would be more socially acceptable.

So, I breastfed, and at first I hated it, but not because of pain or low milk production.  I only experienced some mild soreness for two or three days and I produced milk like a cow.  No, I just didn't like the challenge of feeding my daughter around people while staying covered and private.  Especially during the holidays when I had to be around family and in-laws and had to sneak away to nurse or wrestle with a nursing blanket.  One wrong breeze and they might be seeing more of me than they bargained for, if you know what I mean.  My sister-in-law brought me a breast pump to borrow and that solved that problem.  I pumped before going out and fed Andrea out of a bottle.  She experienced no nipple confusion and could switch from bottle to breast seamlessly.  While I initially hoped for a way out or excuse to quit, I struggled finding one and it was so cheap to nurse.

A couple months ago Andrea and I had a rough night where she refused to eat.  Paul and I eventually discovered she was teething, but I had a moment of panic thinking perhaps she didn't want to nurse anymore.  It was that moment that I realized how much I had grown to love nursing my baby.  I love the snuggle time it provides.  She doesn’t snuggle much when she’s not eating because she’s so curious about the world.  This was hard for me at first because I am a snuggler, so nursing has become the perfect answer.  I get to hold her close and she gets food.  Win win!  Ultimately, I know it’s better for her nutritionally too, and on the few occasions before I had the pump that she had to have formula while being babysat, I felt so bad for her.  Formula made her little tummy upset.  I’m grateful that Heavenly Father knew what was best for the two of us and gave my body the capacity do it.

So, when I saw the 10.13 on the scale (which turned out to be 10 lbs. 13 oz. which sounds a little better) my heart sank.  That puts Andrea in the 3rd percentile for weight.  The doctor talked to me about it and said she looks perfectly healthy and advised me to always feed her when she's hungry, which I was already doing.  Looks like she just got her dads metabolism.

At the doctor Andrea got a couple shots and took a very long nap when we got home.  She woke up lethargic and mellow.  She went to bed that night fairly easily but by about two o'clock she started to develop a fever which broke the next day.  She was a little trooper through the whole ordeal.

We got a package from cousin Jax (thanks Linda!) and Andrea tried on some new clothes and showed off her ab muscles.

For Easter Paul and I tortured some peeps.

Mmm. . . peep smores. . . 

Easter morning Andrea wore her new Easter dress to church where she chewed on it until it was soggy.

We took some fun Easter pictures of her first Easter.  She kinda looked like an Easter elf.  Apparently, Santa lent out some of his helpers.

Monday morning we had green eggs and ham with Easter leftovers.  Yum!

This week Paul is graduating with his bachelors!  I'm so proud of him-- he's been working on this for so long.  I'm throwing him a party on Sunday.  Stay tuned for pictures!