Monday, January 9, 2012

Growth spurts, Wonder weeks & Dairy Queens

The past 3.5 months of motherhood, round two, have been a bit of a blur. But now that we are settled in our new home and we have a regular daily routine I seem to be noticing Alex's changes more. Or maybe he is just starting to change more as he gets bigger.

As we enter his 14th week (or 12th week based on his due date), this child seems to have an insatiable appetite.

Time to break out the books and do some google searching.

Ah yes, 3 month growth spurt, Wonder Week 15...seems like my angel of a son will return to his perfection status in a few days once we make these big developmental leaps. Until then, its lots of cuddles and, more importantly, milk!

Breastfeeding this time around has been much easier. With Hannah, I was miserable those first 5 days until my milk came in. But with Alex I knew what to look for in terms of latching and my milk arrived before I even left the hospital. I've made a regular point of pumping so I can get more sleep while my husband gives a midnight bottle.

(You see, I'm not much of a midnight mom anymore! I smartened up and realized that sleep is essential with two).

So with all of this eating that's happening every 1-2 hours I got concerned about my milk supply. Especially when I pumped the other day and got less than an ounce from both sides in 17 minutes.

I started to blame by recent attempt at losing weight courtesy of Weight Watchers (which actually features a special plan for breastfeeding moms). But then, with the help of some great advice, realized that I pumped right after a feed which I never do. And maybe I need to drink more water...

So a bit more reassured, I'm looking at this growth spurt as an opportunity to increase my milk supply and get a reserve going that can be frozen rather than just being used for midnight bottles.

In the meantime, with all of the boxes unpacked and Hannah back at school post-vacation, I'm thinking its time to shower Alex with love and kisses that he may have been missing out on.

Because a boy this good certainly deserves it.

No comments:

Post a Comment