Oh my boobies hurt!

Well the week since I gave birth has flown by. I can’t believe Lily is a week old already. To tell you the truth, I am kind of sad. As silly as that sounds, I am. I am sad the anticipation of waiting to meet my little one has gone. The flurry of excitement when they arrive has gone. My pregnant belly (with baby in it – not the flab) has gone (sounds strange I know). It goes without saying however that the sadness is replaced with joy, happiness, exhilaration and love for my little Lily.

Considering all the little health hiccups we have had along the way, Lily is such a little cherub. She hardly cries at all and just sleeps. She has a few moments during the day when she might open her eyes. Those moments are few but a highlight of my day. She stares up at your face, making little movements with her hands and mouth. Just beautiful! Her eyes light up when Bryon gives her kisses or when he talks to her. She seems to know him so well.

There is really only one major drama at the moment and that is centred on breastfeeding. At hospital she was such a good little feeder – attachment was perfect and there really wasn’t a lot of pain. As I may have mentioned, I have been suffering from a viral infection which it seems I might have passed on to Lily – well at least the nasal congestion part anyway. The poor little dear is all choked up and having lots of trouble breathing through her nose, especially at night (which is how newborn babies breathe).

This in turn is causing major problems on the feeding front. It seems that her inability to breathe properly through her nose has led to incorrect attachment (which for breastfeeding is tragic!). My poor poor boobies are suffering beyond belief. So much so, that last night I resorted to nipple shields (which were ok) and today I had to resort to expressing and feeding her through a bottle. This whole situation is so new to me because I had absolutely no dramas feeding Byron. I didn’t even know what a cracked nipple was let alone what it felt like – let me tell you…it ain’t nice! Try getting some sand paper, rubbing it against your nipple causing some crazing and bleeding along the way. Add some sucking motion and voila you have pain!!!

I took her to the doctors today and she expects her little snuffly nose should be gone in a few days. Until that time, she ain’t going anywhere near my nipple without a nipple shield, that’s for sure. I have an appointment with a lactation consultant on Wednesday and I am hoping she can give me some tips for feeding snuffly nosed babies. Until then its a matter of grinning and bearing it.

Whilst at the doctors, Lily had her neonatal examination (day 5-10). For the record, at day 7, Lily had regained most of her birth weight, weighing in at 3.3kgs (which according to the doctor is excellent given her health problems). Her head still measured 36cms. Her height strangely enough measured 50cms (and that was a stretch) which means the midwife made a mistake with her height measurement at birth (I knew she was smaller then Byron!!).

I wonder what week 2 will harbour????