I Didn't Even Check My E-mail

It's probably pathetic that it's significant in my life. But as I lay in bed last night, I realized I didn't even check my e-mail yesterday. Not once did I flip open my laptop or sit down at the computer. I fed my baby. I diapered my baby. I went to church. I went grocery shopping. I did laundry. I fed my baby. I diapered my baby. I took a nap. I had visitors. I ate. I fed my baby. I diapered my baby. And I let my husband take care of the rest.

I've never really been very good at this whole "resting" thing after having a baby. But I'm trying. Sort of. Several people at church yesterday said, "I can't believe you're here!" which I found very confusing since most people should know by now that I am always on the go shortly after having a baby. It would be strange to me if I had not been at church 4 days after giving birth. I mean...what would I really do at home? Sit? I was so happy to finally hear one of my friends say, "I knew you'd be here today," because I was starting to wonder if anyone really knew me at all.

I'm learning new things this time around. I mean, I suppose one learns new things every time around. But this time is different for me.

When I had my first child, I tried to weigh the advice of everyone and their best friend. It was challenging and time-consuming, but I finally figured out my "way" of doing things, specifically feeding my baby. From the time they were born, I always fed each of my children every three hours unless they were sleeping. It was extremely rare for me to feed them more often.

For one, I find nursing to be very painful for the first several weeks. I've had nurses and lactation consultants check each of my children's latches and nobody can ever find anything wrong. The age-old saying that nursing shouldn't hurt beyond the first few days just doesn't ring true for me. And I'm glad I finally figured out that everyone is different rather than constantly trying to change things in order to "get it right" even though I was already doing it right. I've accepted the fact that nursing is painful for me and not for others. But I love doing it, so I always push through.

For two, I had to give myself a rest. It wasn't uncommon for me to have cracked, bleeding, or blistered nipples from nursing even just every 3 hours. There was no way I could do it more often and still keep doing it. It just wasn't going to happen.

And for three, I didn't want my child to run the show. Infants are selfish selfish selfish by nature and I thought that, from the very beginning, it was important that they learn to have a little patience with mommy. My children never starved. They just waited a bit longer than so-and-so's baby. I couldn't stand mothers who nursed their babies non-stop when it was absolutely clear to me that there was no possible way their baby was hungry since they just ate 15 minutes prior to now.

While I still generally fall into all three of those categories, things are a little bit different this time around.

I have found that, with excessive amounts of lanolin after each feeding, things seem to be doing a bit better. I have a bit less pain and so far have not had any bleeding or blistering. (Praise God!) This is a huge blessing because Savannah has a different idea of eating than my other three children did. She ate like a champ at the hospital! Every 3-4 hours for about half an hour each time. It was ideal. Normal. Average. But once we got home and my milk came in, things changed. She started wanting to eat for only 5-10 minutes at a time before she seemed to lose interest. Feeling that she may lose weight from this type of eating, I began to feed her a bit more often. And you know what? Everything's fine.

She's not any more spoiled than my other children were. She simply doesn't eat as much at a time. I admit that I'm a little anxious about her doctor's appointment on Friday as I'm very curious to see if she is indeed losing weight or gaining as she should be. I'm praying that she will begin eating more and that she will gain weight as she should, but in the meantime I will just continue to feed her as I have determined is best for her. And I will continue to keep my lanolin nearby. :)

As far as others things are going....

The kids love Savannah. Reagan loves to say "BABY!!" as we suspected she would.

Nights are going okay. Savannah generally does 3-4 hour stretches at night and is pretty good about going back to sleep after eating/diapering.

We are having meals delivered most nights. It's a HUGE blessing.

I'm trying not to overdo it. I'm working on making a list of household chores and choosing ONE per day for the next week or two. And I'm going to try my best to stick to that.

Life with four is very different than life with three. But we're adjusting.

......and the baby is crying.....

CHOW TIME! :)