sounds like good advice to me.
It's 3:45 am and I'm drinking a beer because Google told me to. (You may want to skip this if you're uninterested in breastfeeding.)
The internet may feed you a lot of crap, especially when it comes to medical/health issues, but if you're looking for reassurance that you're not alone it's the best thing out there. It's day 5 now and my milk hasn't come in.
I've been stressing about this for awhile because of my reduction surgery, but things aren't completely dire - I got an electric pump from the hospital today and I am producing something, just not very much at all. But thanks to the Google I now know that a) an epidural b) a c-section and c) a short labor can cause you to be late with the milk. And I also know that some women swear that drinking a beer will make it happen. So here we are.
Starting Friday at the hospital he's been getting formula after every feeding, and he's MUCH happier, but he's still not having near enough diaper changes. So I'm giving him more formula and going to the pediatrician for a checkup on Monday.
So here's the story on Hayes: last Monday I checked into the hospital so they could start dilating me, because I wasn't at all. I was slightly nervous that they wanted to induce me so soon after my due date, but I trust my doctor. (Samuel Gray, fwiw.) As of Tuesday morning I was about 3.5 cm, and they started the hormone that causes contractions. By noon I was having contractions, and an epidural, but had not dilated any more. So Dr. Gray told me he thought it was a really big baby and we should do a c-section. To which I agreed, because hell, I already had the epidural going on. They could have amputated my head for all I cared.
In retrospect, if it had turned out any differently I would have been irate at how things went down, but fortunately Dr. Gray knows his shit. Hayes was 9 freaking pounds, and if I'd waited another two weeks I would've still had to have a section. And have been much more miserable. I may be taking the man some brownies at my next checkup.
The only real speedbump so far was Friday night. I have this insane arrogant streak that sometimes makes me think that I won't struggle with things that other people struggle with. For example, I was feeling good Friday morning and thought to myself that I might not have any hormonal "baby blues" at all. Then I found out my child wasn't getting enough to eat, and spent the rest of the day distraught because I was a horrible mother and couldn't perform the one biological function he relied on me for and he probably hates me and THE SKY IS FALLING. Irrational, much?
After that one night though, it's been much better. I'm back to normal brain function; i.e., NOT attributing rational thoughts and adult emotions to a week-old infant.
So the kiddo's healthy, and other than the fact that feeding him stresses me out, he's really handling life in the world well. He's sleeping like crazy and even on a semblance of a schedule - which basically means we can predict his actions, not that he does anything because we want him to. Par for the course, right?