Mom to the Rescue!

Thank goodness for Mom's! My Mom and Dad came down to our house for awhile today. Brent had wanted to see Dad, so he dropped Mom off here and went on up to Rolla to see Brent and then came back here for a bit.

Mom went to Babies-R-Us for me last night and picked up some pacifiers so we didn't have to wait any longer for the ones I ordered online. I could have used them in the wee hours this morning. Isabel went down last night a little before 1 and slept until 4:30. She decided she wanted to use me as a pacifier this morning, so from 4:30 to 7 she was pretty much on the breast that entire time. She slept until 7:30 and then was back on the breast until 8 o'clock.

Mom and Dad got here a little after 10 and Mom helped me do a little bit of housework. Around 11:30 I woke Isabel up since it had been 4 hours since she had eaten. She nursed really well. (I'm having trouble getting her to latch deeply, something we are working on.) But as soon as I thought she was done and I took her off she immediately started fussing and looking for something to suck on. So, in went the paci and she took to it like a fish in water! I think it is going to be my saving grace with Isabel. Alexis was not at all like Isabel when it comes to nursing, she was quite content with her 15 minutes on each side and didn't need much else.

I have done things a little bit different with Isabel though, I've allowed her to demand feed these last 2 weeks just so I know she is getting plenty and my supply is getting established, but from here on out, we are going to get a routine down. No more eating every hour for 3 hours and then sleeping for 5 hours, and no more Mommy's boob being a pacifier either. It's not been fair to me, I'm exhausted, and it's not fair to Ross and Alexis either, they still have needs from me as well.

Mom also bought me a copy of "Baby Wise" which is all about giving your infant the gift of nighttime sleep and parent directed feeding instead of demand feeding. (Chrissy, I believe this is the book your were telling me about?) Mom read quite a bit of it to me this morning while I was doing laundry and nursing Isabel. I already knew a lot of the info, but I've been a little unsure about which is the right and best way to go about breast feeding and sleeping and such. There are very different view points on the subject and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to mess anything up by giving a pacifier too soon, or not letting her eat when she thought she needed to. I now know that the first 2 weeks are when she should be eating every 2 hours and then it should taper off to more like 2 1/2 to 3 during the day and no more than 5 hours between night feedings at this stage. I had Alexis on a schedule and it worked well, so I'm not sure why I thought I needed to do things differently with Isabel, but she does have her own personality already, that is for sure!

I also got to talk to an old friend (Shelley Owens) yesterday and she gave me some wonderful advice and encouragement as well. She has 2 children and the age gaps between her 2 are close to the difference between Isabel and Alexis. She was kind enough to order a DVD for me to watch, don't remember exactly what it's called, but something about a happy baby. I'm excited about getting it and learning more new things to make our life a little easier with our newborn! This is a wonderful time, but I've been too tired to enjoy some of it, so now, with new tools and ideas in hand, I'm hoping to bring a little peace to our crazy home! Thanks again Shelley!

I also wanted to thank you girls for leaving me some encouraging comments the other day when I needed some support. It's nice to know that someone else knows what you are going through and can sympathize with you.

So, while the girls are still sleeping, I'm off to shower and catch a quick nap!