Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig

We are adjusting to life at home again after vacation. It has been a frustrating week. Our vacation rhythm is way different that our home rhythm. So this week Malachi has been totally off, not being ready for sleep at night until 12 or 1 in the morning, not napping well. Uhhh. He actually will go to sleep at bedtime, but he treats it more like a short evening nap, waking up 30 minutes later with sweet smiles. Today he slept almost the whole day, only getting up twice for an hour at a time. I had to stay with him because every 20-30 minutes he kept waking with tears and needed to be nursed back to sleep. Then he was up the entire evening until almost midnight. Past my bedtime. But each night, it is getting a little earlier so within a few days we should be back to normal.

In addition, we are still dealing with nursing issues. They had all but disappeared by the end of our vacation. I was only giving Malachi a couple of extra ounces before bed, not because he was hungry, but for the calories. So I was all ready to take a break from the supplements for several days to see how how he would gaining with just my milk. But we got home and I got lazy and didn't follow my daily regimen (oatmeal, lots of water, Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle) to a T. So we have been having to add the other supplements back in. Yuck. BUT, at least he's gaining well. As of Monday morning, he had gained 1 lb, 2 oz since we started supplementing. An ounce a day! Yay!

From Beautiful Arkansas

We are in Arkansas for a few days visiting Joshua's family and have very limited Internet access. I am at McDonald's right now so that I can check in.

Malach is doing great. We are still supplementing with donor milk, but my milk supply is increasing, and Malachi is gaining admirably. In fact, he has gained about a pound in the last two weeks! He is chubbing up nicely. If this continues, we are going to be off the supplements in no time. By the way, if anyone is interested, I am using a homemade SNS, which is working great. I love that he is still at the breast, and that I don't have to spend as much time pumping.

I was regretting the timing of this trip because of these breastfeeding issues, thinking that it would be hard to make sure I keep my galactagogue diet, supplements, and feeding Malachi on demand and supplements a priority while we are here. The opposite has turned out to be true. I didn't think about the fact that we are on vacation! That means no cleaning, no cooking or laundry, no appointments we have to rush off to while Malachi is kept waiting for food! I have done little except hold Malachi and feed him. It's been great for my milk supply, and I'm sure he's gaining at least as quickly as he was at home.

I wish I had thought to bring our camera so I could post a photo or two of our time here. Malachi is enjoying his cousins (12 out of 17 of them!) quite a bit, especially his cousin Sean who is about the same age. Unfortunately, all of those snotty noses resulted in Malachi's first cold. I'm so disappointed! I really thought the fact that he is breastfed would keep him from getting sick for a lot longer than this! But it's really quite minor, possibly because of his superfood. You should hear is cute little raspy voice though. It is quite adorable, and I figure since he feels okay, I might as well enjoy how cute it sounds.

We are headed to the Buffalo River (where we got married) with the fam today. Joshua will be here to pick me up in a few minutes, so I'd better wrap this up, but I can't close without saying again: Thank you! For your prayers and support and encouragement and time and MILK to keep Malachi an exclusively breastfed baby. It is so important, and I know it is only because of the help of the breastfeeding mommies around me that we were able to continue on this path. It is truly a testament to the power of community.

Where We've Been

This is officially my fourth attempt at this post. Sorry I've been so silent lately, but we have been dealing with some things and it's taken a lot of my time and mental energy. And I haven't known what to say about it. I could just ignore it, but it's what on my mind. I don't know what else to write about.

The long and short of it is, Malachi is not gaining the weight he should due to breastfeeding issues. We are working to rebuild my supply. Our breastfeeding relationship is in jeopardy. It is hard. He is being fed now not only by my milk, but by the milk of other mamas in Roanoke who have generously donated their milk for Malachi. We are so grateful.

I will probably share more details in the days ahead. But at the moment, we are laying low for a few days to make sure that he eats like crazy and I pump like crazy, take extra good care of myself, and eat lots of lactogenics.

Be thinking of us, and if you are the praying sort, we would love some of those as well.