First week at home

This week has definitely been interesting! We found out Sunday that Ethan was a little jaundice, and the midwife told us about some signs to look for and if he showed any of those signs, to call the pediatrician's office. So, after two nights of absolutely no sleep because he cried all night, his pee being yellow with orange spots in it, and his skin being orange and his eyes being yellow, we decided to go in and see the pedi on Tuesday. We found out that he was very dehydrated (the orange was crystallized urine) and he was more jaundice than they are comfortable with. He had also lost too much weight... he went all the way down to 7 pounds 1 ounce (from 8.3). So... we were told to start supplementing formula and to make sure he was out in the sun several times a day. Had his count been a little higher they would have had us go into the hospital for 24/7 lights for his jaundice. I'm thankful that it wasn't that high. We started supplementing, and immediately he started sleeping. He has been so much more content. He obviously wasn't getting enough. But... I am doing everything that I can to get my milk production up. I am going to exhaust all possibilities before I stop breastfeeding. I am completely okay with breastfeeding and supplementing, but unfortunately, he's getting confused and is starting to refuse breastfeeding... so we are going to try using a supplementation system and see how he does with that. It's a tube that is hooked up to a bottle that you put on your breast so that as he's breastfeeding, he's also taking in formula through a tube. That way, there's no nipple confusion. I am also taking an herbal supplement to get production up. We'll see what happens. I may just be someone who can't produce enough. I had a hard time with Karis, and so I know that there is that possibility. It's frustrating, though, because there are some people who have no trouble at all... I feel in some ways that my body doesn't work right. I know that it's okay and life goes on, but I want this pretty bad... I'll just keep trying and know that it's not the end of the world if we have to do formula... If I don't have that mindset, I'll stress myself out too much and it'll never work!

Karis has been taking to Ethan really well. She has her moments, but I also have to remember that she's a 2 year old, and they just throw fits no matter what :). She always says "that's my brother!" or "baby brother" or "baby Ethan!" She tries to give him kisses and put his blanket on him. She already wants to take care of him :). It is real hard, though, trying to split my time between the two of them because a newborn takes a lot more of it than a toddler. So, I have her help me as much as she can and I try to include her in most things. It gets tough when both of them need my attention at the same time. I'll get there, though! I have moments when I am sad, though, that she's not a baby anymore. She grew up so stinkin fast. It seems like yesterday she was a newborn.