Quick Update - She's Growing

I started a post last Friday, but it started sprawling and never got finished. Lucy weighed 7 lbs., 7 oz. at her doctor's visit, a gain of 5.5 oz. in 7 days. It was short of the ounce a day goal but good enough to keep us from needing another weigh-in before her one month appointment. I realized the other day that I could weigh myself at home and h myself holding Lucy and see the difference to figure  out how much she weighs. My scale measures in .2 pound increments, which is 3.2 oz. She weighed 7.8 lbs., which if correct means she gained 5 oz. In 5 days and is back up to birth weight. Hurray!

She's been insatiable at times recently. We're thinking it may be a growth spurt. It may also be a supply issue because I started pumping over the weekend. Or it might have been an unhappy coincidence that pumping and growth spurting happened at the same time. There have been a few times she's not been satisfied after taking all I had to offer, and Matt had to try to pacify her while we waited for me  to make enough to feed her without frustrating her. It's been frustrating for everyone at times, but we think it's getting better.

Update since the last paragraph was written in the middle of the night: supply is a not an issue this morning. Lucy and I were so tired that we slept 6+ hours between feedings. Thank goodness for the natural  automatic emergency pressure release valve (and breast pads). :)  Bring on the growth spurt!

A Weighty Matter

When it became clear that I was going to have a c-section, I turned to Matt and said, "We just can't stop being special." Well, Lucy's "specialness" continues. She's had two appointments with the pediatrician this week. The first was her check-up that typically takes place at 2-3 days old. Because of our extended hospital stay, she had her appointment at one week old. Everything looked good except her weight. When she was born, she was 7 lbs., 12 oz. When we left the hospital, she was 7lbs. even. When we went to the doctor on Monday, she was 6 lbs., 12 oz. A pound of weight loss when you started under 8 lbs. sounds freaky, but early weight loss is considered normal. But at one week, the doctor expected that she would at least be closer to her last hospital weight. So he told me to feed her more often and come back Friday for another weigh-in. I had been feeding her when she acted hungry, but this week I was more aggressive in looking for the least sign of hunger and offering her the chance to eat. We went to our weigh-in today, and the doctor gave her an A+ for weighing 7 lbs., 1.5 oz. She surpassed the ounce a day gain he was looking for. Way to go, Lucy! Her first A+!  :)  He wants to see us again next Friday to make sure she's still on the right track. We're pretty confident she will be.

Matt and I are both convinced her weight loss was because my milk didn't come in until day 5  or 6 (at the end of the normal range). She was subsisting on the lower calorie, immune-boosting colostrum until Saturday instead of getting the fatty milk. With four days of milk this week, she's gaining weight like she should.

After our first  weigh-in on Monday, I was concerned about low milk supply, so I did some research online and watched YouTube videos for pointers. My baby is not as patient as the babies in the video. She won't let me guide her head. Her mouth is pretty small and doesn't open as wide as the babies in the video. None of the cheek touching or lip tickling reflexes seem to be working. She  comes at me panting and shaking her head like a dog playing with a chew toy or shredding a newspaper. So I've got a small, wildly-moving target that refuses to be guided and tends to put both hands between us. I'm not sure our technique is great, but obviously we're getting the job done. And she has learned that certain head positions improve milk flow, so she sometimes puts her head in those positions. (I can't make her do it. Whose daughter is she?) When I realized that's what she was doing, I was so proud. She learned something  based on experience, not just conditioning. Learning and experimenting are pretty important in this household, so I was thrilled to see some evidence of them in her first two weeks.

Since I'm on the subject of pride and this is a post about weight, I'm going to brag on myself. When I weighed myself a couple days ago, about 9-10 days postpartum, I was 10 pounds BELOW pre-pregnancy weight! I had hoped to break even and actually lost 10 pounds. It's the best weight loss program I've ever been on. The fantastic number on the scales has given me extra motivation to keep eating well and start taking short walks in a week or so. Light housework (folding clothes, unloading the dishwasher) is about all I'm capable of right now. And I'm even more determined to get to the pool in November.

Lucia Celeste Oliver

There is so much to say about Lucy's first week that it will take several posts to cover it all. Let's start with some facts. Lucia Celeste Oliver was born at 10:17 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 16 (her Great-grandfather Oliver's 86th birthday). She was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7 lbs., 12 oz. She was delivered by c-section after 12+ hours of labor.

5 days old

We're calling her Lucy and expecting her first name to be mispronounced by some people. According to my research--of course I did research when naming my daughter, and I conducted a focus group, too--there are four ways to pronounce Lucia: LOO-see-uh, loo-SEE-ya, LOO-sha, and loo-CHEE-ah. The first two are the ones we prefer and differ only in which syllable is accented. The first pronunciation is British and is a feminine form of Lucius if you pronounced it Lucy-us. The second is Spanish, with the same syllable emphasis as Maria. As long as the "c" is soft, you've got the pronunciation in the ballpark. We like that her name is recognizable in many cultures; it's a name that can travel. Lucia Celeste means "heavenly light." I still call her Elsie occasionally, but it's OK because that's going to be her professional name when she grows up and publishes something: L.C. Oliver. She and I have already agreed she'll be L.C. Bell if she needs a pen name. (Elsie Belle was my nickname for her before she was born.)

I need to pace myself because I'm still recovering, so I'll end this post. Matt has posted pictures of Lucy on Facebook. I'll try to get some more photos and information on the blog soon.