What a day . . .

Well, I really started off on the wrong foot today, and landed right on my butt! Apparently, I was not really all the way awake today when I got out of bed because I fell down the stairs. Luckily, I was not carrying the baby at the time and I did not get seriously injured, although I am a little bruised up and sore. Then to top it off, Hadley has started going a day and a half between poops (which I understand is normal once they get to be about 8 weeks old or so). Well, around 2:30 today, she was sitting in her bouncy chair when I noticed that she had poop showing through her outfit on the front. Oh, there was soooo much poop! She literally had poop all the way up to her chest. I thought I was going to have to cut her outfit off of her because there was no way to get it off over her head without getting poop all over her arms, chest and hair. I had to take her straight from the changing table to the bathtub, AND it was my first attempt at giving her a bath solo. I made it through, but wow, what a day.

I think we now have the acid reflux somewhat under control. I have started weaning her from the breast. We are up to 4 formula bottles a day and I am only feeding her directly from the breast twice a day--the others are bottles of pumped milk. We are using the Enfamil Gentle Ease formula that Melissa recommended, and we have definitely noticed a difference. We also put some towels under the bassinet mattress to prop up the mattress (right now we have her sleeping the bassinet section of the pack n' play at the end of our bed). When we start putting her in her crib in the nursery next month, we will put pillows under the mattress to prop up the mattress. We had an incline sleep positioner that we tried originally, but it was not really inclined enough and she slid down on it too much. Since her reflux seems to go in spells, the doctor also gave us Zantac to use when/if she has a bad spell. So far we haven't had to use the medication because the formula and propping the bed have helped so much.

I decided to wean her from the breast for a number of reasons, and it was not an easy decision. I originally really wanted to breast feed for the first year and not have to use formula at all---boy was I naive to what breast feeding involved!

The first reason I decided to wean was the acid reflux. But another reason was that although she was gaining weight, and the doctor said she was getting enough, I really did not think she was satisfied. She was still wanting to feed every two hours at our 1 month appointment, which was extremely exhausting to me. The doctor suggested that since she was gaining adequate weight, I should try to spread the feedings out to 2 1/2 hours apart, even if she was fussy. Well, I expected her to be fussy the first few days and then to get used to the new feeding schedule, but she just did not get used to it. She would start fussing about 1 hour and 45 minutes from the start time of her last feeding. So, I was dealing with about 30 to 45 min. of fussing prior to every feeding. When I took her back to the doctor for the acid reflux problem at 6 weeks, I mentioned this to the doctor. Hadley was a small baby at birth (5lbs. 8 oz.) , and the doctor said that sometimes small babies just have to be fed more often to catch up. Well, since she is just now getting to be the average newborn size, that meant that I had another month at least of breast feeding every 2 hours. Hadley was also a lazy nurser, so it was taking about an hour at a time to get a full feeding in because I kept having to wake her up to eat. Also, all the books say that breast feeding does not hurt if the latch is correct. Well, I have found that to be a total myth. Sometimes, it just hurts no matter what, and that in combination with having to do it so often for so long because of Hadley's feeding needs caused me to decide to wean her.

I am a big supporter of breast feeding. I wish I could have done it for longer with Hadley, and I hope that I can breast feed for longer if I have a second child. However, it really makes me angry that it seems all the books and magazines you read make it sound like a crime to formula feed. Everything I read says "breast is best, breast is best..." to the point that I have found it difficult to switch to formula without feeling guilty. Well, I can tell you now that breast is not always best. In addition to helping the reflux, Hadley has been a much happier baby in general since we started giving her formula. I don't know if she wasn't getting enough milk from me, or if it was the content of the milk, but the formula is definitely satisfying her more. She is now going 2 1/2 to 3 hours between feedings without issue. And in between feedings, she is happy! I actually played with her for about and hour the other day and she did not cry the whole time! That was not happening very much, if at all, when I was exclusively breast feeding. She still has her fussy periods, as all babies do, but she is much happier in general. So...if you can and want to breast feed, then do it and do it for as long as possible, but if you find it necessary to switch to formula, don't feel guilty about it because sometimes it really is better.

--Amanda