The word of the day is "Change"

I've found that with a six day old baby, the only constant is change. It seems like every day, we have to deal with a whole new set of challenges. Something that I took for granted one day is no longer true the next, while totally new behaviors and attitudes come up hour by hour.

Her first night home was terrible, the second was great, the third was incredibly tiring, etc, etc. On Saturday morning, we were incredibly frustrated by Kate's lack of success with feedings. We were supplementing (which involves formula, a syringe, a tiny feeding tube, and a lot of patience), we were attempting to feed naturally, and we were less-than-successful at both. She would try to sleep through feedings, then fuss when we tried to put her down to sleep. She'd cry and scream while trying to latch on, but then fall asleep as soon as she was comfortable.

Some time that morning, we ended an hour-and-a-half feeding attempt with a finger feed, which just injects some milk into her mouth while she's sucking on our finger, and decided to call the lactation consultant on Monday. We had talked to several, including a nurse at the hospital, the pediatrician, and my aunt who is a nurse. They all had great advice, but we needed some hands-on assistance to find out what we were doing wrong.

Later, on Saturday afternoon, I walked into the room where D was nursing, and Kate was in-place and surprisingly non-fussy. Not only did she calm down, but she stayed on for a long time. We both worried that it was a one-time thing and that she'd be back to difficult by the next feeding, but she kept it up. Ever since, we haven't had to supplement at all, and she's been (relatively) easy to get going. On the contrary, she wanted to feed every two hours for almost a day afterward. She still falls asleep before she's finished sometimes, but she's interested again later.

This breakthrough (isn't our little girl smart?) has been great for me, because I was in charge of the supplemental bottles/syringes/tubing/refrigeration/washing/etc. D has been fantastic about feeding Kate whenever she needs it, and my responsibilities have been reduced to burping, changing, swaddling, and kissing Kate's little forehead whenever she wants it. We think (hope) that she's gaining the weight she needs for a good report on Tuesday.

Some other tidbits:

• Kate learned (momentarily) how to suck her thumb. While in a particularly hungry state, her hand accidentally found its way into her mouth, and she went nuts. Her thumb is a little too small to get a good grip, so she was slobbering all over herself as she tried to suck.....it was quite noisy.
• She doesn't like to be put down (in a bassinet, cradle, or Pack & Play) unless she's perfectly swaddled. Otherwise, she complains until one of us picks her up and holds her, which is usually pretty soothing. They say you can't spoil a newborn, but it sure feels like she's getting there. It's a good thing she's incredibly cute.
• Willow has gotten a lot better with Kate. We tried having her upstairs with us on Friday night, but she freaked out every time Kate started to cry. The combination of a howling dog and an already-stressful feeding was not conducive to sleep or successful nursing. D's mom slept with her downstairs (all week), but we had no choice on Saturday. Fortunately, she was great....she slept on her bed most of the night and left us in peace, then came up to sleep with us in the morning.

Here's your Kate picture fix for the day:

She definitely likes her arms up by her face.

Cute even when she's sleeping.

Here's proof of the thumb-sucking.

Mmmmm......hands.

She was awake and attentive for quite a while today.