Day Two- Oh, To Be a Mom

Before I foray into the wonderful world of having a newborn, let me first apologize for being a day late. After reading this post, you'll see why. (This is probably TMI for some peeps.)

Ah yes, to be a mother of a newborn has its many ups and downs. And one of the downs that I am facing right now is complications with nursing.

I love nursing. It's one of my favorite things about having a baby. Granted, the first month or so is always tough on me; none of my children have nursed easily at the beginning. Scarlet is definitely the most challenging right now.

She doesn't suck, she chews. She's getting better, but that doesn't really help my poor boo-boos (that's what Sam calls them and I think it's the cutest thing ever). So, as of right now, I am currently pumping and finger feeding, which takes up a lot of time. That also means that I don't have a lot of time during the day to do anything. No naps, no major chores (which I shouldn't be doing just yet until my incision is completely healed); it's kind of frustrating. All I want to do is nurse Scarlet the normal way.

Now, what is finger feeding, you ask? Basically, I have a syringe with a tube attached to it. I attach the tube to my clean pinkie finger and insert the finger into Scarlet's mouth, toward the roof of her mouth. I wait for her to start sucking and I start squirting the milk in bit by bit. This will help her learn to suck better and also, I can see how much she is eating.

I started this yesterday after a long and painful night. it is extremely time consuming, but in the end, it will be worth it. It will give my boo-boos time to heal up and it helps Scarlet to learn how to eat. It's only temporary and I think by next week I can start to nurse again.

The upside to this? Watching Scarlet fall asleep while she's eating...it's SO stinkin' cute.