This is my latest Emma’s Diary blog post..
So it’s been just four weeks since the birth of J. The dust seems to have settled and we’re slowly adapting to having our new addition. It’s been a very hard four weeks. A week or so after the birth Loz was in a pretty bad way, after to-ing and fro-ing between Midwives, Doctors and a Consultant she was diagnosed with an infection. The pain killers she was prescribed after birth were masking the pain of the infection and when she came off these it all came to light. She was prescribed two types of antibiotics and almost straight away they started to work. The pharmacist had advised that the antibiotics may make the breast milk slightly more ‘bitter’ (I wonder who got to test that?!), but otherwise they were okay to take whilst breastfeeding.
As Loz was getting better J was losing an alarming amount of weight, he was 9lb 7oz when born, and he dropped to 7lb 14oz. The midwife said although he looked healthy, the weight loss was too much, she advised we immediately start topping him up with formula. We were a bit hesitant with this, but the decreasing weight couldn’t be ignored so I followed her instructions to get some formula immediately. Thankfully J was a little trooper and happily took some top ups after his feeding without any hassle.
Fast forward a week and Loz was fighting fit and J was back up to his birth weight, we’ve reduced the top ups and are moving back to breast feeding and expressing. Our main midwife who we’d seen regularly at the GP came back to discharge both Loz and J – she did mention that the antibiotics can stop a baby absorbing the milk and that could explain the dramatic weight loss!
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Big Sister duties! |
G has adapted to her role of ‘big sister’ beautifully, she adores her little brother and is always keen to help. I’m always being asked by her if she can cuddle him, or carry him, she hasn’t volunteered to change a nappy yet! She was over the moon that we were giving J the formula top ups and that she could feed him, she doesn’t do it for long though as he has chucked up a few times!
Sleep how I miss you! Our household is certainly lacking in it. J is slowly getting into a routine (ish), but I’ll be totally honest, I’m shattered, really really tired. It’s hard with us both working, and looking after little man, we’re getting there, but I’d love us all to get a little more sleep! The only one who seems to sleep well is G, she’s only said that she’s been woken by her little brother once or twice, I was concerned that he’d wake her, but so far, so good!
I did plan on writing some more, but I think I need to step away from the keyboard, hopefully when I do my next blog on here I may be slightly more rested – I’m sure it’ll get easier soon! It will, won’t it?!
Hi! I came over from BritMums and yes – it will get easier!! Love your blog! Sarah x
Whatever you do, don't lay down and hold him above you after a meal. I learnt the hard way, what baby sick tastes like! You've already started getting him in a routine, things will continue to get better, promise! Awww, glad G looks so happy with her little J! X
Awwww I hope you guys get some rest soon! The first few weeks are so sleep deprived! It's so good to see a dad blogging about fatherhood!