A Day with Friends

Today was the day I planned to go over and help Samara with baby stuff and my main goal was to let her get some rest. Well, she didn't rest as much as I would have liked, but I'd like to think I was of some help.

A little background. Samara and Ava have been having some breastfeeding issues. Despite her requests in the hospital, she didn't get to see a lactation consultant in the hospital until day 3 right before checkout. As a result they weren't getting a correct latch (although Ava was still eating), so within days Samara had some major trauma to the area and on Thursday last week rented a pump and took a couple of days off to let herself heal. Monday she made an appointment with a lactation consultant to help her out. They had a fabulous appointment, but when they got home and tried it on their own, things fell apart and they've been having problems ever since. Because it's so hard, they've been doing alot of pumping and bottle feeding. Anyway, they spend a lot of time attempting breastfeeding, pumping, or bottlefeeding.

Today I arrived to help around 9:00 a.m. They were in the middle of a feeding attempt. I sat in the nursery and chatted for the next hour while Ava dozed in between attempts at feeding. At around 10:00 a.m. Samara had me give her a bottle while she pumped. Around this time she received a call from the lactation consultant who made them an appointment for 1:30 p.m. After pumping, Samara decided to take a shower while I held Ava. After the shower we went downstairs for a little while and then decided to try to feed Ava again at around 11:15 am. (we didn't want her to be starving for the appointment). While they were attempting, I did a load of laundry and took the dog out. After about 30 minutes, Samara decided to give her a bottle. It needed to be warmed though and while it was warming, Ava got her hungry cry, so Samara attempted again on the couch. They tried for a while more while I got lunch together. I ate quickly and then got the diaper bag and changed Ava's diaper while Samara ate lunch. Then we hopped in the car and headed to the appointment. We were at the center until 3:00 p.m. It was another good appointment. I think they might just get it this time. It also made me see just how difficult breastfeeding can be even with a healthy baby. I assumed we would have been fine without Grace's cleft palate, but now I'm not so sure that it still would have been easy. After the appointment, Samara stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some feminine necessities, but as we pulled up Ava started crying. She ran in for a minute while I waited in the car, but after getting in a slow line, she decided she wasn't going to wait anymore and came back without her purchases. We hurried home because Ava was hungry! They had a successful breastfeeding experience. Yeah! And finally at 4:45 p.m. Samara got to take a nap. Ava slept the whole time too and I just held her until her Dad got home at 5:45 p.m. I left him with the baby and dinner and came home.

Ava is so sweet. I can't wait for her and Grace to meet and for her to get just a bit bigger so they can play. The next few years are going to be awesome!