I recently took the myers briggs personality test. It was very enlightening and pretty spot on. I came out as an ENFJ, "The Giver." It makes sense why I enjoy structure and organizing, serving and teaching others. Those are some of the positives. One of the negatives is being really hard on myself. The last couple of days, the pressure of doing a "great" (ie "perfect" in my mind) job has gotten to me a bit.
I have made a few mistakes or perceived mistakes. I mean, these aren't my children. They belong to someone else who knows them very well. Most parents are pretty particular about their children, and I know I would be too. Keeping them on a set schedule of feeding and sleeping has proved to be a little bit of a challenge.
I think someone swapped the babies on me today, because Baby 1 slept for two and half hours this morning while Baby 2 slept for 30 and 20 minutes at a time. Totally reversed. Baby 2 didn't want his bottle and was fussy.
*BIG NEWS*
Baby 1, after seeing the speech pathologist yesterday, took her bottle like she had been doing it since birth!! She was fantastic. I took some tips from the speech pathologist, like giving her my latex gloved finger to suck on first, sitting her up in my lap with her head against my upper arm (kind of forward facing) and slipped the bottle in after she had been sucking on my finger. Done! 3 ounces in 3 minutes. Amazing! I warmed up one more ounce for her and she might've even eaten more. Due to her fuller belly, she has been very content and happy while awake, and sleeps much more soundly and for longer periods of time.
Baby 2 had maybe slept an hour and half total (all in 10, 20 and 30 minute increments) by 3:15. Finally, when he woke up after 20 minutes of sleep, I didn't pick him up but let him lay there. He wasn't crying and still yawned. 10 minutes later, he was back asleep until his mom came at around 5:15. The only problem was *mistake alert* he should've had another bottle at 4 pm. Oops. But that is also what happened this morning. He had finally fallen good and asleep at 10 and I had to wake him at 10:30 so he could take his bottle on schedule. Frustrating. Not sure what to do about that, because his eating and sleeping schedules seem to be intersecting more than they should.
Taking care of these babies is such a huge responsibility. I enjoy it and I know I'm doing a great job. I just have to learn to let myself make mistakes now and then. I mean, I've really only been at this for two weeks...not even! Whew...it's all a process. All in all, this was a great day.
And another thing...there are so many rules about handling and preparing Breast milk. When it's frozen it lasts a certain amount of time, refrigerated, obviously less time. It can be at room temp for 4-6 hrs but you are not supposed to leave it at room temp. It can be heated twice and placed back in the fridge in between. But once it's been heated it only lasts 24hrs in the fridge from that point. Oh and you can't reuse the same bottle because of the bacteria from their mouths on the nipple of the bottle...whew. Really? Bottle-feeding breastfed babies is no picnic. But kudos to the moms for doing what they know is best for their babies.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a lot to remember! You're a committed, intelligent, capable woman who's an amazing multi-tasker! You're doing great!
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