I love Breastfeeding

So I think we've reached a new and awesome place with breastfeeding. I know before I complained about it hurting a lot (which it did, at first) and him eating so frequently (which he still does, on occasion). But here at five weeks postpartum, things are looking up--so much so that I find myself really loving it, now.

James is getting a lot better at latching and eating. He can now (usually) latch himself back on when he pops off and can do so pretty well. He also is getting a lot faster and more effective at emptying the breast, so he doesn't tend to eat for nearly as long as he did at first. In the first week or two, it would take him 30 (sometimes even 45) mins to finish a good meal--now he can be done in 15-20 mins, and his snacks which used to be 15 mins are now 5.

I can now breastfeed in many different positions--I can go from sitting to standing, I don't rely on the boppy pillow anymore, but can hold him myself pretty comfortably. I can pretty much take him around with me while he is feeding (of course, I only have one arm free, tops, but it is better than being tied to the couch and not really having any freedom).

And it doesn't hurt much anymore at all. The initial latch/letdown is still slightly uncomfortable--but the letdown sensation is uncomfortable whether he is eating or not (and can be triggered by very funny things--like just a passing thought of him or glancing at a picture of him. But within about a minute of him starting to nurse, breastfeeding is pretty much totally comfortable now.

With this comfort is coming a love. Those prolactin hormones get released and I relax and zone out, often while staring into his beautiful blue eyes. I get lost in how beautiful he is, how amazing it is that I am feeding him . . .

And the breastfeeding relationship is really special too. I think it helps my confidence as a mother. The process of becoming a mother is so surreal. People have asked me what it feels like to be a mother and I still don't feel like I am one.

I gave birth, REALLY?
I have a baby, are you SERIOUS?
Who left this kid here?

I still feel like that. Sometimes it is easy to question if someone else couldn't care for him just as effectively (if not more).

But breastfeeding is like continual proof that I am, indeed, the mother of this beautiful baby, and actually the most qualified person to take care of him, the one who knows him best, who loves him best. Breastfeeding means that I am a unique person in James' world--no one else can do that for him. I think this helps the strange journey into motherhood--it reinforces that I am different in myself and special to this baby--that I HAVE changed into a mother, no matter how strange that seems to my intellect.

The last thing that is amazing about the breastfeeding relationship is how much James loves it. The absolute best moments for him is when he is eating. When he is crying and I lay him on my lap and start to get ready to feed him, he gets quiet and expectant.

In the article I posted a while back, "Breastfeeding in the land of Genghis Khan," the author talks about how in Western culture, we are focused on figuring out why the baby cries and therefore, the right solution. But she says, "In Mongolia, babies might cry for many reasons, but there is only ever one solution--breastfeeding." This quote pops into my mind all the time now. James wants to eat when he is hungry, obviously. But he also wants to eat when he is tired (and it puts him right to sleep), he wants to eat if he is cold (the breasts are very warm and will actually change in temperature if they sense even a one degree drop in the baby's temp), if he is uncomfortable, etc.

Never has there been a situation when James is crying, and nursing will not console him. No matter what is wrong, breastfeeding makes it better, stops the crying, and turns a fussy baby into a happy one.

Most recently and adorably, James has started to smile--but only while he is nursing (and I just see the corner of his mouth turn up as he pauses from his eating to smile about it, still latched on), or when he has finished a good meal and he is very full and content, he just smiles and smiles. I don't think it is voluntary yet, but breastfeeding makes my boy uncontrollably smile, and it is just too much for me and his Dad.

All these things are wrapping together to form a deep love of this method of feeding and the relationship that is borne out of it. I can only imagine how much I will love it when time goes on even more, and the difficulties continue to fall away while the benefits continue to stack up.

Top Christmas Moments

On Christmas morning, before we went downstairs to open presents, when James was so excited for Christmas that he got on my sister's bed and started jumping on the bed, only to bang his head hard on my parents low 7-foot high ceilings.

On Christmas day at my in-laws, when we dressed the baby as Santa and we all agreed that if he got any cuter we would all explode because of the cuteness.

On Christmas day when we sat all together as a new family--me in my red pajamas, James in his green pajamas, and baby James in his white snuggly pajamas, and we loved each other as we opened presents with my family.

On Christmas Eve at my parents' house, when we brought little James outside for the first time (besides just going to and from the car). He was crying and as soon as we got outside, he got so content and alert--he loved the outside and being surrounded by our family doing the annual luminary design (this year was Rudolph).

On Christmas day evening at my in-laws, when we lit the Christmas figgy pudding, and watched the blue light at it danced, and then circled around the bottom of the pudding again and again and again before it burned out, and we all decided that this would be an annual tradition.

And the top Christmas moment . . .

On Christmas Eve when my family was gathered in my parents' living room singing Christmas Carols (as we do every year), and my uncle, our guitar accompanist, asked for volunteers to sing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". My two sisters volunteered, and squished on the loveseat with my uncle so they could see the lyrics to sing. I was sitting on the ground breastfeeding James, but the song was so beautiful that I had to join in. So I perched on the arm of the couch while nursing James, and leaned over my sister to see the lyrics so I, too, could sing hallelujah and give praise for being so blessed.

"I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah"

Merry Christmas Everyone.

My Big Boy in and out of Clothes and Diapers

So this morning I went through James' clothes and put away the stuff that was too small--he is already out of most of his newborn sized clothes and into 0-3, 3 month, and 3-6 month clothes.

Plus he is already too big for the 12 newborn sized prefolds that I bought when he was born and the regular sized prefolds were WAY too big. Now I've taken those out again and I bet they will fit him just fine.

Also he is almost grown out of the three extra small size happy heiny pocket diapers, and fits really nicely in the three small sized ones I have. I really like these diapers more, though, and I bet small will fit him for awhile because he has a little butt, so I've been looking for more size small happy heinys on ebay . . .

It is crazy that he's already out of his smallest sized clothes--he is growing and changing so much, I can't believe it.

Wearing James

I have two main baby carriers--one is the Moby wrap, and one is the Ergo.

I tried out the Ergo a couple of times, but James always wants to nurse once he's in it which I haven't figured out how to do yet.


So I've mostly been using the Moby and I really like it. This hold is called the "breastfeeding hold, I can breastfeed him while he's in there and then he usually falls asleep in a few minutes:


The moby is basically one long strip of fabric, that you fold and wrap around you so that it holds him near you. It is a little overwhelming at first, but it is already getting more automatic for me after only doing it for maybe 4-5 days now.

I tried this hold out once (the lotus hold), but it didn't support his head very well while I was moving around.




But I can see how this would be a fun hold for when he's a little older and able to hold his head up more.

The same is true for the Ergo. I can tell it is a really supportive carrier and will be better for my back once he's able to sit up better, so I'm really looking forward to using that more, too.

In general, I'm really loving baby-wearing. I'm able to clean up around the house while breastfeeding him and "holding him" and rocking him to sleep all at the same time!

James Back to Work

So James was back to work today for his first whole day (he had done mornings only on Thursday and Friday last week). It wasn't too bad being alone with (Baby) James all day. I just had to do a lot of sitting on the couch, watching TV and feeding and rocking him, and rocking/bouncing him to sleep while walking around downstairs, and diaper changing. Honestly I didn't accomplish a whole lot besides.

I was able to finish drying and fold a load of cloth diapers, and to collect, wash, and dry all the baby laundry. I also unloaded half the dishwasher and ate not only breakfast, but lunch as well, along with nearly an entire bag of Newman O's.

We also took a trip to our chiropractor (Yaling) to get adjusted. He slept for the ride there and back, so from about 11 until almost 1--but besides that he didn't sleep for more than 20 mins at a time all day, so it was definitely a big challenge to accomplish anything.

I sort of could envision some kind of routine, though--one day when his schedule is more predictable, hopefully I'll actually be able to get some stuff done during the day . . .

I obviously missed (big) James while he was at work--I can't say how nice it was to have him home with us for an entire month. I feel really blessed and lucky to have been able to bond as a family like that during this important time of our new family. :-)

One Month Birthday

James is one month old today.


I can't believe how much and how fast he is changing. He is getting so much fatter and being able to eat more and more at one time. We are definitely starting to get into more of a routine, understanding each other better, sleeping better, etc.

James goes back to work on Monday fulltime. He went in for the mornings on Thursday and Friday, but that was easy, because (lil) James usually sleeps from 9:30/10 until 12/1 . . . so I only needed to take care of him by myself for a couple of hours, which I've done before when James has gone shopping or out running errands anyway. So Monday, being by myself with him all day, is going to be pretty different--the first time that has happened . . . I know it will be fine but it seems daunting right now!

But nursing is getting easier and easier and James is sleeping better and better, taking more predictable naps, so I'm sure we'll get into a good routine in a week or two. And even though I'm nervous, I'm also excited to find a new normal with James as part of our life.

Ooooowww Update

So in my previous post, published at 9:30ish pm, I'd said that James had been nursing non-stop for three hours . . . Yeah so, this went on with only a few breaks to sleep for 5 mins, be changed, or cry inconsolably, until 2:20 am.

Holy crapola. Today we tried REALLY hard not to let him sleep for too long during the day. We woke him up from both his long naps (and we had to try REALLY hard), but he fell asleep (hopefully "for the night") around 7:30 tonight, so so far, it has worked!

Now we just need to get me to sleep and I'll be ready to face a new "day" (ie, whenever he wakes up next).

Sorry all my recent posts have been whines. Hopefully I'll write something of substance soon.

Oooowwww

James has literally been nursing non-stop for three hours. I'm trying to just be resigned to it but as my boobs get sorer and sorer it is hard to go with the flow. Every time I take him off he starts crying and rooting. ::WHINE::

Just needed to get that out of my system.

Witch's Milk

So, there's no easy way to say it. I have an amazing lactating baby.

You heard me right. When you squeeze James' little boobies, milk comes out.

I wasn't too concerned when I noticed this, because I had read about it before. This milk is known as witch's milk, or neonatal milk, and according to Wikipedia, 5% of babies, or 1/20, will lactate in their first month or two of life.

I thought this was crazy and wanted to take a video of it and post it here, but James forbid it--insisting our future teenage son would one day discover this and be mortified. But he permitted me to write about it.

I guess it's caused because the hormone prolactin is secreted in high amounts by the mother's body to stimulate her body to produce milk, and this hormone is passed to the baby through the breastmilk, which sometimes causes the baby to also produce milk.

James sort of thinks it is freaky but I think it is awesome. LOL

Fun Times Tonight

The title of this post is sarcastic. For some reason, James was really fussy tonight. Even after eating and eating and eating, and getting changed, and getting burped and rocked and changed again, and fed again and again, he continued to fuss and cry no matter what we did. Unless I was actually feeding him, of course, because breastfeeding never gets old for him.

Finally my boobs were killing me and I couldn't deal anymore, and I asked James to take him upstairs and I sat down here listening to him cry for a few minutes. Finally I decided that today was a good day for his very first bottle.

I'm very proud to say that up until tonight, he has breastfed and only breastfed--nothing else has ever gone into his body by any other method. And while I fully intend to never give him formula, and plan on waiting to introduce food until the recommended six months old, I did always intend to start introducing bottles as a way for him to drink the breastmilk that I've pumped and collected . . . so that James could feed him sometimes, and so we could someday go out and have a babysitter . . . I sort of thought I would wait until after the holidays, but apparently James David had other plans.

Because today when I was feeling completely touched out and exhausted and like I needed a good meal and a never-ending drink of water, I just couldn't deal with nursing him anymore. But hey, that's why I've worked so hard to pump that frozen milk, right?

So I went down to our freezer and picked out an ounce and a half of milk saved and frozen from his first week of life, and I brought it upstairs and stood in the kitchen defrosting it in one of our Tommee Tippee bottle, in a hot water bath, over the steamer, and I listened to my poor little son cry continuously as I watched the pot and checked the milk again and again, tapping my foot and standing there beside the stove, mentally pacing.

And finally I brought that little bottle of milk up to James and he said: "I thought you were going to do that." And he popped the bottle in the open maul of our crying baby, who eventually figured out that there was food in there, and proceeded to gulp it down like his life depended on it (which I guess it kind of does).

It was odd watching him eat like that--obviously, I am normally feeding him and looking down at him--it was so funny to see him across from me, in James' arms, eating away.

Of course once he had sucked down the bottle he continued to cry and I had to breastfeed him anyway, but it somehow took the edge off--after only a few minutes of additional feeding his eyes began to droop and he finally fell asleep (because the little tyke was not only hungry but also tired, which added to his misery).

And when he finally was asleep and quiet, James and I just hugged each other like we'd came out on the other side of a natural disaster . . . and that was pretty much what it felt like.

Fun times tonight.

Thanks Mariclare!

Mariclare gave me the most amazing present tonight! She painted this picture from a photograph she took at our intimate pregnancy photo session, that I'd shared a few pictures of before . . .



It is just so beautiful, I'm so grateful to have my pregnant self immortalized this way. I'm so lucky (and James David is so lucky) to have so many amazing and talented people around us . . . like Mariclare. We love you, MC, you are the best friend a girl could ever ask for. :D

My Baby is 3 Weeks Old!

James David is three weeks old! He is continuing to grow and change so much--it is just crazy. I feel like his cheeks and arms and legs are getting chubbier--slowly, but surely!


I was thinking the other day how a month ago I was hauling my huge stomach around. I was getting into bed, holding James in my arms, and I pictured myself when I was still pregnant, climbing awkwardly into bed . . . So much has changed in so short a time, it almost feels like another person's life. James David has changed us so fundamentally . . .

I had this same feeling when James and I fell in love--a few days after, we walked hand in hand, and I struggled to remember the events from before I loved him. It felt like someone else, the person I had been "before". My life had been cleaved open by this monumental event--and now it has happened again, with another little James coming into my life, coming into my heart . . .

Now my heart will never be the same.

Things People Don't Tell you About Post-Partum

First, I'm still spotting. It's almost been three weeks--I guess I didn't realize it would go on for this long! Some of the people on my message board (a group of people all expecting babies in November) have been bleeding/spotting for SIX WEEKS! That is just crazy. I really hope that I'm not bleeding for that long, and that the spotting stops soon. ::sigh::

Second, I'm constipated as hell! And, according once again to the people on my message board, this is a normal post-partum thing . . . it's not even related to nursing--some of the people who are formula feeding are also constipated; AND some of the people who weren't even constipated while pregnant are now constipated post-partum. I guess it's just something that happens a lot of the time after you have the baby. (Yeah, WTH?)

Third, I was honestly surprised by how long it took me to recover after having the baby--it was six entire days before I was really able to be up and about--and apparently I was pretty ashen after a few hours of this (according to my family).

Fourth, nursing is a hell of a lot more painful than I thought it would be. It is totally still worth it and in other ways I love it--that the milk is always with me, warm, ready to use, and never runs out. I also love how much James David loves it--he gets this look on his face when he first latches on, and he is SO serious and determined--it is like the most important thing in the world to him (seriously) and I love that I can do that for him.

Yet, honestly, it is now almost three weeks since I had him, and while the pain is no longer excruciating, and my nipples appear to have recovered (no longer blistered and scabbed), it still definitely hurts sometimes--especially when he's been nursing for a long time or I'm engorged. I didn't think it would take this long to adjust to nursing but I know it does eventually become painless, so obviously I'm still adjusting.

All these things definitely surprised me!

In other news, I attempted to post another video but even after (literally) hours of "uploading it", I decided that it was not actually going to upload. Sooooo yeah. I'll try again tomorrow. ;-)

James' First Bath in Videos

My first attempt at posting videos on the blog . . .

James had his first bath on Monday. We have the Prince Lionheart Washpod, and it was definitely fun washing James.

Here is the before bath video:


And here he is getting in for the first time:


Here he is in the bath! He seems to like it a lot actually, despite the fact that he's a bit too small for the bath, LOL:






And here he is all clean and getting dried up in his Pooh towel, hehe.


My only complaint about the whole experience was that I didn't get to squeeze him enough while he was all naked and cute. Therefore I've decided our next bath, we'll all get in the big tub together! There will be no video of this, LOL!

Do we actually have a schedule?

James David is settling into a bit of a schedule, to my complete surprise. I honestly did not expect any regularity for at least a month. But inexplicably, I have observed almost the exact same pattern for at least 4 days and the days before that were pretty similar, too.

We have been heading up to bed around 9 pm. James and I will bring the computer up there and watch shows on Netflix while I feed up the little dude for the long night ahead. Around 10-10:30pm I start really crashing and getting tired--and ideally by now James David is asleep or very nearly. If he needs additional changing/burping/rocking, etc, I pass him off to James and pass out. Usually little James is asleep by 11, though, in his cradle by our bed.

Then he will sleep until just about 4-4:30. I start hearing his waking up noises in my sleep(slash my boobs start ACHING) but both of us take a good half hour after this to get fully awake--this is usually the 4-4:30 time slot. Finally I wake up (big) James and ask him to change (little) James and while he is changing him, I sit up, arrange my pillows and boppy around me, and I'm all set to feed him.

James David eats for a good half hour, sometimes even 45 mins, because this is by FAR the longest stretch he goes without eating so he's really quite hungry when he wakes up, and needs to eat for a long time. When he's done eating, he usually needs to be changed again, and he typically isn't ready to go RIGHT back to sleep, so I wake James up again, he sets up the cosleeper, changes him again, and then usually hangs out with him for a half hour or so, burping him and rocking him--I go back to sleep while all this is going on. Then James David goes back to sleep from 5/5:30 until about 8:30.

We repeat our middle of the night situation at 8:30--James changes him before and after a long feed. Then we usually get up, get the little man dressed for the day, get ourselves dressed for the day, and go downstairs.

Around 9:30 or so, James will fall asleep again and take a nice long morning nap. Usually he'll sleep for at least an hour and a half--and sometimes he'll sleep for more than two hours and I'll start thinking about waking him up so he doesn't sleep too much during the day.

But usually he wakes up on his own between 10:30-12, and again wants to eat for a good long spell.

Then he is pretty awake for the rest of the day--a few hours later--sometimes between 3-5, he'll start his all-night eat-a-thon where he'll cluster feed and basically nurse non-stop (5 mins on, 5 mins off, etc) for several hours. He might at some point in the evening take another longer nap as well but this afternoon/evening time is definitely the least predictable in terms of eating and sleeping.

And then we're back to 9pm or so and it's bedtime again! Not a bad little schedule! I am SOOOO grateful that he is such a good sleeper and we have minimal middle of the night wake-ups. There was ONE night that he woke up every two hours and I wanted to pull my hair out. I can't imagine days upon days of that.

Of course, it would be amazing if he continued with this same schedule/pattern, but I REALLY don't want to get too attached to it. I know babies can change at the drop of a hat because of growth spells, getting older, everything. So I know that tomorrow he might do something completely differently. But I'm going to try to enjoy the predictability and sleep while it lasts.

Co-Sleeping

So James David does not have his own room. I just didn't see the point. Little babies need almost nothing. He has a dresser for his clothes, receiving blankets, and wraps and carriers--it is in our room. He has a changing area--in the bathroom--located in close proximity to the toilet, which is very handy while cloth diapering . . .

He has a cradle, located next to our bed, and then there's his cosleeper, which goes on our bed:

Since we would have wanted him near us at night anyway, the only thing that we maybe could have put in a nursery is the dresser . . . not a very full room.

So he doesn't have a room. I think by the time he is one or definitely by the time he turns two, we'll have designed and decorated a nice little toddler room for him, complete with his own bed, dresser, painted letters and animals on the walls, chalkboard paint, cork boards, the whole deal.

In the meantime, he'll sleep with us. This was, quite unexpectedly, the one point that my Dad freaked out about. It was fine that we had a midwife, a home birth, that we'll delay vaccinations and didn't circumcise, but co-sleeping was just too much for him. (It's sort of weird how everyone has their points of contention).

In the first few days, he was just in the cosleeper. Both James and I wanted him RIGHT THERE, between us, in front of our eyes, at the reach of our hands--we both woke up multiple times in the night with a gasp, reaching over to check that his chest rose and fell, poking at him to see his eyelids flutter--making sure that it was not all a dream--that he was there with us.

Now, typically, we'll get him to sleep "for the night" sometime between 10pm-12am, and we'll put him in the cradle. We'll have our opportunity then to snuggle with each other, hold each other as we fall asleep. Then James David will wake up between 3-5am, and at that point, we pull out the cosleeper and he'll sleep there for the rest of the night--easy to reach out and comfort if he is fussing--easy to get if he needs to nurse . . . accessible.

At some point in the future when he outgrows the co-sleeper and the risk of SIDS falls, he'll probably just sleep right in our bed, and so far, that is where James and I like him. It is by far the easiest situation for nursing and bonding.

Honestly, I can't imagine putting him in a crib in a separate room and closing the door. I carried him inside me for nine months, and such a drastic separation right away feels so unnatural. I want to be near him, to hear his noises and see him--all the time. It feels very very odd to be apart from him--even in a different room.

So I know co-sleeping isn't for everyone, but it is working great for us, so far. My Dad insists that we'll never get him out of our bed but I'm fairly certain that he won't take us to college with him, ;-) Anyway, at this point I have bigger fish to fry--sleeping in close proximity to your baby greatly reduces the risk of SIDS, promotes a good breastfeeding relationship, in short--helps a newborn grow into a healthy toddler. That's what I'm focused on right now--we'll worry about teaching him to sleep without US when we're ready to sleep without HIM, and that time is definitely not now!

Two Weeks!

It was two weeks ago today that I gave birth to my precious son!

In that time, he has already changed and grown so much! He is back up to his birth weight (or very nearly)--he was 8 lbs 6 ozs this morning and 8 lbs 7 ozs at birth.

He is getting to be a bit fussier than he used to be--I find myself so thankful for nursing because he will instantly stop crying, usually just from being put on my lap on the boppy, because he knows he will get to eat in a minute. And nursing stops him from crying no matter what, and usually puts him right to sleep--though of course he will wake up again a few minutes later unless he is actually tired . . . I wonder how formula feeding Moms do it, because I'm pretty sure you can't just give tons and tons of formula to a baby as a fix-all solution the way you can with nursing.

Anyway, I think the little chap is rather gassy--he burps and farts A LOT, and even if I burp him multiple times while eating, it doesn't seem to help. He just tends to swallow lots and lots of air--both while nursing and other times. I actually don't even know how he does it while nursing--isn't there supposed to be a vacuum in his mouth?

So while he's awake he is often fussy, but as long as I feed him often enough I can keep him from crying. It's going to be interesting when James goes back to work, though, and I can't just feed him all the time! Luckily he still sleeps well--both at night and takes long naps during the day. I usually have to wake him up from naps at least once a day because I don't want him to sleep so much that he doesn't sleep at night.

It's starting to be a bit more real that I'm a Mom and he's my baby. I don't know if the full reality has REALLY hit me, but it's getting there.

On a final note, we have such such amazing friends and family. As if the tons of things we got for his baby shower weren't enough, we've gotten tons of presents from the most unexpected people in the last few weeks . . . everyone has been so generous--and not only with traditional gifts but with food, helping us clean up, and so so many visits. It just feels like this huge outpouring of love, and it makes me just swell with thankfulness.

Then again, who could resist loving him?


I really can't believe how fast he is changing--he already looks so different and so much older than he did two weeks ago. I keep meaning to take videos of him and most days, forgetting. It just feels like everything is happening so fast and before I know it, he'll be a man.

The Benefits of Cluster Feeding

So our evenings--starting as early as 4, and ending as late as midnight, but usually for a good 4-5 hour stretch . . . are basically an all-night eat-a-thon. Meaning that James David nurses for 5-15 mins, then takes a 5-15 min break, and then wants to nurse again. This seriously does last for at least 4 hours.

I will let him go on one boob for a total of 30-45 mins of EATING time, and then switch to the other one--but after several hours of this, they haven't had time to fill up again by the time it's "their turn" again.

So, by the end of it, I almost feel bad because my boobs are completely done--or at least, it feels that way--like there is no milk left in them. And yet when he pops off, there is still milk in his mouth--where is it even coming from???

Yet eventually the baby goes to sleep--typically, sometime between 9 and 12, and when he FINALLY and REALLY goes to sleep, then the benefits of all-evening cluster feeds start to shine through. Because that baby will sleep almost the whole night through!! Last night he slept from 11:30-4, ate, and then slept again from 4:30 to 8:45. Ahhh, the blissful wonder of (nearly) uninterrupted sleep.

There was ONE day (in the past week) that he didn't spend all evening eating. And that night he woke up every two hours on the dot, and it was SO SO much worse. For some reason one's body is not programmed to sleep in tiny chunks (unless one's body is 13 days old, that is).

So, all in all, no matter how sore my nips are by the end of it, or how deflated my boobs, I'll take the cluster feeds and sleeping at night over an every-two-hours-throughout-the-day-and-night sort of schedule. The sleep at night is totally worth being attached to an adorable baby all evening.

My Baby is a Prince

I've been a bit neglectful (of the blog) and this won't be a very long post either, but . . .

James is a sensitive little dude. Specifically, he HATES to be wet. He also (apparently) like pooping in completely clean and fresh diapers. So today James changed him. About a half hour later he started fussing again, and low and behold, was once again wet, and so, got changed again.

Literally the SECOND James sat down from changing him this second time, we heard a huge poop explosion. And so, the prince was changed for the third time in an hour.

In related news, today was our first day in exclusively cloth. We'd been doing some cloth and some disposables for the past week or so, but I quickly realized that the prefolds we had were WAY too big for him, and so were the size small Happy Heiny brand pocket diapers that I had. So the only diapers we had to fit him were four fitted diapers (3 size 0 Kissaluvs and 1 Happy Heiny), and 3 size extra small Happy Heiny's pockets. I'm really glad I didn't try to go for one size diapers because I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work for us at all, at this point.

Anyway, these seven diapers were not enough to get us through the day, especially given how often James likes to be changed, so we were doing both for awhile. However, by a happy stroke of luck, we got 12 prefolds as a present from our family friend Sharon and her husband Skip, and they were really slim and fit James really well. So today is our first day doing entirely cloth, and I think it's going really well!

James is the master diaper changer and is even quite confident now with the prefolds, snappis, and covers. I also ordered 12 more small size prefolds and two small fleece covers, so when these arrive, we'll really be rocking! So there's a little update for you!