What goes in, must come out...

Eleanor, someday when you are older and reading through old archives of mommy's blog, I apologize in advance for telling such intimate details of your life.  I hope you will continue to love me anyway!

Did I mention I didn't want to miss a thing?  That includes the nitty, gritty details of day-to-day life with a newborn.  Like her first poo, and our nursing experience.

When Eleanor was born we had a very difficult time latching.  She rooted for the breast but could not seem to figure it out.  We were so lucky to have Ashley at our birth.  On top of being the best midwifery student ever, she has 5 children of her own, and is a lactation consultant.  Because of her swift thinking we learned that Eleanor was tongue-tied.  Tongue tie is a condition in which the bottom of the tongue is attached to the floor of the mouth.  It can disable their ability to suckle but also create a speech impediment later in life.  Eleanor's wasn't severe, but enough to keep her from being able to stick out her tongue.

Immediately Nicole jumped in the car to head to the hospital to pick up a nipple shield.  With Ashley's help I managed to nurse Eleanor before we left the birth center.  And with the help of the nipple shield I continued to feed Eleanor until our appointment with the midwives on Thursday to correct the tongue tie.

At our pediatrician appointment on Wednesday, however, she assured us that her tongue was fine, and we would be able to work out our nursing with a lactation consultant.  So when we went in on Thursday to double check with the midwives I was confused.  They told us many pediatricians are hesitant to clip a tongue tie if it isn't severe, and will refer you to the hospital.  However, at the hospital they will put the baby to sleep to clip the tongue.  At the birth center, it was a quick and simple snip and she never once fussed other than having to have her mouth held open.  Immediately Eleanor was able to latch without using the nipple shield and has been perfectly able to eat ever since.  What a relief.

Eleanor is a champion eater.  On our third day together she ate every hour on the hour as my milk continued to poor in.  My only complaint about breastfeeding remains my very sore nipples.  We might need to tweak our latch a little and I plan to see a lactation consultant this week or attend a La Leche League Meeting.  But I have also been assured that some pain is normal, despite reports from the LLL that any pain means there is a bad latch.  Either way, I am confident we will work it out.

So we all know input = output.  Despite Eleanor's marathon eating  there was very little output.  We had plenty of wet diapers, but had yet to see any poo, including meconium.   We were told that there was meconium present when I delivered Eleanor.  There was no concern, because at 9 centimeters when my water was broken it was clear.  This means she expelled meconium right at birth.  But we were still expecting at least one or two more black diapers and never had one.  This is how we know Eleanor truly is perfect.  We have heard horror stories about meconium so we were thankful we never had to deal with it.Finally on Saturday afternoon Alex got to change her first poopy diaper and it was definitely a breast milk diaper.  Since Saturday, we have had our fair share of diapers around here.

Unfortunately we have yet to start using cloth diapers.  Our baby girl is so tiny and they just rub against her umbilical cord, so we are just waiting for it to fall off before starting.  In the meantime we are adjusting to parenthood without the added task of constant laundry.  Many of our family and friends have gifted us with newborn diapers to get us through and we couldn't be more grateful! (Thanks Alina and Crissy!)

I feel so thankful to be able to breastfeed Eleanor.  It is truly an amazing experience.  It is through breastfeeding that I really fell in love with her.  It is through this relationship that we have connected in a unique way, a way nobody else will ever experience with her.  I am so lucky to be her momma.  I love her so much!