February 13

Chris and I are a team. 

We are a darn good team, and I am thankful that God put us together.

But there is no way we would have been able to handle the past two and a half weeks without my mom. 

She has been here, uncomplainingly, with a smile on her face, when she was sick, when she was tired, when she was sick and tired. 

She has rocked babies, fed bottles, read books, given snuggles, prepared more meals than she probably has in the past year combined...

She has needed no instruction, little direction, and has been able to seamlessly slip into our lives, so that this major event has been barely a blip in my children's lives.

We are so, so blessed to have her, and we are blessed by her co-workers who have covered her shifts, traded her days, and been generally forgiving if she hasn't been on her A-game because she was exhausted from tending to grandbabies.

I am thankful.

Today, mom found a co-worker to cover the first half of her shift so that I didn't have to take all four children to the doctor for Eli's weight check. She showed up at my house at 8:30, took over breakfast duties for the big three, and entertained them while Eli and I saw the doctor. When I got home, she fed Eli a bottle, then put Lily down for a nap, changed into her scrubs, and headed off to work. This has been a stressful few weeks, but it has helped so much to have her here.

Tomorrow she goes on (a well-earned!) vacation for a week. Tuesday, Chris is back at work on his normal schedule. I think I'm ready to handle things on my own.

I hope I'm ready to handle things on my own.

I have to be ready to handle things on my own.

In Eli news, we went in for a weight check today.

Kid clocked in at 5 pounds, 10.5 ounces. That's up 2.5 ounces from Wednesday, when we were hoping for an increase of 1.5-2 ounces. Way to go, Eli! It looks like breastfeeding boot camp is working!

This was us, waiting to see the doctor after weighing in. 

(He's not actually that yellow - the walls are a bold yellow, and they're reflecting off his face.)

Except we're still not there yet. Eli still isn't on the growth charts, which is to be expected, but he also isn't even on the curve. So breastfeeding boot camp must continue. 

He's also still refusing to nurse on the right side, where I had mastitis. (The mastitis is almost 100% better, praise the Lord!) On Monday, we will see a physical therapist who does craniosacral therapy in an effort to help Eli be able to latch and nurse on the right side. Once he's nursing on both sides, I can stop pumping 'round the clock, and we'll be on the road to normal. Hooray!

In the meantime, I'm continuing to nurse him every 2-3 hours, pump, and give him a supplementary bottle of breastmilk. Please pray that he continues to fatten up, and that he will begin to nurse on both sides?