February 2

I am a few days behind on blogging, but I'm hopeful you all will forgive me, given the circumstances. I think my new strategy will be to post for each day, and slowly try to fill in the gaps.

Eli is five days old today. Due to his early arrival and my concerns about breastfeeding a late-term preemie, I scheduled an appointment to check in with our doctor, who is a breastfeeding guru. Before the appointment, I was concerned that while Eli seems to be nursing well, that he may not be nursing efficiently. I was afraid that he might not be getting all of the milk he needed, and that he was jaundiced or not gaining weight.

Our doctor eased most of those concerns. Eli was 5 lb, 7.5 oz at birth, and 5 lb, 4 oz when he left the hospital on day 2. Today he was 5 lb, 3 oz, and my doctor speculated that he had lost all the weight he would lose, and was working his way back up to birth weight. We go back on Friday to check his weight one more time. 

Though Eli has a slight tongue tie, our doctor (who is an expert in this area) declined to correct it today. She thinks that correcting Eli's latch will help with the pain I'm experiencing while nursing. I'll be honest - she showed me a good technique in her office, but at the time it felt awkward and I'm struggling to replicate it at home. But still. She is confident that Eli is getting all of the milk he needs, and so I'm happy with that. 

Otherwise, our little guy is just perfect. We were concerned about jaundice, so on the way home from the appointment Eli and I stopped by the hospital to have his blood bilirubin levels tested.

That's us in the waiting area, with a warming pad on poor Eli's heel. Those heels have been stuck so many times in the past 5 days!

Luckily, his bilirubin levels are totally normal, so we have no cause for concern. Hooray!

In other news, everyone in the family remains in love with Eli.

Chris and Eli snuggled in bed this morning.

(side note: my mom found a few preemie clothing items for Eli, and it's amazing the difference they make! All of the newborn clothes say 5-8 pounds, but my 5-pounder swims in them. I am totally in love with the fact that the preemie clothes actually fit him!!)

Before her afternoon nap, Daisy wanted a chance to hold her brother. It was a rare moment when Caleb was at school and Lily was asleep, and Daisy got to snuggle Eli while I read to her. She was so happy, and the Boppy meant that I was confident she wouldn't drop or jostle Eli too much, so I could step back and take some pictures.

What a good big sister she is!