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Eloise's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 11/26/00 -------------------- 11/22/00 11/12/00 11/8/00 10/25/00 10/18/00 10/11/00 10/4/00 9/21/00 9/13/00 9/3/00 8/30/00 8/23/00 8/15/00 8/9/00 8/2/00 7/25/00 7/12/00 7/4/00 6/27/00 6/21/00 6/13/00 6/6/00 5/31/00 5/24/00 5/23/00 5/8/00 5/3/00 4/22/00 4/21/00 4/19/00 4/12/00 4/5/00 3/29/00 3/25/00 3/22/00 3/15/00 3/7/00 3/1/00 2/23/00 2/14/00 2/8/00 2/2/00 2/1/00 1/25/00 1/16/00 1/9/00 12/18/99 12/15/99 12/6/99 2/14/99 -------------------- Eloise's Introduction

December 15, 1999

Well my little baby is now almost three weeks old. Can you believe it? And things have settled down a little bit, THANK GOODNESS!! She's sleeping a little bit more, her feeding seems to be predictable and we're much more competent at burping and nappy changing and in-between times getting everyday chores done. We've even managed to cook a couple of meals this week!

Still, we have the odd horror day. Yesterday was a case in point. She stayed wide awake and alert after her late afternoon feed and we were busy cooking dinner so forgot to try and settle her to sleep. Four hours later we had a screaming monster on our hands. She was restless and unhappy and crying and grizzling for three hours and eventually, around midnight, after many aborted attempts, she finally drifted off to sleep. I tell you, these grizzly sessions are hell. You feel powerless to help her in any way, and we wander around trying one settling technique after the other (a push in the pram, music, singing, feeding, nappy-changing, a rock on the rocker, a kangaroo cuddle.). And then we go back to the start and try them all again! Hard work when you're deliriously tired yourself and your bed looks like the soft billowing clouds of heaven itself.

But then the days are getting easier and Pixie is changing. She is much more alert - looking around the room and taking things in. We think her focus must have extended because she seems to watch things further away now - and she's got less of that cross-eyed newborn look. And she is at least a little bit predictable now. She feeds every 2-3 hours, needs burp-time during a feed, sleeps for 2-3 hour stretches at a time, and will invariably dirty a nappy mere seconds after you change her into it, and will often piddle and dirty on the change table the moment you take her nappy off! It is not uncommon for us to go through three nappies within minutes during one change session. A lot of scrubbing, soaking, and nappy washing for hubby dearest - who'd probably like nothing more than to be signed up for nappy-wash service for a Christmas present!!

But breastfeeding every 2-3 hours is a demanding lot. Sometimes it feels like it's all I ever do - feed, burp, settle. Feed, burp, settle. And feeding can sometimes be a trauma as Pixie will often thrash around instead of latching on, and then during the feed she'll trash around, dragging my nipple with her thrashing little head. Ouch. It's not a pleasant feeling. And, to top it off, I've had a blocked milk duct for almost a week. I'm religiously massaging it to try and get it to move, and it shrinks but will get large and hard if she doesn't feed regularly. I've been to the doctors - who's warned me of the perils of mastitis and thrush (and half scared the wits out of me!) - and have talked to the health nurse about it. It has added to the stress of breastfeeding -- some days, some hours, everything seems so damned complicated and difficult. But we'll get there! Hubby and I keep reminding ourselves how fast she's changing and how soon the difficulties of this phase will pass. And before we know it she'll have grown and no doubt we'll mourn the loss of the newborn phase.

Anyway, I must go, believe it or not I have a home-baked Provencal quiche cooking in the oven while hubby makes a salad - fresh from our little garden - and bubby is blissfully asleep - touch wood!!

So until next week, take care out there,

Eloise