The Package Has Arrived

Ta-da!  It was an absolutely miserable process I am not keen to repeat anytime soon, but they were right when they said the end result would be worth it.  After a c-section that was at least four times as horrible as the last one, little Johanna was born just before 4 PM last Friday, 6 lbs 12 oz.  It was tough to bond right away while I was having my own problems in the OR, but Dave got to be there in his hazmat suit to hold her and cut the cord after the fact, and that was cute to watch.

The good news is that little JoJo seems completely healthy and a good size for almost 37 weeks.  The bad news was that the pain meds weren't working for me, and she was born with absolutely no suckling coordination, ruining our rosy plans for breastfeeding.  The lactation people basically gave up on us after a while.  In the meantime, she lost so much weight that they ordered formula supplementation, which bothered me a lot, but fortunately we've been able to keep that to a minimum.  We tried the sneaky supplementation tube while breastfeeding, but she quickly cottoned onto that and just sucked on the tube.  We abandoned that strategy in favor of bottle feeding to save trouble for everyone, and invested in a fancy electric double pump immediately upon arriving home.  It means double the time and effort, but at least we've been able to eliminate the formula and I can keep an accurate log of the volume she's getting.  Yesterday she outgrew her preemie diapers, so it must be working.  First pediatrician appointment is pending.

Her nickname in utero - especially during the last few months - was "the Lump," and I had no idea how appropriate it would be.  I have never encountered a baby who was so laid back.  If she isn't eating or pooping, she's sleeping.  She's pretty much been asleep since they pulled her out.  They tell me part of that is just her trying to catch up to full-term babies, and we're certainly enjoying the quiet.  She sleeps through the dog barking, the vacuum, the veggie juicer, TV, loud music, whatever.  Waking her up for feedings and keeping her awake long enough to finish a bottle (five minutes?) is the toughest job we have at the moment.  I think she'd just continue sleeping and starving if the appropriate milk volume wasn't made so easy to access.  I'm hoping in a few weeks she'll be more alert and able to maintain an interest long enough to work on a decent latch, but we'll see how that goes.  The only time she doesn't sleep is when it is dark and quiet, when the rest of us want to sleep.  We're working though a list of proposed solutions to that problem.

I'm still having a tough time recovering from the surgery, but otherwise life is pretty good.  Right now Dave is reading "The Hobbit" to her while she's sleeping.  Yep, still sleeping.