Being Momma G: Day 28

Sleep. Oh how I've missed you. And welcome back.

Yes, we slept. Not for long, but we managed to get a couple of good stretches last night / this morning.

Our little man slept from 11pm till 2.10am before wanting a feed. We fed in bed so both of us were able to lay down, so we were both relaxed and Sean continued sleeping afterwards. Sean woke again at 6.15am and we completed the feeding in bed again. It took a little while to settle him afterwards, but he did go back to sleep, allowing Jonathan and I another hour in bed before we got up for the day.

We had our appointment with Dr Arnold at midday today, and as I wanted to drive Jonathan to work again, I called my folks to find out if it would be OK to drop in on our way back from the city, so that we could wait and feed at their place before our appointment. They were happy for us to pop by, so we did. We also got invited to return for dinner tonight, which we gladly accepted.

Sean was a little bit niggly by the time we got to Dad and Mum's, so we went to change his nappy and feed straight away. It was a quick feed, as we were a bit late leaving home to get Jonathan to work. I had a feeling that Sean would be quite grizzly at Dr Arnold's, but hoped he would behave for a bit.

No such luck. Sean started crying about 5 minutes into the consultation, and during the lengthy examination, Sean showed Dr Arnold his very healthy set of lungs in his bestest and loudest voice. Dr Arnold was very thorough and poked and prodded our very upset little man for what seemed like an eternity, and when it all finally came to an end, Dr Arnold declared Sean to be in good health.

Dr Arnold ran through his findings with me point by point. It was likely that Sean has a mild case of reflux, and a course of losec would fix that problem. Sean was also a little jaundiced, which was probably a result of Sean not getting enough milk. To see how jaundiced our wee man was, we need to return to North Shore Private Hospital tomorrow to get a blood test. Dr Arnold was keen for me to start a course of motilium to help produce more milk for Sean, and he was keen for us to feed Sean on demand with top ups of formula at the end of each feed, after hearing that we had been trialling the top ups and we'd seen a slight improvement over the past 2 nights.

According to the charts, Sean was a little bit underweight (in the 25th percentile), but he was taller than the average baby, and his head circumference is also right on average. Aside from being on the lightweight side, Sean was fine. It was a big relief.

Sean's medicine could only be obtained from a small number of pharmacies, and the most convenient one was in Willoughby. Dr Arnold's secretary Robyn called and asked the pharmacist to prepare the medicine, and to call me to let me know when it was ready to be picked up.

Sean was so very exhausted by the time we left, and as he'd only really had half a feed, we raced home to have another feed. Sean was so hungry and thirsty that he sucked down the top up I gave him as well, and so tired that it took only 15 minutes to settle him afterwards.

After Sean went to sleep, I finally had some lunch and sat down to relax. The pharmacy called and told me the medicine was ready for pick up, so I kept an eye on the clock to make sure we had time to go to the pharmacy before heading to my parents' place for dinner. The little man had other ideas - by 5pm, he was still asleep, so I had no choice but to move him from his bassinet to the car capsule. Fortunately, Sean was still so exhausted from our earlier outing that he went back to sleep in the car.

With Sean sleeping so well, I hated the idea of getting him in and out of the car just to spend 2 minutes in the pharmacy to pick up his medicine. So I called the pharmacy and asked if someone could run the medicine out to the car when we pulled up, and the lovely lady on the phone agreed, but only after making sure that I had money to pay for the medicine.

By the time we got to my parents' place, Jonathan had already arrived. Sean woke about 10 minutes after we walked through the front door, so we went to feed him while Dad was finishing dinner. The timing was almost perfect - Sean and I were finished 10 minutes after dinner started, which meant I was able to enjoy my meal without having to stop in the middle or rush through so I could feed Sean.

Grace and Georgianna and their families were also having dinner with my parents, so it was a very full house, full of loud noisy children. Sean was on his best behaviour, and it didn't take too long for Sean to settle down and fall asleep after dinner.

It's now after 11pm, and Sean is overdue for another feed. My boobs are so full and sore; they feel like they are about to explode. Sean is still asleep but he looks like he's starting to stir. Much as we're reluctant to do so, we may have to wake him for a feed. We'll trial the losec tomorrow, at the same time as I start the motilium. If my boobs are this sore now, I wonder how I'm going to feel when the motilium kicks in and I have more milk!