A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

I am learning, learning every day in this life I am living with a baby who doesn't nurse easily.  I have no previous experience with what works and what doesn't.  I am relying constantly on snippets of advice I am receiving from women who have been in this situation, but I am also having to learn from experience--and sometimes a bad experience is of incredible value. I had to run some errands on Friday.  I needed to visit at least 2, probably 3, different stores.  In the past taking Baby with me was a no-brainer--Baby came with Mom.  This time, though I hesitated, wondering what was best for us all. *It was only 18 degrees outside . . . but it was warm in the house. *Baby would have to spend a lot of time in a car seat . . . or at home he could be cuddled by a big sister. *I could pack all of the necessary baby gear, wrestling the diaper bag and baby into and out of the car and stores . . . or I could just dash in and out of stores quickly. *Baby ...

Baby L continues to be the focus of our family time and energy.  The good news is that he grew 1.5 lbs in one week once we began bottle feeding him.  The bad news is that in spite of every effort on our part to help him nurse he continues to be incapable of nursing adequately.  In fact, after over 30 minutes of what looked like a productive nursing session at the breastfeeding support clinic, he only ingested 4 ml of milk--that's less than a teaspoon. E14 thought he looked particularly cute in this pensive moment. I am learning to be at peace with the fact that our boy is happy when he's offered a bottle, and he's frustrated, tense and angry when he's at the breast.  My emotions seem to mirror his exactly, so bottle-feeding it is . . . Unless some well-meaning friend or family member calls me with yet another tip for how to get baby back to the breast.  Then I am filled with doubt and worry.  I am learning how to cope with 'round-the-clock pumpi...

A7 taught our family night lesson with a story she learned in her primary class at church.  It was about priesthood authority .   She did such a good job, labeling the little cars and making sure as many family members as possible were able to be active participant s. Baby L and I took a trip to a breastfeeding support clinic.  His weight loss was severe enough that the lactation consultant told us it was imperative that we get some food in him immediately.  Even though I'd been nursing him around the clock, he'd been taking in very, very little milk.  He wasn't dehydrated, but he was at 15% weight loss since being born.  On the way home from the clinic I stopped to pick up some bottles and formula.   I've been crying pretty much ever since. The week became a blur of consulting with La Leche League leaders, additional lactation consultations, purchasing tools/toys/gadgets to help us try to keep breastfeeding, pumping breast...

Another non-academic week that was rich in life skills and family time . . . This week was dominated by our efforts to get Baby L to grow.  I called a breastfeeding support group (only to have my call go unreturned for over 48 hours).  I also made an appointment to have his tongue tie reassessed for clipping.  After a weight check proved that he was still losing weight,  the dr's office took us seriously, and by Tuesday afternoon we were at an ENT's office having the procedure done.  It was far more traumatic than I expected (and I'd done my homework!), so recovery has been difficult.  Even with his tongue being freed, he's struggling to nurse effectively.  Nursing sessions take hours , and I have to pay attention to helping him get properly latched and staying that way.   I will be attending a breastfeeding support group in the coming week to do weight checks and see if there's some knowledge that I don't already have about nursing babie...