My last post talked about the perspective shift I've experienced with this second baby. It's so true -- in fact, last night I realized it was 2am, I was exhausted, but I was sitting in the rocker holding Alder who was fast asleep and could easily have been put in his crib where he sleeps remarkably well. At 2am with Rowan, it was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears from exhaustion, but with Alder it's all too real how few these precious middle-of-the-night feedings are when it's all said and done.
I say that God has mercifully reminded me not to expect anything to be the same between Rowan and Alder, by having my pregnancy, labor, and deliveries be dramatically different from each other! Just a few examples. With Rowan I couldn't stand the smell of coffee; with Alder I probably drank three cups a day (mostly decaf) because I couldn't get enough of that wonderful scent and flavor. With Rowan I didn't exercise at all; with Alder I was still biking through the state park just a few days before he was born. Rowan's delivery was essentially painless (thanks to a very nice epidural, of course) and stress-free; Alder's was very painful (despite a very nice epidural) and his heart rate was dipping so low, we knew we could be whisked away to the operating room at a moment's notice.
The big difference we're dealing with now is eating. With Alder, I was full of confidence from nursing Rowan successfully for more than 10 months (until he refused to nurse anymore). But it was clear in the hospital that Alder was going to present challenges -- his tongue seemed almost unable to go where it was supposed to, to generate suction. Unfortunately this became a huge problem the night after we got discharged from the hospital, when I realized that Alder was essentially not getting any of the milk I was producing. A Saturday morning visit to the pediatrician confirmed it: Alder had lost only 8 ounces during his first 48 hours, but had lost another 5 ounces in just 24 hours. Follow-ups with pediatrician, lactation consultant, and a pediatric dysphagia specialist have confirmed that Alder is basically unable to operate his tongue in the necessary way to nurse. Sigh.
So, my life currently includes pumping breastmilk every three hours, and giving it to Alder in a bottle with a special nipple to help train his sucking. We have to precede that bottle feeding (and interrupt it sometimes if his form slips into bad habits) with some special tongue exercises. Thankfully within just a couple of days of that scary checkup where his weigh had dipped to 6 pounds 5 ounces, another check showed that he was back up to 6 pounds 11 ounces (1 ounce higher than his hospital discharge weight) so our next pediatrician visit will be for his routine 2-week checkup. Here's a picture of him on the scale when we got the good news that his weight was back up and we were out of the woods. We're really hoping that the therapy will have a good outcome, and that he'll be able to nurse soon.
