We've experienced a lot of firsts that I can tell you about. We took another trip to the farm when she was about 4 weeks old and we made it to about 15 minutes from the farm before Rya started crying and needed to eat. So, we had to pull over in Mechanicsville and I breastfed her in the car. She had also blown out her diaper, so bad that she was all wet, so halfway through feeding her we decided we needed to change her diaper. There wasn't enough room in the car so we got out and put her on the trunk! :) It was about 90 degrees out, mind you, so I was a bit frantic, but we were in the shade. Then I proceeded to finish feeding in the car, only to then have to change her again; she's a gassy baby! Finally we got on the road again and made it to the farm for a Von Behren reunion.
Another first was changing her diaper in a public restroom- those changing tables really aren't that easy to maneuver. And, breastfeeding her in the backseat of the car in a parking lot! At least in Mechanicsville we were on the side of the road. ;)
We made a trip to Ottumwa to visit family and she did well until the end of the visit. At that time she had a meltdown, so bad so that my grandma thought I'd have a nervous breakdown! But at least Rya got to meet more family.
We've gone back to the farm for a whole week for Rya's first extended stay with grandma and grandpa, and Jesse and I left her with them for a few hours two nights so we could enjoy Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum at the Jones County Fair! They said she did ok with them, and they really do enjoy spending time with her. I enjoyed all the help I got with Rya since I feel like all I do is feed her, change her, pump, wash bottles and pump accessories, and sleep! :)
On the breastfeeding front- I am no longer putting her to breast as of last Wed. because she just won't latch for more than a few minutes if that long. She got fussy back around 3 weeks I think it was, but I kept trying, only to end up having to give her a bottle & pump anyway, and it was too time consuming, not to mention stressful on me. We've fed her my breastmilk by bottle, but I have been wanting to try another time to see if she outgrew her fussiness or something. :) I tried one more time this morning and she didn't want to have anything to do with it! So, I'm officially done breastfeeding and will continue to pump and feed her breastmilk for as long as my supply will allow. I'm a little sad it didn't work out, but I did try for 6 weeks, and I'm still able to give her my milk so I'm glad for that.
As far as feedings go, Rya is quite squirmy when she eats and she takes a long time to finish her bottle. A lot of times she has gas & needs to poop when she eats so it distracts her. We can hear it though, when she feels better! I hope she starts eating better in a couple weeks before I go back to work because if not, I don't know how I'll get ready in the morning and to work on time! She seems hungry a lot too, so I've been supplementing 2 oz of formula after she finishes a 4 oz bottle of breastmilk if she is still hungry. I don't think it's really made a difference much as far as filling her up until the next feeding, because she still wants to eat again 2 hours later instead of 3 most of the times.
I'm still a little stressed I guess, about being a mom. Rya is so inconsistent still- some days she will sleep all day without being put to sleep, some days she'll sleep if I put her to sleep for a nap, and some days she won't nap at all! Then for bed, some nights she'll go down easy and not cry and sleep 5-6 hours and other nights she'll fight bedtime for an hour, cry 10+ minutes and finally fall asleep. Luckily, most nights she will sleep 5-6 hours and not get up before 4. I really need her to sleep until 6 when I go back to work, and every once in a while she'll sleep until then. Because she's so inconsistent I can't figure out how it'll all work when I go back to work. It's one thing to be tired when I'm home all day with her, but it's another when I'm driving to and from work and trying to focus on work all day. So I'm nervous about that. I really don't want to worry and just want to go with things, but that's easier said than done. So that's how I'm doing! 2 nights ago I went on my first run outside since last fall- almost 2 miles. Although it was short, and slow, it felt good. I'm not sore so that's good. I look forward to more runs, but not sure how often I'll get to with football starting, me going back to work, and Rya not on any schedule.
It sure was nice to have Jesse home so much during my maternity leave; I can't imagine how I'd handle a baby if he wasn't, but he started football camp today, and practice starts on Monday so he will be pretty busy and getting home later from now on. We'll have to see how that goes, but Rya and I will miss daddy time!
I'll be heading back to work on Wed. Aug. 17th and Rya will go to the in-home daycare we've arranged here in Ankeny. I'm looking forward to going back to work and hopefully getting Rya into more of a routine, but I know I will miss my little baby girl. She will be 2 months old Aug. 8th and has her 2 month doctor appointment on the 9th where she'll get her vaccinations. That's about all to update as of now. I'll try to post again soon.
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