Great Day!

Man oh man, has today been a great day!!

First off, on Thursday evening, after a screaming fit, Keevia had a bowel movement. Not unusual, but when I changed her diaper I noticed 2 little streaks of blood. After googling it, I discovered it can be an allergy (most commonly milk), a anal fissure (usually from straining, I don't see how she could get it from liquid poo), or an oversupply of milk.

So, I read the oversupply symptoms. Keevia has EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

"Babies whose moms have too much milk will often exhibit symptoms such as fussing, pulling off the breast, colicky crying, gassiness, spitting up, and hiccupping. They may want to nurse frequently, and they may gain weight more rapidly than the average baby (who usually gains 4-8 ounces each week during the first 3 or 4 months), or they may gain weight more slowly than the average baby. Their stools may be green and watery, and their bottoms may be red and sore. The mother’s letdown reflex may be so forceful that the baby chokes, gags and sputters as he struggles with the jet of milk that sprays too quickly into his mouth."

Yep. That's my kid. To a T.

So, I read how to fix it. If Keevs nurses at say, 1 pm, I'm only supposed to offer her the left side. If she wants to nurse again at 2pm, I'm supposed to offer only the left side again. If she wants to nurse at 3pm, offer the left side again, and then the right, then begin nursing only on the right for 2 hours.

Simple fix. AND IT WORKED.

My child is a different baby. Today she woke up, played a little, nursed, went back to sleep in the swing for 2+ hours, I woke her up, changed her, we headed out (more on that in a minute), she pooped while we were out, then pooped again. She didn't fuss AT ALL. She nursed before the second poop, but she fussed a little with it. Then she napped about 20 minutes on the way home, nursed again, and then was up for about 3-4 hours! Got a bath, nursed a little and went to sleep, woke back up and pooped, and finally went down around 11 pm.

NO SCREAMING. ALL DAY! Do you UNDERSTAND? She's been giggly, she's been awake, she's been so pleasant! And you can just tell she's felt better, like, a LOT better.

I never would have thought that simply nursing only on one side would change her so drastically. In my opinion, my pedi and lactation consultant have somewhat sabotaged my nursing in the past. They instruct you that a baby only needs to eat on one side for 10 minutes, which just isn't true. They get too much foremilk that way, and not enough hindmilk, which makes the baby eat more frequently, because the hindmilk contains the essential fat that keeps them fuller longer.

Okay, whole nother post about our activities for today will come tomorrow. My daughter is asleep, and I need to follow in her footsteps so I can shower in the morning.