One week

My goodness - I can't believe it has been one whole week since Landon was born! I am pleasantly surprised at how quickly my heart grew to love him (that may sound terrible, but I was VERY concerned that I wouldn't be able to love another baby as much as my sweet Addie). It is definitely a different kind of love, but I am loving not being as nervous about everything or as scared to be alone with him for fear I won't know what to do! Ha ha ha. Gotta love the second child thing, I guess :) I know it has only been one week, but I have only had one minor freakout with both babies. Addie has had a horrible cold this week (awesome timing, huh?) and has been a little whiny. Last night she had a complete meltdown because John Michael wouldn't let her have a(nother :)) Hershey's kiss before dinner (how dare he, huh?). She insisted on being in my lap, which of course I would have welcomed, except that Landon was flipping out because he was hungry. So I was trying to get him calmed down enough to eat, and she was crying and climbing on me and asking to be held. I already don't remember who we calmed down first or how, so I guess it wasn't too traumatic... :)

Things are going well, overall, although we've had a little feeding trouble with Landon. I was having EXTREME pain with breastfeeding and thankfully, decided to call the lactation consultant on Monday. We got in to see her Tuesday morning, and she immediately pointed out that Landon was tongue-tied and that this was very likely the cause of my pain. To sum it up, he was unable to get his tongue over his bottom gum line, so he was essentially gnawing instead of being able to properly feed. It caused severe damage to me, but she thought it could be fixed by having his frenulum clipped. She said she would try to call Dr. Hood to get the order faxed over to the hospital's nursery, and hopefully we could get it done that afternoon. She admitted that she didn't think Dr. Hood would approve it because their practice frowns upon the procedure. I am not sure WHY, given the risks are practically zero and that it can make such a huge difference in feeding. Long story short, Dr. Hood approved it and we had it done that afternoon! The procedure took about 30 seconds and Landon did not cry and did not bleed a single bit. Hooray!

This was awesome, and with the help of a little protective device, I was able to continue breastfeeding with a lot less pain. We went back to the consultant the next day because, essentially, Landon has to learn how to properly use his tongue. He went five days trying to use it the best he could, and of course, had been sucking improperly the whole time he was in my belly! I am so very thankful that he did not lose more weight than he did (he was still getting milk, just not as much as he needed, but was still only down 6 ounces from birth), and that my milk supply did not decrease at all. I admit that I am very frustrated because his tongue was pointed out to us immediately after his birth, but nothing was done about it. I was not overly concerned about the pain (so didn't really make a big deal about it) in the hospital because I attributed it to being the "adjustment" period. I know they would have done the procedure if I had discussed my discomfort more. But still. Argh.

We'll go back for another weight check on Monday and to make sure he has really learned how to feed. The lactation consultant told us yesterday that he is a "lazy feeder" so we have to put a little more effort into it and make sure he stays awake to properly feed. Addie was also very sleepy during feedings for her first month, so at least it's not a completely new thing for us! :)

ANYWAY - sorry for the novel, I'm just kind of using the blog as a memory book for myself! Now for the fun stuff! The post below this is all pictures. Hooray!