Of all the challenges that come with having a newborn, I'd say breastfeeding is the hardest, most rewarding challenge of all. In the beginning, breastfeeding seemed "easy" I'm talking in the hospital before your milk comes in, when all your new baby is receiving is colostrum. That part was a breeze for me. I had a baby that latched very effectively and I only had to worry about waking up every couple of hours to feed her. After coming home from the hospital, things were fairly easy for me. My milk came in on Ava's third day of life. I nursed on a schedule, so every two hours or even before that if Ava decided to nurse, I was feeding her. Sometimes if she wasn't waking up every two hours, I would wake her up to nurse. I stopped waking her up probably about eight days after she was born. I threw the clock out the window and I allowed my daughter to nurse on demand. that literally was me feeding Ava whenever and however long she wanted. This is still what I'm doing today and Ava is now a month old. The problem I have been having lately are three things. One, during the night Ava USUALLY wakes up every three hours. The last two nights she has slept in four hour increments. When I wake up to feed her I have very full breasts, it's painful! Tonight I actually grabbed my manual pump and grabbed an ounce out of the breast she did not nurse from. I plan on using a syringe to feed the expressed milk to Miss A. My biggest worry with breastfeeding is that I am going to dry up! I know with Ava nursing on demand my milk supply comes in correlation to how often she nurses. That being said four hours is a big gap for me. I've googled, I've read books, I mean I can't get an effective answer on what do when your baby starts sleeping in longer gaps of time while exclusively breastfeeding. My second issue right now is my dietary issues. Since I'm borderline anemia, I have to take iron supplements everyday. I took them throughout my pregnancy and I was told to continue to take them even after I gave birth. Here's the problem, Miss A has had some green poo. While not uncommon, her poo should be that mustard yellow that breastfeeding babies produce. She does most of the time, but here lately I've seen a bit more green poo. I have researched and apparently iron supplements can be the cause, dairy products in my diet, or even Ava receiving two much fore milk and no hind milk. My third problem right now is thrush! Ava was diagnosed with it at her two week check up. Super common in babies, and easily treated... So I thought. They prescribed her a medicine for it (I remember posting this in a previous post) that has not been effective! Now I think I may have thrush, for the first time since having chapped nipples, I am having some discomfort in my breasts. The doctor never treated me for thrush, not even to be on the safe side, so I believe I keep reinfecting my daughter. This has caused me to make an appointment at PEDS for her! My breasts aren't terribly uncomfortable, but it's annoying to know I could be the potential cause for Ava's thrush still being present. Her appointment is today so I'm hoping we can resolve the thrush issue at the very least. I am excited to see how much Ava weighs. It's been over two weeks since we last went into the pediatric center. Even with these challenges I'm facing, I will never give Ava formula if I don't have to. I will always keep pushing through all these obstacles. Giving her the best form of nutrition is a HUGE priority for me.

Check Up Time !

Ava had her two week check up today. She weighs 6.5 lbs and she's a healthy sprout! The nurse called Ava's name to come back, and the first thing she did (after weighing) was take measurements of her. Her length, head measurements, etc. They were all relatively the same as birth. The second thing the nurse did was check her vitals for a full minute. Ava was so fussy because we had to undress her for all of this to occur. Daddy tried to console his little girl.

The PEDS doctor came in at this point. She asked Justin and I how we were doing. (that was a nice change from the usual care I've experienced at this Army hospital) She then had me fill out the Edinburgh test for postpartum depression. My score was a 4. Relatively low. The doctor checked Ava's hip joints, her jaundice records, and overall physical appearance. Everything looked great. She did notice that Ava has this strip of white on her tongue, she explained to us that It's called thrush. Apparently It's very common in babies. It's yeast. Their little immune systems aren't that strong, to fight off yeast in the air, home, etc. but it's easily treated and the PEDS doctor prescribed a medication for it. The doctor also prescribed vitamin D to be administered through a syringe for Ava. She told us breastfeed babies sometimes don't get the same amount of vitamin D as formula fed babies. After we were all finished with the physical part of the check up she tried to discuss Ava's metabolics with us...Unfortunately they haven't made their way back to the hospital yet. The newborn testing was suppose to arrive back to the PEDS department two weeks after birth, but the doctor said it's been taking closer to three weeks. That was frustrating for me! At the end of the appointment she explained that she wanted to check Ava's hemoglobin level to make sure she wasn't anemic and that everything else with Ava was perfect. We are due to have Ava's next appointment when she is two months old. Then vaccinations will come into play. An overdue conversation that Justin and I will have to have AGAIN.

** ON A CLOTH DIAPERING NOTE**

We used Ava's bumgenius AIO and her FuzziBunz XS pocket diaper! she fits into both of these now and they work great ! Love the absorbency, the soft materials, and the ease it presents for diapering needs.