Zoe's First Week Challenges.

Wow! What a week this has been, my uncle passed away after finding out he had cancer this last month, we made a trip to the childrens ER, and my parents were staying with us, and then there were all of the hours getting to know Zoe. We are tired to say the least! There is more to say about all of this, but I will tell you about why we ended up in the ER and what has been happening with Zoe.

So, Saturday and Sunday were great, we didn’t get a lot of sleep and I was pretty sore from the stitches and breast feeding. I felt like breast feeding was going pretty good. Monday, was the third day breast feeding, which is when you are suppose to get your milk in. Monday night I noticed it was in and I fed her and she conked out for an hour or more. In the middle of the night she was having problems falling asleep and then she began a crying fit. It was awful, nothing would console her, she was searching for my breast, but not latching onto it, because she was so upset and she would get more and more frustrated. Jon and I watched a DVD called Happiest Baby On The Block before she was born, the technique they teach which was incredibly helpful in this situation. Jon swaddled Zoe tightly and cradled her in his arm and gently rocked her while making a shhh noise. I let her suck on my finger and it calmed her down enough to where she would feed again. Jon was proud of himself, as he should be for saving the day! We were able to go back to sleep for a little bit, but this was the first of many crying fits that happened over the next 24 hours. Zoe and I got very little sleep throughout this. I was holding her all of the time and could hardly put her down before she would begin crying again. The crying turned into fits and as the fits progressed, Zoe would make a whimper noise that broke both of our hearts. Her mouth would get really dry and her cry started to sound hoarse. Eventually she would wear herself out and would nurse and sleep. Swaddling and letting her suck on my fingers would help a little, but only for a short time. I finally got to a point that I didn’t know what to anymore. I was worried about her, and I was worn out.

Wednesday morning I called our midwives to get some help. They suggested we bring her in and weigh her. They would also take a look at her to see if they could give us more advice. Jon had to go to a class that morning, so my dad took Zoe and I to the midwives. Heather, one of our midwives weighed her and told us that she weighed 6.12 pounds, which was almost one pound down from her birth weight. I couldn’t hold back the tears and I still can’t now while writing this. I was devastated. It's normal for babies to lose weight the first week, but that is usually 7-10%. Zoe had lost 12% in the first four days. I felt awful, I knew I did the best I could, but it wasn’t enough to help her. The other troubling thing was her heart rate was low, which was weird, because if she was dehydrated it should have been higher than normal. Heather consulted with the pediatrician we were planning on seeing that week. They both didn’t like that and thought we should take her to the Childrens Hospital ER to have her looked at further. This worried me more. I like to stay out of hospitals, that‘s why we birthed out of one! Heather, also wanted to let me know that if we took her to the hospital they would probably want to supplement her with formula. This made me cry again.

I have a strong conviction breast feeding is best and formula should be avoided at all costs. I believe this, because a baby’s bowels are a delicate ecosystem and even one bottle of formula can throw off that balance and make them more susceptible to allergies and illnesses. I also do not trust the sources of soy or milk that formula companies use. Most soy, even organic is cross-contaminated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Things I do not want to introduce to my baby ever. Let alone on her first four days of life! You might not agree with me on this point, but I decided we would not supplement with formula, but with donated brest milk. Heather told us that if we wanted to supplement with donated breast milk, that she knew of a mother who has a large amount available and she lived in are neighborhood. I told her that I would like to contact her and she gave us her information. I also called my sister-in-law Megan to see if she knew anyone else who had extra breast milk. Then I called Jon and had him call the mother Heather told us about. He went and got milk and started warming it, so that we could feed it to Zoe on the way to the ER. Dad, Zoe, and I left the midwives for home to drop of my dad and pick up Jon and some things that we needed. On the way to the hospital I fed Zoe a bottle in the car, which she took down well. When we got to the hospital they weighed her again and checked her heart rate. It was up from the midwives, which I attribute to the bottle of breast milk she had.

Megan met us at the ER to be with us, but she also brought us a bag of breast milk she collected from mom’s that she knows. She said that she traded the breast milk for some halibut that she had bought that week from a fisher man! We all had a good laugh about how it could look like a drug deal to people! I am so grateful for Megan’s support and the generous mothers who donated milk to Zoe.

Zoe had a second bottle at the hospital and immediately took a big poop! It was what she needed for her system to pick up and get going again. It was after this we saw a huge change in her. She was content with her eyes open. We hadn’t seen her eyes open since the day she was born. She also wasn’t crying anymore. She was happy to be held by Jon and others and she slept a lot! It was amazing! She was back to being the sweet little baby we met the day she was born. The diagnosis was that she was not getting enough milk from me, and we could go home if we agreed to a plan with the doctor’s, which included supplementing her with the donated breast milk and for me to begin pumping to help my milk supply and to get some much needed rest. That night we went home and I went to bed, Jon stayed up with Zoe and fed her and finally got some good quality time with her. It was what we all needed. I had asked Heather how much she should be sleeping and she said average is 2-3 hours, which sounded glorious to us! We had been getting much less than that the last few nights.

On Friday (two days later), we went her first pediatrician appointment where she was weighed at 7.8 pounds! We all celebrated her being able bounce back to almost where she started. Zoe is a little fighter! Heather told us that it was so good that she let us know something was wrong, because most babies will just sleep more when they are not getting enough food. Their parents will think it’s great getting more sleep and not know something is wrong. We are feeling much more positive about life with a baby! Jon and Zoe have been able to bond and they are really cute together! I have gotten more rest and have been pumping while feeding Zoe to help get the milk flowing! We have gotten more milk donated to us and I am again so grateful to the mom’s who have helped us. I feel like paying it forward when I have more milk to give. Zoe's first week didn't go as planned, but there was a lot of good and amazing things that came from it. We are so in love with Zoe and so blessed to have her.

On to week two!