This picture is of Loren's Uncle Andy and Aunt Jen who visited the Saturday after Thanksgiving.I’m only a passive participant in Cheryl’s breastfeeding, but I can see why a lot of women toss in the towel. Loren has been gaining an ounce a day for the past 10 days and she seems to be eating all the time. Cheryl starts one feeding, and anywhere from 30-60 minutes later Loren falls asleep and stops eating. She will then sleep for 30 minutes or so (unless Cheryl tries to put her down, in which case she only sleeps for 5-10 minutes). As soon as she wakes up she is ready to eat again. It seems like Loren has been permanently attached to Cheryl for the past several days. (Not being about to put Loren down to sleep is a relatively new development. We hope she gets over this pretty quickly.)
Needless to say, this situation is pretty stressful for Cheryl. If Cheryl is awake, she has Loren. I can sometimes get Loren to come to me for 45 minutes or so if I move around the apartment and keep her entertained, which is long enough for Cheryl to eat or shower but not long enough to get a nap.
Anyway, what I am saying is that the whole breastfeeding gig is tough. Cheryl feels completely tied down to the apartment so she is available to feed and I think she is getting a little stir-crazy. She even took Loren out today for a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood. After watching Cheryl be “on call” 24x7 I can see why some people switch to the bottle pretty quickly…just to have some peace.
We’ll keep toughing it out, however. Our goal is to continue to breastfeed at least until Cheryl goes back to work in late February, and depending on where daycare ends up being maybe even later.
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