It's May, It's May!

We've spent the month of May in a baby fog. Daniel took 2 weeks off from work, as part of his paternity leave. And then his mom came to be with us for 2 and 1/2 weeks. I was so grateful to her for coming, because Jack, like my other 2 babies, has had nursing problems. My babies are apparently too little for my apparatus... they've all struggled in nearly the same ways. But Jack, unlike the other 2, has been more inclined to nurse, had more of a desire, and been able to latch properly sooner. The problem was that he would latch, and just do a lot of shallow sucking, not the deep kind of sucks that draw milk out. So, even though he was nursing, he wasn't getting anything from me. I've had to do the triple plan, again: nurse, pump and feed back breastmilk afterwards. That whole process takes at least an hour, and having to do that 8-12 times in 24 hours, it's a full-time job in itself, just feeding this baby. If Daniel and my mother-in-law hadn't been around for most of this month, I don't think I'd be able to nurse this baby at all. There just isn't enough time to jump through all of the hoops and take care of the girls and the house.

So, in essence, Mom took care of the girls and a lot of the house and a lot of the meals, while I holed up in my bedroom, feeding Jack and sleeping. And that's about how it was until she left on the 26th. I felt a little guilty about leaving her to do basically everything, except baby stuff. But, that's just how it ended up. And we were able to make great progress in breastfeeding while she was here.

The girls have adjusted pretty well to having a new baby in the house and in the family. Camille kept her distance for the first few weeks. But she's warmed up, considerably, and now she's constantly trying to give Jack hugs, and I'm having to remind her to be gentle. Brooke, on the other hand, has been pretty smitten right from the beginning. She often asks to hold him, and when I put him down in his bouncy chair or on our bed, she always wants to sit next to him, talk to him and try to make him smile. It's about the cutest thing, ever! And Jack really responds to her. He's all smiles when she's sitting next to him, talking to him. So far, Brooke and Jack have bonded. And I love that!

Other than that, we've had appointments for Jack (lactation and otherwise). Brooke had her preschool. Daniel and Gramma took the girls swimming, to the park, to the library. And I usually stayed home with Jack, healing and nursing. And I've been able to get through a bunch of books, both listening and reading on my phone. The fact that I spend so much time feeding a baby and pumping allows me plenty of time to get through books. It's one of the upsides to our struggles.

But, overall, I've been in a baby fog. Not sleeping well, trying to stay positive, and just not able to think or focus well.