Growing

Jonah is growing! He had his two-week doctor visit today and now weighs 8 pounds 10 ounces. His doctor is very happy with his growth. She said most people are pleased when babies have regained their birth weight by the time they are two weeks old. Jonah already gained back his birth weight (7 pounds, 11 ounces) and then some! As a breastfeeding mom, it makes me feel good, like I've been doing something right. And, all those sleepless nights are worth it.

Matthew and I have a pretty good system for night feedings, but everything is harder when you don't get enough sleep. Matthew gets up first and changes Jonah's diaper. Then, he brings the baby back to bed so I can nurse him. Matthew also usually fills up my water bottle and brings me a snack. After Jonah is finished, burped and soothed back to sleep, we all sleep again for about two hours before doing it all over again. All night long. It's really hard sometimes, especially when Jonah doesn't go right back to sleep. And, it can be pretty comical, too, like the night that Matthew was so tired that he fell asleep while talking to me. He started to say something and then he was asleep, just like that!

I had a good checkup this week, too. I visited my midwives for my two-week postpartum checkup yesterday. They say that I am recovering and healing well. But, they also reminded me that postpartum recovery lasts about six weeks and to be patient with my body. It's easy to forget how much my body went through now that I'm starting to feel better. Meanwhile, I'm shrinking. I've barely had time to step on a scale, but when I did a few days ago, I was about 18 pounds lighter than I was at the end of my pregnancy. I'm nowhere near my regular weight, but it's quite amazing how fast breastfeeding takes the weight off. And, I'm hungier now than I was when I was pregnant!

We're all eating well thanks to all our friends who have been dropping off food for us over these past two weeks. It's made everything so much easier because we don't have to worry about what's for dinner. Thank you everyone! ~ Nicole