Yesterday I got a call from the Loving Support Breastfeeding Hotline, they were the ones I called when I was having my engorgement problems. Anyhow, so they called just to see how everything was going and also to let me know that Evy was going to be going through a growth spurt any day now and to be on the lookout for increased feeding demands.
Man, were they right! Two days ago I was talking about how Evy seemed inconsolable other than with the breast and how strange it was for her - now it all makes sense. Its odd how when I read all of this in my books on breastfeeding, I just don't realize that eventually it'll happen to Evy and I. Reading about growth spurts, I naturally just pushed it back in my mind thinking, "Oh, that'll be awhile..." and the next thing you know its here. She's growing so fast!!!
Yesterday was long. Evy wasn't particularly fussy or anything, it just seemed like after her morning snooze (she often falls asleep after her first morning feeding until about 11am or so) she needed to be on my breast constantly. It was my first course of action to take (unless I could smell or feel her dirty diaper) and every time that seemed to be exactly what she needed. Plus, she didn't seem to nap at all! By the end of the day - even though she wasn't fussy - she simply would not detach. I think it's because she'd sucked me dry but still needed more so kept trying. I'm not even sure if that's possible, but I felt drained. I gave her a bath earlier than usual, because we're trying to get into an earlier nightly routine, and once I could tell she wasn't seemingly satisfied with my breast, I made her a bottle of stored breast milk. She had a good four ounces - like I said, I don't know if it's possible but I really do think I was "empty". After that she went straight to bed and slept through the whole night.
What a time to go back to work, eh? Thank you United States of America.
Did you guys know that some European countries give woman an entire YEAR off with pay? Not only that - women who choose to stay at home and not work are paid by the government for providing child care! Not fair!!!