Lucas First Week

For the first week, mommy Paulina and baby Lucas had to endure many challenges and changes. Mommy had to endure the pain of contractions from labor, the bleeding and swelling of the opening, the discomfort of not being able to go to the bathroom, the frustration of breastfeeding, the 103 degree fevers that come with milk production, and the lack of sleep in order to give her best to baby Lucas.

During the delivery, mommy was pushing so hard that she tore a bit at the bottom and top of the opening. This caused major swelling and discomfort for mommy. She could go to the bathroom until the third day after the delivery. Good thing the doctor and nurses gave her a special tube to help relieve her fluids. Some might think one good thing about pregnancy is no more period or bleeding for ten months but what they don't know is that at the end of the tenth month you have major bleeding for two - three weeks with swelling down there.

About twenty minutes after delivery, the nurses placed baby Lucas on mommy's tummy and he was able to latch and breastfeed for ten minutes on each side. This sign of joy was short lived when he started having trouble staying on the breast on the second and third day. We went home on the third day and noticed yellow pigmentation on his skin so we called the doctor that night and went to see her the next morning. It turned out to be jaundice but not high enough to require special treatment. On the other hand, the doctor examined baby Lucas and noticed he was dehydrated. She immediately placed him on the scale and found out that he lost almost a whole pound of weight. So we placed him on formula to rehydrate him. The problem turned out to be tongue-tie where the frenulum prevented his tongue from extending far enough to get a good suckle. So on the next day, we went to the ear, nose, throat doctor to get it clipped. It was quick and he was able to nurse immediately after being clipped. Yeah!

For the first seven days, mommy Paulina would get high fevers because baby Lucas was not able to empty out her milk causing her to be engorged. The fevers came as frequent as twice a night and would last for an hour or so. During the fevers, Paulina would shiver and sweat profusively. We had to have a towel placed underneath her and changed the linen every other day. Sweat would drip like NBA basketball players drip during the game. The fevers also caused Paulina to be very irritable and frustrated.

Now Paulina sleeps an average about two hours a day. Baby Lucas sleeps for about two hours between feeding but Paulina cannot sleep when he sleeps because part of his sleeping time is spent burping him, cleaning him, pumping excess milk out, eating a meal, restocking the baby materials, cleaning the bottles, and going to the bathroom. It usually takes about an hour to feed baby Lucas. It is helpful that Auntie Patty is able to help out with changing diapers, calming baby Lucas, and house chores but it still doesn't let mommy Paulina get any additional sleep time. Mommy is amazingly strong and resilient.

Here are some pictures of the first week.

The first few pictures make my head look so big but actually my head is about a quarter the size of daddy Raymond's head who already has a small head compared to most people. I am actually very small so please refrain from commenting on how big I look. The camera adds ten pounds...