I must admit… I wasn’t prepared for that first week with Vincent. Let me explain. I researched and researched about pregnancy and labor, but I stopped there. I read a little bit about breastfeeding, but I assumed after my baby was born everything would be natural and easy. Boy, was I wrong!
Here’s The Story
My pregnancy and labor went great (read more about them here). So there I was lying in bed with my firstborn son on a sunny Friday morning. My husband and I slept and played with him. We tried to get him to eat, but he would just fall asleep as soon as I tried to nurse him. “Does this mean he isn’t hungry?”, we thought. He would sleep for about 2 hours and wake up crying. Each time I tried to feed him, but he promptly fell asleep in my arms. Saturday morning we started getting desperate. My midwife stopped by and showed me a few tricks to help get Vince to eat from me. We tried so hard that whole day to no avail. Saturday evening my midwife came again. She checked his blood sugar which was still normal. Praise God! We started feeding him molasses water from a finger feeder to get his strength up, so he wouldn’t be so sleepy and she gave me her electric pump to bring in my milk.
Feeling Distressed
You can imagine how I felt. Scared. Depressed. Tired. Unprepared. Rodney, my husband, was my lifesaver. He stayed strong even though it was stressful to him as well. My emotions we everywhere and he helped me stay sane. I felt so far from God during this time. It was hard for me to pray…and so Rodney did that for me. I know God was close to us, and He heard our cries for help. Thanks to Him this is past, but He taught us so much and strengthen us through this experience.
Back To The Story
As soon as my milk came in, we started feeding it to Vince using a finger feeder. He was doing well at this point but soon started vomiting. At first it was green and then it turned to yellow. I have to say that this was the scariest thing to experience… jumping out of bed in the middle of the night because you hear your newborn gagging and coughing.
The Other Problem
One other thing wasn’t right with Vincent… he wasn’t pooping. We tried to massage him, bicycle his legs, take his temperature, but nothing was working. The midwife tried to make him poop, but her attempt fail also. After five days I called a local pediatrician and made an appointment. We took Vince the next day. The doctor stuck his finger up Vince’s butt and all the poop came out! Hallelujah! The diagnosis: his hole was a little small.
Victory
Two days after he started pooping, Vince began eating from me. I used the finger feeder to get him started and he latched on! It was a great day! We even went away in the evening. My midwife thought that his high palate might have been the cause of him not latching on, but I believe it all had to do with him not pooping.
Happy Ending To The First Week
This all happened in one week but it felt like it lasted a whole month. I know it could have been much worse, so I am thankful for the experience because I know God was refining me in the process. It takes way more emotional and physical strength to be a mom than I realized, but I never knew I could be so strong. Thanks be to God for the strength He gave my husband and I!
