Things I want to write about: boobs

So, this breastfeeding thin is going waaay better than it did with Micah or grayson. Yay for late term preemies! While in the hospital Shepard had jaundice and was really sleepy and a lazy nurser. She was young and tiny and this particular hospital doesn't often deal with young, tiny babies so the staff was uncomfortable with her. They kept telling me to keep waking her up to nurse and I kept telling them I needed a pump. The nurse told me that "babies are better at getting milk out than a pump." which is generally true, but when a baby is that tiny and that lethargic something has to give. Also, my body wasn't used to making milk fr babies, it was used to reacting to a pump!  I finally got a pump and then we had to devise a supplemental nursing system because the hospital doesn't usually have preemies and so they didn't have any sns available! Haha. We rigged a cobtraption of iv tubing and a syringe. It was awesome! 

Shepard was still losing weight and so I asked for some formula while we waited for my milk to come in. I had to sign the craziest waiver I've ever seen in my life to get that formula, AND they wouldn't let Brian sign it instead of me. I was nursing Shep and it was definitely still a two handed process, so I asked if Brian could sign it for me and they said no! Haha. It included statements like:

"your baby is 50% more likely to get cancer, have depression, and be addicted to Cocaine for the rest of their lives if you give formula." 

"babies are designed to nurse and breast milk is 412% more effective at helping babies get into Harvard." 

Ok not really that last one, but it listed every ailment you could think of that your baby could get and then said that formula increases the chances of your baby getting it. Insanity! My plan was definitely to breastfeed, but it really bothered me that I had to go through some crazy hoops to feed my baby the best way I saw fit at that time. How is it their business to prevent me from formula feeding if I want to?! Lots of babies are formula fed and I am so thankful that we have formula as an option! Now the milk making is going well and I am so grateful for that! 

A random factoid about breast milk and Shepard: she only poops once a week-ish because the breast milk provides perfect nutrition and so there is no waste to get rid of. How cool is that?!