There's a million updates I owe this blog. Is there a genuine issue with blog-guilt or have I invented a new syndrome? Whatev. Here's one.
Squeaky had been a bit slow to gain weight over a few weeks, mostly because she's the sort of child that doesn't tell you she's hungry until she's STARVING, and I'd assumed she was ok. Seems that if I just shove a nipple in her mouth, she realises "oh, yes, food, I could go for some of that", but she doesn't come up with the idea on her own. So we've banned the dummy, apart from bedtime (and as a result, she's not too fussed then either), we've done LOADS of expressing to give her a daily supplementary feed, and generally fed like crazy. As a result, we've had a couple of 9oz/wk gains! RESULT! She's slowed a little this week, but she's got a cold, so hopefully that's all it is.
Expressing is damn hard work, you know. Sterilising, pumping at the bazoongas until you feel like Unigate Dairies. I suddenly feel a lot of sympathy for dairy cattle. Especially when the most reliable time to get a decent quantity of milk is 3a.m. Like I need to lose any more sleep. But it's worth it to see her grow.
You know how chewing gum helps suppress appetite? Same goes for babies using pacifiers/dummies. Plus, when babies are gearing up for a growth spurt, they start wanting to work their mouths more, so that they can stimulate you to make more milk. It's the ciiirrrrrrcle of life! :)
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