Eleven is Heaven

So I am attempting to transition Miller to breastfeeding from the bottle. He's still on exclusive breastmilk which is great, but pumping and feeding is SO not ideal. I have less time to pump so of course production is down and we are running out of options fast. 11 weeks in the hospital set us up for a big challenge when it comes to breastfeeding, and I'm not sure it's going to happen for us. But I'm trying. There is an extra helping of guilt when you have a preemie I suppose. We tested the 'ship sunk and we're on a lifeboat with no pump' theory out the other day and honestly, the lifeboat almost sunk. So the latest approach is to first get my milk production up, and then try to transition more slowly. Stressing him out is just a bad idea all around. If that doesn't work, then we'll go to plan C.

I talked to a lactation consultant the other day who gave me an absolute earful about how I'm setting Miller up for a life of obesity by feeding him when he's hungry. I cannot imagine this, really. Dr. Mirrop says this is advice to ignore, at least in Miller's case. It wasn't that long ago that he dipped below 2 pounds! So I say, Eleven is Heaven. Yesterday he weighed in at 11 lbs, 1oz to be exact and his fat little tummy is so cute. I think the camera really does add 10 lbs, because in person he's not quite as tubby as he looks in his little slide show.

We had a tiny scare yesterday but it's already in the past (whew). I found what I thought to be a dime-sized amount of blood in Miller's diaper. Turns out, it was Uric Acid Crystals. The doc we saw (Griggs, Mirrop was out) told us it was nothing to worry about but I researched it on the Internet anyway. The only thing I can figure out is that it may be due to the fact that he's getting some of the early milk I pumped when he was first born (been in the deep freeze for awhile). It's much more concentrated than the milk I am producing now. It was an isolated incident so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

This past weekend we ventured out for another overnight trip-this time to Johnson City. One night was enough and we were home safe early Sunday. It was nice, however short, to leave the house with Miller in tow and just go somewhere else. Another couple joined us, Kate & Clint, with their little sugar pie, Susie who is just 3 weeks Miller's senior. She taught Miller how to drool this weekend, because he's been doing it ever since. Sadly, we missed out on Elle's 1st Birthday party, our first party invite ever, but we just couldn't risk it with so many toddlers. We were honored to make the list and will definitely not miss #2!

One last thing, we have recently learned that Miller's going to have several new playmates next year. First up is Baby Smith, due in about 3 weeks! We just want to say congrats to you all and we can't wait! Since not everyone has shared their news yet, we won't do it here either. Just know that we pray for each and every one of your growing bellies every day.

Love to you all