Back to Work

Maternity leave quickly came to an end last week.

Having mom here to leave Chloe with and only having 3 weeks of school before summer helped me not be too sad about my return to work.

Chloe woke up around 4am Monday morning. I fed her and snuggled her before getting just a little more sleep before getting up for the day. I got up and got ready and pumped before leaving for school. I didn't cry or anything!

Everything was going great until I got a text that Chloe was not wanting to take her bottle and was screaming and had been screaming. Enter tears and stress!

We tried using breastmilk that had not been frozen. We tried using a different bottle. Nothing except angry screams from baby girl.

Thankfully mom let me know before lunch. Since she wouldn't eat, I had mom bring her to me at school when I had lunch. I went out in the parking lot and fed her in the car. She was so sleepy and so hungry.

I left as soon as school was over and went home to feed her again because she was still refusing the bottle that afternoon.

So, on Tuesday I made sure she ate right before I left for school. We had a plan for mom to bring her to me again at lunch if needed. Since I woke her up and fed her before I left for school, she slept until 10:30 am. Since that was so close to my lunch time, I told mom to try the bottle again and I could possibly feed her during planning if she still wouldn't take the bottle instead of bringing her to me at lunch.

I have testing next week. My school has arranged coverage for me to pump, but things get crazy during testing and I knew I wouldn't be able to guarantee I could feed her next week when she would need it so I really needed her to figure out this bottle thing. Plus, if I kept feeding her at lunch, she would never learn to take the bottle.

She still refused the bottle on Tuesday, but would at least let it get close to her mouth. On Monday if she even saw the bottle, she was screaming. So we made a teeny tiny baby step forward. Mom decided to keep trying Tuesday afternoon and I just left school ASAP and fed her when I got home.

Wednesday and Thursday we did the same thing. I fed her right before I left in the morning and mom just kept offering and trying the bottle. She was trying everything she could think of...different rooms, different bottles, different temperatures, waiting until she was tired, trying as soon as she woke up, etc. etc. Needless to say, it was an exhausting week for mom.

These sweet moments of cuddles with baby girl sleeping in her arms might have made it worth it though.

Thursday morning she sucked a little bit on the bottle, but after about an ounce or two, she realized what was happening and started crying again. But then, Thursday afternoon, she finally gave in and drank 4 oz!!! She didn't do it happily, but she did it.

Our next goal was to make sure she would take a bottle on Friday and then to get her to take a bottle from Stephen. I told mom if she would only take a bottle from her, she wasn't allowed to leave for the next 2 weeks.

I also told her to remind us when Chloe is a teenager and is challenging us that we CAN win the battle!

On Friday, Mom gave her the first bottle of the day. She didn't take it happily, but gave in some. That afternoon, Stephen tried to give her the bottle. She started off mad, but Stephen had one of the high school guys over hanging out with him and he was in the room while Stephen was trying to feed her. Chloe locked her eyes on him and that seemed to distract her. She drank the whole bottle!!

Needless to say we were all worn out by the end of the week!

We knew we needed to keep working with the bottle over the weekend so we didn't lose the progress we had already made. I got her up Saturday morning and hung out with her while Mom got her bottle ready. When it was time to feed her, I went downstairs so she wouldn't be distracted by me. She was super mad about the bottle that morning. I don't know if it's because she already knew I was there and I didn't feed or what. After about 30 minutes of screaming, I couldn't take it. I gave in and fed her.

I decided we'd try again that afternoon with the bottle, but I knew I couldn't be here for the screaming. I left right before she woke up so she wouldn't even see me and went shopping in Hickory. It took a while, but mom got her to take most of the bottle. She screamed for Stephen so he let Mema step in.

We had dinner plans Saturday night and Mema was happy to babysit. I fed her right before we left and told mom to keep me posted. She cried at first a little and then took the whole bottle with just a little whimpering! Success! More baby steps forward.

We gave her a break Sunday. Stephen was busy with church all day and I didn't like feeling like I had to leave her and I didn't like not feeding her. I was a little worried it would hurt us, but it didn't!

Monday morning, I didn't go in to get her up and I stayed in the bedroom so she wouldn't even know I was here. I let Stephen get her up and he and mom fed her. She fussed a little, but took the whole bottle with no screaming!! After her morning nap, we decided to try the bottle again. She fussed some, but took another full bottle from Stephen! This time I was in the room and she didn't seem to mind. More steps forward!

After mom's success at the end of the week, we decided she would stay another week to help us master this. At that time, she was the only one having any real success. Seriously so thankful for her! I feel SO much better going into week 2 after today and knowing mom will be here for the rest of the week.

8.5 more school days. We can do this, Baby Girl! <3