Breast feeding is the one thing that I so desperately wanted to go well before I had Claire. I was iffy about it in the hospital. She had a hard time latching and there wasn't a lactation consultant there to help (over the weekend). Once she finally picked up on it, she has been amazing! There's something so miraculous about the fact that my body is still providing all of her nutrients even though she is no longer in it. She will not take a bottle, so it is up to me!
Claire loooooooves nursing, and that makes it even more special to me. She starts whining and flapping her arms while kicking her legs while I'm getting ready. Now that she's bigger she pulls herself to me. When she was tiny, but still learning how to latch, she would put her mouth up to me, but leave her mouth open and shake her head. So adorable. Now she's ravenous and would never waste a second of meal time. She still eats on both sides at each feeding and her average time is between 15-20 minutes. Her little lips have the most perfect way of fitting around me. I could watch her forever!
When she first wakes up to eat for the day she always just stops suddenly and looks around. She takes everything in. She purses her lips and just stares. She also likes to rub me and look at me like "I missed you mom. Good to see you this morning." She always eats a good breakfast.
When she eats at lunch time she's very efficient. She doesn't stray away from the task at hand and she doesn't move much. She might take a 5 minute snooze when she's done and while I'm holding her, but I don't mind. We always get a good burp here.
Her nap time feeding is, well, something. She must have this feeding in order to take a good afternoon nap. I've tried laying her in her crib, her swing, my bed without me and she just won't sleep longer than 30 minutes. SO, we lay down together while she eats and falls asleep. Yes, she snacks off and on. Yes, I know you're not supposed to do this. Yes, I love it. And yes, I've tried to pull away from her and get out of the bed and she wakes up. I've just really noticed how WELL she sleeps during this time. Since we've started this nap feeding, she has also been sleeping like a champ at night! I don't really want to mess with a good thing until I have too. I also just soak it in because I will probably never be able to do this with another baby. This is something for just me and her. We lay on our sides facing each other and she cups the Breast with both little hands and just eats as much as she wants. If she does take a break and loose the latch, she still rests her face right next to me so as to know where to go if she needs more.
Her dinner feeding is very busy. She's quick and she pulls away a lot to play. She just kicks those legs and flails those arms.
Now, the bed time feeding. My favorite. She knows that this is time to wind down and relax. She eats for a really long time and she's just so still. The only movement is her rubbing my ribs on the side and the top of the Breast that she's eating on. I'm in heaven every night I feel like. I can also hear her sweet breathing coos and swallowing noises and they get me every time. This feeding is the only time that she pulls away when she's done eating. Every other time she just lays there with her mouth still on me. It's like at bedtime she's saying "I'm done. You can lay me down now." Sometimes I rock her for an extra few minutes because it's a sweet sweet time.
(Her sweet little face when she pull away from me.)
If she wakes up in the middle of the night, she just wants a snack. She whines when I pick her up just waiting for me to get ready. She MIGHT eat for 8 minutes on one side and she's done. Again, she's very still. She just knows she needs a little bit more to get through the night.
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