It's like he misses it...

Recently, we've worked Jude up to three (fairly) consistent meals a day. Since he currently doesn't seem to rely on any of them, it's not a huge deal if I substitute it with nursing. I think in the last week or so, I've skipped one or two meals and replaced them with breast milk and he didn't seem bothered by this at all. But really, I'm trying to stay pretty regular - and have been doing a pretty good job of it.

I'm not sure if Jude just is not happy about this... or if it's his 9 month growth spurt, but lately he's been wanting to nurse more than ever! Right after a meal, he'll start grabbing at me, giving me some very obvious signs that he wants to nurse... so I let him.

Then, he'll nurse again about an hour later... an hour after that... basically any time I'm holding him. It's never for very long, but it's definitely happening. This really surprises me, because he eats like a champ and get water to wash it down. I'm pretty convinced this is his way of telling me that he's just not ready to let go (and maybe he's growing...).

And speaking of growing... this he is. The past week or so, I have felt it. when i pick him up, he feels so much more solid! his legs are getting beefy, his belly is getting bigger and he's just growing up... it's adorable and oh so sad at the same time.

Boobies in the Face

Up until last night Jude has been more of an every 3-4 hour eater (especially at night). Typically trying to get him to eat every 2 hours was just too much for his little belly and we would let him eat when he was ready (however, there were plenty of time during the day when he'd eat every 2 hours on the button). As I've said before his 3-4 hours at night was great for us because it meant more sleep for Ryan and I.

Last night however, it's like someone flipped a switch and put a black hole in Jude's belly. Typically after his 6-7 o'clock feeding Jude would start to clam up. When we tried to feed him at 9 o'clock he'd generally not be interested. He'd eat for 5-10 minutes and shut down. If I continued trying to feed him he'd throw a fit until I just let him be.

Last night however, he was crying for more by 9 o'clock. Then all through the night he'd wake up every two hours asking for more. There was even one time it was probably only an hour and a half since the beginning of his last feeding.

My body is a milk producing machine.

After waking up this morning, here is Jude's rough time line of when he ate:

about 6:15 when Ryan left for work.

again around 8:30ish

10:30ish

12:45ish

around 2:00 he seemed to be backing off but we had our appointment with the urologist so I thought I'd try to get him to eat. The appointment was at 3:00 and I knew if he didn't eat before we went in, he'd be begging for food mid-meeting.

No such luck. He was not interested at all. I then decided that maybe if I left early and got there a few minutes before we were due in to see the urologist I could try and get him to latch on for just a few minutes to hold him over. The hospital the urologist is located it was about a 25 minute ride so it should have given him some time to make space. Sitting in the back seat of my car in the parking lot I was again disappointed - no eating.

We head in for his appointment and almost immediately he starts to wake up a little. The doctor was running behind anyway and so by the time we're in there talking to him, Jude is throwing a mini-fit (nothing a pacifier or my finger couldn't solve, but still). The appointment other than the waiting goes quickly and it was off to the parking lot for a mini-feeding.

He latches on almost immediately and goes a good ten minutes before he starts to zonk off. Typically I wiggle his arm or tickle his chin to keep him going to the 15/20 minute mark, but in this instance I was satisfied knowing he wouldn't starve on the way home - and that he wouldn't start crying in the back seat while I was driving all alone.

Walking in the front door I drop everything and whip out the boob again. He does another 10 minutes on one side (the side that just before didn't get a full milking) and then 10 on the other. Score.

So now, we have him eating at 4:45 and 5:30 - I thought these two feedings would have him content for quite some time. (about 30 minutes total!)

Not at all - at 6:30 he was throwing a little fit and rooting for some food. He did about 15-20 minutes on one side, was burped and then did about 7 minutes on the other. I thought for sure at that moment he was passed out for the next couple of hours. But minutes later he was rooting around again and did another 8-10 minutes.

I can only imagine how the rest of the evening will go.

Why you might as am I giving this run down? Basically these are the reasons:

1. Jude is in a bit of a growth spurt I'd assume.

While it's good for him to be growing, it's sad to think that he won't be this small forever. I just love the way he feels laying on me and it's hard to imagine a time when he'll be too big for this.

In addition this growth spurt means he'll eventually be moving up a size in his clothes! Currently he can only wear newborn sized clothes but all of the cute outfits he got are all 0-3 months. So, right now we're circulating through only a handful of outfits. It doesn't make sense to buy more if he'll be out of them in the next week or two, but it currently sucks dressing him in the lame pajama-looking newborn gear.

Also, this growth spurt means he'll be in his cloth diapers in the near future! I'm excited to start using them. Currently we have a number of disposables that friends and family bought and we've been going through them. I'm just hoping they last long enough for us to get to use the bum genius with out buying disposables of our own.

2. To show anyone who doesn't breast feed how TIME CONSUMING this can be. It's nice that my boobs go where ever Jude and I go making it easy to feed him on the fly, but typically when getting ready to leave the house, I try to feed him before leaving to avoid having to find a quiet place to let it all hang out. This is hard because if he's eating every 2 hours (from beginning to beginning of feedings) by the time he's done the first one, you're already an hour and a half away from the next. I'm not complaining, I love every minute of it, but it has been the most time consuming part of being a mother to this point.