day 5

We have almost made it through the first week!  And I must say, things are improving a lot.  The chills are more bearable, and I found that breastfeeding makes them almost go away.  I wake up at night to feed, I am soaking wet (the chills come with cold sweating as well) and I quickly change into some dryer clothes, then I am off to feeding Emma, and the shivering stops completely.  She is starting to sleep for four hours after each feed, and I can tell that she takes in a fair bit because I weighed her before and after the feeds, and she seems to be getting a good 100-200 grams sometimes, which is excellent (babies need 120 calories / kg body weight, which means 120 x 3.4 kg divided by 78 cal/100 ml = 510 ml needed per day, spread over about six feeds or more, so 100 ml is very much enough).  Sorry about the math digression, I just figure some other person might want to use this information.

She cries a lot and gets angry when it is time to latch, I thought at first that she did not like the taste of the skin after I applied the Lilypadz, but I need them badly, so I persisted in using them, just washing the skin before a feed with clear water and spreading some breast milk over the areola to trick her.  I suspect what she does not like is having to work for food.  Eventually, after about half an hour of screaming like mad, she takes the breast and sucks like an industrial machine, so I just have to ride it out with her until she gets used to the concept that breastfeeding is a necessary job and no free lunch is provided here.  Today she was so much better that I feared that the night fairies have substituted my baby for someone else's.  She fed, then slept, then woke up, fed again, then was awake and looked around for half an hour, then went outside in the fresh air and a bit of indirect sunlight, then fed again, then slept some more.  Almost no screaming at all.  The household is so much calmer, my mom and grandma are happier and MrH, who is so amazing at calming Emma down when she is angry, is also feeling less tired after three four-hour intervals of sleep last night.

MrH does some sort of magic with Emma when she is very angry, I don't know exactly what, but he always succeeds in calming her.  I have watched him, trying to learn his technique, and he is simply holding her and walking around with her on his forearms, with her head in his cupped hands, no jiggling, no bouncing, no swinging, he is just talking to her and walking very gently, and she is instantly calmed down.  It is amazing amazing amazing.  I have a real gem for a husband, I knew that, but Emma has a real gem for a father, which I was also suspected but now I can confirm.

I only feel like dressing her in pink, she looks so good in white and pink, and peach colours, which interestingly are also my favourite colours.  We probably have the same skin tone, which is funny, since she has a bit of jaundice... I am enjoying this whole thing about having a girl immensely.  This house will soon become the house of pink.  Fortunately MrH is used to sleeping on sheets with pink and purple embroidery, and no protesting so far.  He knows he is outnumbered...hehehe...