While parenting G, we have had our share of frustration. However, some of our worst experiences had some incredible silver lining.
I had hoped for a nice 7 lb baby. G was 9 lbs. Not the biggest, but large for a little first time mommy. I will spare you the details of the labour, but it wasn't easy and it wasn't quick. But since he is so large, he has a head start on the weight gain required to withstand open heart surgery.
We had feeding issues when our baby was brand new. I wound up having to pump for almost a week for my milk to come in. It was a long week with almost no sleep. I started hallucinating (don't worry, it wasn't dangerous. )
When my milk came in, there was plenty and it was very easy for my son to drink his fill without working very hard. I believe this to be due to the pumping. Many Tet babies start losing weight because their hearts can't keep up with the hard work of nursing, but they need to be large and robust enough to handle the surgery. G has had a very healthy rate of weight gain so far. In fact, he has been tracking along the 90th percentile for length and head circumference, and almost the 75th for weight since he regained his birth weight.
If you read the last post, you know that we had a hard time getting a diagnosis. Part of the problem was that we allowed ourselves to be brushed off instead of digging in our heals. Now we know better. We were able to learn this lesson early, when no harm came to our son, instead of when he is recovering post-op and at risk of complications.
I hope that we can remember during the trying times ahead that what may seem like a bad thing might be saving our precious child's life.
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