Monday was Emily's scheduled appointment with Dr. Schrader, the orthopedic specialist. He wants her to wear the hip harness for another three weeks at least--at that point, she'll have another ultrasound and he'll decide what to do from there. He said he thought her hip probably wouldn't be perfect by then--it's still a little immature--but that he's optimistic that she won't be in the harness long.
He did say it's okay that we're taking the harness off of her once a day to give her a bath and change her clothes. He also said it's okay for her to lie on her side long enough for me to continue breastfeeding her. This was really important to me, because Emily has refused to nurse since she was put in the harness on June 16. I was really excited to give it a try when we got home yesterday--unfortunately, she started off strong, but after about 10 minutes, she pulled away crying and wouldn't keep going. Her little leg was kicking the whole time, so I can't help but think she just can't get in a comfortable position.
The inability to nurse her has made me even sadder about returning to work--that was our special time together each day, and I was looking forward to still having it in the morning and at night. Instead, I'm usually hooked up to the breast pump while Emily drinks from a bottle now :(. We'll keep trying it though, and hopefully she will remember how much she enjoyed it just a couple of weeks ago! If not, we did have those two wonderful months when it sometimes seemed like she nursed nonstop, and I'm really grateful for that.
Libby - My heart breaks for you as I know how hard it's been to leave Emily. Please give me a call when you have a minute. I've discovered a pretty good sleep cycle that has been working for us during naps. Love, Tricia
ReplyDelete