Lazy Baby

I tried really hard not to complain about Papillon's tendency to sleep too much. Really I did. For the sake of parents every where who just wish their child would sleep occasionally for a brief hour or two, I tried to count my blessings when I was up in the middle of the night splashing ice cold water on my sleeping baby's feet to no avail.

But, it is now officially official. Papillon sleeps too much.
She is a lazy baby.
That was her official diagnosis after we spent 7 hours in the ER yesterday.

Our ER trip was complete with hospital gown and IV port thing that was the size of her arm by the time they taped it all up.

I very much appreciate the thorough-ness of my pediatrician. Papillon wasn't showing any other signs of malnutrition (she was happy, slept well, seemed to eat well, etc) so he thought it best to rule out other options.

After lots of tests, I was relieved to hear that everything was normal. But at the same time (and I am sure I am not the only mother who has felt this way) there are few things that make you feel more like a failure than being told that your breastfeeding is not cutting it. When that is pretty much all you spend your time doing, and you feel like it is getting better and better, a shrinking baby is very hard on the ego.

So, after lots of crying (crying at the pediatrician when he said she lost more weight, crying while pulling into the ER just because I hoped not to have to make an ER visit for a very very very long time, crying super hard when they poked her with a needle, and crying some more at the (ultimately good!) diagnosis), I got to meet with a lactation consultant.

Apparently Papillon is so lazy (has been since day 1) that my body is under the impression that I birthed a "tiny 3lb baby" (lactation consultant's words) and so that is all producing milk for.

The scary part is, most people assume that as a baby gets hungrier they get fussier, and so you will be able to tell something is wrong. For some babies that might be the case, but not for lazy babies. Lazy babies will just learn to deal with the lack of calories by becoming lazier. Eventually sleeping themselves into a very poor state of health.

We obviously can't have that.

We are now armed with a hospital grade breast pump, some nifty feeding syringes, and a strict feeding schedule that involves supplementing with pumped breast milk and some formula, and hopefully well on our way to regaining that adorable baby fat.

Papillon takes after her father when it comes to a love of sleep apparently. He had the same problem when he was an infant.
And to think, we didn't think we would get any use out of her "newborn" sized clothes. When she was born, newborn diapers didn't fit...they do now, but hopefully not for long.

Happy 3 weeks Papillon.