first weeks

Eli James is three weeks old! I can not believe how fast time is flying. His daddy goes back to work in three days so it will be interesting to see how that goes. Right now we are in a semi-routine. I'll start with night time since everyone always wants to know if the baby is sleeping through the night or not... hes not.
Starting at around 8pm- we usually nurse for half and hour or so and then diaper change, daddy reads a story and mommy and Eli go to bed
12am-feeding and diaper change
4am-feeding and diaper change (if I dont fall asleep again, I struggle with this feeding the most)
7am-feeding and I usually pull him into bed to cuddle and snooze a bit more
8-9am we get up, diaper change, and get dressed for the day sometimes he nurses again at 9
Then Eli usually sits in his bouncy chair for a while so mom can eat breakfast unless he's fussy then he gets the Moby wrap instead :o)
10am-he usually chills with daddy so I can shower and get dressed
11am-nurses again and takes a long nap
1-2 he wakes up and nurses and mom eats lunch
another nap, or sometimes he spends time awake hanging out
3-4 nurses again
6-7 mom and dad eat dinner
and that is our day! he is still nursing fairly often, and usually for 30 minutes or more. In the afternoons he is more likely to "snack" and nurse for 10-15 minutes over the course of an hour or two. I am interested to see how things go once dad is back at work, but it will be fun.
We are working on getting out more, here and there. I dont want to feel like I have to spend my life at home since I am breastfeeding. I also dont want to schedule my life in two hour increments because he might need to eat during an outing. I am working on my thoughts and feelings towards nursing in public, we have a nursing cover but Eli and I both really hate using it. Its not stiff enough at the top and it falls in his face which makes him break latch and get pissed off. Not worth it. A friend of mine uses nursing tanks so her belly is covered and then a shirt over it so only a tiny bit is exposed. I like that, but dont feel like the nursing tanks provide great support for my rather large chest. I hate the idea of wearing a nursing bra plus a nursing tank though... so I am still working on my strategy. I may just have slightly uniboob for the next year or so because the nursing tanks are convenient. Breastfeeding is going really well other than that. We had a hiccup at first because he wouldnt latch on the right side without a nipple shield but now he does 90% of the time. I love the closeness and the bonding it creates, even at 4am which is my hardest feeding for some reason. I am working on a small tote bag with my breastfeeding goodies inside this is what I have to have to nurse:
the baby :o)
Boppy-helps take the pressure off the incision and the strain off my arms
water-I get so thirsty while nursing!
binky-a lot of people disagree with this, but sometimes he gets super upset and the paci helps him calm down
spit rag-hes not a big spitter, but it happens
lanolin-sore boobies=unhappy mama
TV remote-he passes out while nursing sometimes and I get bored!
camera-he makes the best faces sometimes :o)

Its amazing how different he gets everyday. He has funny facial expressions and is learning he can make noises besides crying, but they come out at the most random times :o)

On a seperate note, we are thinking about trying cloth diapers. We havent had to buy diapers yet thanks to the generosity of friends and family. However, he's already blown through 4-5 packs of diapers plus the ones we stole from the hospital! The amount of waste is impressive. A case of newborn pampers swaddlers, 130 count is approximately $35. I could get a dozen prefolds and two covers for $50. That wouldnt be my entire stock of cloth, I think we'd need at least two dozen prefolds and 4-5 covers at the minimum, plus maybe some fitted or all in ones for travel or babysitters. so I think we could get what we needed for 100-$200 dollars. And I wouldnt need to buy diapers again for a while. And the diapers are cheap, the covers are a bit more pricey but still roughly $10-$12 a piece. and the set we like is awesome because it converts from newborn to 18lbs and then we buy more covers that go from 18-40lbs! Awesome! Two sets of covers, and we buy only prefolds to stuff them with! I guess we will see how it goes. We're gonna start with a small batch and try it. I think though, that even with the initial cost plus the laundry cost, we'd save a lot of money. The more money we save the less I have to work, which means less expense in daycare too. So me staying home actually saves money. And I love being home with my little man. I get jealous when others hold him for too long, I want him back! We also decided on a co-sleeper for our room, its like a mini bassinet that has three walls, our bed makes up the fourth wall. He is literally right next to me at night which I love. When we lay him in his crib for naps I get nervous, and have to check on him even with the monitor turned on!

Things I love
(as far as disposables go) pampers swaddlers work the best!!
Moby wrap-its easy to use, adjustable for me and dad, and he LOVES IT
Boppy
johnson and johnson baby stuff, smells so good