How we spent July...

Victoria is doing beautifully! She is growing so quickly and is a very happy baby in general. At her four week check up, we discovered that she had breast milk jaundice and, in addition, was not gaining enough weight. Breast milk Jaundice is very rare and occurs when a baby is unable to process bilirubin on only breast milk. Tori was very jaundice, anemic and her liver had become inflamed from having elevated bilirubin levels for a prolonged period of time. All of this information was obtained after we had to have FOUR VIALS of blood taken from her tiny little body. I know that these trials are minimal on the great scale of health problems babies encounter, but it was tough to watch my baby go through that. We had to put her on formula exclusively for about 10 days, returning to the hospital to have more blood drawn over and over again. During that time, in order to keep up my milk supply, I had to feed her and then pump milk. This process consumed our days, and although I pumped as much as I possibly could, my milk supply started to decrease. Victoria gained 8 oz. after only 3 days on the formula and her bilirubin levels went down significantly! This was such an answer to prayer and we were so grateful as she continued to thrive on the formula. When we were able to return to breastfeeding, however, we embarked on an emotional roller coaster of tears from Victoria and her distraught Mommy... She refused to latch on and would literally scream and scream at the breast. We tried so hard and I pumped as much as I could. We visited a lactation consultant and discovered that she is tongue tied, which increases the difficulty of latching on properly. After many tears and prayers, we let go of the dream of breastfeeding and decided to bottle feed with formula and pumped breast milk. Although this decision was excruciating for me, Matt and I both felt it was best for our family... Isaac and Daphne were somewhat neglected during all this drama, and I was happy to be able to parent all 3 children and not just spend all 24 hours of my day trying to feed only one of them! We are so blessed that Victoria is gaining weight, cooing and smiling- God's plans are not always the same as my own, but He is faithful and has blessed us immensely. So, Victoria's most recent weight at 6 1/2 weeks was 10 lbs. 11 oz. and she is now 8 weeks old. I'll post some 8 week pics soon...
These are some random pics taken of Victoria between 4 and 7 weeks of age. Here we have what I like to call "Lost in Space" :)
Here is a beautiful half smile from the side...
And the tail end of a smile....
Complete Relaxation in Daddy's Lap...
Precious, Precious Girl!