First bottle

With all the nursing problems we were having at the beginning, I didn't want to introduce a bottle to Caroline too early. I figured, since she could get the milk much easier from a bottle, she'd probably decide it was just too much work to nurse, and she'd start to prefer the bottle. But since we finally worked through all the problems we were having, I decided it was time to give it a shot.

It did not go well. We did everything "they" recommend when we tried it. She was hungry enough, but not frantic. Jimmy gave the bottle while I stayed in another room. He held her facing away from him so that she wouldn't associate the position with nursing. Apparently, he put the bottle in her mouth, and she looked at him like he must have lost his mind. Then she screamed. It was not just any cry -- it was a deep, gutteral wail that told us she was deeply offended that we would even TRY to offer her something as cold and impersonal as that plastic bottle, even if it WAS filled with Mommy's milk. She got a couple of drips from the nipple, but apparently Jimmy couldn't get her to suck on the thing even once.

After several minutes of trying, Jimmy finally gave up. Once he got her calmed down, I nursed her, and she looked extremely relieved. I'm not going to lie to you. I was more than a little relieved that she didn't just take to it right away and never look back. Yes, I'd love to be able to leave a bottle with her if I have to leave her in the church nursery or something, but if she doesn't take one, I'm sure we'll all survive. I'd much rather have a long and successful nursing relationship than to have her decide she prefers the bottle, though it would be nice to find a happy medium in there somewhere!

So we'll keep on trying. I'm thinking of leaving her in the nursery tomorrow night during choir practice and leaving a bottle with them to see if she'll take it when I'm actually out of the building. Anna never would take one at all, so it wouldn't surprise me if Caroline refuses it altogether, too, but I figure it's worth a shot to see if someone she doesn't know can get her to take a bottle!

Oh, and just as an update, Caroline is now somewhere in the 11 1/2 pound range! Woo-hoo! She's been gaining about 1/2 pound a week over the last 3 weeks, so she's doing really, really well now that I've stopped supplmenting her. She has her 2-month checkup on the 30th, so I'll get the "official" weight then, but I'm thrilled with her weight gain so far!