Mixed Blessings

So having your baby go for longer stretches between feedings is a great thing, especially when it happens at night.

Having hard breasts and plugged ducts because you baby is nursing less often is a horrible thing, especially when it happens at night.

This time around, I'm not even sure they are plugged because it doesn't have the same INTENSE PAIN that it had before, it's just lumpy. Maybe it's in the early stages? Who knows. I've put in a call to our lactation consultant as well as to the La Leche League. Hopefully someone will call back.

Speaking of calling back soon, we finally had to call the pediatrician/on-call advice nurse. I feel good that we lasted 6+ weeks without having to call. But this week has been stressful... worring first about G having a cold or fever and trying to use the nose sucker and ear thermometer (yes, I know that in infants the ear one is less accurate, but I was NOT going to put the butt one in without E around to help), then noticing yellowish gums around where her molars would be, and in the process of examining the yellow gums, finding a white bump along the front of her gums... sigh. 

For reference, it was the yellow gums that worried us enough to call the doctor.

Oh, and I did mention the longer periods between feedings, right? That's interspersed with periods where she does not sleep at all between feedings even though she's tired. How do I know she's tired? I don't have that great alert calm baby period, instead I have the yawning, almost dozing, then crying, turning to wimpering, then sleep, then waking up and crying, repeatedly until her next feeding. This occurs both when we try to put her down (we can get 20-30 minutes of peace) and when we continuously hold her, either walking around with her or just sitting with her.

We're chalking it up to her 6 week growth spurt.