Day 9: I know she's growing because she can wear CLOTHES

Popcorn is 9 days old now. She's starting to develop a little personality of her own. This is how her nursing sessions go:

1. P frowns and rubs her left fist in her mouth while waving her right hand.
2. I pick her up and uncover the boob that she didn't start on at the last feeding.
3a. If it's the right boob, she latches on perfectly and snuggles. Then, looks around and enjoys the sights while she nurses.
3b. If it's the left boob, she refuses to open wide enough and I have to hold left hand in my left and while also using my left thumb (yes, her head is on my left arm) to pull her chin down so she can get a good latch. Then, as she squirms, I use my right hand to smush my areola as small as possible to get as much in her mouth as I can. This sounds complicated. That's because it is.
4. Baby nurses and look around for 20 minutes. Then she either goes to sleep or simply stops nursing. Meanwhile, either my lap or my cleavage fills with the milk running from the other side as I look wistfully at the box of nursing pads on top of my jewelry box across the room an curse myself for poor planning.
5. Suddenly, P stops nursing and looks at me. She makes a face. It looks like she's going to smile but morphs in to a lopsided grimace-one eyebrow up, the other down with a squinted ey, mouth twisted to one side, lips pursed-and proceeds to fill up her diaper in an explosive way.

Pause: At this moment, I pat myself on the back for using cloth. Otherwise, my lap would be full of baby poo.

6. I sight and reach for her diaper change basket, lay her down, and start undressing her.

7. P begins to shriek.  She's not a fan of mid-meal changing sessions.  She expresses her displeasure occasionally by pooping or peeing during the change.

8. I finish changing her and put her on the other boob.

Fun times, fun times.

Many times, people worry about if breastfed babies are getting enough nutrition because they don't know how to gauge their consumption.  KellyMom.com is a great source of information on knowing if a baby is getting enough to eat but here's a little information on it.

• One way is by weight. That's probably the easiest way.  Unfortunately, I don't have a baby scale or fish scale to weigh her.  
• A more common way is diaper counting. However, if you use disposables, this can be difficult.  Sposies absorb a lot of urine before they feel wet. Cloth diapers are easy to count because they feel wet immediately.  Popcorn poos a lot but some bf babies only poo every couple of days. That's normal. 
• Finally, there are visual cues that let you know a baby is growing. The baby is happy, shiny eyed, bushy tailed and all.  The skin is soft and supple. And most of all, the baby is bigger.  Today, Popcorn wore an outfit.  That's right. She's wearing more than onesies and gowns now. Furthermore, it's a 0-3 months size outfit, not newborn. So I know she's getting bigger because she can wear clothes.  

All dressed up with no where to go

Boom.