Nursing

She had difficulty latching on to the breast at first, so she was fed small amounts of formula through a syringe for her first 4 days of life.  She was put to the breast often and was also given pumped breast milk with a syringe.  A nurse at the hospital suggested trying to use the nipple shield, and Lilly immediately got the hang of breastfeeding and became a pro.  She never had formula again.  In the beginning she would nurse for 20 minutes on one breast and then switch and nurse for 20 minutes on the other breast too.  Feedings lasted from 40 minutes up to an hour, and she wanted to be fed every two hours around the clock.  We continued to use the nipple shield for every feeding, until finally weaning from it when she was around 10 weeks old.

3 Weeks Old

Lilly & Dada

Lilly was colicky until she was around 6 months old.  She spent many of her waking hours screaming, crying, and being inconsolable.  Her body was always very stiff and she never wanted us to comfort her.  She never liked her hands or arms or face being touched, and she would never let us hug her or try to physically comfort her in any way.  She did like being held, but she didn't want us to touch her past that point.  She often leaned her body away from us while we were holding her.  Her Dada spent lots of hours holding her and pacing the house with her, and for a while she would calm down if he held her facing outward in front of our large kitchen window.  He was able to console her better than anyone.

Her First Bath at Home

She hated it!  She got so cold that her little feet turned blue.  She didn't really have any fat on her yet so she had a tendency to get cold easily.  We learned how to keep her warmer after trial and error.

Lilly Meets Her Family

Lilly Makes Her Arrival!

After a normal pregnancy, Lilly was born at 39 weeks via a scheduled caesarian section due to being breech.  The epidural didn't work very well, so I had to be given general anesthesia.  There were no complications with the delivery, and Lilly May Babcock was born at 12:28 pm weighing 6 pounds 6 ounces and was 19 inches long on October 5, 2011.  She was healthy and beautiful!  These are some of the first photos taken of Lilly.