the first 5 days

Our little Marion is five days old! Marion was in the newborn stupor the first 24 hours... all she really did was sleep. Of course, I had to have something to worry about... she had a couple of low blood sugars. We were told that it could be due to stress from the quick delivery or an infection. Marion was given 2 bottles of sugar water and after a while she maintained a normal level on her own. I wasn't thrilled that she had to have the bottles. Grace never nursed and I always attributed it to nipple confusion from the bottle. That led to 4 months of pumping... I don't want to go down that road again!
Marion wasn't a natural nurser, but with the help of a wonderful lactation nurse we did get her latched on and sucking... at least a few times.
As Marion awoke from the sleepy just-born stage, she realized she was hungry! She latched on okay during the day on Friday, but by Friday night we were really having trouble. Unfortunately, the wonderful lactation nurse was off Saturday through Monday and the other nurses just couldn't work the magic she had. She did call and check on me though and sent me a "nipple shield" to use as a last resort if I still couldn't get her feeding over the weekend.
Marion got hungrier and hungrier, crankier and crankier. We had long nights where she slept for only 45 minutes at a time, with long periods of holding in between. Poor baby was hungry. Sunday afternoon I broke down and tried the shield. It was pretty much an instant success. She began nursing well and transformed into a happier, easier baby. Since then her eating has picked up more and more, and she's sleeping for longer stretches. At night, she's been sleeping for periods of 2 to 4 hours at a time. She wakes up to eat but usually goes back to sleep easily. A few rough days but its gotten much easier!