Day 46: Bottle Feeding

We tried bottle feeding for our first time this week. It was a small yet stressful hurtle for us. We need to get Atom used to the bottle but at the same time his schedule isn't 100% set with breastfeeding and it made us nervous to introduce another nipple into the game.

We have read and have been told by other parents about a  wide range of possible reactions to the bottle. Some said it would be a problem others said he won't want to breastfeed anymore because he will fall in love with the speed and convenience. I guess even with the low-flow nipples his intake is "faster" from the bottle when compared to the boob. Well once again the old saying that every baby is different has come into play here. Atom doesn't seem to even understand the difference between RN (real nipple) and FN (fake nipple) at least on the surface and for the first try. He drank as he normally would, I got the opportunity to bond a little with him, and my wife got to pump and "relax". The hardest thing was the psychological effect it had on us I believe. The bottle represented a step forward for him and one back for us. I realized, and I will use "I" because I can only speak from my insight, Atom is on his way to independence and college.

It is amazing how he can adapt to this new thing (and remember how to swallow and everything) but it emphasizes that fact that even though the first month of no sleep and worrying has been tough and at times seemingly static, he is in fact growing into a little person. I know he is a long way from going to his first dance or from his first buritto but life seems a little cruel in it's ever changing momentum and just as we are settling into having this oh so tiny human being, he is developing at a quick pace into something so much more than just bodily function after bodily function. I didn't know that time, in the present tense, is so precious and to be enjoyed. I have a tendency to always be looking forward as I tread lightly across the roses of today but I guess I need to make a better effort to see the world again since it has become an infiniltey better place with Atom in it.

A side note: We accidently thawed out two days of milk, we are told you should ease into the bottle once a week at first, so we feed him a bottle the next day too. That did not go down so easily and he seemed to throw somewhat of a not so silent protest for the third ounce. He would suckle and then cry, suckle and then cry. It was heart shattering, not only cause you want him to get nourishement but because you have no idea what's wrong. I figure the bottle and dad feeding is passable in a pinch at this point but it is not a solid replacement for my wife and what she brings to the table. The bonding that happens between the two of them when he is feeding is sublime.