a new formula for success

Well, I tried to coax Marian back into nursing but she wasn't having it. Unfortunately bottle nipples are much easier for babies to draw sustenance from than the real thing, and she was not interested in going back to doing it the hard way. So I adjusted by pumping so I could still feed her breast milk, but that made my supply decline, because the pump is not as stimulating to milk production as the baby herself. So I called the office again to report my low volume and they said to supplement with formula if she'd take it; boy did she ever. When we went in today for our 2 week well baby visit, our pediatrician told me I should just go with formula and save myself the trouble. I've been a little heart sore that she lost all interest in nursing, since she used to obviously take so much pleasure from it; the contrast between the first week and the second has been making me sad. But supplementing with formula has made our lives so much easier -- Steve was able to watch her through the night for the first time and he thus allowed me the first 9 hour stretch of sleep I've had since before I went into labor. Last night, I did the same for him. Now we can alternate nights so we each get some decent rest every other night, and it does wonders for us. At a lunch gathering today a colleague who met us for the first time said that as new parents "we both seemed so calm." I took that as a huge compliment.
With the supplementing of the last week, Marian jumped in weight -- she's now 8lbs even! The assistant at the pediatrician's office actually double-checked if the scale was calibrated properly, and indeed it was. (Marian took that moment to pee on Steve; she's pretty mischievous that way.) She's in the 75th percentile for height and cranial circumference and the 50th for weight, which Steve noted makes her "just like her mom." I'll take that as a compliment as well.
Marian has turned out -- knock on wood, no jinxies -- to be such a good baby. The occasional bout with gas makes her cry, but most of the time she's snoozing, or awake and looking at the world with quiet wonder, or eating...she's healthy and happy and adorable. We are feeling very lucky.