Infection

Sorry for the silence, but I am just getting over a bout of mastitis. OH MY GOD, I had no idea how horrible a breast infection could be. I am not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the worst experiences of my life.

Last Sunday started out like any other day, but by noon my right boob was very tender to the touch. It didn't hurt to latch the baby on, but let-down was soooo painful. There is really no way to describe this pain. It was just awful. Being the naive girl that I am, I thought I merely had a clogged duct (even though I couldn't feel any lumps). I put the baby down for a nap around noon, and decided to pump. When I got done, I felt like I was about to pass out. I laid down on the couch and covered up with a quilt, because my hands and feet felt really cold (even though it was 75 in our house). John took Porgie and Izzy to the park. While he was gone things got worse. I was so cold my teeth were chattering, and my head felt like it was about to explode. Also, my breast was so painful that it hurt to even move my right arm. I literally laid on the couch and cried because I felt so miserable. After about an hour of this agony, I took my temperature. It was 103. Ugh.

I never go to/call the doctor unless I am fairly convinced that I am going to die. That afternoon, I called my OB. Through chattering teeth, I described my symptoms. The doctor diagnosed me with Mastitis and called in a prescription for an antibiotic. When John got home, I immediately sent him back out to pick up my prescription. I read in my breastfeeding book that after antibiotics are started, symptoms improve in 24 hours. I was really counting on this.

That night was awful. I would alternate between chills and sweating profusely. I also had the world's worst headache. It was so bad that I was taking the prescription strength Motrin they had given me after my c-section. The headache still wouldn't go away. My boob also took a turn for the worse. The side turned bright red, and it was visibly swollen. It was very tender and painful. Needless to say, it was a long night, but the next morning I felt a little better. And then I felt worse. Although the morning seemed promising, Monday was basically a repeat of Sunday. Monday night my temperature actually reached 105 degrees. My body felt like it was on fire.

On Tuesday I felt like I had been hit by a truck, but my fever and chills finally subsided. Wednesday and Thursday were much of the same. Friday is when I finally felt like myself again. I still have some slight pain in my right breast, but the redness has disappeared.

The moral of this story is that Mastitis is awful. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

4 weeks!

Somebody is 4 weeks old today! He eats! He sleeps! He poops (a lot)!

I was looking through my pictures, and I realized that I didn't have any pictures of Guppy with his eyes open. So, I decided to take a picture of him with his precious little eyes open. Upon trying to take this picture, I realized why I don't have any pictures of him with his eyes open. Newborns don't follow directions very well.

Take # 1

Take # 2

Take # 3

Take # 4

Please excuse the blurry pictures. It was night and my crappy camera sucks in low lighting.

Anyways, Guppy is doing great. We are so happy that he is a part of our lives. Can't wait to see what the next month will bring!

My grunty boy

The grunting and straining all night routine continues. My little guy is so gassy at night. I know that I am incredibly lucky, because he doesn't really cry. He just fusses and squirms and makes lots of strange noises. We have been going to bed really early (sometime between 8pm and 9pm), so that even though he wakes me up 549 times per night, at least I am in bed for a solid 10 hours. That helps (a little). For a few days, I kind of went off the deep end and was obsessed with this issue. But then I read my dear friend Eva's blog post about her new baby. She commented that she was going to go cuddle her son, because "he'll never be four days old ago." That made me reevaluate the situation. This gassiness is temporary. Guppy will never be 3 weeks old again. I just need to enjoy him - grunty noises and all.

Pictures of our little Guppy

My baby boy is so cute and little. I could just eat him up! Porgie is also smitten with our newest creation. She plays with him on his mat every morning. She begs me to wake him up from his naps. She kisses and hugs him endlessly. Izzy is also obsessed with Guppy. He is very touchy feely with him, which freaks me out. He loves to rub Guppy's little head. Honestly, I was worried about how the kids would respond to the new baby. So far, so good!

Rambling

For the first time since I had Guppy, I weighed myself. To my amazement, I have lost 20 pounds. Too bad that I gained too much and still have 23 more pounds to lose. BOO! I originally was shooting for a 30 pound weight gain. But I just couldn't seem to control my weight gain at various times in my pregnancy. Some months I would gain 2 pounds and others I would gain 12 pounds. I felt like I had very little control over it. So, this week I am going to try to start eating healthy again. Actually, I already eat fairly healthy, I really just need to watch my portion size. And stop eating Ben & Jerry's.

Guppy is doing great, but he is killing me with sleep deprivation. I had high hopes for this baby. I was sure that he was going to be my good sleeping baby. He was so calm and peaceful in the hospital. But he has been so freaking wakeful at night. He sleeps great during the day, but nighttime is a nightmare! He does this weird grunting, straining, and crying routine every hour or so all night long. And he is constantly rooting around and trying to nurse all freaking night. I am about to kick him out of my bed. I want to be a co-sleeping mama, but I can't handle this up all night nursing shit. I think I'll give him another week to get more settled at night, and if he is still nursing all damn night, we are going to make some changes in our sleep routine. I wouldn't mind getting up every two or three hours, but I am barely able to function on our current schedule.

John returned to work today. I have mixed emotions about this. I am excited to get back to our normal routine. I have felt a little off lately, and being more independent might help me feel normal again. But damn, I am going to miss having someone home to cook all my meals and change all the shitty diapers.