01.30.03

88287310

Posted in Uncategorized at 3:11 pm by Anne

Yesterday was spent packing and preparing and driving my Mom to the airport for her flight back to California.

So far as baby-oriented happenings, the most interesting part of yesterday was the drive home from DFW airport. By the time we saw Mom off and headed home, nearly 4 hours had passed since Lily’s last feeding. We were prepared with the babybackpack, though, and Shan pulled into a Target in Las Colinas (a city not far from DFW), and I nursed her in the backseat of the Xterra while Shan ducked in to buy more diapers and a few other items. I even changed her diaper, on my lap, no less, and thankfully she didn’t decide to reward me with a last minute pee-all-over-the-place. As far as nursing went, the back seat was extremely comfortable. The backrest is surprisingly supportive and I can’t think of a better vehicle to do this in. Frankly, it was more comfy than some of the pillow heaps I’ve made specially for the purpose of luxurious nursing. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if we had brought along the Boppy.

Today was the first day of just me and Little Miss and it’s gone pretty well so far. She slept in her crib while I showered and then slept right after I fed her, and we went to the office for a few minutes so that I could check mail, email, and pick up some invoices for the month. Then we came back home and she slept for a good bit as Ces and I IM’d. It has been 3 weeks since I’d chatted with her and we leafed through the GAP sale on baby clothing. Nice.

Her other Gramma called to come for a visit and right before she pulled in the driveway, Lily had the biggest poop I have ever changed to date. There was so much that I am counting it twice on the chart that keeps up with the number of soiled and wet diapers she goes through in a 24 hour time period. Gracious me. And she didn’t fuss at all while I changed her; I think she was glad to be out of that particular diaper. yikes. Now she and her Gramma are in the rocking chair and I was given some time to do as I would. It’s funny, now that I can do whatever I want, I am having trouble deciding. To be honest I feel like breaking into the box of chocolates I received as a gift for Christmas but I’ll prolly hold off on that for a bit longer, until I’m closer to my previous weight. We’ll see.

And I need to add that the C-section is not giving me any pain, nor is it still bleeding. So yay on that front; only 2.5 weeks for that to wind itself up and I say thank goodness. For those interested in even more of the scatological, I’m still experiencing the revenge of lochia although it’s tapered off significantly from how it was at the beginning. gah. Who knows how long it will last but I hope it’ll be over soon. I miss the padless adventure of being pregnant!

Screwit. I want some choclate!

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01.28.03

88177127

Posted in Uncategorized at 3:46 pm by Anne

We just washed Lily in the kitchen sink. It went a little more smoothly this time since we used this really awesome gizmo Susie brought over last week. She had been telling us about some kind of huge sponge that fits in a normal bathtub and we had never even heard of such a thing but the way she described this sponge bathing pad, it sounded really useful. I think she found it at Toys’R'Us but I didn’t find one on their website. The pad is bright yellow, 2 inches thick, and has an indentation for the baby to fit into and it totally kicked booty. Although still a two person job at this point, I wasn’t as concerned about Lily smacking her head against the porcelain and I even think she kind of liked the bath, at least until I washed her hair. She gets too chilly so we made that part quick and wrapped her in the little hooded towel contraption followed by a terry cloth sleeper unit. Sweet baby.

I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but a particularly obnoxious side effect to nursing has been happening to me. For some odd reason,I didn’t think it would happen to me, I don’t know why, but here’s the deal. When I nurse on one side, the other side invariably leaks. Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little but I always have 2 towels nearby. One for my leak and one for Lily’s spitting up. Nursing is some messy business I tell you. Along the same lines, when I hear her start crying, I also begin leaking. Not very convenient when I’m trying to gather things up to go someplace. I’m just glad I bought some little bra-pad things a month ago, as a precaution (Shan’s sister never had any leakage. lucky hag.) because they are getting a lot of use now.

This morning I removed the rest of the little butterfly bandages that were holding the c-section cut together. Still no change with the middle area, it’s bleeding lightly just the same as before and making a mess of my underdrawers, but not in THAT area…which I guess is a good thing. I’ve got a little square of gauze wedged near the bikini line but since I don’t want to stick it directly to the skin in the area (very tender it is) with tape, it kinda moves around a bit. Hopefully it’ll either be on the mend by friday or the Dr. will have some idea on how to fix it.

3 samples in today, and thank goodness they are tape-lifts! Easy, breezy, beautiful, and pretty fast. No calculations, no raw count, just IDing and comparing relative quantities. I love them guys.

If only I didn’t have this headache! I’m going to try and rouse Gramma and Lily and talk them into going for another walk. and I feel like making something super chocolatey for dessert. Do I have the time? I really don’t know at this point.

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01.27.03

88117289

Posted in Uncategorized at 3:36 pm by Anne

Gramma is leaving on Wednesday so I am giving Lily to her for holding as much as possible. I cannot describe what a tremendous help my Mom has been these past few weeks. Yes I get irritated with her sometimes but I’m thinking that is just something a child feels towards their Mother after a certain age, especially when the two have differing plans of dealing with something. (note to self: Remember these feelings when Lily is in her 20’s.) Anyway, When Shan gets home tonight I think we’re going to have another *BIG* talk about planning to get Mom and Dad to relocate here, he is just the best at that kind of thing.

The infected nipple is starting to clear up (THANK GOD) but I noticed the incision started weeping a little over the weekend, and right in the middle of the wound! This morning, before my shower, there was even more seepage and redder, fresher blood, so I called the Dr. Again, he confirmed my notions that he is the best Dr. I will ever have. After explaining that it was probably just a pocket of fluid and that it would go away in a few days, he told me to come in anytime today and he gave me the secret code to go in through the secret door to the office so as not to peeve anyone off. Since I was planning on bringing Lily to the hospital lab for her second PKU screening anyway, I thought I’d stop by the Drs first. So we snucki nthe secret entrance and I was seen immediately. Dr. said it was totally normal and not to worry or pick at it or force a Q-tip into it for cleaning purposes (GAH!), if it started pulling apart to let him know but otherwise just to wash it every day and keep it clean. I love this man.

Then we went down to the lab and Lily received a heel-prick, poor thing. She cried and cried and cried for about 2 minutes and then calmed right back down again. And this was just a little pin prick. I am not looking forward to the vaccinations she’ll get in a few months since I’m sure they will be alot more painful.

Sunny and relatively warm out today. I am thinking we should load her up and go for a stroll while Mom is still here. This in addition to the fact that some walking would do me good. I have lost about 25 pounds so far and have another 20 (or so) to go. My pregantcy pants are all a bit hangy (which is awesome) but obviously it’s still too soon for my ‘normal’ pants. How I miss my Levi’s! damnantion.Yesterday I scammed a pair of Shan’s old jeans (33X32) and they worked for about an hour. After that there was way too much friction against the incision, and I suspect that may have been partly to blame for the increased bleeding today. Fook fashion; I need to wait for that to heal up completely before trying again.

After the hospital, the three of us went to an italian restaraunt for lunch, and we ate sumptously while Lily slept like the good little girl she is. Mom got the portabello ravioli in a smoked cheese sauce and I received a dish composed of grilled chicken and penne pasta in an artichoke, pancetta, sundried tomato cream sauce. Simply divine. We have been eating so well lately that I remarked to my Mom, “You know, when you leave, my eating habits will be downgraded to soggy pb&j and cereal.” Tiramisu and a lovely layered concoction of chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, and custard for dessert. A nursing mother needs to take in 300 additional calories a day and I think that meal put me at an additional 3000.

Happy Australia Day!

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01.25.03

88009412

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:50 am by Anne

So we all went out for pizza last night, I had fed Lily about 20 minutes before, so she was contented and sleeping. Once we got to the restaraunt, we had to wait a few minutes for a table to clear up but Mom snagged one for us pretty quick and we shuffled over. It was crowded and loud and the nearest people all belonged to one group of about 10 droogs. One of the guys had a baby who I’d guess was about 6 months old and this is why the trip sucked: Not only were the people in this group louder than a pack of drunken sailors but the child screamed and cried and behaved poorly all through supper. Meanwhile, Lily slept on and on and every so often I would look over at think to myself ‘We got a good one.’ I know this is delusional and that she will turn into a screaming monkey soon enough in public places but last night I was very proud.

Then we came home and ate Creme de Caramel that I had baked earlier that day.mmmmmm.

I fed her around midnight and she woke me up at 3:40AM and 8:15 respectively. Nice four hour blocks but still exhausting. Right now she is cuddled in my Mom’s arms as I am going to take a shower and we’re all going to Target for MORE DIAPERS.

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01.24.03

87965109

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:30 am by Anne

Last night was a little less than perfect. Lily was wide awake from around 9PM until 12AM it seemed like. I fed her at midinght but after putting her in her little carseat-bed and laying down myself, she just snuffled and snorted and waved her little fists. I’m not sure I even really fell asleep completely. Then at 3 she launched into some crying and after changing her smellies we nursed again. This time I just placed her next to me in bed so of course I slept about as well as I did the first time. Wake up call at 6:30, more smellies to change and a feeding. After I put her in her carseat and she snuffled around to get comfy, Shan woke up a bit and asked, “Does she need to be fed?” I almost smacked him back to la la land.

Got up to take an antibiotic and started some water to heating on the stove, went back to bed and snoozed for another hour. Thankfully Shan changed her again and went to make coffee when she woke up briefly. I’m hoping to get back to her sleeping in chunks at night ASAP since I will definitely be needing a nap sometime today.

This morning was her second appt. with the pediatrician. Thankfully she has regained her birthweight and is now 20 inches long. hoohah, little girl! Right before the strip nekkid weigh-in she pulled another last minute pee all over the place but this time I was ready and armed with her diaper backpack. (Last time I had forgotten to bring one.) We need to run by the hospital in the next few days so that the lab can take a second (back-up) genetic screening. Apparently Texas is one of the states that requires two of them as she had the first heel-prick the night before we left the hospital.

And that’s that.

I have some samples to analyze. yippeekiyay.

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01.22.03

87851984

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:22 pm by Anne

While watching “Good Eats” and trying to wake Lily up to finish the other milk gland (it didn’t work, she stayed asleep with a little crying here and there), at one point as I sat her up on the boppy pillow, and she projectile spit up on me. (That’ll show you!) Not only that but she also had chunky milk fly out of her nose. Poor thing.

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87846019

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:16 am by Anne

Fell asleep with baby on my torso during the 11:30PM feeding last night, I believe ‘the Rockford Files’ was on…good old Rockford in his 70’s clothing. Me likey. Then I woke up at 5AM, having forgotten that she had eaten at 11:30 and thinking she had gone more than 8 hours (I was foggy in the head.) I woke her up and fed her. This was not as successful as I would have liked because she just wanted to stay asleep so after 10 minutes that was it. I even changed her smellies and it still didn’t rouse her enough. So I made the mistake of putting her back in the ‘burrito-wrap’ swaddle and into her car seat, which we keep in a chair by my side of the bed. About an hour later she woke me up and I tried to convince her she wasn’t hungry for another half-hour but she didn’t buy it, so she got fed for another 10 minutes before conking out entirely.

Later this morning Mom helped me bathe her, (her first bath after the hospital), since before Daddy left for work today he wrinkled his nose as he kissed her goodbye. What nerve! Because her umbilical cord is off and that region looks so good, we forewent the usual sponge bath and set her in a few inches of lukewarm water. I held her up with one hand and washed her with a supersoft babywashcloth with the other and we finished easily enough. After dressing her in a a shortie onesie and a longer pajama type, the little monkey spit up on herself. Go figure. Now she is sleeping and I am considering breakfast and a shower.

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01.21.03

87799187

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:23 pm by Anne

She slept for five whole hours through the night and would have gone longer if I hadn’t woken her around 5 this morning! Yay Lily! I am beginning to learn a behavior with her feedings. Lately, when we assume the positions for nursing, she starts making this cute little baby-growling sound before latching on. If she doesn’t latch on in the first few tries, often she squalls a little and I keep trying to make it work. Here’s the thing, I don’t know if it’s gravity or what but I notice her tooting and filling her diaper during this time and she won’t nurse until afterwards. As a result, some nursings take longer than others and it kinda sucks when they are in the middle of the night. This morning I think I changed her diaper 3 times in one sitting! Thankfully no signs of diaper rash so far.

Later this morning I made a quick trip to the Dr. so he could check out one of my nipples. Remember the breast pump debacle? Well, one of the nips has started hurting more than usual and appears to have a small but localized buildup of white blood cells indicative of infection. Fearing mastitis, we called the Dr.
When I got to the waiting room it was hellishly packed full of pregnant women. Little did I know that the Dr had called Shan’s phone (we were in separate cars) to tell us to go in a back way, so unfortunately all those women were probably pretty pissed off when I was taken to the back so quickly. Oh well. Dr. checked it out, after giving me a tongue lashing for driving there (You are supposed to wait 2 weeks after delivering. Dr. said this is because if someone pulled out in front of me there is a chance I won’t react in time to stop an accident from happening due to my incision, in that I’d brake much more slowly to accommodate the pain of movement.), and wrote an Rx for a mild antibiotic with instructions to watch and make sure it doesn’t get any worse or develope into full blown mastitis. wheee. I also was instructed to purchase a nipple shield (sounds like a torture device, no?) and to use it for feedings in order to prevent Lily from chewing on the injury and causing more discomfort. I tried it but she doesn’t like it so Im thinking I’ll just grin and bear it. ouchy.

Still experiencing slight post-partum tears; I just can’t help it!

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01.20.03

87738000

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:17 pm by Anne

So this is my first day back at the office and things are laying pretty low. I paid some bills, filed some stuff, and am just tooling around for a few minutes while my Mom watches Lily at the house. It will be kind of hellish when she leaves in a week. I wonder if my suite mates will be put off by the notion of Lily coming to the office with me. I guess we’ll find out kind of soon but the good thing is, it’s not as if I’ll be spending a full 8 hours here. Just popping over to check for samples and filing reports and things like that. Maybe part-time, inbetween feedings and all.

Lily pulled another good night for us. I fed her around 11:20PM and she slept until 5AM. I think she squawked because her little hat had fallen down over her eyes but I decided it would be better to feed her at that time rather than to let her sleep another hour or two. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for her getting into the habit of sleepig through the night but she’s done it for the past few nights in a row and it kind of throws off the nursing schedule. The lactation consultant told us to feed at least 8 times a 24 hr. period, and that we’ll know if she’s getting enough by the number of soiled and wet diapers she releases. (Sorry if I have already talked about this, I can’t remember.) Anyway, she is just GREAT on the diaper front but I want to be absolutely sure she is getting enough before launching into a campaign for a good night’s sleep.

Plans for today:

1. Go for a walk
2. Stop by the grocery store for victuals
3. Sponge bath baby
4. Finish the thankyou notes
5. Plan something for supper
6. Continue browbeating my Mother into moving to McKinney

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01.19.03

87707544

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:19 pm by Anne

Here is one thing I didn’t know about the C-Section:

Releasing the contents of your bladder following one can be a bit tricky. That was my first big task after the surgery. Because my Dr. had put me on some kind of new pain medicine that was hooked directly to the incision (they hung the medicine receptacle from my gown) and which released a specific amount over time, I was able to get up and walk around soon after the surgery, albeit a bit slowly. That afternoon, a nurse had removed the catheter so I was officially good to go. Shan went with me that evening and we trooped throught the L&D ward around 11PM, him pushing Lily in her little hospital bassinet and me clutching the IV stand. Thankfully there were very few patients during my stay so we didn’t run into anybody. Anyway, as soon as we got back, an RN came in and told me I needed to save my pee the next 3 times I worked it up, and I thought, “Well, why not now?!” Sadly enough, I tried and I tried and I tried and nothing happened. There is nothing in the world like not being able to pee. All I felt was the pressure. So that was pretty frustrating. By the next morning, though, the epidural had completely worn off and I am happy to report I peed freely.

Lily is officially a week old now. We celebrated with homemade pizza and salad that Shan and my Mother prepared while I wrote thankyou cards. The little one is conked out in her little boppy pillow (which I highly reccommend), wrapped in a pink fluffy fleece blanket. She has all the cool things, I tell you!

In the beginning, those first few nights in the hospital our attempts at breastfeeding were less than successful. Not only was it excruciating but very frustrating for both of us. After our second day at home I was concerned she wasn’t drinking enough since her diaper changes weren’t yielding the results that were reccommeded and by that night, Shan and I gave her 2 bottles of formula, each 2 ounces. By the following morning we were still having some difficulty nursing and each time was so agonizing for me that it was driving me insane. That coupled with the guilt I felt for having used formula turned me into a loon. I left Lily with my Mom for a few minutes while I drove to the office (I got 27 samples in the day before!) and just bawled. Then I called Shan and he was very supportive and good and promised he’d be home soon and told me to call the lactation consultant at the hospital and long story short, I did. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that earlier that morning I hooked up to the breast pump and got a little exuberant with it, which led to making both my nipples bleed. Not fun at all. Keep in mind, that my milk was finally letting down and that also was excruciating. My bosoms felt like they had pebbles in them and they were just killing me. Fortunately the lactation consultant was really calming and nice and told me not to hookup for more than 5 minutes in the future and also not to hookup very often or else my body will think I need to stay in the engorged state. eeeek. She also advised me to put warm compresses on 5-10 mins before nursing and then cold compresses after. And Lansinoh ointment. So I started following her directions and by now nursing is nearly very do-able. It still hurts though. Shan’s sister called thursday to see when she could bring her kids over to visit and I just started bawling. She said, “I told you it hurts the first two weeks! You’ll get through it though and then you’ll feel so much better about it!” I wish I had called her sooner, to tell you the truth.

The amount of visitors we have had through the week has been staggering. Everyone in Shan’s family was literally chomping at the bit to come over and quite a few friends. Meanwhile, I was struggling to nurse and look at samples and print up reports and figure out how to be a Mom. It was pretty stressful but how could you get angry? They were just wanting to help out and to greet Lily and chattypants.

The middle finger of my right hand is still dead at the first knuckle. I hate that.

Saturday my dear friend Ann drove over with lunch (a delicious chicken salad with minicarrots and honeydew melon) and dinner (chicken casserole) and vanilla icecream and apple pie! When she walked in and saw Lily, she just started weeping and then I joined her. I’m so emotional right now and am wondering how long this is going to continue. Last night, after a feeding, I was sitting in bed stroking her little baby head and I got to thinking about how she was going to lead a life of her own and it just reduced me to gasping tears again. I am just crazy with love for this child that I finally really understand how things are going to be from now on. I called a client shortly after returning home and after congratulating me and some small talk (His wife had their 4th child on New Year’s Day) we had this exchange:

Him: I assume you love your husband, right?
Me: Of course.
Him: And you love your parents and his parents and family, don’t you?
ME: Yes yes, of course I do.
Him: Well, isn’t the love you feel for your new baby just different and so wonderful?

And he’s right…it’s just beautiful.We are truly blessed, Shan and I.

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