Aliza is getting easier!! She loves playing and cooing and has been sleeping through the night ever since that first night of 7.5 hrs. Last night she slept for 10 straight hrs and not a peep from her!! I went to bed at 10:30 so that was pretty awesome to not have to get up till 7:30 am! She also took a really good morning nap for me. She does tend to just catnap throughout the day and want to nurse a lot but I suppose I shouldn't complain. :) She has gotten to like bathes. I am feeling much better these too. I best go for now before she gets tired of playing under her gym.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Happy Days
An update! :) I am feeling better, a lot better, tired at times, but I have a newborn so yeah. Anyway Aliza is doing really well this week. She slept 7.5 hrs last night, amazing!! And of course I had to check her at 2 am to make sure she was still breathing. She has been getting less demanding, settling herself to sleep, staying asleep in her own bed, happy to watch the kids play and be talked to. It is wonderful!! She also rolled over last weekend, can't remember what I blogged already. I've got almost 3 months of the budget to catch up on, that is my next big goal. I was able to eat supper last night, no crying babe, and make supper ( with my hubby's help). I can get things done here and there it's great and I'm so thankful!! I will add some pictures to flickr soon. She's growing way too fast. In other too fast news, school starts a month from monday, it's ridiculous, what's so wrong with sept to end of may, give the kids and their mom's 3 whole months off. Oh well, I'm healthy so I should just be quiet. :)
ps Aliza's eyes could not be bluer. :) Her eyebrows couldn't be blonder. How does a dark person with a full Italian grandmother birth such light people? ( Fall in love with a blonde man I guess) :)
ps Aliza's eyes could not be bluer. :) Her eyebrows couldn't be blonder. How does a dark person with a full Italian grandmother birth such light people? ( Fall in love with a blonde man I guess) :)
Saturday, July 10, 2010
A kinda crappy postpartum
So where have a I been the past few weeks?
Let me just give you a recap of my health since birthing.
First night home, sneezed before I got a chance to prepare, blew some stitches, the dr said I would still heal up on my own and I seem to be. Wish that was my only issue. :)
Day after getting home felt a yeast infection coming on my left side, burning while nursing. Had Mitch get me lotrimin.
By one week postpartum, I was at the dr with a bacterial infection on both "mams" bleeding, cracking a fissure on one side, blisters. AWESOME.
About a week after that, I felt the yeast returning. This time it's in my milk ducts to boot, which is very painful at times, just go to breastfeeding.com and read all about it!! I had no idea it was possible to have go into your ducts. Anyway, on one round of diflucan, 3 days. A couple weeks or days don't know it's all running together, horrible pain is back, another round of the same. Then that weekend I get an awful sore throat that I swear is strep, it turns out not to be but I end up running a fever, feeling like I am about to puke upon standing, and the baby has the same virus and is out of sorts for the weekend as well. The sick, calming and nursing the sick. My ladies are doing fine at this point. My virus seems to improve on monday and tuesday, burning pains in left side begin again, I go back to the dr, 2 weeks of dilfulcan this time. It takes a while to see improvements and my sore throat from my virus won't seem to go away even though the severity is lessened, it still keeps me up at night scratchy and swollen and hurts to yawn. My mamaries seem fine the beginning of last week, Alexa my sis in law is going to come over that week, and I'm looking forward to it, Wednesday rolls around, I'm feeling decent, the baby is becoming easier, happy, cooing starting 3 weekends ago and smiling from birth, giving me one 5-6 hr block at night. Anyway, I start to feel gaggy and nauseous while making my breakfast wed morning, I think I'll end up having diarrhea like Idid the morning before. But it's that, plus puking. I decide to lay down and I need to nurse the baby, 5 minutes in I'm feeling the feeling again, I burp her, put her down she's bawling, I go and puke again, it's amazing, I return to nurse, 5 more minutes in, I have to go and puke AGAIN. She is finally fed and thank the Lord Alexa is there!! She takes the baby. I try to rest, but no I must puke one more time. I have never puked/diarrhea so much in such a short amount of time, less than an hour, it was horrible, but short lived. That night Mitch sleeps in the basement, we don't need him puking, and of all the nights, Isabelle wakes up with a gusher of a bloody nose that takes 25 minutes to stop and I'm woosey. SIGH
So now, my breasts are giving me issues AGAIN, my throat still hurts 3 weeks later. It's pretty bad when your baby's fast asleep and your stupid ailments are keeping you up!!! So I go back to the dr monday, ( it was their idea) and I have a couple pills of diflucan left. So yeah, i'm weary, trying to function, in between stuff and somehow take care of myself JOKE!!! Mitch was really sweet last night and went out and got me a filter for the cool humidifier and sugar free coughdrops to help me sleep, I'm trying to stay off sugar to not feed the yeast in my body, which I LOVE sugar. :( So I'm hopeful that the Lord will see fit to give me some relief soon as He is well acquainted with the inner workings of my body and my troubles and I know he'll give me the grace to get through each day or hour. I think of that song " day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here" something like that.
The baby loves to smile and coo and loves when her siblings give her attention, her little bod is strong and she holds her little head up very well. That's all for now.. let's hope anyway. I just want to LIVE again!!! :)
Let me just give you a recap of my health since birthing.
First night home, sneezed before I got a chance to prepare, blew some stitches, the dr said I would still heal up on my own and I seem to be. Wish that was my only issue. :)
Day after getting home felt a yeast infection coming on my left side, burning while nursing. Had Mitch get me lotrimin.
By one week postpartum, I was at the dr with a bacterial infection on both "mams" bleeding, cracking a fissure on one side, blisters. AWESOME.
About a week after that, I felt the yeast returning. This time it's in my milk ducts to boot, which is very painful at times, just go to breastfeeding.com and read all about it!! I had no idea it was possible to have go into your ducts. Anyway, on one round of diflucan, 3 days. A couple weeks or days don't know it's all running together, horrible pain is back, another round of the same. Then that weekend I get an awful sore throat that I swear is strep, it turns out not to be but I end up running a fever, feeling like I am about to puke upon standing, and the baby has the same virus and is out of sorts for the weekend as well. The sick, calming and nursing the sick. My ladies are doing fine at this point. My virus seems to improve on monday and tuesday, burning pains in left side begin again, I go back to the dr, 2 weeks of dilfulcan this time. It takes a while to see improvements and my sore throat from my virus won't seem to go away even though the severity is lessened, it still keeps me up at night scratchy and swollen and hurts to yawn. My mamaries seem fine the beginning of last week, Alexa my sis in law is going to come over that week, and I'm looking forward to it, Wednesday rolls around, I'm feeling decent, the baby is becoming easier, happy, cooing starting 3 weekends ago and smiling from birth, giving me one 5-6 hr block at night. Anyway, I start to feel gaggy and nauseous while making my breakfast wed morning, I think I'll end up having diarrhea like Idid the morning before. But it's that, plus puking. I decide to lay down and I need to nurse the baby, 5 minutes in I'm feeling the feeling again, I burp her, put her down she's bawling, I go and puke again, it's amazing, I return to nurse, 5 more minutes in, I have to go and puke AGAIN. She is finally fed and thank the Lord Alexa is there!! She takes the baby. I try to rest, but no I must puke one more time. I have never puked/diarrhea so much in such a short amount of time, less than an hour, it was horrible, but short lived. That night Mitch sleeps in the basement, we don't need him puking, and of all the nights, Isabelle wakes up with a gusher of a bloody nose that takes 25 minutes to stop and I'm woosey. SIGH
So now, my breasts are giving me issues AGAIN, my throat still hurts 3 weeks later. It's pretty bad when your baby's fast asleep and your stupid ailments are keeping you up!!! So I go back to the dr monday, ( it was their idea) and I have a couple pills of diflucan left. So yeah, i'm weary, trying to function, in between stuff and somehow take care of myself JOKE!!! Mitch was really sweet last night and went out and got me a filter for the cool humidifier and sugar free coughdrops to help me sleep, I'm trying to stay off sugar to not feed the yeast in my body, which I LOVE sugar. :( So I'm hopeful that the Lord will see fit to give me some relief soon as He is well acquainted with the inner workings of my body and my troubles and I know he'll give me the grace to get through each day or hour. I think of that song " day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here" something like that.
The baby loves to smile and coo and loves when her siblings give her attention, her little bod is strong and she holds her little head up very well. That's all for now.. let's hope anyway. I just want to LIVE again!!! :)
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Aliza Ann
In case you didn't check the album feed at the bottom of the blog..
June 3rd, 2010, 5:02 a.m; 6lbs. 9 lbs, 20 inches long. I've been M.I.A from webworld this week dealing with a NASTY bacterial infection on my ladies, symptoms started sunday, I thought it was yeast but apparently not. Bleeding, crying, pain, pumping instead of nursing for a while, went to dr yesterday and in one day things are starting to improve, thank the Lord. She let me sleep for a 4 hr block last night then a 2 hr. She weighed 7 lbs today at the dr and is doing a great, she's a really good baby and I'm looking foward to not going around bawling feeling and looking like I've been nursing a wolverine, I never had problems like this before!!! I was able to nurse on one side today and I'm so thankful, tomorrow I will try the other side. So I'm seeing light at the end of my nursing nightmare. My postpartum always starts off with a bang with pulling all nighters at the hospital, I ended up being jabbed 8 times, they had issues doing the IV but dang it I needed the fluids for the epidural. I pushed a few pushes through one contraction and she was here, with a knot in her cord, I'll post more pics eventually, Mitch took a pic of the knot, the dr suggested it lol. so it's been an exhausting week starting on a major sleep deficit, I thought I blew some stitches sneezing the first night, then the infection. I'm SO glad my mom was here this week!!! I would've died without her, probably really. :) The kids are doing great and love their sister, no issues with them at all. That's all for now, sorry for those of you I've not been able to touch base with yet. I appreciate you contacting me!!!!
ps, no cleft chin this time and she is my blondest baby! It looks blonder when her hair is freshly cleaned and puffed. :)
June 3rd, 2010, 5:02 a.m; 6lbs. 9 lbs, 20 inches long. I've been M.I.A from webworld this week dealing with a NASTY bacterial infection on my ladies, symptoms started sunday, I thought it was yeast but apparently not. Bleeding, crying, pain, pumping instead of nursing for a while, went to dr yesterday and in one day things are starting to improve, thank the Lord. She let me sleep for a 4 hr block last night then a 2 hr. She weighed 7 lbs today at the dr and is doing a great, she's a really good baby and I'm looking foward to not going around bawling feeling and looking like I've been nursing a wolverine, I never had problems like this before!!! I was able to nurse on one side today and I'm so thankful, tomorrow I will try the other side. So I'm seeing light at the end of my nursing nightmare. My postpartum always starts off with a bang with pulling all nighters at the hospital, I ended up being jabbed 8 times, they had issues doing the IV but dang it I needed the fluids for the epidural. I pushed a few pushes through one contraction and she was here, with a knot in her cord, I'll post more pics eventually, Mitch took a pic of the knot, the dr suggested it lol. so it's been an exhausting week starting on a major sleep deficit, I thought I blew some stitches sneezing the first night, then the infection. I'm SO glad my mom was here this week!!! I would've died without her, probably really. :) The kids are doing great and love their sister, no issues with them at all. That's all for now, sorry for those of you I've not been able to touch base with yet. I appreciate you contacting me!!!!
ps, no cleft chin this time and she is my blondest baby! It looks blonder when her hair is freshly cleaned and puffed. :)
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
What I wish I Knew
After going into a lengthy facebook message to a friend yet to have children explaining what "crotch soaking" was all about, I thought about all the things I didn't know about birthing in the hospital that first and second time that I wished I knew now. So here's rough list of what I would tell a first time mom.
1. Limit your visitors, ask people to call first, and you may not guarantee that you're up for it. Limit the time spent, say something like, yeah if you want stop in for a few minutes in between a feeding that would be great. Ask the nurses to not let anybody call the room, or give your room number out. That way you won't have anyone unsuspected knocking at the door or calling if you have finally fell asleep. You will already have nurses bothering/checking you, your pad that you're bleeding all over, and squishing on your uterus. Then they will be checking the baby as well, off and on, night and day. You will also be dealing with signing birth certificates, hospital pictures, lactation consultants, hearing screening, there's just a lot of crap going on.
2. Your crotch is going to hurt if you push the baby out yourself. You will need to be changing pads, and soaking in sits baths at least 3 times a day. Hence the visitor issue, nothing like feeling like you can't leave to soak and your crotch is burning.
3. Nursing is a learning process, it's worth it to unlatch the baby if they aren't on right, trust me. Wear nursing pads even if your milk's not in and air dry your nipples before putting your bra back up. I learned this the hard way, mine got stuck to my bra, and I had to peel it off, there was blood and hence the name " hamburger nipple" entered in our family. See how visitors can pose problems for this???
4. Don't be afraid to have the nurses hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on your door at certain times ,when dang it, you just need 2 hrs of uninterrupted sleep because the odds are working against you in a mighty way.
5. If your baby is hungry, don't feel bad about taking the baby back from a loving family member, and warn them, it's boob-time, so stay at your own risk. You aren't a baby birthing, bleeding, lactating hospital hostess.
6. Speak up for what you need, most all nurses are wonderful, caring and will work with you to find some rest. Don't be afraid to use the nurse button for fear of being a " bother" especially if you're paralyzed from an epidural, sitting in a chair, waiting for some inept cleaning people for way too long to change the bed while you're holding a sleeping baby in a chair and would like to catch a snooze yourself at 4am and despite the fact you're throwing pillows at his head, your husband just wont wake up off that little couch.
7. Have a little confidence in your own motherly intuitions, don't do anything that you don't feel great about just because it's going to inconvenience someone, or you haven't been a mom before and they have or whatever. You're going to make mistakes but the ones that bug you the worst will be when you wished you would've just gone with your gut, a little prayer and counsel never hurts but it's your baby. Your baby.
8. Schedules can work wonders after a few weeks!! Don't feel guilty about baby's sleep taking a certain amount of priority, but it is good to be flexible, small babies can nap just great in their carseats while out and about, and let me tell you, you'll want to get out a little. :)
Ok so unless I think of anything to add, oh WAIT
9. Tinkle before nursing, gets the bladder out of the way so it helps the uterus return to normal size easier when nursing stimulates contractions.
10. After you're home, make sure " help" means helping YOU in whatever YOU may need, picking up some random thing at the store, bringing you food, holding the baby while you nap or soak, doing a load of laundry, or dishes even just keeping you company while you nurse for hours. :) I remember hearing a story of a woman who's mom in law came and held her baby all day so that the mother could clean the house. Nice, so you've been incubating this baby for 9 months and suddenly it's doing you a favor to not get the hold this long awaited bundle and clean instead....( this is NOT my story... because you all know.. I don't hate cleaning. :))
So that's my advice, you've been warned. ;)
1. Limit your visitors, ask people to call first, and you may not guarantee that you're up for it. Limit the time spent, say something like, yeah if you want stop in for a few minutes in between a feeding that would be great. Ask the nurses to not let anybody call the room, or give your room number out. That way you won't have anyone unsuspected knocking at the door or calling if you have finally fell asleep. You will already have nurses bothering/checking you, your pad that you're bleeding all over, and squishing on your uterus. Then they will be checking the baby as well, off and on, night and day. You will also be dealing with signing birth certificates, hospital pictures, lactation consultants, hearing screening, there's just a lot of crap going on.
2. Your crotch is going to hurt if you push the baby out yourself. You will need to be changing pads, and soaking in sits baths at least 3 times a day. Hence the visitor issue, nothing like feeling like you can't leave to soak and your crotch is burning.
3. Nursing is a learning process, it's worth it to unlatch the baby if they aren't on right, trust me. Wear nursing pads even if your milk's not in and air dry your nipples before putting your bra back up. I learned this the hard way, mine got stuck to my bra, and I had to peel it off, there was blood and hence the name " hamburger nipple" entered in our family. See how visitors can pose problems for this???
4. Don't be afraid to have the nurses hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on your door at certain times ,when dang it, you just need 2 hrs of uninterrupted sleep because the odds are working against you in a mighty way.
5. If your baby is hungry, don't feel bad about taking the baby back from a loving family member, and warn them, it's boob-time, so stay at your own risk. You aren't a baby birthing, bleeding, lactating hospital hostess.
6. Speak up for what you need, most all nurses are wonderful, caring and will work with you to find some rest. Don't be afraid to use the nurse button for fear of being a " bother" especially if you're paralyzed from an epidural, sitting in a chair, waiting for some inept cleaning people for way too long to change the bed while you're holding a sleeping baby in a chair and would like to catch a snooze yourself at 4am and despite the fact you're throwing pillows at his head, your husband just wont wake up off that little couch.
7. Have a little confidence in your own motherly intuitions, don't do anything that you don't feel great about just because it's going to inconvenience someone, or you haven't been a mom before and they have or whatever. You're going to make mistakes but the ones that bug you the worst will be when you wished you would've just gone with your gut, a little prayer and counsel never hurts but it's your baby. Your baby.
8. Schedules can work wonders after a few weeks!! Don't feel guilty about baby's sleep taking a certain amount of priority, but it is good to be flexible, small babies can nap just great in their carseats while out and about, and let me tell you, you'll want to get out a little. :)
Ok so unless I think of anything to add, oh WAIT
9. Tinkle before nursing, gets the bladder out of the way so it helps the uterus return to normal size easier when nursing stimulates contractions.
10. After you're home, make sure " help" means helping YOU in whatever YOU may need, picking up some random thing at the store, bringing you food, holding the baby while you nap or soak, doing a load of laundry, or dishes even just keeping you company while you nurse for hours. :) I remember hearing a story of a woman who's mom in law came and held her baby all day so that the mother could clean the house. Nice, so you've been incubating this baby for 9 months and suddenly it's doing you a favor to not get the hold this long awaited bundle and clean instead....( this is NOT my story... because you all know.. I don't hate cleaning. :))
So that's my advice, you've been warned. ;)
The big 4-0
Let me just say that, I have a fairly candid dr/patient relationship with my OB. I've not spared any details as you can imagine. So when she walked in the room and saw me sitting there in my blue sheet (with some sort of look of my face apparently), as she's closing the door she just starts laughing, she knows I did not want to make that appointment. :) I told the nurse I'm not expecting much progress although I did have tons of contractions yesterday but they subsided once I laid down for bed. I told my dr I even cleaned the van inside and out and installed the car seat. I'm not NOT laboring for lack of trying. She said I was crazy. Crazy OCD I admit! :) SO... I weigh 162. I am measuring 37. Two weeks ago I was measuring 38 so a little dropage. My cervix is 10 feet long ;) and I'm dilated to 1 and... a half. Even the dr was saying something to the effect of man, nothing's happening. I said yep all at once or nothing it seems with me. She told me, well I'm on call on Friday, so if you haven't had the baby by then, we'll break your water and start pitocin. Que the HALLELUJAHs! 7:30 Friday morning. Unless something happens before then, it's great to have a definite end in sight!!
We'll probably keep visitors to a minimum with all the crotch soaking, mammary flashing( I'm not a very good discreet nurser ;) ), and random sleep getting and not getting that's going to be going on. So hopefully my next post will be some flickr blogging of my squishy faced raisinette. Bring on the blobby belly and the smell of Tucks.
We'll probably keep visitors to a minimum with all the crotch soaking, mammary flashing( I'm not a very good discreet nurser ;) ), and random sleep getting and not getting that's going to be going on. So hopefully my next post will be some flickr blogging of my squishy faced raisinette. Bring on the blobby belly and the smell of Tucks.
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