March 2007 Archives

Weight: 120 lbs
Waist: 33.5 inches

Aches & pains: upper & lower back, hips and knees.

This week was a terrible week. I picked up a viral infection somewhere and it wiped me out. On Tuesday, I dropped Mike off at the airport and then went up to the studio to check in with Rachele and take care of a few details for her. After the long evening of fixing dinner and getting Finnegan to bed, I fell asleep at 7:30 p.m. for the night. However, I noticed that my right ankle and knees were really aching and I didn't know why.

That night I woke up drenched in sweat and thought it was just part of the pregnancy process, but unfortunately it was not. On Wednesday I had the pleasure of experiencing nausea and diarrhea all day and of course had not appetite. As the day wore on I got worse and worse. When Doug came home from work, I told him he was on his own for dinner and I went to bed around 7:00 p.m.

I kept using the heating pad to ease my muscle aches and taking tylenol as well as really hot showers in the middle of the night when the pain woke me up. Nothing worked.

On Thursday, I was so bad by 3:00 p.m. I called Doug and asked him to take me to the hospital. We got to the emergency room around 5:00 p.m. and was finally seen by a doctor at 6:00 p.m. After several blood tests and examinations, it was determined that I had a viral infection or common cold. But, this one was especially virulent as it caused dehydration, low white blood cell count and extreme body aches. Yup, that's what I had and the doc said it lasts for seven days. Good Lord! I was on day three.

They treated me with a couple of IVs and some vicoden for the pain and I was released around 9:00 p.m. We went home and I fell exhausted in my bed, but slept relatively painfree with the aid of medication.

I lived on the couch until Sunday, when the symptoms started to dissipate. It was not fun. I didn't eat for about five days and I had to take care of Elijah the whole time. I really felt like I needed to have a nurse around to help me, but that wasn't possible. Unfortunately, in my delirium I didn't notice that Elijah was diuretic the whole time that I was, but at least he didn't get dehydrated as I nursed him faithfully the whole time I was sick.

Today was Elijah's one month check up and I told the doctor all that had happened this week and she felt so bad for me. But, she said that I had done a really good job taking care of Elijah because he had gained weight and that his diaper rash was not too bad and his yeast infection in his mouth was all gone.

Whew! We made it through a tough week, I just hope that we don't have to go to the hospital for a long while.

Weight: 134 lbs
Waist: 33.5 inches

Aches and pains: headaches, incision pain and itching due to healing, aching back and hips. My knees are starting to buckle from time to time and I feel wobbly on my feet.

This week is much better than last. I feel like I have a lot more energy and I really want to go out and do some things.

Mike took me to the studio to drop off some things and to check in with Rachele, but when we got back I was pretty tired and needed a long nap.

Naps are a daily necessity. I keep waking up in the middle of the night because Finnegan comes down to our bedroom around 4:00 a.m. and wants to sleep with us.
It takes about two hours to take care of him and then Elijah that when the alarm clock rings at 7:00 a.m. I'm exhausted.

Elijah is doing really well, except for a shared yeast infection that we both have. So, we are taking medication to treat it. He has a lot of white spots on his tongue and on the inside of his mouth. I have itchy, burning nipples that really hurt when he's nursing. Just when I thought things were getting better, thrush comes along. We'll get over it.

Weight: 125.4 pounds
Waist: 35 inches

Aches & pains: legs, feet and back hurt and I have a headache most of the time. The abdominal pain is subsiding, but I'm still a slow mover. All the stitches are gone and it's a great relief as my skin is very tender.

This week has been one of taking lots of naps and feeding Elijah as much as possible.
Breastfeeding is well established and he has gained nine ounces this week. He's not back to his birth weight yet, but he should be by next week.

We went for his two-week well-baby appointment and the doctor said he is doing very well. He's not jaundiced anymore and he's got quite an appetite. He sleeps for about three and a half hours between feedings at night which makes for a pretty good night's sleep. When Finnegan was his age, he would nurse every 60-90 minutes because I just wasn't producing enough milk for him due to my severe anemia. It was pretty rough back then. This time however, we were prepared for the worst and luckily things have been progressing fairly well.

Today, I Mike drove me to the studio because I just don't feel up for going any long distances by myself. I was able to meet with Rachele and discuss some business things, drop off some materials and then come back home. It was nice to get out of the house for a little while, but I enjoyed coming back home to Elijah.

Finnegan is doing better. He has been trying to get attention by getting into the baby's chair, sucking on his pacifier, laying on his blankets and taking his toys, but we know that it's all part of the transition to being a big brother. He's learning to be gentle with Elijah and every day he kisses him good night and when he comes home. He's a good boy. We are becoming familiar with "time outs" which are pretty effective.

As for me, I've been experiencing night sweats and lots of random abdominal pains, but it's managable. The hardest thing for me, is that I miss having Finnegan in the bed with me. I miss waking up to his beautiful smiling face in the morning. I love the feel of his soft hands around my neck and having him curl up next to me to stay warm. I don't like having him on a different floor from my bedroom, but I know that he needs to be in his own room right now. Sometimes I cry at night because I miss him.

Last night I put Finnegan to bed. We read a couple of books and then I began to sing to him. As soon as he heard my voice he grabbed face between his hands and stared into my eyes. His whole face lit up and he smiled and smiled at me. I started to cry and almost stopped singing because I was so happy that he was enjoying being with me. I sang several songs to him while he cuddled with me and I felt so happy to be with him. After a while, I told him good night and to have sweet dreams. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Taking care of Elijah is a full-time job, but fortunately he's a good baby and Finnegan is a good boy too. I just can't wait until Elijah is big enough for all of us to sleep in the same bed and wake up in the morning to their little smiling faces and tossled golden hair. It's the best way to start your day.

Waist: 37.5 inches
Weight: 138 lbs

Aches & Pains: back spasms, abdominal incision pain, upper back and neck

Recap since Thursday: Was discharged from the hospital on Friday and I was glad to get home, except for the lack of pain killers. Once the pain killer wore off I started experiencing all new levels of pain. Thus the back spasms and stomach muscle contractions started to wear on me.

After getting settled onto the house, I managed to climb the stairs and ate a wonderful chicken dinner that Monica had prepared for us. I was pretty tired so I went back down stairs after the meal. I've been camping out on the couch in the TV room as it is centrally located to the bathroom and bedroom. I'm trying to keep all of my necessities within arm's reach.

I tried to keep ahead of the pain cycle by taking tylenol, but it didn't work very well. With the use of some lidocaine pain patches on my back and a heating pad, I was able to sleep through the night with waking once to feed Elijah.

Saturday: Waking up wasn't too awful. I took a hot shower and ate some breakfast and felt well enough for Doug, Finn and Monica to go out for a couple of hours. Of course after they left, Elijah started crying and wouldn't settle down. He was hungry and not getting enough milk. My nipples were in such bad shape with blisters and callouses on them that he couldn't get enough to eat, so I had to give him some formula and he ate so much of it. But, at least he settled down and took a long nap.

12:30 I felt an enormous swelling in my breasts and yes the Milk Maid had arrived in full force! I was engorged and immediatel retreated to the shower for hot compresses and massaging to remedy the situation. Afterwards, I fed Elijah, but my breasts were so huge he could hardly latch on. Once he did get a good latch he drank heartily, but not enough to ease my pain.

Doug came home around 2:00 p.m. and he was able to watch the baby while I took another hot bath to ease my pain. It didn't really work and Doug gave me Tylenol to ease my pain. It took the edge off, but I had a terribly painful evening and a long, long night. Eli woke up often to eat and I screamed several times when putting him on the breast. I got a few hours sleep, but was not rested

Sunday: I woke up to excruciating pain. I felt pain everywhere. In my back, legs, knees, hands were tingling and the abdominal pain was very bad. I had forgotten to take the Ibuprophen during the night and I was paying for it. Even my once luxurious long hot bath didn't help me at all. Doug had to come and rescue me from the shower and assist me with getting dressed. I was so miserable that nothing worked to ease my pain. Finally more pain reliever and a heating pad took the edge off.

After a couple of hours I was able to rest and Doug left the house to take Finn to get a haircut. While he was gone I tried to get up and walk around to ease the abdominal pain, but my breasts were so engorged that I started to use the breast pump and take more meds. It didn't give me any relief because my nipples were so damaged from days of improper latching that I now had callouses, cracks and clogged ducts and the milk had no way of escaping.

I retreated to the bathroom for another hot shower and in my desperation I squeezed, massaged and tried to remove the blockages, but I was in so much pain. When Doug returned from his outing I asked him to immediately go rent a hospital grade breast pump in order for me to pump out the milk. He didn't think that it would help me, but he left anyway.

While he was gone, I tried using my regular pump and managed to remove about two ounces which did give me enough relief to get Elijah to latch on and drink more milk.
Finally, several tylenol eased my pain I was able to take a nap.

When I woke up about two hours later, Doug's errand of mercy was evident with the breast pump on the floor before me. I immediately pumped several ounces of milk and Elijah was able to start drinking and he did a really good job. Fortunately, the rest of the day went pretty well and I was feeling better.

Monday: Doug woke me up at 9:00 a.m. and I started to pump a bit and feed Elijah.
Doug brought me a great breakfast with some really good Chai tea and I was feeling better, but my breasts were sooo tender. Fortunately, they weren't rock hard and I was able to soften them up during a hot shower.

At 11:00 a.m. we left the house for the hospital to have my staples removed and to have Elijah's first well baby appointment. The staples were really bothering me because they pull on the skin and it hurts in about 20 different places all at once. Not to mention that they get caught on my clothing and pull even more. It's not fun.

Sally, my nurse, removed the staples and I felt immediate relief from the grabbing and pulling of the metal staples on my skin and I could start to relax. Then she started to examine Elijah.

Elijah was still jaundiced, but not enough for alarm so, she finished the examination and gave us some suggestions on how to improve his condition. More feedings and sit near a sunny window. Sitting by the sunny window I could definitely do, but the increased feedings, that would be a challenge.

I told Sally about all of my feeding challenges and my actions to remedy the situation. And guess what? I was doing all the wrong things.

1. Extra pumping only increases your milk supply and encourages further engourgement. Remedy: increase feedings to 10-12 per day.

2. Do not try to remove blockages on the nipple as it further damages the skin.
Remedy: leave breast milk on the nipples as the white blood cells help speed healing and use lots of lanolin.

3. Engourgement remediation is most successful with hot packs before feeding, massage during feeding, and cold packs after feeding. And once again lots of feedings helps to balance the milk production.

4. Pain reliever: ibuprophen helps to reduce pain and swelling of breasts so use it.
She also asked me how much pain killer I was using and I told her that I was not using any. She asked me why not and I told her that the pain from the abdominal gas was too much for me to bear so, I stopped the day I left the hospital.

5. Sleep. Sally said that I needed to take a nap every day to keep up my strength and personal happiness. Yeah! Doctors orders.

Sally told me to use a lower dose of percacet and that the abdominal pain would not be so great. Also, regular use of pain reliever and ibuprophen would ease my pain.

Armed with all that advice and helpful tid bits, Doug escorted me home and the rest of the day went much better. I felt better because I was wearing regular clothes and the pain management was going well and Elijah was nursing very well. I tried to move around more and was feeling better.

Doug was anxious to get out of the house, so he and Monica went on a bike ride for a couple of hours of sightseeing in Seattle and Elijah slept in the warm glow of reflected sunlight for about three hours. During that time, I made a few business phone calls and spoke with my mother and brother. I should have taken a nap, but I really wanted to get some things done and I was very tired when everyone returned home.

Time with Finnegan: Since I was feeling better, I met Finnegan at the door when he came home from school and he was so happy to see me that he immediately squealed, "Mommy, ommy, ommy!" It was the greatest thing in the world for me to hear. He threw his arms up for me to carry him, but I couldn't do it. So I stooped down and gave him a big hug. His cheerful expressions and happy little face almost made me cry because I have missed his touch for so many days.

We took advantage of the moment and played with playdoh at the table while he ate dinner and I ate some really good leftovers. Unfortunately, at 7:30 p.m. I was exhausted and needed to take a nap. I fed Eli and snuggled into a warm bed and slept until 9:00 p.m.

I woke up because I could hear Finnegan at my door crying for my attention and I came out to join him. He was so beautiful, running around in his footed pajamas with his teddy bear in his arms. I sat down on the couch and we hugged and kissed and snuggled until he felt better. I kept telling him that I loved him and that he was a wonderful big brother. We talked about Eli and named all of his little parts and Finnegan showered me with lots of affection which I just loved.

In those moments my heart was so filled with joy. It was heaven to sit on the couch wrapped in the arms of my little boy and all the pain and agony of the previous days was wiped from my mind as we enjoyed the simple pleasure of being together.

Elijah was born at 11:40 a.m. Tuesday, February 27, 2007.
His vital statistics are:
Weight: 9 lbs 11.4 ounces,(no wonder I was so miserable)
Height: 20 inches
Head: 14.5 inches

Doug and I checked into Swedish Hospital in Ballard at 9:00 a.m. They prepped me for surgery and we were ready. Doug had his brand new Canon SD800 camera ready for the big event. I was ready, but a little scared.

There were so many things to consider; meet with the anesthesiologist, the OBGYN, the midwife, the OB nurses etc. Then they had to give me the spinal tap for anesthesia which took a little while because we had to discuss all the issues surrounding my herniated disks. Everything went really well.

Our OBGYN Dr. White was amazed at how big Elijah was, "He's huge. He'll be a football player!" All the staff was amazed at how big he was and also remarked that he was gorgeous. I was instantly relieved and could finally relax as the rest of the surgery progressed.

Doug was really great. As soon as Elijah was cleaned up he brought him over to me and I could finally see my little, or rather, big baby boy.

The OB said that all of my muscle tissue was is really great shape and that I didn't need a tummy tuck! So, there's hope of getting back down to my original size.

Things went pretty well after we got back to our room. Rachele took our first family photos with Eli and then some portraits of him alone. We were so happy to finally hold him in our arms.

My recovery for the next 30 hours was kind of rough. Recovering from abdominal surgery is not easy. I had a lot of pain, but I'm starting to feel better.

I'm pretty sure that I'll be going home on Friday the 2nd of March and Doug and I will spend the next couple of weeks getting to know our little boy.

Oh, Finnegan met Eli last night and he was a little shy at first. After some coaxing he held the baby in his arms and identifies all of his little parts, "nose, ears, mouth and eyes." He was very observant and very gentle with his little brother.