Finally an update

Tomorrow Baby A will be 4 weeks old. Hard to believe ain't it? What's harder to believe is that my maternity leave will be over in 6.5 weeks.

We're adjusting......I can handle all 3 for a few hours at a time if needed, but we still haven't gone anywhere further than 1 hour from our house. And even that trip we had to stop on the way home 'cause Baby A was hungry.

Am I the only one that sees traveling with an infant who is breastfeeding as a disadvantage? Seriously here....if she was bottle fed you can just keep driving and plop a bottle in her mouth...not so when breastfeeding. Well, guess I could but then I'd have to pump in the car and that seems just as annoying as stopping and feeding her straight from the boob.

I'm very surprised how well breastfeeding is going this time around. Seriously folks.....yeah we've got our latch on issues, but I actually seem to have a pretty good supply going. The only thing that has me worried is that she'll be up for 3-4 hours at a time (taking maybe 2-3 15 min cat naps in there) crying acting like she's hungry. I get her on the boob - which lasts just until letdown starts and then she pulls off and doesn't want it. Mostly does this to the right boob.....but will do it to the left as well. She does this about 3-4 nights a week.

I'm just afraid she's still hungry or has gas or something else weird is going on. We have her 1 mo check-up next week so I can ask then, but until then I'm trying not to worry as she's still having the recommended number of wet/dirty diapers a day.

Now I just need to start working on getting her days and nights in sync with the rest of the known world and all will be good. Having her sleep in her own bed at naps and night time would be nice too, but right now not having her awake for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night is all I'm asking for.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!

Day late.....but better late than never....plus his party isn't until this coming Saturday.

Can't believe the biddy boy is 2 already. It's only really hit me since A's birth how much of a big boy he really is.

LOVE YOU T-MAN!!

HOLY COW!!

Okay - embarassed to admit this but I started my pregnancy with Addison weighing 237lbs. By the time I was diagnoised as gestational diabetes I'd only gained 7lbs....244lbs. Well by the time I gave birth I was down to 233lbs. Now, I was not trying to lose weight, but I was strickly sticking to the diet so Addison would have less blood work done once she was born.

Well - now that most of the swelling is gone I decided to weigh myself this morning.......the scale read 211lbs!!! Yes!!! I thought I'd eventually weigh in around 225lbs....never did I dream of 211lbs.

I'm still sticking to the GD diet (have been horrible about checkin my blood sugar levels) as my hormone levels are still elevated as I'm breast feeding, but hopefully this will help me lose all this extra weight I've been carrying around the last 3 years. Anyhoo - my goal by the end of my maternity leave is 200lbs and by my birthday in March I want to be down to 180lbs....and eventually I'd love to be around 160lbs. This would put me about a size 12-14.

Cute Stories

T: The day of A's birth I couldn't have anything to eat until I could stop throwing up. Finally I was able to get a nice liquid dinner. K & T were there, and when the nurse came in with my meal he started clapping. It was the cutest dang thing and the nurse said she wished she'd get that kind of reception from all of her patients.

S: Informed me the day before A's delivery that he wanted to see her being born. I had to tell him that they only allow K in there, but he will come up with Grandma Sue later in the day to see her and me. Oh, and when I call A Addy I'm informed that her name is Addison, not Addy.

R: Kept asking her name, and when we'd tell him he'd repeat it and act like he got it.....but then 5 minutes later would ask again. He'd also would tell anyone he say that A was his baby.

Things I've learned you can do while breastfeeding

1. Goto the bathroom....this includes pulling my pants up and down and yes, even wiping myself
2. Getting T outa his crib...helps the side does go down
3. Playing WoW....hard to do one handed, but it can be done
4. Writing posts on my blog and a bb that I read
5. Along with #4 - answering emergency e-mails from work
6. Fixing a basic lunch for either myself or the kids or both
7. Reading a book, magazine, or other reading material
8. Trim the baby's finger nails
9. Pump one boob while the baby feeds on the other
10. Give/receive a hug from one of my boys


There's more, but sleep deprivation is making it hard to think. Now once I get my sling ordered all of this plus more will be a little easier.

Well - I survived.....

.....this weekend with out K. He left Friday morning at 5am to go race his R/C cars about 2.5-3hrs away for the whole weekend. He won't be back until this afternoon (Sunday) until 3 or 4pm. He didn't carpool with the other guys he went with just in case he needed to come home in an emergency so at least he was realistic about that aspect.

I should mention that S & R are at their other parents house, so that only left me, A and T this weekend. Grandma Sue and Poppie were great at taking the boys (S & T) on Friday afternoon, and yesterday Grandma Sue helped out for most of the day. She'll be over around 10am today and will head home once T's down for his nap.

Also helps that most of my swelling is gone in my feet, and my incision doesn't hurt as much (just down to the ibuprofen as needed). However, I'm in desperate need of sleep. Little Miss A has decided to be picky about which boob she wants, and when......apprently during the middle of the night the left boob just isn't good enough. Mom and K both asked me if they were different flavors or something.

Oh well - at least I survived without breaking down in tears, and it has been nice to have the bed all to myself (well A slept with me most of the time) for the last two nights.

1 week old

Yesterday we had A's 1 week check-up. Already back-up to birth weight which means Mommy's producing enough breast milk to get A fat & happy. She was down to 6lb 15oz when she left the hospital.

S, of course, is doing great with her and has stepped up to the plate to be an even better big brother to T. T is being surprisingy gentle with her, and only really gets upset when Mommy can't hold him. That's more to do with the incision pain than me holding A all the time.

Overall the first week has gone pretty good.

The smallest things that can make you happy

In my case....it's Addison not having that tarry poo....but cottage cheese poo.

For the uneducated....now that her poo looks like cottage cheese it means that the billirubin is out of her system and we won't need to go get blood work on Monday.

The details

Mom made it to our house at 5:20am, and we were off around 5:40am. Got to the hospital around 6:15am. Around 7:30am they had me walk over to the OR. Got my spinal and they got me situated before having Keith come in a little before 8am.



Took them a few good pushes on my belly to get her out, but out she did pop. She was bloody and blue - which kinad freaked me out, and I think that's why Keith had to leave. He felt sick to his stomach - and having very little sleep, no food, and only coffee probably didn't help either. The Nursery Nurse took her to get her warmed up and suctioned out, and they continued to put everything back and due the tubal. Most of the OR staff thought it was funny I thought at 7lb 8oz she was small......until my doc informed them that until her my smallest was 8lb 8oz.



I was back in my room at 8:45am, and as soon as I was comfortably in bed they brought her to me. Took her a few tries, but she latched on and wanted the boob. Unfortunately none of my kids latch on correctly, so we're working on that. For those that care we're using a nipple shield until the owies I have heal and we can wean her off of that.

Due to my gestational diabetes her blood sugar levels were low, but after 24hrs she was within normal and no more tests. And just so she wasn't out done by her brothers she decided she wanted to be jaundice as well, and spent a good 24 hrs under the lights. I got up every 2-2.5hrs to nurse her whether she was hungry or not, and after 24 hrs her levels went from a high 13 to a low 9. Only needed it under 12 to go home, but the lower the level was when we went home the less likely we'd have to come back in for more blood work on Monday.

I really need to send up something nice for the nursing staff at the hospital. They all were great, especially when she was under the lights and knew I just wanted someone to talk to. I'm thinking we're (aka my mom) gonna make up some cinnamon rolls, etc and take up there next week.

Almost forgot - the boys (all 3) were able to make it up to see me and Addison. We did it in shifts, and it worked out great. S & R are pretty excited to have a new sister, but T's still making up his mind. I do know he's not happy that mommy can't pick him up whenever he wants....but that's more because of the surgery not the fact that he has a baby sister.

Overall we're getting settled. It may take most of my maternity leave.....but we'll get there.

7lbs 8oz 19 inches 8:09am May 30th 2007