And just like that...

...the porn star boobs are gone. It was fun while it lasted. Maybe one day we will meet again.

2 Months

My baby is 2 months old and has grown so much both physically and emotionally this past month. She now weighs in at a whopping 12 pounds 3 ounces and is 22 inches long! This formula has really put some meat on her bones! A little bit too much I am afraid, as she gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks. I was a little bit concerned that I was feeding her too much because even though she is only eating about 3.5 ounces, she wanted to eat every 2 hours or even less sometimes during the day. The doc says I need to space out her feedings a little bit more and that she should be eating about 4 ounces every 3-4 hours. This will probably be a challenge since shes used to snaking all day long now and when she is hungry she does not like to wait.

She is so alert now, she smiles all the time, and is starting to make a few little noises here and there. She looks around a lot more and seems to be more aware of her surroundings. When I put her in her swing, she actually looks at the animals going around on the mobile. She is really good at holding her head up and is starting to really try to push her head and body up during tummy time. She is starting to move all around in her crib. I put her down with her head towards the left side of her crib with her arms and legs swaddled tight, and when I go in to get her, she has usually turned at least 90 degrees with her head facing the back or even towards the back right corner, and she usually has scooted herself further towards the right side of the crib, all while staying swaddled! I don't know how she does it! She is also up to sleeping for 5 hours for the first stretch, Thank God, and then usually sleeps for another 3 hours, eats, back down about 3 more hours finally getting up for the day around 8-9.

As far as I go, I am feeling good. The engorgement has gone down somewhat though I'm still leaking a bit. How long till it dries up Nikki? My wound seems to be healing up nicely. I'm not really in any pain anymore so I'm happy about that. I also dropped about 4 of the 8 pounds I was holding onto while breastfeeding which was a nice surprise so now I have 4 pounds left to go till my lowest pre-pregnancy weight! On a bad note, only about 3 weeks left till I go back to work :(

Packing up my Pump

Thursday morning I went to the ER bright and early to have the procedure done. I was taken back into a room in the ER to wait for my turn with the surgeon. My mother in law was home with the baby so I took advantage of the alone time to take a little nap. The surgeon came in a gave me a quick overview of how things were going to go, He said they would put me under general anesthesia because it would be very painful under just a local. There would be a small incision and then he would drain out the puss or whatever else was in there. The wound would then be packed allowing it to heal from the inside out. The whole thing would take about 10 minutes. He also said I would have to quit breastfeeding because it would be possible for milk to come out the hole. I was emotionally prepared for this but not physically as I was going to have to stop cold turkey. Thet took me to the OR around noon, and when I woke up I was in a little bit of pain but already felt relief from the abscess being removed. I went home a couple hours later.

That night was rough. My boobs got rediculously engorged and were huge and hard as rocks. I think the pain from the engrgement was probably worse than the pain from the surgery. I tried to hand express just a little bit of milk every couple of hours to try to soften them up a little, and I also had some pain meds which helped a little bit. Friday morning I had a follow up visit with the surgeon and he said everything looked great. He showed Jason the process of packing and unpacking the wound because he is going to be the one taking care of me. I bought some Sudafed which in theory is supposed to help dry up my milk, and a head of cabbage which is also supposed to help. Last night Jason unpacked me so I could take a shower and that was the first time I actually looked at it and let me tell you, its pretty gross. Its about a one inch incision, but the cavity is about 2 inches deep and is hollow. Well it was until it started filling up with breastmilk. GROSS!

Today I feel a little bit better. My boobs are still engorged but are starting to feel a little bit softer and the pain is bearable. I am quite the site too see though. I have the patch over the incision, followed by a diaper to absorb the ooze, a cabbage leaf over each boob all topped with a sports bra! Hey, whatever works!

Mirena, mastitis, and more

Tuesday I had my appointment for IUD insertion and I finally decided on the mirena. I really liked the idea of hassle free birth control and no periods at the same time! The insertion process was a breeze. One big cramp as it was going in and a little bit of spotting that day and that was it. I don't feel a thing! The doctor says to expect some spotting for the first couple of months while it regulates so we shall see.

While I was there I had her look at my breast which was still plugged up despite being on antibiotics for 4 days and was getting more and more painful. She said it felt large, about the size of a golf ball, and sent me to have an ultrasound right away. The doctor at the hospital took one look at the ultrasound and said, "I could stick a needle in this and try to drain it but I don't think that will work. Rather than put you through two procedures I recommend having this surgically drained right away." I had a feeling this was going to be the outcome and to be honest I was just happy to finally get some relief soon whichever means necessary. I got a call from my doctor letting me know she had spoken to the surgeon and instructed me to go to the ER tomorrow morning and the surgeon would squeeze me in. I am a little nervous about having surgery even though it is such a minor procedure and a little mad that the first doctor I saw a week ago just brushed it off as nothing because I feel like if she would have given me antibiotics then they may have had a chance to work. But it is what it is now and at this point I just want to feel better.

Catching Up

I know, I have been a bad blogger lately. Truth is, I haven't had time to do much of anything lately.

First, I had my 6 week postpartum exam. Everything looks ok, though I am not completely healed as of yet in the spots that I tore. The doctor gave me a prescription for an estrogen cream which seems to be helping. I still have about 5-7 pounds left to lose. I bought the workout video "30 Day Shred." I have done it once. Yea, good luck getting results like that! We also spoke contraception, and I think I will be getting the mirena IUD. It is good for up to 5 years, you can have it removed anytime when you are ready to get pregnant again, and best of all you usually have no periods while on it! I have not missed Aunt Flo since she has been away. I will go back in 2 weeks too have it placed and by then I should be completely healed.

Kylie had her first trip to the beach! Jason's uncle got married on Ft. Lauderdale beach and some of his family would be in town so we decided to get a hotel down on the beach and spend a few days on a staycation. We had some vouchers from hotels.com that we needed to use so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity. Everyone was staying in Lauderdale by the Sea, so we expected the hotel to be older, but when we got there we were in for a big surprise. We went up to our room and it reeked like smoke. The carpet seemed dirty, the tile in the bathroom was black, and the tub was peeling! I didn't want to touch anything much less sleep there. We went back downstairs and got another room. This one was much better, BUT it was missing the kitchenette and we needed the fridge for Kylie's milk. So back downstairs we went. The receptionist searched and searched for a room when finally he tried to send us back up to the first room saying they could fumigate it with air fresheners to take away the smell. Umm, no thanks, not with a 6 week old baby! We left and went to the hotel where his uncle was staying and luckily got the last room there. It was like night and day here. So clean, and best of all we were right there with everyone else. We had a great week, hanging out on the beach or at the pool during the day and going out to dinner with the family at night. I got to meet some of Jason's out of town family members that I had never met before and Kylie got to meet her second cousins, twins Avery and Alexa. By the end of the trip, I was exhausted and ready to go home. Kylie is really too young for this type of thing, but at the same time it was nice to get away and get out of the house.

Kylie smiled for the first time! Jason was able to catch a smile on camera and every time she does it, it just makes our day. She is becoming much more alert every day. But, she also starting spitting up a lot, and was extremely fussy at times. She would cry like she was in pain, sometimes for hours upon hours, and spitting up and soaking her clothes. I suspected reflux, so we went to the pediatrician and he seemed to agree with me. Since we don't know for sure, there is a process of elimination we have to go through to see if she improves. After feedings we have to keep her upright for 20-30 minutes which is a challenge especially in the middle of the night. We had to switch her formula to a thicker one made for reflux because the consistency of it makes it harder to come back up. The doctor recommended alternating between bottles of formula and breast milk so she could continue to get the benefits from the breast milk. Since then, Kylie has improved tremendously, although we had to completely cut out the breast milk for now because she just spits it up and then cries in pain after. I am continuing pumping for now with the hopes that we can slowly reintroduce breast milk mixed in with the formula and eventually switch her completely back over. I have to call the doctor back next week to let him know how she is doing and he will advise us on where to go form there. She is starting to sleep a little bit better at night too, sleeping sometimes for 4 hours straight. She weighs 10 pounds 4 ounces now, and is growing out of all her newborn clothes.

I think that brings us up to date! I only have 4 more weeks to go before I have to go back to work, and I am not really looking forward to it!