One Month old and Mastitis!!!

Hello all!

My little sweet pea turned a month old on the 16th! It doesnt seem possible that over a month has passed! Hadley is such a good baby. She loves to cuddle and be held, but has no problem going down at night. She is still sleeping with me, but we plan to make the big move to the bassinet (in the pack-n-play) next to the bed, next week. I am sure this will be harder on me than her... She probably wont even notice! haha!

She is such a 'talker'! I love it so much when she starts ohhh and aweing! She goes on and on, especially when we are going to bed at night! She is sleeping a little less, but still most of the day. Her neck muscles are getting so strong! She now holding her head up for a longer and longer staring at me! :) Her baby acne is starting to clear up. It got so bad at about 3 weeks old. I hope it goes away soon. The doctor said that its completely normal for her age... We have her 1 month checkup on Wednesday! I am so excited to see how big she has gotten! She is growing so fast! Part of me wants her to slow down!

In other news...

I am writing this from my bed as I am recovering from MASTITIS!!! Thats right, after all of my breastfeeding struggles now this! Friday and Saturday I have honesly never felt so sick in my life! I went into the doctors Friday evening after my fever hit 103 F and it was pretty clear from all of my symtoms and the GIANT lumps in my right breast that I had Mastitis... For those of you who are not familer with this delightful term. Mastitis is an infection of the breast, it is also known as a 'milk fever'! It basically mimic the flu, plus severe breast pain in the infected breast. It came on fast and furios! I got 2 presciptions, one for the infection and fever, and one for the pain (yes its that bad!) After 48 hours of medication I actually got out of bed and showered today! I will be on meds for the next 5 days and hopefully it will go away! They are not sure what causes it, guess I am just 'that lucky'!!!

Well that is all for now. I am leaving Thursday to go be with Graham after 2 1/2 LONG weeks apart! I cant wait to see him, and I know he is so excited for us all to be together again... I think being away was a lot harder now that Hadley is here. :(

Hope everyone has a great week!

It may be a month before I update again because I am not taking the computer with me :(

So maybe I should say, I hope everyone has a great month!

Love

Jamie & Hadley

Sneak Preview of Newborn Pics

We had these done a week ago! We are very happy with how they turned out! :)

http://forevercapturedphotography.com/blog/?p=1237


Jamie, Graham, and Hadley

Breastfeeding (warning maybe TMI)

SO! I am sorry if people don't want to read about my struggles with breastfeeding, or my nipples, but I figured that venting/mom discussions is what this blog has become so here I go...

Before Hadley was born I was on the fence about breastfeeding. I knew that its "whats best" but I thought I would struggle with the modesty, or lack there of, in it all. Turns out after childbirth those fears all vanished. I actually wanted to breastfeed. The first 2 days (in the hospital) I BF. It was so painful! Nurses helped with the 'latching' but on day three I said forget it! My nipples were raw, blistered, and bleeding! I went to see a lactation consultate but I just cried anytime I tried to feed her. So I started pumping. We then learned that I was not supplying enough for her to eat, which explained why she was so mad, and wanting to eat ALL the time! The lactation nurse said to just pump for a few days to let my nipples heal, and I started a prescription to help my milk supply.
Hadley will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and I have not been able to BF since then. She is on breast milk only which is whats important, but its been so frustrating! I pump every 3-4 hours and have continued to take my prescription, but I still feel like a failure to some extent. I really never thought I would want to BF but now that I cant, its like I failed? I know that is crazy, but just how I feel. I spoke to the lactation nurse again yesterday and I think I will try a nipple shield, but who knows how that will go. I just want whats best for my little girl. As long as she is getting the nutrients that she needs I will be happy.
Its amazing that even though she is getting breast milk, and only breast milk, I still get the guilt trip from some people about her not actually Breastfeeding? I don't understand it and it makes me furious, but I guess everyone has an opinion!!! I just wish the wouldn't share it with me if its negative!

Ok, I am done. If any Mom's have any suggestions, I will happily take them.

Thanks for listening,

Jamie

Birth Story... Finally :)

So I am back... Finally! I never thought I would have so little time to keep up with my Blog! But anyway, lots of people have asked about Hadley's birth/my labor, so here it goes...

December 15th- I thought this day was going to come and go with no baby... Oh I was wrong! It was a pretty normal day. In the morning I hung around the house while G was out running a few errands. At 2 I had a dentist appointment which lasted FOREVER! Hadley was NOT happy about me laying in the chair and them prying around in my mouth! She kicked, and kicked the entire time. When I got home Graham and I played cards for a bit. I wasn't feeling well so I decided to take a nap around 5. At 5:30 I woke up with my first set of contractions... Not horrible, but defiantly not pleasant! I went upstairs and told G that I "may" be having contractions? He was like ok, Ill shave and get ready "just in case"! OMG! 8 minutes later I had another set!yelling downstairs... LETS GO!!! It was defiantly happening!!! 7-8 minutes later I could walk, talk, or breathe!!!! I was starting to panic about the pain! Thank goodness we only live a mile and a half from the hospital!
I was so unprepared at how fast it came... The 'books' all say that labor is suppose start with contractions slowly, every 15-20 minutes and get closer, and stronger... Well in the 15 minutes of starting contractions mine went from every 8 minutes, to every 2-3 minutes by the time we got to the hospital...
We skipped triage and went start to labor and delivery. I was practically undressing at the check in. I was sweating and in so much pain!!! By the time they checked me I was 6 CM with contractions 2-3 minutes apart. I honestly thought I was dying! :( It was the most painful thing I have every experienced in my life. It felt like my insides were being ripped out. I was crying and begging for drugs!!! Around 8 (2 1/2 hours after labor started) I FINALLY got my epidural!!! What a life saver. I would have given anything in those two & 1/2 hours to get those drugs! When they finally kicked in I was so relieved! Our nurse, watching the machine even commented "thank goodness you have an epidural, your contractions are coming every 30-45 seconds and are lasting 2 minutes!!!

After my epidural!!!


They checked me again around 10 and I was 8 cm... At 12:30 they broke my water and said it would be 2 hours or so before I would need to push... Well 20 minutes later I begged them to check me again because i was sure she was coming!!! At 1 they checked me and I was 10 CM and was READY to push!!! They were pretty shocked! So the nurse me and G starting pushing!!! And 52 minutes later at 2:07 am, December 16th, my beautiful baby girl was here!

First pics...


In Love



Hadley and Daddy



Mommy and Hadley



Hadley Lynd Dearle - Perfect! :)



Things that surprised me were: the pain- I couldn't believe how horrible it was; How fast it came-I really thought that I would go slower, that I would have time to 'adjust' to the pain; Modesty- I am a very modest person and before labor I always said I didn't want G seeing 'things' and that I wanted to be covered, etc... Well in the heat of the moment, I couldn't care less who saw what!!! haha!; Getting sick- I never expected to throw up during labor! Graham said this was the worst part for him, and it certainly wasn't pleasant for me. Puking was something i expected and puking while laying down is no easy feat!!! G was a trooper holding my pale!haha!

Well thats our story... So happy to have her here with us. She is such a good baby. We are so in love with her.

I will try to keep up with this blog... And post lots of pictures!

Love
Jamie, Graham, and Hadley