Bronchitis, Vomiting, Santa (almost), Florida / Thanksgiving, Disney World & Mastitis

BRONCHITIS

It has been a crazy two weeks. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving my throat started to hurt and I just knew I was getting sick. I got sicker by the day and by Sunday I was cough and blowing dark mucus (TMI?). Since we were about the leave town to visit my parents in Florida in a few days and I wasn’t sure when I would have time to go to my doctor I went to a local after hours clinic on Sunday afternoon. They were nice enough and gave me an antibiotic. The nurse practitioner I saw knew I was breastfeeding (I had Leland with me at the appointment) and assured me that the antibiotic was safe for him and would not cause any problems with breastfeeding.

The weekend before Thanksgiving was spent resting, packing, and trying to get better. I used the vaporizer, the netti pot sinus cleanse, gargled with warm water and salt, took hot showers - every home remedy I could think of. In my spare time, I was clearing Leland’s nose and praying he did not get sick too. My nose was so red I looked like Rudolph.

VOMITING

Monday before Thanksgiving I went back to work. Robert is a teacher and had the whole week off work, so Leland was home with him. Monday, just after lunch, Robert called and said Leland had thrown up. I only half believed him. I questioned him about how much and was it just a lot of spit up rather than actual throw up. By the time I got home from work Leland had thrown up a few more times and Robert had thrown up some too. (The smell of throw up makes Robert throw up). When I got in Robert and Leland were cuddled on the sofa with Leland asleep, both drenched in Leland’s throw up. Robert had changed both their clothes several times that afternoon, but after the last round Leland fell asleep and Robert did not want to disturb him.

I called the pediatrician on the way home and picked up some Pe.di.alyte. Once home, we bathed Leland and then I tried nursing him. He did great, but about an hour later he threw up again. I gave him two ounces of Pe.di.alyte and he fell asleep for the night.

SANTA (ALMOST)

Tuesday morning I was supposed to be at work again. And, at noon we had family photos scheduled at JC Penny for Christmas pictures and pictures with Santa. I wasn’t originally going to take Leland to see Santa as that’s not really when Christmas is all about. But the day we scheduled our Christmas pictures happened to be the day Santa would be at the studio so I figured it could be fun to get a traditional Santa picture for Leland’s first Christmas.

I gave Leland Pe.di.alyte and he held that down. Then I nursed him and he seemed to be fine. Still I decided to call in sick to work and to cancel our Christmas pictures so I could monitor Leland’s progress. I was hopeful it was just a little 12-hour stomach bug.

FLORIDA / THANKSGIVING

Since Leland seemed to be doing well and I had called into work, we decided to get an early start to Florida by late Tuesday morning. At this point I was still fighting a nasty case of bronchitis, but feeling a teeny bit better than I had over the weekend. Leland did great in the car for the first stretch. We made it about 200 miles and he slept the whole way. Then we stopped for a bite to eat. Since Leland had not vomited in 16+ hours I resumed his normal feeding schedule. But, not long later, he threw it all up! The second half our out trip to Florida was marked by hourly (approx) stops to change Leland’s wet clothes and to offer another 1-2 oz of Pe.di.alyte to keep him hydrated. I have to note that the odd thing about the stomach bug was that other than the vomiting Leland had no other symptoms, he was his usual happy self. We staying in touch with our pediatrician through this whole ordeal and he just said we had to ride it out and keep him hydrated.

We spent a lazy day Wednesday visiting with my parents. Leland continued to vomit on and off. He would be fine for a few feedings and then he would start throwing up again. We would start back with Pe.di.alyte and then transition to breast milk with no problems. Then he would throw up again. During this ordeal I was pumping to keep my milk supply up during the times Leland was not eating. I figured the upside to this mess was that I had increased my breast milk stash substantially.

Thursday morning – Thanksgiving – a light bulb went off. It had to be my antibiotic that was making Leland throw up. Nothing else made sense. I had considered it earlier in the week but didn’t think it was the answer. But by Thursday, it was the only thing left. Without access to my freezer stash at home, Leland spent Thanksgiving alternating between Pe.di.alyte and formula, neither which he was at all happy about. I figured 24 hours would be enough to get the antibiotic out of my system, and was able to successfully resume nursing at bedtime on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving morning I made pancakes with my dad. My dad makes the best pancakes. He doesn’t cook at all, but his pancakes are a rare specialty. Sadly my dad is suffering from unspecified dementia, with some Parkinson type symptoms. It’s getting harder for him to do simple tasks like make pancakes, so I am savoring every last tradition I have with him. We watched the parade and when over to a family friend’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. My parent’s loved showing off their newest grandbaby (he is grandbaby #10) to all of their friends and we had a really great time.

Friday morning Robert, Leland, and I ventured out to Toys R Us for some mid-morning black Friday shopping. We got a Fisher Price Jumperoo for $45 (Reg. $100) and a Fisher Price Space Saving High Chair for $30 (Reg. $60). Thankfully the store wasn’t too crazy and we got both items we wanted. Friday afternoon my Mom and I went shopping at the Coldwater Creek clearance center in Orlando. I was in desperate need of work clothes since I am still about 20 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. I spent about $170 on clothes and got 4 pairs of pants, 2 suit jackets, 3 t-shirts, 10 blouses / sweaters. Mornings will be so, so much easier now!

Friday also confirmed my suspicion about the antibiotic causing the vomiting. With it out of my system Leland did not throw up at all. That was the good news. The bad news – I had to dump 50 OUNCES OF BREAST MILK! I cried a little.

DISNEY WORLD

Saturday both Leland and I were feeling much better. We ventured out to spend the day at Epcot with my parents. I have always wanted to go to Epcot at Christmas and it was so beautiful. We skipped the stroller and just went for a front carrier and backpack. It worked great. Everyone pointed and commented on Leland in his little sunglasses. Soon after he was born I ordered baby sunglasses. I never go out without my sunglasses so why would I want to strain his eyes?

We had a relaxing day wandering and eating our way through the countries. We had churros is Mexico, pastries in Norway, roasted nuts in France, Bratwurst & soft pretzels in Germany, chocolates in Italy, and fish & chips in England. We would just get one of each item and split it. It was so much fun. In the past at Epcot we have gone to a different sit down restaurant each time. The sit down restaurants are nice, but you only get to experience one type of food. Eating / snacking our way through the countries was a lot more fun.

We were also able to see several shows and ride several rides. Epcot has several continuous movement rides and slow boat rides that were a lot of fun with Leland. He just rode in the carrier. His favorite was probably the Nemo ride because of all the music and digital effects. (Anything that looks like a TV screen fascinates him these days). We had a really great day overall. We left the park about 7 PM and we were all asleep by 9 PM.

MASTITIS

Sunday I woke up feeling awful. I was so tired and just ached all over. I assumed that spending the day at Epcot the day before had been harder on me than I had expected. I was burning up, drenched in sweat at church, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I was feeling nauseated and a bit dizzy too. Something just wasn’t right. After church, I took a nap while my mom and Robert packed the car. I had also noticed that my left breast was tender. Similar to being tender when I first wake up in the morning, but it did not go away with nursing. It got more painful as the day went on. I felt so awful, Robert drove the entire trip home. Thankfully Leland slept the entire way, waking only once to eat. Sunday night I assumed the breast tenderness was from so much pumping and that the exhaustion was from the busy trip. After all I had never made the trip before with an infant.

Monday, I barely dragged myself out of bed and to work. Honestly, if it weren’t for Leland I would have called in sick. But the thought of caring for him at home all day seemed more difficult than taking him to daycare and going to work. Thankfully I don’t have any scheduled court this week. By lunch Monday I realized there was a serious problem. My left breast was bright red and very swollen on one side. And it was so, so painful. I called my doctor and scheduled an appointment for Monday afternoon. As I had worried, it was Mastitis.

I started a new antibiotic Monday night praying it would not cause Leland to throw up. Thankfully, he is doing well. Unfortunately, the antibiotic caused me to have an excruciatingly bad headache. It felt like my brain had swelled to twice the size of my skull. I spent most of yesterday huddled in my office in the dark just waiting of the hours to pass so the antibiotic would get out of my system. When I got home last night, I nurse Leland and put him to bed early. I then got in bed by 8 PM.

Today I am feeling much better. I have stopped the antibiotic and am waiting to hear back from my doctor’s office about what I should do from here. It’s been an eventful first major holiday, with some stressful stuff and some really fun, memorable stuff. I will try to post some pictures soon. Thanks for hanging in there with me through this really long post. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Photo Update

Here are some recent photos of my little man:

Teething?

Sleeping on Daddy

 In his nightgown

Ready to Go!



One Year Ago...

One year ago today, Leland was transferred into my womb. He was one of five embryos frozen in 2002. All five embryos were unfrozen, but only three survived the thaw and were transferred. We are so thankful that God blessed us with Leland. I am in awe of God’s plan for my life. To know from the beginning of time God picked Leland to be my son. Simply amazing.

In honor of this wonderful milestone I thought I would share our special song I sing to Leland. I wrote him this song when he was a few weeks old. It has the same tune and shares some words with a song I sung during college:

"I Prayed For You – Leland’s Song"

I prayed for you

Even then I believe I knew

The joys I’d share with my Leland

His whole life through

You came to me

Open arms were waiting for you

And each day I happily say

I prayed for you

This is also one year from when Aaron and Jennifer where blessed with the transfer of their twins. (We were at the NEDC the same day). And, today is also the transfer day for Kristine if you’d like to stop by her blog and share some well wishes.

10 Step Fertility Action Plan

I was sitting in the doctor’s office this week. I looked down and saw across the top of a magazine “Your 10 Step Fertility Action Plan”. I knew it was pointless, but I opened it anyway. So, here’s some fertility advice ladies:

1.  Give up vices. (caffeine, tobacco, etc.)

2. Get your home ready.

3. Exercise.

4. Go organic.

5. Eat good fats…

So the list went on, but I stopped reading. Really? These will solve your fertility problems? They are good, healthy lifestyle changes, but fertility solutions they are not. Maybe it is just to empower those ladies who have been trying to get pregnant for 2-3 months with no success. Either way, had I written a 10 Step Fertility Action Plan this is what it would say:

1. Save up $12K. (our total EA cost)

2. Locate and select EA program.

3. Complete home study.

4. Lose weight. (to offset fertility drug weight gain)

5. HSG

6. Practice abdominal injections. (lupron)

7. Become friendly with the u/s “wand”.

8. Insert the pill where? (estrace)

9. FET

10. Practice intramuscular injections. (progesterone)

But I guess this wouldn’t make for a good magazine article…

Petition for (Embryo) Adoption

We have filed our Petition for Adoption. Say what? Yep, in Georgia there is a relatively new law (2009) called the Option of Adoption Act that allows (but doesn’t require) embryo adoption parents to file a Petition for Adoption in Superior Court. (Here is the STATUTE if you’d like to read it - the new law is under Section 2).

The law itself has the policy implication of attributing life to unborn children. Because of this, when the law pass in 2009, there was a lot of pro-choice backlash claiming that the law was just a pro-life attempt to give rights to unborn children. Either way, in Georgia embryo adoptions are not simply a transfer of property anymore as we can now legally adopt embryos. The law even allows for the Petition for Adoption to be filed and finalized prior to the birth of the child. Here is an ARTICLE from the Christian Examiner about the law.

In addition to the benefits of recognizing my child as more than just an item of property transferred from our donors to us, the law offers one more legal protection to solidify us as Leland’s parents. It also provides an Order of Adoption which can be submitted to the IRS to document the adoption for purposes of the Adoption Tax Credit. I do want to note that there is some disagreement about whether or not an embryo adoption qualifies for the Adoption Tax Credit even with the Georgia law to support it. (If you are into technical legal reading, check out this LAW REVIEW ARTICLE). But, we’re willing to take the risk and see if the IRS will approve it.

Our petition was officially filed yesterday. We have a court date on December 1^st and hopefully it will be finalized on that day. And, on a final note, if any of you Georgia mamas want more info or help with this, let me know.

4 Months

Leland is 4 months today and still just a little peanut. We had his four month check-up yesterday. He is 24 inches and weighs 11 lbs. 13 oz. He has only gained 4 oz. in the last month, but is growing taller by the day. His weight is at the 2^nd percentile & his high is at the 17^th percentile. At least he is on the charts. As I expected, our doctor wants us to start solids right away. I told him Leland was not ready. The doctor assured us he would be ready within the next two weeks. We can discuss this at his six month visit, but for now I’m committed to 100% breast milk.

Leland has really discovered toys in the past week or so. Last week he stayed home with his daddy on Thursday and Friday. They played all day. He loves the Oball that I bought him. He tries to put it in his mouth and ends up licking the inner side with his tongue. I have added a Lamaze toy to his car seat and he really enjoys pulling on some of the rings to make the rattle jingle. I went back and forth about adding a toy to his car seat, with the safety concerns and all. Ultimately, I decided to pick a soft toy. He just need something to entertain him during our 2 hour round trip commute each day. He still loves his playmat and looking at his mobile, hung over his changing table.

Leland still has not rolled over again. He did it twice that one day and hasn’t done it again. He is getting better head and neck control. Last Sunday I caught myself carrying him on my hip like a “big baby” rather than my shoulder or in the crook of my arm like a newborn. It made me really sad the moment I realized this. It’s the little things that show how much he is growing and developing. Also this past week, Leland has really found his voice. He is generally a rather quiet baby unless he is hungry or upset about being in his car seat. Now, he is cooing and babbling away. He is also practicing a fake cry. He will “cry” while we are changing his diaper. But we know it’s not a real cry because he has a big, wide smile on his face as he checks out his mobile.

Another recent first – his first tub poop! It happened last week in his bath bucket. First there was a loud noise and then big bubble. Gas we though and even giggled a little. Then, poop everywhere. Luckily it was a night Robert was home. I moved Leland to the sink to complete his bath / rise the poop off. And Robert washed out the bath bucket. Moments like these are so memorable and even a little funny when you look back on them. It makes me think of when Leland was only about 3 weeks old and Robert was changing his diaper. He lifted his bum to wipe and more poop come shooting out across the changing table and onto the nearby bookshelf. This of course was at about 3AM. Projective poop is only funny in hindsight.  

We are getting very excited about our first Thanksgiving and Christmas with Leland. I know it will come and go so quickly. We are planning a trip to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. It will be our second road trip and actually our third overnight trip. Next week we are going to a conference. Well I have a conference, and Robert is taking off work so he and Leland can tag along. It should be fun and a good chance for a first swim in the hotel pool.

I'll post some new photos soon!