Like I said, the first 2 weeks were glorious. All Violet did was sleep. Then, she learned how to cry. She stopped sleeping, and started crying. She would eat, cry, and puke. And when I say puke, I don't mean spit up, I mean what looked like 10 ounces of projectile breast milk. James called the pediatricians office, and they said as long as it was just milk, not to worry about it. So, I just fed, comforted, cleaned up puke. All...day...long.
It wasn't long after that when I started feeling really icky. I felt nauseous, achey, and couldn't pull myself off the couch. I called my doctor and was prescribed antibiotics for a breast infection. Now not only was Violet puking every time I fed her, but feeding her was more painful than my labor was this time around. Not only that, but I didn't get my energy back for 5 or 6 days.
After having Lola, the easiest baby on the planet, this was miserable. Eventually I got over the infection, and finally she stopped barfing.
Fast forward three months, and things couldn't be better. The older girls have adjusted (mainly Lola. Isobel was in love from day one), mommy has adjusted, and baby is happy and healthy.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Postpartum Struggles
Violet's Story
So the last time I posted, Izzy was 3, and Lola was 2 months. My goodness, how time flies! Isobel is now 5 and starting Kindergarten in the fall. Lola is 2 and my little clone. We are also now a family of 5; Violet (3months) has since been added.
Here's the story of her arrival:
As with Lola, I had an uneventful pregnancy. In fact, I didn't even start showing until I was about 6 months pregnant. My due date was April 30th; the day my OB was scheduled to retire. We decided I would be induced on April 29th to ensure she was able to deliver Violet. Well that fell through, because I started having contractions on the morning of April 19th. They weren't bad, but I knew what they were. Since it was more than a week before my due date, I didn't have anything ready...ANYTHING. I didn't have a bag packed, I didn't have clothes washed, nothing. So I got up (it was about 2:30) and started pulling tags off of baby clothes to wash them (mind you, we hadn't planned on having another baby for a while, so I got rid of ALL 0-6 month clothing 9 months prior).
"What are you doing??" James asks
"I'm packing a bag!"
"What for???"
"The hospital!"
Well, the contractions subsided, so I returned to bed; only to have them start back up. So, I started packing again. Every time I got up, my contractions stopped, but I finished the bag and got the laundry started anyway. I decided to go to work, only to find that the other teachers in my classroom were gone and I was going to be alone all day. My boss was a little freaked out and tried to get one of the other teachers to bring her groups to my room to keep an eye on me, but never having had children herself, she panicked and I spent the day alone anyway.
I was scheduled to see my doctor for my regular check up that afternoon, so after work, I rushed home, finished the laundry, loaded the car, and waited for James to get home. My doctor wasn't ready to admit me, but didn't want to send me home since it was a bit of a drive. She sent me over to Labor and Delivery to have them keep an eye on me. Sure enough, in just an hour, I had gone from a 1.5 to a 4, and was admitted.
About an hour after being admitted, my doctor showed up to inform me that she wasn't on call and had been up all night performing emergency surgery; she wouldn't be delivering Violet. She left in tears, and had I not been in such shock, I probably would have cried as well.
Well, since we were unsure as to what would happen, we hadn't made arrangements for Lola. By this time, we are walking the halls, stopping every 3 minutes to combat contractions, all the while my two year old is terrorizing the L&D ward. Finally we got a hold of Mike and Lezlie to come rescue her, and they kept the two older girls for the weekend.
I had the most wonderful nurses taking care of me. I was able to get my epidural almost immediately, although the anesthesiologist messed up the first time and had to redo it, causing James to nearly pass out. Thankfully they had an extra nurse there to take care of him, lay him down, and get him some juice. I don't remember much after that. I called for the nurse when I was ready to push. Like Lola, she was posterior, but turned much faster, and I only pushed for 12 minutes. She was born Saturday, April 20th at 12:47 pm.
It happened so fast that James and I were the only ones in the room. A lot had changed since I had Lola, and they had me hold her for the first 2 hours. They didn't weight her, bathe her, and everyone was ready to kill me because no one else got to hold her. Eventually she got to meet her family, including her sisters. Lola wouldn't even look at me. I'm not sure if it was the hospital, all the strange people, or the fact that I now had a baby, but it killed me. (She got over it real fast).
We were set free the next day, and for the next two weeks, all she did was sleep. I complained, and I shouldn't have, because the next 2 months would be miserable...
Here's the story of her arrival:
As with Lola, I had an uneventful pregnancy. In fact, I didn't even start showing until I was about 6 months pregnant. My due date was April 30th; the day my OB was scheduled to retire. We decided I would be induced on April 29th to ensure she was able to deliver Violet. Well that fell through, because I started having contractions on the morning of April 19th. They weren't bad, but I knew what they were. Since it was more than a week before my due date, I didn't have anything ready...ANYTHING. I didn't have a bag packed, I didn't have clothes washed, nothing. So I got up (it was about 2:30) and started pulling tags off of baby clothes to wash them (mind you, we hadn't planned on having another baby for a while, so I got rid of ALL 0-6 month clothing 9 months prior).
"What are you doing??" James asks
"I'm packing a bag!"
"What for???"
"The hospital!"
Well, the contractions subsided, so I returned to bed; only to have them start back up. So, I started packing again. Every time I got up, my contractions stopped, but I finished the bag and got the laundry started anyway. I decided to go to work, only to find that the other teachers in my classroom were gone and I was going to be alone all day. My boss was a little freaked out and tried to get one of the other teachers to bring her groups to my room to keep an eye on me, but never having had children herself, she panicked and I spent the day alone anyway.
I was scheduled to see my doctor for my regular check up that afternoon, so after work, I rushed home, finished the laundry, loaded the car, and waited for James to get home. My doctor wasn't ready to admit me, but didn't want to send me home since it was a bit of a drive. She sent me over to Labor and Delivery to have them keep an eye on me. Sure enough, in just an hour, I had gone from a 1.5 to a 4, and was admitted.
About an hour after being admitted, my doctor showed up to inform me that she wasn't on call and had been up all night performing emergency surgery; she wouldn't be delivering Violet. She left in tears, and had I not been in such shock, I probably would have cried as well.
Well, since we were unsure as to what would happen, we hadn't made arrangements for Lola. By this time, we are walking the halls, stopping every 3 minutes to combat contractions, all the while my two year old is terrorizing the L&D ward. Finally we got a hold of Mike and Lezlie to come rescue her, and they kept the two older girls for the weekend.
I had the most wonderful nurses taking care of me. I was able to get my epidural almost immediately, although the anesthesiologist messed up the first time and had to redo it, causing James to nearly pass out. Thankfully they had an extra nurse there to take care of him, lay him down, and get him some juice. I don't remember much after that. I called for the nurse when I was ready to push. Like Lola, she was posterior, but turned much faster, and I only pushed for 12 minutes. She was born Saturday, April 20th at 12:47 pm.
It happened so fast that James and I were the only ones in the room. A lot had changed since I had Lola, and they had me hold her for the first 2 hours. They didn't weight her, bathe her, and everyone was ready to kill me because no one else got to hold her. Eventually she got to meet her family, including her sisters. Lola wouldn't even look at me. I'm not sure if it was the hospital, all the strange people, or the fact that I now had a baby, but it killed me. (She got over it real fast).
We were set free the next day, and for the next two weeks, all she did was sleep. I complained, and I shouldn't have, because the next 2 months would be miserable...
I'm Back: Here's Why
Yesterday I spent the day with my mom shopping in Longview, and I came home to my husband, who was ranting about a conversation that popped up on his Facebook page because one of his 36 friends commented on it. He showed me, and I didn't read much, but it was basically a bunch of teenagers posting and discussing highly inappropriate things in general, let alone things that should have been displayed publicly. For quite some time he has been talking about leaving Facebook, but keeping in touch with family has kept him from doing that. For him, this was the last straw. We have three little girls. The last thing he wants is a glimpse into the stupidity we are going to have to deal with when we have three teenage daughters.
To cut to the chase, he didn't leave Facebook. He is simply no longer going to be using it. He has friends, but has blocked all posts by everyone and has decided to start a blog instead. Honestly, I'm not sure how long it will last. He's just one of those people who sees a vision, and it lasts for a day. He used to draw, so I asked him to make some art for the girls' room. He was SO excited, he got right to it. Well, he didn't finish the first day, and hasn't opened up his sketch book since; this is just ONE example.
Anyhow, this recent decision has brought me back to my blog. I have been using Facebook to post pictures and funny things my kids say, and I know that people have blocked and deleted me for it. So here I am...Blogging. This way, if you want to know, you can, but I'm not clogging up any news feeds.
That being said, I'm looking forward to this new adventure. My goal is at least one blog post a day. Hopefully it will keep my mind sharp, and preserve our memories for years to come.
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