Baby Days

Adia is growing cuter and chubbier every day. Just when I think it'd be impossible to love her even more, I do. She is incredible. If I get started on her soft and fluffy cheeks, her funny little expressions, her fun bath time, her falling asleep in my arms, and her smiles, I just won't be able to stop. :) A lot has happened since my last post. Last week, I started feeling like I was developing mastitis again. I was really sore on one side and I had a hard time producing much milk. I went to a training for my job and I just got really cold and couldn't get warm. So, I went to Meijer during our break and got a thermometer and some Ibuprofen. I had a fever of 99.9. Even after taking Ibuprofen, my temp just kept rising. Eventually, it got to 104.2. Micah called the doctor and he told Micah to take me to the ER. Apparently, I get very loopy when my fever gets that high. I said lots of crazy stuff in the car and at the hospital! We had to bring Adia with us since we couldn't find anyone in time to watch her. She was sooooo good at the hospital! The only problem with Adia while we were there was when she had an absolute blowout and we had to change her clothes and everything. They ran all kinds of tests on me and did an x-ray and concluded that it was mastitis. They gave me a rather painful shot in my hiney. The nurse said, "This is one of our more painful shots we give in the ER"- I believe her! They also prescribed me some Keflex, which is an antibiotic to try to fight off the infection. I had to take off work the next day and my mom came down to help out. My dad came back a couple of days later and spent some time with us and Adia. Adia is awake a lot more now during the day. Part of that could be due to her cold she's been fighting off, and the other part could be that she's just getting older. She keeps waking up early from her naps. I've tried to let her just cry it out and letting her go back to sleep that way, but that just doesn't work for her any more. She will cry until it's just time for her to eat again. I'd say that the past 7 or 8 times I've tried to let her cry it out, she cries until it is time to eat again and once, she cried herself back to sleep (after 40 minutes of crying), and then I had to wake her in about 10 minutes for her to eat again. I've found that when she starts crying, I try to give her back her pacifier and maybe some gas drops if she acts like her belly is hurting her. If she goes back to sleep then fine, but after about 2 or 3 times of putting the pacifier back in her mouth and letting her cry for about 10-15 minutes, I just go ahead and get her out of her crib and either put her under her play yard or in her monkey chair. Usually, she is content playing until it is time to eat again. I also think she went through another growth spurt this past week. She had been sleeping through the night, and then she all of a sudden started waking up to eat at 11:30 PM and 3:30 AM to eat. That lasted about 3 or 4 days. Now, she is back to sleeping from about 10 PM - 5/6 AM. Here is our little routine: 5:30/6 AM- feed, back to sleep 7:15- Leave for the sitter's 8:30- Adia eats at the sitter's 10:30/10:45- nap 11:30- feed, wake 1:30/1:45- nap 2:30- feed, wake 4:30- nap 4:30/5- I pick Adia up, she finishes napping in the car 5:30- feed, wake 7:30- nap 8:30- feed, wake 9:30- bath, change clothes and diaper, lotion up, swaddle 10- bed 5:30/6 AM- start all over again :) I don't know if it's due to her cold or what, but Adia has been a little fussier than usual this past week. It seems to happen about 10-15 minutes before nap time and right after. She's usually pretty content and sweet during the mornings, but she is somewhat fussy in the afternoons. She often wants me to rock her when she is fussy like this. Usually, I can start rocking her and she calms down pretty quickly. The pacifier is also our best friend. :) At night, she usually does a really good job going to bed and staying asleep. I think all of our consistency and determination has paid off. The sitter's brother passed away this week, so she took off for a few days. During that time, Amanda, (Micah's sister) came down to watch her. We were so thankful she was able to come. We wish that our families could see Adia more often. She just changes so much each day. Even with all the challenges it brings, I absolutely love being a mom. This is the most precious thing I have ever experienced. It's amazing how I feel so much more connected to her than what I even felt a few weeks ago. I've always adored her and loved her, but I'm now starting to feel like we have more of a relationship than what we've ever had. When she sees me walk into a room, she often smiles and kicks her legs in excitement. It's so sweet. She also prefers me. Sometimes, she will be fussy, and as soon as I hold her, she snuggles into me and stops. It's like she feels at ease and at peace in my arms. I love that. It's really easy to get her smiling. She also laughed for the first time last week. She did it twice in a row at my mom. It was the sweetest sound I've ever heard! It was also incredibly girly and cute. I've had some struggles nursing, but I am still so glad that I've been able to stick with it. The first month, we went through latching problems and mastitis, and this past month, I went through the mastitis again, but even through all of that, I'm just so glad that I'm still doing this. I have nothing against people who choose to formula feed, (and I completely see why so many moms decide not to breastfeed after going through it myself,) but I truly enjoy that time with my daughter now. It sounds so weird to people who haven't been through it, but it's really an enjoyable and rewarding experience now. The only thing is that I've lost so much weight now, which I think I can contribute to all of this nursing. I weigh 16 pounds less than what I weighed before I was pregnant. I am fine with the weight loss, but instead of losing more weight, I just want to maintain the weight that I am right now. While I was pregnant, I kept thinking that I would give myself 9 months to lose all of the baby weight. I lost all the baby weight in about 10 days, then lost more after that. My advice to those of you that are pregnant and are worried about losing the weight: nurse. The funny thing about having a baby, is that it makes me excited to have another baby some day. I can wait a few years, but I am looking forward to Adia having a little brother or sister one day. I miss pregnancy and feeling her move in my belly. If you would've talked to me about this while I had the flu, mastitis, and a UTI while trying to take care of and nurse a newborn and trying to heal from having a baby, I may have said something else! Adia has been laying in her daddy's arms now, just starring at the ceiling and sucking on her pacifier for the past 30 minutes. It's time for me to nurse her again, so I better go. I'll update again some time in the next couple of weeks!