In brief:
I ended up declining my mom's offer to stay with us and we came home alone (last week July 5th) . We "succeeded" at home that Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then on Sunday... I noticed my right breast getting red and hot to the touch. The baby wouldn't eat and cried. I got all upset... ok, hysterical. We were up all night and I had an emergency call-in doctor prescribe a penicillan-type of drug for what I thought was an infection caused by my SEVERELY cracked nips (turns out the baby has NOT been latching correctly and tearing me to shreds for the last 6 days. I'm talking blood and scabs, it was so freaking painful, I'd cry when she ate). It was horrible. The next day, Monday, we KNEW something was wrong and raced out to a lactation consultant. I looked like I had a recent boob job (my boobs were so swollen that my aereolas were white! My boobs were shiny and tight!) and the baby was limp. I cried. It was terrible. She helped straighten things out and said I was developing "mastitus" but I probably caught it in time and could reverse it. We relearned how to feed, how to pump for the first time and she told me to get off my feet because I was also developing edemia. I cried and cried thinking about how stupid I had been,... and then called my mom begging her to come here after all. Rob picked her up the very next morning from the border of North Carolina/Virginia where my dad drove her & dropped her off.
We are catching up now. We weren't eating, paying bills or even showering before 4PM. We were losing it.
So, bear with me, it may be a while before I blog, email or call. Sorry!
4 comments:
Yeah, the LAST thing you should be worried about is Blogging!
Take care of that Baby.
Take care of YOURSELVES!
It's pretty freaky and scary at the beginning and it's different for everyone.
One thing that I'm sure is the same, sooner or later you'll get in the groove and the things that are going right will far out distance the things that are going wrong.
If monkeys like us can do it, you guys are a shoe in!
Congratulations Brooke. Welcome to hell. It does get so much better than where you are now. Set your timer for three months. You can do it. You made it through college, and probably have dated some guy you didn't like for longer than that. Three months. Call if you need any thing at all 474-1732
Kendra
3 months? Ack, I go back to work long before that, I'll never survive.
Thanks for all the words of support everyone!
hey, brooke.
i'm so sorry to hear that you kids are having a rough time. breastfeeding is really hard work. no joke. make liberal use of your lactation consultant, think carefully before you contact anyone from la leche, and please feel free to call or email anytime if you need some moral support. same goes for you, rob.
much love,
jess
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