No Baby Cousin!

Aunt Chris with Sophia

Blackmail at its best!

Okay, so I'm a little behind because these pics are from last Sunday, but I'm workin' on it! Our niece, Julie, who is two was asked by her parents if she wanted to visit her new baby cousin, Sophia. She was quite sure she absolutely did not and was sure to exclaim, so there was no confusion on the matter, "No Baby Cousin!" Now, was this no, as in no I do not want to visit, or was it a no that meant she hoped that baby cousin would actually cease to exist?? I'm still not sure. But what I am sure about is that Julie wants nothing to do with Sophia.



During their visit, Julie was happy to socialize, play and talk to everyone else. Amazingly she didn't even really get upset when her mom held Baby Cousin, but each time she looked at her or someone made reference to Sophia, Julie would scowl. It was priceless, really. She all out refused to touch her, look at her, and holding her was completely out of the question. So, like any loving adult, we waited until Julie was asleep and set her up for some blackmail pics! They are too funny!



Chris and Oli are trying to prepare Julie to become a big sister in March...! I'm sure she will take much more kindly to her little sibling than she has to Baby Cousin, but we'll let them use Sophia for practice any day! Good luck, Guys!

Mastitis...Boooo!

Okay, so to add insult to injury my child has given my boob an infection! As if we didn't have enough trouble breastfeeding, we have this to add to the mix! Sheesh. Yesterday I awoke to a very painful sensation in my left breast. It hurt...not sore, but pain, in addition to the fever, aches and pains and all around yucky feeling. After a trip to the doctor, I started my antibiotics but I am still going through waves of feeling okay and feeling like complete dirt with a fever that comes and goes as it pleases.

Sophia (like all babies) carries a staph bacteria in her stomach that can pass through sores into my blood stream. When this happens an infection occurs. So I am still able to nurse and pump because she's the one who gave it to me, but it's just a little more painful. I did hear about a doctor out of Canada today who is some guru about breastfeeding and apparently he has the recipe for a cream that will cure my sores so this hopefully won't happen again. We take her to the doctor on Friday so I'll ask them to write me a Rx for it.

And finally, for those of you keeping track...I now smell like maple syrup. It's a good thing she's so cute, otherwise I might have given up by now! Charlie however if fascinated my by mapley scent and wishes to market Fenugreek as an herbal deodorant that's safe for the environment, we'll let you know where you can all buy it!

Brave!

sleepin' like a baby

Okay, so I really was brave last night as I left my child in her room, in her crib all night long! Whew...it took a lot for me, but she's alive and ready to tell about it this morning! I know that Charlie has really been wanting this day for a lot longer than I...truly who can blame him. He does have to get up and go to work in the morning, but it's not like he doesn't sleep through 90% of our evening routines!!



We hooked up the baby monitor for the first time and put it to use. So now I had a new obsession...instead of just lying near her listening to the sounds and wondering if she's choking...now I got to do it in stereo! I think I was so tired that I managed to not freak-out too much and fell asleep after only a few minutes of intent listening to my end of the walkie talkie.



Sophia is also moving into sleeping for 4 hours at a time...this is the best news of all. It is helpful to me after our long feeding routine to be able to get between 2-3 hours of sleep now instead of my usual 1-2. I do hope this pattern continues. Although she is still in her cluster-feeding act at night, this too shall pass (hopefully!) Last night she wanted to feed every hour from 8 pm to 1 am. So I finally got to bed about 2. Yipee. But this is where that four hour thing comes in real handy!

PS...oh, and for those of you clucking your tongues at the above pictures, I did move her to her back once again...but she likes to wiggle and roll!

Don't Call Me Mrs. Butterworth...

I'm just too tired to play, Mom!

Okay, well so after the Reglan disaster I switched over to the herbal stuff. So, now I'm taking Fenugreek to increase my milk supply. I would say that I feel like my supply is slowly increasing, although it seems inconsistent, but I don't seem to be experiencing the side effects. The only real side effect of this herb, you see, is to have your milk and sweat smell like maple syrup. This made my slightly nervous (anything was better than the side effects of the Reglan, but still...) because being a teacher I had that one kid every year that smelled like syrup. Hmmm, I did NOT want to be that kid. That kid that is always sticky, kinda chubby, and without a doubt smells syrupy at least 3-5 times per week. That on top of everything else...what's a girl to do!



Anyway, I heard about this phenomenon from a few people, websites, and nurses, but it hasn't happened to me?! A friend of mine who also took this supplement said it never happened to her either, but heard from everyone else who took it that it in fact did happen to them. Could it be that the two of us managed to be the only two not affected by this strange effect?



I am starting to feel more like myself this week too. I can now sit up on my own without having to push off of the furniture, big improvement! I was nervous that perhaps my abs were that shot that I wouldn't be able to do that for awhile. They're still in pretty bad shape, don't get me wrong, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm approved to start back into exercise next week. I am excited to get back to yoga and possibly the gym. I'm not sure how exactly I'll work out my working out, but I'm hopeful we'll think of something. I may be able to recruit mom to watch Sophia during the day while I run to the gym for a quick work out. Plus, I'd like to get back to hashing now that the little one is getting a bit bigger. I think she would love cruisin' around in her stroller through all the scenic trails!



Breastfeeding is still a struggle. Today is not a good day for me to talk about it, so I'm avoiding the subject mostly. I think I'm going to start visiting a different support group next week. This new one sounds like it offers a bit more of what I want and need.

Back in Business!

Well, to our great relief, Sophia has reached her birth weight once again...Hooray! She weighed in at 7lbs 11.6 oz on Thursday afternoon, so by now we should be up even more.

My goals for this weekend are to actually leave the house, big goals, I know. Charlie has put his foot down and ordered me out of the house on Sunday afternoon. So, Wendy is to the rescue. I'm not sure what we'll do in our 2 hour time block, but it will be something outside the confines of my home. I have also recruited mom into going for some ice cream this afternoon. She never refuses a good cone and Ben and Jerry's always does the trick! I'm dreaming of my flavors now!

So, I did try one of the prescription drugs for milk, Reglan, and let me weigh in on it...DON'T DO IT! I'm not one for taking drugs anyway, it's always been a struggle. (Dear God I hope my child doesn't do to me what I did to my mother in this area!!) It made me completely loopy and weird. Or should I say weirder than normal. I was a complete wreck yesterday and after we finally figured out that was the problem I of course stopped taking them but had to wait for them to leave my system. So I think I'll try the herbal stuff, there's supposed to be fewer side-effects. Let's hope so! I did notice a nice increase in my supply, so that is the downside of going back off of them! Oh well, I'd rather be in control of my body!

We're off to ice cream, but I'll try and update again soon!

A Big Thank You!

We are so lucky to be surrounded by so many nice, caring, and generous people! I wanted to take the opportunity to thank Charlie's team of pharmacists and his other supervisor counterparts for the wonderful gifts they provided for Baby Sophia!

Charlie started back to work yesterday after 2 glorious weeks off that he spent with Baby and me. He of course arrived to almost 800 emails and the daily grind once again! I know he was watching the clock all day, missing his little girl! But, to both of our surprise, he was bombarded with more well-wishes and gifts today.

We received a very generous Target gift card that will come in sooo handy! First off, Target is way to close to my house and I spend too much time there as it is, so this is perfect! Also, in just 2 short weeks I've already discovered baby things that we need that I didn't think about before Sophia was here, so I'm excited to be getting those!

Rhonda, Kerry, and Alex also furnished Sophia with some pretty adorable outfits! Since we didn't know what kind of a baby she was, we mostly have yellow and green. AND...since she basically has no hair, strangers have a hard time telling that she's a girl. So, pink and purple girly clothing was much appreciated!

Thanks again to all those who contributed. I'm happy knowing that Charlie has such a positive work environment surrounded by nice people to be at when he can't be here with us! We appreciate all you've done!

Love,
Tori, Charlie, and Sophia

2 weeks and counting!

Big Brother is watching!

Although, joyful, the past two weeks have been a blur! I sort of rotate blindly between my bed and the rocking chair all the while hearing the whir-pump of that blasted breast pump in the background! I still look at Sophia, however, and continue to be amazed at the sheer miracle of her existence. I am truly in awe of how beautiful and perfect she is, and how quite frighteningly, she is a product of me...



The good news is she gained weight...she is now 7lbs 6oz. They would have liked for her to gain back all her weight and be at birth weight again by two weeks, but she's pretty close. I am confident that she'll be back at her birth weight by the end of this week. We still struggle at waking her up for feeding and she is still struggling with transferring the milk, but I THINK it's getting better. I am reminded too much of myself when I see her groggily resisting wake up, putting sleep at the top of her list before everything else. She'll sleep in poopy diapers, she'll sleep hungry...she doesn't care, she just wants to sleep! Even Charlie has commented on how our sleeping patterns and mood upon wake up are strikingly similar! Yikes!



My milk supply is staying consistent, but not increasing. Soooo, I'm considering some of the pills to increase my supply. If any of you experienced moms out there have an opinion to offer up on any of the following drugs please let me know! My choices are fenugreek (herbal), Reglan, and Domperidone (both Rx).