Monday, December 19, 2011

Emergency room and McDonalds

You may have noticed (or maybe not) that I did not post anything this last week. That is because things have really gotten crazy busy around this house! I have been finishing up all of our handmade gifts, attending Christmas parties, going away dinners, pre-school Christmas plays and trying to enjoy the season! I would post pictures of all the lovely things I've been making but I don't want any family to get a sneak peak of their Christmas present.
Photo credit

This time last year we just figured out that I was pregnant with the Little One and I was in the Emergency Room on Christmas Eve for spotting and almost a year later we were in the ER again! I got the worst migraine I have ever had and nothing would make it better. I was nauseous and a complete mess. I stayed in the bed for the majority of the day and Steven had to take care of Emma Rose except for feeding her. I just breastfed her while laying down because that was all I could manage. Finally around 7:00 I called my dad who gets bad migraines and asked for suggestions. He told me to stick my head in a bucket of ice water, as I was contemplating how to go about that, hubby ended up talking to my mom and we decided to head to urgent care.

Making a trip to urgent care is a big deal when you have a four month old and you live 40 minutes away from where urgent care is located. We had to pack up all her gear, plus a bottle of breast milk that I pumped earlier in the day since we were not sure I should breastfeed her with the medicine I had taken that afternoon (that did not help at all).  At urgent care they ended up sending me to the ER since I had never had a CT scan of my head before. The total trip took about 7 hours. Some of the highlights:

On the way I had to have hubby pull over so I would not get my vomit all over the car.

Emma Rose took her bottle at 8:00 like a champ even though it was not heated at all

We managed to change her diaper while she was sitting in her car seat in the middle of the ER waiting room, where she promptly peed all over herself as soon as we got that diaper off. 

Since we did not eat dinner hubby got beef jerky from the vending machine- it smelled AWFUL and did not taste at all like he remembered it, I wonder how long it had been in that vending machine...

I did not think we were going to end up at the ER I did not worry about pumping- I figured I would just do it once we got home. Since I was not sure about breast feeding her I had not nursed her since around 5:00pm, well around midnight I was leaking like crazy! Even with breast pads in my shirt began getting a little spotty. I ended up replacing my breast pads with panty liners, and if you were wondering, they don't work too well as breast pads.  By the time we got home I was soaked. 

We didn't leave the ER until around 1:30am and still had not eaten anything. What is the only place open that late? Oh yes- McDonalds. I had not eaten McDonald's in years (minus an ice cream sundae I had while I was pregnant) and the last time I ate there I got sick. I got a hamburger and nothing else and I was sure that I would throw that up as well. Though it did not sit to well with me I managed to keep it down.

The doctor said it was fine for me to breast feed but I still was more comfortable pumping and dumping since I had so much medication throughout the day. Thankfully I have good freezer stash of breast milk. 

We made it home around 2:00am, fed the Little One, I pumped (what a relief!) and then put her down and finally made it to bed! 

What a day! I will be happy if I do not have to see the Emergency Room in the next year! 

I am hoping to get another post in this week before Christmas, but we will see, it is a busy time of year!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Christmas carols and Crafting


Today has consisted of trying to wean the Little One off swaddling for nap time (total disaster), Christmas music, crafting and play time. I still have clothes to fold and dishes to do but I think being crafty sounds more fun!

These are for my kids at the after school I volunteer at. This set is still a work in progress.



I love me some Rooiboss tea!
Oh, by the way- Little One is rolling over front to back AND back to front now! Exciting stuff for this first time mommy!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Hair loss, Stretch marks and Pudge

The Little One is now about 3 1/2 months and my body is still out of whack. The most recent development is hair loss. During pregnancy my hair did get a little thicker and I rarely shed, but now the great shed has begun. My hair is EVERYWHERE. It is in the sink, in the bed, clogging the bath tub drain, all over my clothes and I keep picking it off the Little One. My husband even found it in the sandwich I made him for lunch last week- it is gross and annoying.

I have lost all of my baby weight (please don't hate me) but my tummy sure doesn't look the same as it did pre-pregnacy. I now have this pudge where flat tummy used to be. In addition to that pudge I have some nasty stretch marks adorning my stomach. I have been using some stretch mark cream since having the Little One but I do believe it is just hoax in a bottle. My husband keeps telling me that they've faded but he has to say that.


I strongly dislike exercising but I do know that it is necessary. Right now I take the Little One and the dog Otis on walks and go to Mama Baby yoga once a week. Now I know that this is not a strenuous enough workout routine to get me very far, but it's something. I'm also breastfeeding so that is burning a ton of calories, but it's doing nothing for my ab muscles.

I am hoping in another couple of months my body will settle down and start to feel more normal. I know it will never quite be the same again and I just have to learn to embrace that but it sure is hard to get used to!

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