The Journey of the Jordan's: July 2010

Our baby girl turned 1 month old last Thursday, July 15. It's hard to believe she is already that old! Everyone always said that it goes by way too fast, and I'm starting to see that is a true statement! I've seen some ideas from people and I'm kind of stealing one from my friend Heather (hopefully she won't mind). :) But I decided that each month, I would sit her in her rocking chair with a pink stuffed bear to show how much she has grown. Here's the first month's pictures:

She was starting to fall over a bit...

I was glad that she was so bright-eyed! It was a pretty late photo session. :)

We've been hanging in there for the past five weeks. :) Kerrigan has been sleeping longer periods of time during the night, so we are definitely making some progress. It is so much fun watching all of the different things she has started doing... even though they are small. She focuses on objects a lot more and she makes so many different facial expressions. She grabs onto things and has such a tight grip! All in all, we have to admit that she has been a wonderful baby. We have definitely been blessed with a sweet little girl. We are very lucky. :) It is so exciting to experience this and I can't wait for what's to come in the upcoming days, weeks, months and years. I just hope they don't go by TOO fast!

As far as me, I have been battling mastitis AGAIN. My first bout was back on June 29th. My second one occurred last Wednesday, July 14. I missed my doctor by a day (I had a 4 week postpartum checkup the 13th). I felt like I had tackled this one earlier than the first one because it did not end up as painful. It was in my left breast this time and I felt like I knew it was beginning. I started out fine with no fever or body aches. However, as the day went on, I started feeling worse. I had a 100.8 fever, so Aaron called my doctor's office that afternoon and I was called in another antibiotic. I started taking it as soon as Aaron got home and I started feeling better the next day. A few days passed and my RIGHT breast started to feel sore (my right breast was sore the very first time). I couldn't believe it! It was so strange because I was already taking antibiotics for the left breast. So Saturday I woke up because I couldn't sleep because it was hurting so much. I didn't have fever so I was just trying to take it easy. But as the day went on, I was feeling worse and worse and worse. I laid on the couch, took a nap, pumped, drank fluids... tried everything I could because I figured I was already on antibiotics. I was also taking ibuprofen to help with the pain. By the evening, I took my temperature again and it was 102.4. So I knew this was trouble. I was almost on the verge of having Aaron take me to the ER. But he called my doctor's emergency line and Dr. Straughn was on call. She works in Dr. Tamucci's practice so I was comfortable with whatever she said. She was very close to telling Aaron to bring me in, but she decided to call me in a different antibiotic and some pain medication. She told Aaron that if I wasn't any better by Sunday that I did need to go to the Emergency Room. She also told him that I needed to see Dr. Tamucci on Monday. So yesterday (Sunday, 7/18), I was fever free by 9 a.m. My breast still hurt, but I felt much better. So I didn't have to go to the ER! :)

Today, I went to the doctor to have my breast checked out. I had blood work done and my white blood cell count was fine, which meant the antibiotics were working and the infection was localized. My doctor was puzzled why I had had 3 bouts of mastitis since I was only pumping and not breastfeeding--no mouth to the breast--therefore less chance for bacteria to enter. Anyway, the final verdict was to try and avoid more infections. I've been lucky to be able to pump for 5 weeks so far, so at least Kerrigan has gotten some breast milk. But unfortunately I've been having far too many issues, so I'm going to start weening off breast pumping. We have already been supplementing with formula anyway because I haven't been able to produce enough, so the conversion will be easy. I hate I won't be able to supply her with breast milk for longer, but I have to make sure and look out for myself too. Hopefully everything will transition smoothly.

Here's a few more pictures:

Parker insisted on me taking a picture of him holding his baby cousin KJ

Napping with Daddy... Daddy knows what Mommy feels like on Fridays now!

Fahj was marking his sister

Kerrigan and Mommy

Snuggled Up!

Some pictures from Bebe and Pop's last Sunday afternoon:

I can't believe summer is winding down already. But I'm not going back to work until Labor Day so I still have a little more time left with Kerrigan at home. But when I have to go back to work, I don't know what I'm going to do!!!

Before I finish, I want to ask for everyone to please pray for one of my former students, Reilly Montgomery. She was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 Wilms. She had her kidney removed last week and this week, she will have her port put in. Additionally, she will begin chemo this week as well. She will have 28 weeks of chemo. Her mother, Amy, also cuts my hair. This is a very special child and family. For more information about her condition, please visit her CaringBridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/reillymontgomery Thanks for praying!

Until next time...

lj

Wow! I feel so out of it lately! I hardly have any time to get on the computer, much less update my blog. If my email weren't on my phone, I'd probably only get to check it once a week. I used to be able to go on Facebook, scroll down a bit and be caught up. Now I have to scroll and scroll and scroll to feel "in the loop" but I still don't feel like I know what is going on with everything! Since it's been a while since I've updated, I will definitely not be able to remember everything that has been going on these past couple of weeks. I hardly remember what happened 2 hours ago these days!

Kerrigan is now 3 weeks old today and things are going great with her! Yes, we are struggling to get enough sleep and our lives have definitely changed, but it has definitely been worth every minute.

Every day kind of blurs together, so I don't really even know where to start from my last post. Kerrigan did not have any other problems with jaundice so that was nice not to have to go back to the UV light. The first few days at home, my parents were a big help to us. They were here to help out with whatever we need. My brother's dog, Bear, was also a big help, in that he stayed out in our yard with Marley while we got adjusted. But he ended up going home about a week after we got home. Marley is actually really good with Kerrigan. He doesn't really bother her much. He will walk by her and sniff and lick her... mainly on her feet, but he sometimes tries to sneak in a lick on her face! When we have visitors over, we put him in our bedroom. He is still able to see what is going on because Megan let us borrow a see through baby gate. So that has been really helpful, too. We have had many visitors and many people who have brought us food. It has been wonderful having all the support that we have had!

Kerrigan went back to the doctor for her 2 week checkup on Tuesday, June 29. I was unable to go (more on that later), so Aaron offered to take her by himself. What a great guy!! Anyway, the doctor was very pleased with her weight gain--she was up to 7 pounds, 5 ounces. He also thought she looked great and he gave her a clean bill of health. Unfortunately, they had to prick her foot again for blood work. We never heard anything back about it, so no news is good news!! Dr. Dudgeon also cleaned her umbilical cord stump and played around with it. By the time Aaron left, it was barely hanging there. It ended up coming off Wednesday night, I think. Now she's left with a cute little belly button! :) Oh I also failed to mention in my last post that Aaron did cut the umbilical cord. That was really neat! :)

Besides going to my parents' house and the doctor's office, Kerrigan has been out on a few "adventures." She would not know it though. She slept the whole time! We went to eat at Habaneros, a Mexican restaurant down the street from our house, on Friday, June 25. We went with my parents. Most people might think it's crazy taking a 10 day old to a restaurant. But Mexican restaurants are quick! Plus, if it were in the midst of winter, it would be a different story. We would wait until the weather was nicer before we took her out. But it's summertime in Alabama. And I'm not going to keep my child in a bubble. Sorry, folks! Kerrigan has also been to Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us and Wal-Mart for us to run errands. Then we went to eat at the Bright Star last Friday, July 2. She got lots of compliments and many people were checking her out there. She has a pink blanket that we take with her in her carseat. So tell me why someone would ask if she was a boy? We even took Kerrigan and Marley for a stroll in our neighborhood one evening last week.

Now on to why I wasn't able to go to Kerrigan's doctor's appointment. Last Monday (6/28) night I had told Aaron that I was feeling kind of achy. But I thought that it was just due to lack of sleep, so I went to bed. Later that night... well, really early Tuesday morning... I woke up with an awful pain in my right breast. I thought it was just full of milk, so I tried to pump. That was HORRIBLE!! I was bawling because I was in so much pain. I was also even more achy and had chills. I took my temperature and it was 101. I looked up some stuff online and I figured out that I probably had a clogged milk duct. I had to wake Aaron up to feed Kerrigan and I felt bad because it was the night before his last day before he had to go back to work. Then on Tuesday he had to take charge because I was pretty worthless. My fever ranged from 99 to 102 all day. I tried to get it down by taking my pain medicine from the hospital, but it was not coming down at all. Aaron did some more research and found that I had Mastitis which is actually an infection in your breast. I had taken a shower to try and feel better so I could go to the doctor but I was still worthless. So thank you Aaron for taking Kerrigan to the doctor! Later Tuesday night I still wasn't feeling better and Aaron had to return to work the next day (Wednesday 6/30). So he called my doctor and the doctor on call called in some Motrin and Amoxicillin (antibiotic to help get rid of the infection). Aaron went to the Pharmacy at 8:00 that night to pick up my medicine. And once again, I am thanking Aaron... this time, for taking care of me! :) It's been a week since I started the medicine and I'm pretty much back to normal. I still had a fever on Wednesday (6/30) but by that night it had finally gone away. My breast was still store for a few days but the pain finally let up by this past weekend. I had to try to heal it by putting hot rags on it and trying to massage out the duct. Talk about painful! Now my only issue with it is that it is not pumping out as much milk as it was before this happened. I'm hoping that the milk comes back like it was before as the days pass. I did have a good supply and was able to just feed Kerrigan breast milk. Now we are having to again supplement with formula. The doctor who called in the medicine said it was atypical for a woman to get Mastitis when she is only pumping. Megan had it twice and she only pumped, so I guess we are a couple of atypical mommies!

It has been such a joy to have Kerrigan in our lives. She has been awake more than she was when we first brought her home. It's so much fun to watch her and see all her little faces that she makes. She loves looking at faces and she loves looking outside. She also likes her hands and arms. They are always on the move! She is also starting to wake us up when she is hungry. We are still trying to get her on a more consistent schedule so that she wakes up once in the middle of the night and then wake up around 6 or so for Aaron to get up with her before work. Sometimes she does well, other times... not so much. But since Aaron is having to work, I get up with her any time she wakes up in the middle of the night so he can try and get in as much sleep as he can. She eats about every 3 to 4 hours. When she is awake, she likes to sit in either her bouncy/vibrating chair or her swing or she likes to be held. We are trying to keep her up more during the daytime so that she will be more sleepy at night time. Also, so that it will be easier for her to go back to sleep after she has her middle of the night feedings. We also got her this little activity mat where she can lay on her tummy. She seems to like it. There is a mirror on it and she loves to look at herself. The mat helps her practice holding her head up. She's had a few instances where she's held it up for a minute or so pretty well on her own!

Luckily (knock on wood), she doesn't cry that much. She usually just lets out little yelps. We can't help but laugh when she does because it's so darn cute.

For the 4th of July, we got her a pink onesie with an American flag on it. Unfortunately she was only able to wear it for about an hour or so. We didn't even get her picture in it. :( We took her to my parents' house for lunch. My dad finished and got her out of her carseat to hold her. Well, she had a major blowout and we had to take off her festive clothing! One of many...I'm sure!! Later, she was able to have some outdoor time. I was able to get in the pool again so we put her in a little bassinet under the umbrella. It was not humid and we had a fan going, so she just slept away while we enjoyed the pool and some homemade ice cream. It was sweet too because Carson was sitting on the couch with my dad. My dad was holding Kerrigan and any time my dad patted her or rubbed her head or something, Carson would do the same thing. He gave her a lot of kisses, too. I wish I had my camera or video camera. It was so sweet!

I'm still trying to come up with my own routine during the day while Aaron is at work. I just don't see how single moms do it! I try to sleep when she sleeps, but at the same time, there are things I need to do around the house too. So it's been a balancing act, for sure. I know I'm still new at it. So I'm not going to be too hard on myself. I'm just lucky to have had Aaron. He's been awesome and he's such a great dad!

I would just like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their kind words, visits, dinners, cards, gifts and all the support we have gotten since Kerrigan's arrival. It's been wonderful and we really appreciate everyone! Hopefully as the routines get more in place, I will be able to update more regularly, but I am not going to promise anything! I am going to add some more pictures. Until next time...

lj