January 5, 2009

Kid stuff

The holidays went by so freaking fast this year. It was like I blinked, and "poof", they were over. The kids sure had a good time though. On New Years Eve, Isaiah had his 1 year appointment. I had to take all 3 kids with me because the office rescheduled it and that was the only day they had unless I wanted to wait until the end of January. So, I braved it. Never again. I'm really not surprised. Jacob and Clara weren't horrible, but they were into everything, wouldn't sit still, complained about waiting, made sure everyone that came through knew I was 30, and asked for snacks. I did finally ask for advice on sleeping for Isaiah. I've read every tip that I've come across and nothing has worked. She suggested laying him down, awake, and letting him cry for 3-5 minutes. Then going back, rubbing his back, not picking him up and then leaving. And to continue to do that until he's asleep. I've heard of doing that, but we've always let him cry a lot longer than that and we eventually give up because either we're too tired to fight anymore, or Jacob and Clara start crying. She said that if you let him cry that long, for like 30 minutes at a time and then eventually give in, he'll cry for an hour next time. So we're going to give it a go. It can't hurt anything. Only thing I'm concerned about, but the NP didn't seem too worried, was his growth. He's 20lb 7oz and 26 in long. He was 18lbs 5 oz and 26 in long at 9 months. He's now in the 15% and 20 % for height and weight. He's kinda starting to fall off the curve. And I'm not sure why. He's a big eater, better than the other two are now or ever were. He loves table food, will take milk, juice, still gets some breastmilk and is happy, active, content and hitting all his milestones. So I know I should just let it be, he's probably fine, but, I'm a mother. I can't. I must worry about something. So we'll see how he is in 3 months. Now that I thought about nursing, he is still nursing. I did get mastitis again this weekend, after he bit me for the second time. That's how I got it the first time. He bit me Thursday, I woke up Friday with a sore, tender breast and by afternoon, I could tell a fever was coming on. So I called, got an antibiotic, and by the time I got home from picking it up at 5pm, I was miserable with a fever. It was so much worse this time. After Husband got home, I went to bed after dose 2 of the Keflex. I slept all night, chilled and was miserable all night, slept all morning, woke up around noon and realized I was sweating and fever was going down, but slept a bit more until 3pm. This time, more than half of the breast was involved, but thankfully the antibiotics kicked in enough I could go to work Saturday. It just amazes me how quickly the infection can kick in, my body react to the infection and for antibiotics to start working. If I get mastitis one more time, it will be time to wean. I hope to make it to 18 months with him, unless he shows signs of weaning sooner, but I just can't take repeated infections. But for now, we're still breastfeeding. Here's to another good few months.

5 comments:

Morgan said...

3 kids at a doctor's appointment? That definantly doesn't sound like fun!

Aren't antibiotics great? I had mastitis 2 or 3 times last year. It's always a joy when you're trying to chase several other children around the house and feel like you have the flu. Did your symptoms get worse when you first started the antibiotic? For some reason, the redness gets a lot worse for me for the first 24 hours of taking the antibiotic. Then it just disapears altogether.

I hope you're able to keep nursing! I wish I had been able to go longer than 12 months!

Anonymous said...

Dr's appointments sure can be rough with added kids along!

On the weight gain thing...expected growth for a breastfed baby at this age is 2-4 oz per week. Assuming you had 13 weeks between appointments, that is 26-52 oz. Your son's weight gain falls within that range.

The problem with the growth charts typically used in America is that despite being revised to include more breastfed babies, they still don't have enough. Breastfed babies gain weight slower in months 6-12 than do formula fed babies. See this chart for a graphic illustration:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/chart1.html

WHO released charts in 2006 that more accurately reflect breastfed baby growth. You can see the boy chart here:

http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/cht_wfa_boys_p_0_2.pdf

Hugs on the mastitis!

Jenn
www.knittedinthewomb.com

AwkwardMoments said...

biting sucks, I am so sorry. My child has bitten me more times that I wish to recall. I am so sorry you got mastisis.

As a mother is seems we just worry about it all. hang in there

Jessica said...

You're a brave one...3 kids to the doctor all at once? I'd be so scared! lol...

If it makes you feel any better, D is just now 27 pounds, and he's always been around the 5th or 10th percentile for weight. Our pediatrician was never concerned, as long as he continued to grow/gain weight at the same rate. I know it can be worrisome as a momma, but it sounds like you're doing all the right things.

Good luck on the sleep thing also. It can be tough, but I do believe it does work. It took D 2 or 3 nights of it, and he caught on. I think we did that a couple months before he turned one, and he's been doing good ever since.

Happy new year!

Anonymous said...

there's a book called the no cry sleep solution. the ideas in it seemed to work for us.

the problem with my first is that i got him used to falling asleep while nursing.

didn't do that with my second and it's been soooo much easier this time around.