It's no secret that I have a hard time with the newborn phase of life. I love my babies, but it's so hard for me to just sit, and be patient, and relax, and watch as my kids tear my house to pieces, and be tied to another human being. However, I know that it is a lesson I need to learn to slow down, and appreciate EVERY stage of life. And someday I am going to learn that lesson no matter how hard I try to push against it.
We had Cam on Friday, and headed home Saturday afternoon. My parents had Meili and Grant stay the night at their house so we could have a little time to recover. Then they brought them home on Sunday. On Saturday, I already felt almost back to normal. I joked with Josh the following week, that I've had workouts at the gym that were harder to recover from than this birth. I was anxious to see Grant and Meili again, and start figuring out life again, but it was also so fun to have a night to just cuddle a newborn.
My parents and sister's family came to visit Sunday and had lunch with us, and I felt pretty much like myself. On Monday, I took Meili and Grant to the Pioneer Day parade, because I was bound and determined to celebrate the holiday at least somewhat.
Josh was home from work Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday was my first day left to my own devices. It took us 2 hours to get out the door to go to the library. So after a 20 minute stop at the library, I decided we needed to do something else to make the trip a little more worth it, so we went to the park for Weenie Wednesday (free hot dogs, drinks, and ice cream provided by the radio station.)
I totally had this 3 kid thing down.
Wednesday night, Cam was up every 2 hours all night long. I finally asked Josh to take one of the feedings, but I pretty much slept a total of maybe an hour all night. And Thursday night was the same thing. Now I remember why I have such a hard time with newborns. To make matters worse, I woke up at one point with really bad cramps. So I got up to take some Ibuprofen, and while I was trying to pump, I had chills, but then in bed, I was sweating, and couldn't decide if I was burning hot or freezing cold. The next morning, I told Josh how I had felt the night before, and also decided that I was sick of sitting on the couch, yelling at my kids, so we needed to get out of the house. We made a plan to go to Lacey's house, and on my way there, I started feeling feverish, like I had the night before. On my way there, I talked to Josh's mom who wanted to come visit Cam, but since we wouldn't be home, and Liz was in town for a short time, I offered to come to their house after I was done at Lacey's.
While at Lacey's, the kids were able to play, I was able to sit and relax, and get some much needed conversation therapy. But I still wasn't feeling great.
I went to Josh's parents' and while the visit was nice, and everyone spoiled all three of my kids, I continued to feel worse and worse. I told myself that I probably just needed to eat better, and drink more water, so when I got home, I would take better care of myself-plus, Josh would be home and I could get a nap in. The last hour at Josh's parents' house, I started to feel a little lightheaded, and fuzzy about some of the conversations. I drove home and was very emotional with Josh when I talked to him on the phone. Josh didn't understand why I had been gone all day if I hadn't felt well. But I kept trying to explain that I had gotten progressively worse as the day went on. He brought home food, and I ate and drank well. I called the doctor who said that if my temperature was higher than 101, I needed to go to the ER. So after getting a thermometer that actually worked, we took my temperature which was high 102's.
We called Jared, and asked him if he could take our kids overnight, then we got ready to go to the ER. Just before we were heading out, I wasn't feeling so bad, and we took my temperature again, and it was in the 101's. I decided that I really had just been dehydrated, and with a good night's sleep, I would be fine. So we decided not to go to the ER that night. We talked to Marlyse and Liz who both thought that I probably had an infection, but that I would be fine going to the Instacare the next day.
On Saturday, Josh demanded that I take it easy, and took my temperature every half hour. Of course, it never broke 100. We considered still going to the Instacare, but I figured with no fever, they wouldn't be able to help me. I guess whatever it was, I had kicked it on my own.
On Sunday, I planned with Lacey to do newborn pictures since I was doing better. I got everything together for pictures, and got the kids ready for church. I just needed to finish getting myself and Cam ready. At about 1:00, I started to feel the fever coming back so I took my temperature, and it had jumped back to the 100's. (Not too high, but I figured it was the effort that I had exerted, pictures would definitely put me over the edge. Plus, I figured that Josh would kill me if he knew I had taken pictures with a fever.) So I cancelled with Lacey.
When Josh got home, he didn't understand why I had cancelled. He definitely is not a fan of pictures, but figured that I had already gone through all the work, and my fever was only 100, so I called Lacey, AGAIN, frantically and decided to go through with it. I joked that the worst that could happen is I end up in the ER, which had been a possibility all weekend. (Plus, remember, that because Josh switched jobs, he wasn't sure if he was going to have insurance the next day or not.)
We did pictures. Cam was awesome, the other two? Not so much. We really didn't get anything great with them, and Lacey can usually make miracles happen with those two crazies. So the pictures are just a testament to how "pushed aside" they were feeling.
By the time we got home, I was exhausted! It took everything I had just to help get the kids in bed, get Cam fed, and get some food in me. Finally, about 10:30, I decided I needed to take my temperature, and it was between 103 and 104 depending on the ear. I took Tylenol, we called our neighbor, and headed to the ER. We both figured that enough is enough.
I still felt silly walking into the ER. The Tylenol kicked in, I was feeling much better, and I didn't really have any other symptoms besides the fever. After a short evaluation at the ER, they decided it was mastitis and got me started on antibiotics.
The following week, Josh was in training in Salt Lake on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So we packed up the family, and stayed with my parents. It was a good thing too, because I really didn't start feeling better till Wednesday or Thursday, so it was really nice to have my mom, sister, and dad there that could help me out.
So now, two-ish weeks after having Cam, I am feeling good. (Hopefully for real this time.) One good thing that came out of this whole fiasco is that Josh fed Cam at night for a few days, and we learned that he does a lot better with bottles. So the last few nights he eats at 11 and then again at 5 or 6, and I feel on top of the world again.
It's funny because I kept saying that I was hoping for a really good baby, since Grant was pretty high maintenance. So far, Cam has been awesome. I just didn't anticipate being sick for a week after he was born.
So now for just a few pictures of the first week...
The first night home, we realized that all of our boy 0-3 sleepers, were really warm because Grant was born in January. So... we made do with one of Meili's. This picture, really makes it look like I was disappointed that we had a boy instead of a girl.
...And, look at this cute boy, with is awesome big sister!
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