{Mastitis and Memorial Day}

It is Memorial Day night and I am sitting at the computer feeling a little bit anxious. Drew has been sleeping for about three hours (why can't he do this at night?!?!) and I am feeling some anxiety about the night ahead of us. Drew is not really sleeping long stretches at night at all. We have had a rough 48 hours and I would love to get a bit of a sleep stretch tonight!

I woke up yesterday after a terrible night with Drew. He did about an hour and 45 minute stretch initially and then was up every 30 minutes to an hour. All. Night. Long. It was exhausting and confusing and just painful. When I finally got up for real that morning, I had terrible pain in my breast. It throbbed without me even moving and I was in tears for a while. I remembered the feeling from when Ben was about 10 months old. I started getting a fever and I officially knew it was mastitis. I called my OB/GYN office and the on-call doctor called me back and called in a prescription thank goodness. But I still had 101/102 fever throughout the day (even on Motrin) and was generally miserable. Luckily the boys had a birthday party to go to and that was great fun, but that meant I was home with a fussy infant by myself and I thought I was going to die. Yes, a bit dramatic, but also a little bit true. So my parents came to help while they were gone.

My fever started to slowly go down throughout the night and by 2:00 am, I was fever free and feeling sooooo much better. Drew did better last night so I did get a few hours of sleep and then Chat took him this morning and I got to get an extra hour or two this morning. Which has been my saving grace on weekends when he does this!

Before I go on, I just have to note how hard motherhood is and how women really take one for the team when it comes to growing our families (of course dads do their part too!). It is hard enough to take care of a newborn plus two older children, but to do it when you physically are struggling feels impossible. I finally was feeling recovered from Drew's birth and getting breastfeeding ironed out and then wham....mastitis. Ouch! I just try to remember the pioneer women who had to do this without a/c and antibiotics. Cheers to them. And I try to remember this won't last forever. 

Anyway...I woke up today and felt a million times better. So we kept our plans and headed to my parents for ribs! And maybe to make up for the horrific day yesterday, we got the best picture of the boys and their cousins!

We got just one of the three boys as well. It isn't quite as cute as the one of all five, but still adorable as well! Ben loves holding Drew which has been the great incentive for him to sit still and take a picture :).

 

And of course we had to get one of Ben taking down some ribs. He ate three and corn on the cob. I am thinking he likes the patriotic holidays where these two items will be served.

And I got a good picture of the boys with their Granddad and Bea! Drew was sleeping and since he is on a fussy streak, we decided to go with the whole "Don't wake a sleeping baby." So he stayed nicely inside snoozing away while the older boys got the photo opp!

So we are back to normal around here and that means tonight could be the norm or it could be like two nights ago which was horrific. Either way, we have a long way to go sleep-wise with Drew. I have been handling it okay up till now, but ready to see a light in that tunnel! Luckily I am physically better which makes things 99% better. That 1% would be if Drew gave us a 4 hour stretch! Here's hoping!

Happy Memorial Day!

P.S. I was pumping at the table a few days ago and Luke walks in and stops dead in his tracks. Then looks at me and starts saying "raccoon...raccoon...raccoon". Any mother who has pumped knows that their pump can start to "talk" to them. Well apparently it also talks to 5-year-olds and it says raccoon!

{Drew: Four Weeks Old!}

Drew is a month old (as of yesterday)! At times I feel like it has been flying by and other days it is creeping by slowly. I guess it depends on how tired I am at the moment and how much sleep I got the night before. Ha!

 

 

1. Drew is really filling out. I originally thought he might be me lean child and not be a chubster, but I think he is proving me wrong. He is four weeks and weighing somewhere between 12 and 13 pounds. He is starting to get a few chins there too! But his legs are definitely still leaner than my older boys. It will be very interesting to see where he lands in the size department.

 

 

2. Sleep is still a bit tricky with this one. He usually is still going about 2.5 hours at night, although he has given me a 3.5 hour stretch and one 4 hour stretch as well. But usually I put him down by 11:00 pm and I wake up twice -- usually somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00 and then again around 4:00. When he starts to stir betweetn 5:30 and 6:00, Chat will go get him and bring him to me and he sleeps on my chest until it is time to get up. I clearly don't have those children sleeping long stretches by a month or two, but if he can continue like this, I can manage even though I am tired. He had a few nights where he was worse and those were hard days that followed.

 

 

3. He is getting more awake now and spending a few hours everyday with 'awake time'. Morning is usually when he is the most awake and alert. He tends to wake up and spend an hour or so with his eyes wide open, then he takes a cat nap, then he is back up for another hour or hour and half. He tends to sleep most of the afternoon starting around noon or 1:00 and wakes up only to nurse in those four or five hours, then he spends some awake time at night. Sometimes it is an hour then down for a catnap than back up, sometimes just up for one final push for an hour or two before bed. I really look forward to getting a little bit more of a routine so he can be a bit more predictable, but overall, things are going well.

 

 

4. Drew got his first cold earlier this week. I actually think he got it from me since I had been fighting something small for a week or two. He was congested and was having a hard day or two. One of the nights was really bad as far as sleep because of the cold and I was up a lot. But we have gotten back on track for the most part. Thank goodness for the Nose Frida sucker thing that has helped so much.

 

 

5. The boy is on the move! Well at least by car. He has gone everywhere with us -- to the grocery store, to school, to swim lessons, the park, the mall. You name it, he goes with us. I try to keep him covered and not to let him be touched much as he still is very young, but the life of the 3rd child clearly revolves around the older siblings. He is a trooper and done pretty well so far! 

 

 

6. Nursing is going well. He will eat anywhere from every 45 minutes to going 2.5 hours in between. It just all depends. I definitely produce hungry boys and he is no different! We have tried the bottle with pumped milk a few times and he does great with it. My goal is to keep this up so I can have a little bit of freedom if needed, but I will say it is hard to pump and nurse. In a few weeks I might see if he will take some formula -- just for those few occasions every week where it would be nice to use versus pumping/heating/etc. just to give him a bottle. Nursing in public while keeping up with the older two is definitely not easy, but we are hanging in there.

 

 

7. Drew is already wearing some 6 month clothes. Ha! But mostly he is in 3 month clothes. He wears sleepers to bed and I usually try to put him in short sleeve soft outfits during the day since it is already so hot here.

 

 

8. I caught Drew rolling over from stomach to back several times one day earlier this week and even got it on video. He hasn't done it really since then so not sure if it is a fluke or not. He likes being on his back on a quilt or his play mat (if he is full and not hungry) and to look around and watch his brothers play around him. He definitely already likes watching the fan above him too!

9. I got another grunter with this guy. Luke was a terrible grunter and Ben did it too although I don't think quite as bad. I think he has some tummy troubles at times. I use gas drops but I am not really sure they help. He burps a lot after nursing (more than either of my other two) and will usually spit up just a little bit after each nursing session.

 

 

10. Drew will sort of take a pacifier. I keep trying to train him and it is just hit or miss if he will take it. But when he does, it has definitely helped us at times. For instance when we were at soccer practice yesterday for 2.5 hours and it was raining and I didn't have anywhere to sit. He woke up and clearly wanted to nurse, but settled for the pacifier and went back to sleep. In those instances, I am so happy he did. It would have been hard to juggle all of that.

 

 

 

11. The boys are still in love with him and always want to hold him and help me! The best was them wanting to help me give him a bath last night. But really all I got was commentary and giggles on the size and shape of his penis. Boys will be boys!

 



My goodness I love these three!

(But I really hope to get more sleep soon...)

{Baseball Season is Over}

What a season! Luke's first baseball season in WULL was such a hit. He has clearly developed a love for the game just like his father. It has come very natural which has been so wonderful for him and Chat has loved sharing this passion. We have no idea how long it will last, but we are just enjoying it for the time being. He even has started to enjoy watching baseball on TV with Chat now -- counting the number of strikes and balls, etc.

 

Luke was so sad the season was over and is already talking about next year. We got so lucky this year with a great team -- even though only about four of the boys seemed interested. Five years old is a hard age to get super into anything! But overall, the team did great and really improved over the few months they played. Here are a few pictures from his final game....

 

I can't help it -- I just love how cute he looks in his uniform. He is definitely destined to play!

At his team party, he said his favorite part of baseball is "pitching".

The apple does not fall far from the tree!

 

He loved running the bases...especially when he got a 'home run'.

Chat worked with Luke on batting a bunch this season and he really improved. Look at that stance!

His best buddy Connor is moving away from the area so this will be the only season they will play baseball together. It is quite sad for us all!

The boys' had a great cheer section for their final game!

  

Luke's coach was awesome this year and would give the boys old baseball cards after each game. He would always give Luke old Cubs cards since he knew Chat and Luke had a love of all things Cubs!

After the last game, the boys got to throw water balloons on their coach. Biggest hit ever!! They had an absolute blast! They ended the day with "2,4,6,8 who do we appreciate?" chant for their coach.

Luke got his very own trophy at the end-of-season party. He was in love!

This was Luke's whole team with their trophies....

 

Then a silly picture with his coach!

 

The end-of-season party was great although I don't remember much of it because I was so tired. Drew had given me a run for my money the night before so I was in a daze. But Luke had a blast and everyone was sad it was over. But we have years ahead of us to enjoy baseball! Until next year!

{Last Day of School!}

It feels like it was just yesterday that the boys started school this year, but it is already over. Both boys will be heading to camp at school this summer, but then Luke will be off to Kindergarten in August. I feel like he just started and now he is already moving on to elementary school. He has had such a wonderful time here and is going to rock Kindergarten because of it!

 

First Day of School -- September 2014

Last Day of School -- May 2015

Hmmm...not the best pictures for the end of the year!

{Drew: Two Weeks Old}

Drew is two weeks old as of yesterday! We are slowly getting into a rhythm here at home although it is still a bit tricky since sleep is still hard to come by. But already it feels like Drew has been part of us forever and I couldn't imagine life without him. He is one sweet boy!

We headed to his pediatrician appointment today and he got a clean bill of health. He did great at his appointment -- he was awake and calm for the most part. He cried a bit when they pricked his heal to get blood for the newborn screening that was due, but other than that, he did well. After a quick nursing session, we were on our way within about 30 minutes. His stats at two weeks are:

10 pounds 2.4 ounces (88%)

21.65 inches long (88%)

Head circumference 14.57 inches (82%)

Drew is sleeping a lot still. He has awake time in the morning, sleeps all afternoon, then has one or two awake times in the evening/night before bed. I am lucky if he gives me a two hour stretch at night, so sleep at night is still very hard to come by. We have had two rough nights in a row that have made me very sleepy and struggling a bit, but the pediatrician said that babies have a growth spurt around two weeks old, so that isn't very unusual. I hope we have a better night tonight so I can recharge a bit. Late last week I moved Drew to his crib. He wasn't doing very well in the other little beds we had and I realized I was just moving him throughout the night with no rhyme or reason. He is doing pretty well in his crib and I sleep better when he is not right by me since he grunts all night long. We are swaddling him using a new type of blanket. It gives his arms some range of motion, but also keeps him from waking due to his startling reflex that all newborns have.

{Drew on his first walk}

{Captain Adorable}

He is nursing every hour to two and half hours during the day and gives us tons of wet and dirty diapers. Drew's umbilical cord finally fell off earlier this week, so I was able to give him his first official bath where he could be submerged in water (versus a sponge bath). He seemed to like it and do okay! He gives me very serious looks most days which is so funny to me. He burrows his eyebrows and will look very deeply at me. He might be our serious child! I see both Luke and Ben in Drew, but mostly he reminds me of Ben as a baby. We will see if that stays!

{First bath!}

The boys are still loving him so much! They always want to know where he is. They will kiss his little head and love to say good morning and good night to him. Unfortunately the boys are fighting a lot lately with each other  -- and that is our big problem. Since I am so tired, I have very little patience to hear them arguing. It is the one thing I really am not doing well AT ALL right now. So I have had a bit of a struggle keeping my cool with Luke and Ben. And then of course regret how I reacted to them later. I know this too shall pass, but I hate that my patience is running so thin. Luckily they are being great big brothers!

{Both boys still enjoy holding Drew}

{Being silly}

{Playing peek-a-boo!}

{At Luke's t-ball game!}

I am enjoying this time and trying to remember I will get more sleep soon. Handling all three during the day is going well -- probably because Drew is asleep usually the whole day. I know as he begins to 'wake up' more, that might become more challenging. We are already on the go a lot with him since I have to keep up with the big boys activities. It is good because it keeps me above water and in the 'land of the living' as I like to call it. Sometimes I can get very down if I stay home and just focus on how tired I am. The newborn stage has never been easy for me, but I am trying to enjoy it more this time around and remember these tiring days are few and far between.

{My serious boy}

{Sleep...it's what he does best during the DAY!}

We head back to the pediatrician at two months for immunizations, so until then, I hope we get a bit more rest and get even more settled as a family of five.