Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down - #13

Up:

• I have the best husband ever. You'll see that a lot has been going on with me from the 'downs' and I've had to rely a lot on Mike to take over the parenting role this weekend. He let me get a full night's rest, went grocery shopping, bathed and bedded Jackson, and took Jackson to church this morning. That is a lot for Mike when it is a college football weekend! Anyway, he is the greatest!
• Our little girl is growing so much! Kennedy is already outgrowing her newborn outfits. She must be growing a lot because she is still sleeping a lot. I'm not complaining though; she is a more peaceful, relaxed baby than Jackson was. I think it's true what they say - the Lord only gives you what you can handle. She isn't even two weeks old though, so I may be speaking up too soon! 
• My parents flew home on Friday, but I seriously couldn't have made it the past couple of weeks without their help. They cooked meals, took care of both children while I rested, ran a bunch of my errands, let Mike and I go out to a movie...the list is endless. I appreciate their help so much as we transitioned from a family of three to four!

Down:

• Breastfeeding makes it's appearance for the second week in a row. If there are any male readers, you may want to skip over this! So things were going fairly well right after Kennedy was born, but then she decided to feed every hour (which is really like every half hour since you count from the beginning of the feeding). Anyway, my nipples became raw and blistered and I decided I couldn't do this again, I was just going to pump. Once I began pumping, I realized why she was feeding so often. My damaged breast (from a breast abscess I developed with Jackson) was only producing at most an ounce, so she wasn't getting enough to eat. That's when I decided to switch to formula and just pump to wean my breastmilk production. Wouldn't you know that early Friday morning I developed mastitis. I went to the doctor and had a 103.1 fever and a heart rate of 129. The doctor also noticed a place on the damaged breast in a different area that is at risk for developing an abscess - seriously! They gave me IV fluids to get my heart rate down and sent me home with Motrin and Antibiotics along with a slew of home remedies to dry up my milk supply. Since then I've been drinking this AWFUL sage tea every 6 hours, constantly keeping cold cabbage leaf compresses on my breast, B6 for engorgement, and pumping. It is exhausting, but I am starting to feel better and hopefully by this time next week it will only be a memory.

Jackson riding in his wagon to get the mail with MiMi & PaPa.

Kennedy relaxing in her swing.

Boo! Happy Halloween!