This past week Max had his first illness, a cold courtesy of Gabe from last week, I suppose. For the most part it was a relatively mild illness. Neither Max nor I got the high fevers that plagued Gabe for two days and Dan for four. Joe and Maya next door had the fever too, with Maya setting the record high at 104 degrees. Max's temp never got above 100.0, which is technically not even significant for an infant.
Max's main problem was the stuffy nose, which made it difficult for him to nurse back to sleep. Luckily, it would usually subside after he was upright. He and I were very tired and must have slept through a couple of night feeds, leading to our second unfortunate milestone: my first mastitis with him!
I wasn't prepared for mastitis yet! With Gabe it didn't happen till he was 9 months old and eating other foods sometimes, leading to a milk supply greater than demand. In fact, I had decided that when Max was about 6 months old I'd go ahead and buy a breast pump and try to learn how to use it ... for when this inevitably happened again. You'd think a veteran of mastitis like me would have seen this coming. But then you'd also think that a veteran breastfeeding mom like me might have been able to train her breasts to feed a pump ... Not so. It seems they are either not smart enough to understand the technology, or otherwise too smart to be fooled into thinking that gizmo is a baby. I've always had more luck with manual expression than pumps.
On Friday afternoon I realized something was wrong with my right breast and immediately started trying to get him to nurse on that side more frequently. Even so, by Saturday morning, it had become large, swollen and painful. The edema got worse and worse during the day on Saturday until it finally completely prevented Max from being able to latch on at all! (At this point I felt the actual obstruction must be gone, and I was surprised since I had expected it to get better instead of worse!) Saturday night I was calling lactation consultants in a panic! I called four, and one returned the call. She referred me to kellymom.com, where I learned to do intermittent positive pressure softening, which involves basically manually pushing the edema back up into the breast so the baby's mouth can make contact with the milk sinuses. So after I molded this mass of inflamed tissue into something resembling a normal breast, he was able to use it again!
On Sunday morning I awoke with a clear blister on my nipple the size of a bb. After consulting my online resources, I decided to perform minor surgery on myself again. With mastitis with Gabe it was always a little white plug that I'd remove with a sterilized needle. I'd never seen a "bleb" before, but I lanced it anyway. I am still a bit sore, but getting back to normal!
Luckily Max has been willing to work with me through this. (Maybe it's because he has no choice, if he's hungry!) But I remember all the screaming when I had mastitis with Gabe. He would not take the right breast at all (yeah, it's always the right) until the swelling was gone, so that breast went from peak production to absolutely nothing, and I had to relactate on that side.
We have one more unfortunate milestone to add before we get to the fortunate ones: Max is starting to have some very painful teething. There are no observable teeth yet, but he is showing all the signs: drooling, gumming, etc. He is constantly sporting what my dad refers to as a "slobber goatee." At times he seems very uncomfortable. Poor Max!!
Despite all the discomfort, though, Max is still making progress and keeping up with his other milestones! He seems so eager to do things, and it feels like he is in a big hurry to grow up ... more so than Gabe was. Maybe he sees all the other kids around and senses competition! He is reaching for things, sometimes with success in grabbing them. If you hold him upright with his back against you he always tries to sit forward. He likes to practice standing and can "stand" upright for several seconds with minimal support. He is always active, observing, reaching, and wiggling. If someone engages him then turns away to speak to someone else, he makes a little noise to draw attention to himself so they will talk to him again!
I've been too preoccupied with illness lately to have many more stories to tell, although I realize I forgot to write about Gabe's first meeting with his new teacher at The Lighthouse. She is young, and I was afraid at first glance that she looked like a self-absorbed and snobby person. But I changed my mind immediately when she started to speak. She spoke animatedly and told Gabe how much fun second grade is! Her enthusiasm seemed genuine. The first thing Gabe said was, "Last year I quit going to school because I had a bad teacher." (No pressure or anything!) She asked him what he liked, and he told her, "Toys." She asked him if he was excited about starting school, and he didn't answer, because the answer would be no. Then he brightened and said that he was happy since it meant Christmas would be here sooner, and he was looking forward to getting toys on Christmas ... specifically a toy called "Sodom." Maybe not the best thing to tell your Christian school teacher! Dan tried to laugh that one off and explain that it was a video game character with an "unfortunate name." At the end she said she could tell it was going to be fun having Gabe in her class!
This week I finally got to use my "Space Bags," those big plastic bags that you put clothes/bedding in, seal, and vacuum out the air for storage. Fun! I put away some blankets, all my scrubs, skinniest skinny clothes, and Gabe's clothes arranged by size for Max.
Joe started school on Monday, but Gabe's little program doesn't start till next Tuesday. We'll see how that goes.
This week when I had a scratchy voice Maya said, "Amy, you sound like a witch ... Amy, are you human?" This is the same child who, on seeing my new haircut, told me, "Amy, your hair looks crazy!" Usually, though, Maya is full of compliments. I'll step outside in an ugly men's t-shirt, and she notices that it is "new" and tells me it is "beautiful!"
Well, yesterday Dad went to a dermatologist at the medical center, backed the volkswagen into an "abutment," and knocked out the windshield. He'd already had it repaired, though, by the time he got home.
I guess that's all for this week! After publishing this blog mid-sentence several times, I've finally finished it. (Now to add a few more pictures.)
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