That Third Time I Got Mastitis...

It's my Achilles' heel in the childbearing process, apparently.

With each time though, I have more "mini-successes" or "little graces" that God provides at least. Like I got it during week three which is the latest I've had it before. Just as physically taxing as before, but much less "the whole wide world as I know it is ending" emotional stuff. It was much more annoying and just down right frustrating. More like, "Any how many more weeks until the six week mark?!" "I am so over this."

There was the new element of heading into the ER for this time, but it sounds much more exciting that it actually was. My doctor was out of the office for the day and I didn't want to wait another day to be looked at, so into the ER I went. We walked in around 9am and out by noon. I basically did there what I would have had to do over a few days time span with my OB. 

I did experience more pain this time because I attempted to do a natural remedy which probably would have helped if I had also tried to unclog the duct sooner. I attended to the fever but not its source. Lame. But next time {if there is one}, I'll be heading to the antibiotics right away. I'm that over it. And I picked my mom as my accountability partner for that so you know I mean business.

I leaned into friend support big time too since W was already back at work and my parents are in their most busiest time right now. Several friends made sure to let me know they were available to help which was so amazing! And I had a few friends take the boys over a series of days so I could truly do the "bed rest thing" like they always recommend. I have not been more grateful and thankful for our little community of friends than I was this past week. Life-savers, all of 'em. 

And there you have it... 

Clogged duct. 

Mastitis {Spawn of Satan}. 

Friends. 

Meds.

ER.  

Getting better.

Yay!

R & R Update

Pregnancy--- can totally do it

Birth-- sure, it's hard work, but I can do that too

Recovery-- I'd rather poke my eyes out and walk across burning coals

I've never been a good rester or recover-er. Just ask my mom and she'll bust out with, "You're just like your father!" It is so hard to just rest and do nothing. I just long for normalcy again and I miss my guys.

I have tried really hard this time around to truly rest and recover from birth. I think I'm doing fairly well. But after two kids, I'm realizing that nursing does not come naturally for me, or at least it's been a battle to establish while in recovery. Granted, with E, I took me a good month and a half of stressful labor and dedication to make nursing easy. This time around it was only a week--but it stilled seemed like eternity! Eternity in the breastfeeding trench: mastitis {again}, fever between 103 and 104, low supply, blood blisters, cracks, tears, scabs, soreness, sharp pain...well, you get the point. 

Enter God's grace: La Leche League

We had a leader come to our house. She spent 2 hours with me just working on our latch. I also went to a drop in session and a local meeting; all in an effort to get a good solid, pain-free latch. And I'm happy to report that we got a good latch, I'm not skittish about each feeding and the pain I'll be in, and what once took a good hour to get a full feeding in, is starting to take 40 minutes or less. And I've learned so much about breastfeeding in the process; much of what I'd heard before, just needed the reminder.

Guess something along the whole baby-making process had to take work and sacrifice to make it happen.

Everything else about recovery has been going super well. I don't feel exhausted, just tired. I try to nap everyday while W is still home and make short trips outdoors. Today, we took our walk to the library. 

So, we're all still here! Just needed some extra time to rest, recover, and get that nursing going strong! Part two of Theo's birth is coming soon, I promise! 

Because Pregnancy Wouldn't Be Complete...

without a 911 call. Seriously.

Last time it was for W passing out and this time for E. 

Some kids like to paint on walls while their moms are pre-occupied. Some get into your thick body cream and cover their faces, arms and legs. Mine? He rolls off of our sofa as I watch him from the kitchen while finishing up dinner. Unfortunately, he has fallen off of the sofa a few times already, but this time was obviously different. He was a bit hyper and had rolled with much gusto. After I picked him up, he passed out. I wasn't sure if it was a seizure, concussion, or just passing out from the shock/sobs not letting enough air in. He was out, stiff, with his eyes rolled back in my arms for a few seconds while I dialed 911 and tried to get him to respond. Then he came to, seemed momentarily disoriented, cried a bit and asked for his baby. 

By the time I was finished with the call, he was already talking about his 'owie'. W walked in shortly thereafter and E was acting normal albeit quieter; I just didn't want to put him down. The paramedics were already on their way so we figured they should just double-check.

Sure enough, it sounded like E had passed out from lack of air. We had 8 firefighters standing in our small family room, checking him out. They just asked questions and gave him a once-over. Then asked if he wanted to see the firetruck while letting me know "We need more boys!" and "You'll sure have your hands full" once they noticed I was pregnant. Such sweet, kind guys, I'll tell ya. It shook me up but the entire thing from when I picked him up to when the truck was leaving only lasted 30-45 minutes. We were eating dinner at our regular time.

Still a bit shell-shocked.

Honestly, it would be so nice if just one pregnancy could happen without emergency drama. It would be nice not to suffer a heart attack while growing a human. It's all this Mama asks for. Apparently, that's still asking too much...

Maybe I should just open a tub of lotion and put it right in front of him to play with next time I need a few minutes?

Too Soon, Tooth Fairy!

Apparently, it has been too delightfully boring and wonderfully normal around the Swenson house. Because Ezra cracked his tooth this week when he slipped on the wet floor from his knees while I was cleaning him up after dinner. I will not recount just how sad and torn up I was over the whole incident. W first called Kaiser and then our friend, Will the Orthodontist, to make arragements to see him the next afternoon.

 The following day the tooth was no longer stationary, so W left work early and we drove to the local office of the Alameda Pediatrics Dentistry to get it checked out, only to learn that this office is closed on Mondays. W called the emergency line and name-dropped Will with the Alameda office (which is about 30 miles away) and we made an appointment for as-soon-as-we-could-get-there and were on our way.

They examined E and decided the best thing for him was to extract the tooth. There was really no hope of salvaging it. My Knight stayed with Ezra during the quick procedure while I waited outside, trying not to cry in front of the handful of kids waiting for their appointments. The staff was so great at making us feeling comfortable and confident. One assistant shared how her little girl had two chipped teeth. And Dr. Perry {who has three grandkids of his own} was superbly helpful and professional. It went as smoothly as it could have.

Ezra was so wiped by the whole thing that he was out cold on the drive home. 

I finally found relief that evening during dinner while talking with W. I realized that I'd been carrying the weight of the incident and damaged tooth that whole day and night before. And I was so exhausted by it. I guess I was worried that he wouldn't be the same little cutie as before; that this had somehow changed who he was or tarnished his adorableness. But W had taken some pictures while I was at the grocery store and showed me that my worries were no longer needed.

Sure, his perfect little smile isn't so perfect anymore, but he is still that sweet, handsome, little fire-cracker with a larger-than-life personality that I know and love. He'd already bounced right back by evening and was all smiles and giggles for Papa. In fact, by early evening he seemed completely unfazed by the whole ordeal. Clearly, we were more traumatized than he was! He still cracks me up. He's still so snuggly. He's still our Ezra. And for that, I didn't want or need that burden anymore.

The wound will heal. We'll get use to the gap. None of this is permanent. W says it just makes him more like a big boy now, which I'm not too keen on, but guess I have to face the fact that he is growing up.

And I also have to face that not only is Ezra a boy, but he is a Swenson boy. I'd heard all of W and his brothers' horror stories before--I knew what I was getting myself and our future boys into when I married. ;) Ezra's cousin, Daniel, has already had his front tooth extracted. So, why was I so surprised?

 As Uncle John said to W, "Ezra, welcome to the Toothless Club!!!"

The Angels Are Singing...

What has been a full headache of a project for the past 2 years is finally completed!! Our garage is CLEAN!! It is with pride and relief that I present our garage. ;)(it's dark...not the point..notice..wide open spaces!!!)

It all began Sunday when we did our customary trip to Costco. We found a fabulous deal on metro storage shelving and just couldn't pass it up. W put the shelving together & worked so hard to stack all our crap..I mean meaningful boxes full of wonderful delightful things..on top. Once up we found one would not suffice. Come today: complex-wide garage sale!! We were able to get motivated enough to divide some of our crap into a sale-able pile. We were shocked when people bought it today!! ;) One person's crap, another person's treasure. It was great to make some $$ for once too. During this afternoon, W ran to Costco for another shelf unit...after 3 more hrs. of W's hard work & amazing-ness (while I went to a girlie movie) lo & behold: our CLEAN garage!! Yippie!! I don't even have any before pictures...thank goodness!! Unfortunately, W's truck is just too darn long to fit comfortably inside so we've decided to have our own personal "guest" parking for our visitors.

We would still love to clean out & throw away a few more of these shelved boxes, but we're just so excited to see our garage floor! :D (yes, it was THAT bad!) And we still need to sell our treadmill.

So far, we've successfully cleaned out our office/crap room, converted it into our guestroom... cleaned out our ex-guestroom, converted that into our nursery...and now our garage!! The last & final summer project step: our master bedroom & closet. Thankfully this won't be nearly as much as a project!!