More with the updates.

[rivka]

Alex gained five ounces between Monday and today. Poor little baby, she must have been starving. We are all doing the happy dance about her weight gain, including her pediatrician.

We continue to think that it's reflux. After about half her feedings, she's in obvious pain - screaming, arching her little back, stiffening. It's different from her normal cry in tone, and also it doesn't ramp up from whimpering - she can be relaxed and calm, almost asleep, and then instantly be screaming. That really seems like pain.

Her pediatrician agrees. He says that Zantac is such an innocuous medication that there's no problem with a trial to see if it helps, so he called in a prescription. She'll get drops three times a day. He said that if it works for her, we'll see results in 3-5 days... so the rest of this week is probably going to be very long indeed.

We worked out a plan with the lactation clinic, seconded by the pediatrician, to start working breastfeeding back into the equation. I'm going to start out nursing at every other feeding, alternating with bottles (and continuing to pump), and we'll increase the percentage of breastfeeding once we're sure she's feeding well from the breast. I'll take her to the lactation clinic twice a week to be weighed.

The news with my health is not so good. We went to the midwife today to follow up on my mastitis. When I took out my breast to show her my lump, there was a bright red patch the size of my hand on the opposite side from the lump, and a new lump starting in the red area. That shouldn't be possible on antibiotics, so it pretty much confirmed that whatever bug I have is resistant to the dicloxicillin I've been taking. So now I'll be on Keflex. The midwife warned me that I'll probably continue to run temperatures for another day or two. And of course, my breast will still hurt.

I've got calls in to a couple of friends from church to see if they can come over and sit with Alex and me for a few hours during the day, tomorrow and Friday. It's just very hard to handle Alex's pain episodes, plus pump multiple times a day, plus take care of things like eating, showering, and putting hot compresses on the mastitis, when I'm all by myself. And Michael really, really needs to get back to the office. So I'm trying to be good and ask for help.

We're also heading out to Babies R Us tonight to buy a swing. Alex is unimpressed with her bouncy seat, but she does like to be swung back and forth in her carseat. If a swing can help soothe her, we'd be willing to pay almost any price.

Comments

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

I think you're doing a great job of dealing with everything, and I hope the new drugs kill the bugs for you.