Friday, February 13, 2009

Journal notes from the week Malachi was born.

Monday: Came home today. The extra day in the hospital gave me a little time to rest, which was nice. Still, during the day I was so bored. I was happy that Amanda came by to visit Sunday—everyone else had shown up right after the birth, and I loved that, too… but once they left, I got bored pretty quickly! Wayne stopped by, too, but didn’t stay long, because he was working on getting the furnace in before we came home so we wouldn’t have to depend on the space heaters. It was a tough job, thanks to a few complications, but he got finished just in time. I’m so grateful! The house is nice and warm—and it’s a good thing, because it’s awfully cold outside! 
11 PM: Before we left the hospital today, the on-call doctor had told us that Malachi had a little bit of blood in his urine. He said it wasn’t a big deal, but to just be aware of it, keep an eye on it, and call our doctor if we saw any more. Tonight, there was one small red spot in his wet diaper. Since it was after hours, I called the night nurse at the maternity ward for advice. She seemed to think it could wait, especially since it was such a small amount, and Malachi doesn’t seem to be in any discomfort. She said if we saw any more, or if he gets a fever or seems ill, to bring him in. Otherwise, just wait until our regular check-up at our doctor's office. I’m trying not to freak out. 
Tuesday: Yikes, this little boy has a hard suck. Ouch. My milk hasn’t come in yet, still colostrum, but nursing is starting to be really painful. Toe-curling, nipple-pinching, barely tolerable pain… seriously. But as I recall, it should pass in another day or two. I’d forgotten how much the first few days hurt! Still, it’s so darn cute the way he curls up in a little ball against my tummy while he’s eating. He’s so tiny! And when did Sage get so big? He seems HUGE in comparison to Malachi! 
9 AM: The nurse at the doctor’s office thinks the blood in the diaper is nothing to worry about, either, but she changed our appointment to tomorrow so we won’t have to wait until Friday to see the doctor. I appreciated that. 

Wednesday: 3 AM this morning, another red spot in his diaper. Called the Dr.’s office, left a message. Called the nurse at the hospital again. She says to call the Doctor’s office when it opens and take him in to be seen sooner, “if you’re worried about it.” Of course I’m worried! But I suppose I can wait until our appointment at noon…

Whew! My doctor explained that the red spot in the wet diaper wasn’t blood, just a chemical reaction from the concentrated urine (Malachi was a little dehydrated) with something in the diaper absorbent stuff. Apparently, it’s not uncommon with newborns wearing disposable diapers. Wish the nurses had mentioned that! But maybe they didn’t know. 
Still, it’s good that we brought him in anyway, because Malachi was looking jaundiced and was dehydrated, so the doc wanted some blood tests done. That sucked. They had to take the blood from his arm, and that needle seemed so big! He screamed through the whole thing. I felt so awful for him, my poor little baby! His crying makes my mothering instinct kick into overdrive, and I just felt like ripping the nurse’s head off for hurting him. Literally. I had this strong urge to physically attack her, to protect him. In my head, I knew it wasn’t her fault, and she wasn’t really harming him, but it was still tough to keep that “mama cougar” feeling under control and be polite! I don’t think anyone understands that until they become a mother. I’m not even sure Wayne understands how strongly Malachi’s cries affect me! How can any mom use the “cry it out” method?? I’d go crazy!!! 
On a side note, my milk came in today. It’s still really painful to nurse, though, so I think I might check the La Leche League website for an idea of when this should pass. I really don’t remember breastfeeding hurting this much with the other 3! 
Thursday: Malachi’s bilirubin count was a little high yesterday, so we need to put him under a special blue-spectrum light, called a bili light. We picked it up this morning. It actually turned out to be kind of a wrap-around, fiber-optic blanket thing. We’ll keep it on him as much as possible during the next 24 hours, and then have another blood test to see if his bilirubin count is down enough. 
I went to the LLL website after another painful feeding. They say nursing isn’t supposed to hurt, and they give directions for positioning the baby so he can latch on correctly. I’m skeptical that such a minor change will help, but it can’t hurt. I’ll give it a shot at his next feeding. 
Friday: Wow. Wow. A slight change in positioning, and suddenly, breastfeeding doesn’t hurt. I mean, at all! I’m wondering if LLL has an apology hotline. Skeptics like me can call up and say, “You were right. I’m sorry for ever doubting you.” And they can say, “We told you so!” 
Back to the lab for another blood test this afternoon. They only took a few drops from his heel this time, so no huge needle, thank goodness! His bilirubin count is right down where it should be, and all is well. Whew, I’m so glad that’s over! I’ve been so stressed this week. Thank God for my wonderful, caring husband, and all three of our other wonderful, helpful kids.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

What Happened?

Wow. Time has flown. Our baby boy is almost two months old already! He was born on December 13 at 6:06 PM. He weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19.5 inches long (the nurses actually told us 20.5, but when he was measured at the doctor's office 5 days later, he was 19.5, so we figured someone made a mistake in the delivery room when measuring. I doubt he shrunk, lol).
We named him Malachi... after the priest in the bible, not after the boy in Children of the Corn (lol).
He's a pretty easygoing baby, and he's already sleeping 4-6 hours at night, so I'm very thankful for that! (Now, if I could just get my sleep schedule back on track...)
I'd post more, but I've been keeping a sort of informal journal offline... more like a few notes here and there about how things have been going. It'll be easier if I just type them up and post them next. :-)