Life with Tucker has been wonderful. I wouldn't say that we've settled into a routine or anything though, because our days and nights are exhausting still. Little man lost 20% of his birth weight, which is an absolute shit ton. We went back to the hospital for weight checks the Monday and Tuesday after he was born. The weight check on Tuesday resulted in a 3.2 oz gain.. and admittance to the peds floor for 2 nights for jaundice. This mama was an absolute mess due to exhaustion, hormones and just feeling bad. I couldn't help but feel like I was responsible for him feeling bad, but there wasn't really anything I could do. Plus the pediatrician that broke the news to me, over the phone during a rare nap, had about 0 tact when he did it.
After a night and half the next day on the bili-bed, Tucker's levels went down about as quickly as they went up and we were home Thursday afternoon. So, that was his first week of the outside world.
During the first weight check, the lactation consultant put us on a feeding schedule to help put the weight back on. Tucker eats every 2-3 hours. He was nursing for 10 minutes and no more than 10 to conserve calories then he would eat an ounce through a syringe. This require me to pump at every feeding, even the ones during the wee hours of the night. We even did this when he was on the bili-bed, without the 10 mins of nursing to maximize time under the lights. Now that he's gaining so well and has gotten up to 6 lbs again, we're nursing as long as he wants then giving him no less than 1.5 oz. I'm happy to say he is nursing like a champ and as of this past Saturday, he has 4.2 ounces to go until he reaches birth weight. I'm hoping at that point we can let him sleep during the night. The kid would sleep at least 4 or 5 hours if we let him. But we can't.
Tucker has been a champ during our outings. We've been to Lowe's, Target, and out to eat a couple of times. We even went to church Saturday evening and he maybe made one peep when his paci fell out of his mouth then again when he wanted his bottle. Other than that, perfect!
Onto this doctors appointment I talked about. I've been in serious pain for the last week. Not the post partum pain. But pilonidal cyst pain. Its basically a cyst in the tailbone region, you know, the part of your ass that you sit on... and that you sit on a lot when you have a kid attached to your boob every 2-3 hours every day. Sometimes these cysts get infected and they hurt. They hurt bad. I had one of these when I was a senior in high school and had is surgically removed and this is where this gets gross. When you have it surgically removed, the hole has to be left open and packed with gauze twice a day so it can heal from the inside out. Worst pain of my entire f'ing life. I'm talking I was on hydros, with a pain patch while that thing was being numbed with lidocaine. That bad. My mom always said that after going through that, childbirth would be a breeze. She was right. Granted, I had an epidural, but I felt contractions at all 10 centimeters. I'm hoping and praying surgery isn't my only option. That would be a shitty Christmas, a shitty maternity leave, and likely no more breastfeeding since I'd have to be pretty doped up all day everyday. There are easier procedures that are still painful but not as invasive. I'm kinda just hoping the doc can give me some antibiotics to clear up the infection and we'll be good. I've been taking Epsom salt baths and they seem to be drawing the infection out. We'll see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I've literally been crying off and on since Thursday because that surgery scares me that bad. Anyone have any experience with these awful things? I need to hear about it.
That's how things have been going so far. I can't believe that Tucker will be 3 weeks old this week. Absolutely crazy! I'll get his newborn pics up sometime. We got them back on Friday and ooooh they are adorable. We couldn't get many because he wasn't loving being nakey, but we got enough :) here's a little preview
Such a sweet picture! I will be thinking about ya'll-- keep us updated!
ReplyDeleteSo happy he is gaining back his weight and I will be praying for you that there is some advance in medical technology and you won't have to go through all that pain with the cysts again. Hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas!!!
ReplyDeleteThose stinkin' lights always look so awful! I remember being so relieved when Harper finally got off of them. Hope you get to avoid surgery!! Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I am so sorry to hear you are going through all of this! I'm super glad that Tucker is doing better! I hope and pray that you get better soon too! Fingers crossed for no surgery! Can't wait to see the newborn pics! Too cute! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteLove love that picture! Really hope surgery isn't necessary...hang in there!
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