I have never been a huge fan of souvenirs from trips or vacations. Although, I understand that they can help with sentimental reflections, I've always preferred relying on photos and memories. This is particularly true with the latest trip that we took to California. It was Emmett's first flight and time being away from home. My brother married a wonderful woman who my entire family adores. Despite all of the wonderful memories created by this trip I HATE the souvenir we brought back with us- a cold/flu bug that Emmett and I had a really hard time shaking!
I started feeling ill the day of my brothers wedding, a sore throat that was on fire and horrible congestion. While I was getting ready for the wedding, I sent Todd to Whole Foods to get me some lozenges and medicine. By the end of the night, I was hitting my Dad up for Sudafed which he miraculously had a stash of in his suit pocket. The next day, I headed to the regular pharmacy to ask the pharmacist which medicine was safe for a nursing mother to take, she recommended Advil Cold & Sinus. By the time we left California the following morning, I had the full blown flu and felt horrible. Unknowingly, I had also created a serious problem for myself on top of being sick- I took multiple decongestants and menthol lozenges, all of which are known to dry up a nursing mother's milk supply. Our first day home, I noticed a significant reduction in my milk supply. For the first time since he was born, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to provide enough food for my baby. This coupled with Emmett being much more needy than normal and wanting to eat non-stop lead to complete panic about my diminished capacity to feed my baby.
I have to say, that being sick and not being able to take any medication is really awful. But do you know what is worse? Having a sick 10 week old that you know is feeling as poorly as you do, who can't tell you how he is feeling or what is bothering him. It was a horrible experience. Luckily, Todd pretty much just stayed away from the two of us so he didn't get sick. This enabled him to do crucial things for Emmett and I, like go and get me a nursing supplement so that my milk supply increased back to normal production and get food for me so that neither of us starved. I also researched a few things that I could and did do for Emmett to speed up his recovery:
- Aspirate his nose with salt water so that it was clear and not congested. (VERY unpleasant for both of us.)
- Place him in a steam filled room for 10+ minutes to help him breathe easier. (He liked this one.)
- Keep nursing him no matter how poorly I felt. When a mother is ill the antibodies her body is creating pass to the child so that he recovers quicker than if his developing immune system had to create them on his own.
- Colostrum- the initial milk that a mother produces if filled with immune boosting agents and anti-bodies. At the suggestion of our doula, I froze two feedings of this for an occasion just like this.
At this point, Emmett is feeling better- the gummy grin that greets me each morning and through out the day is what I am basing this on. I am still mildly congested, but beyond that I seem to be finally recuperating. The only real lingering issue is that either the cold or the traveling seems to have thrown Emmett's wonderful sleep schedule all out of whack! He is still sleeping 7+ hours through the night, but for some reason he thinks that his night starts around 11 pm. His napping is still great during the day, but come 8 pm he just wants to hang out with Mom and Dad and not sleep like he used to. One day, he will understand that anything after 7 pm is supposed to be Mom and Dad ONLY time.
On a more positive note, our little buddy has started rolling over! Todd laid him down for tummy time one night while I was making dinner and BAM. He just started going...and he hasn't stopped since! Right now it is just tummy to back rolling (thank god!) Check out the video below of our little guy rollin'.
Also, we received our DVD of Emmett's newborn photo session from Kristen Honeycutt. I can't believe how little he was! Or how big he has gotten!! Below are a few additional photos from the session and a link to the album on Snapfish for those of you who would like to order photos:
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