Pyloric Stenosis

For anyone who does not know what Pyloric Stenosis is, in simple terms, it is when the part connecting the stomach and intestines is too thick to let anything pass which is what causes baby to vomit a lot.

With my son it was very hard to tell because when I got my milk supply up more he gained a lot more weight and everyone was saying "it's just the normal spit up." But from the very first time he "spit up" so much, I was worried, but everyone said it was normal...

Let me tell you, it was troublesome. I had to have a towel under him all the time. Always worried about when he slept because sometimes he might choke on the vomit laying down. Constantly being covered in his "spit up"... just wasn't normal. So the one week where he lost a lot of ounces, we took him to the ER and they actually checked him out that time. This was about a month after the first time we took him in.

They found out what he had and we were transferred to a hospital that was an hour and a half away for his surgery.  I went with him in the ambulance because only one of us could go, and Anthony arrived sometime after his surgery.

I remember just seeing him right before the surgery and how bad he looked. At that point it was really bad and I'm glad we got him in when we did. He kept vomiting up brown stuff even though his stomach was empty. He had to have IV fluids to stay hydrated.

After his surgery he just couldn't move and he had such a weak cry I just wanted to keep holding him and not put him down. The nurse had to help me hold him because he was hooked up to a bunch of stuff and because he was still sore and I didn't want to hurt him.

Luckily he was looking better the day after his surgery and has not vomited since. So I am glad!

For anyone struggling or going through this process with a baby who has Pyloric Stenosis; it can get better! I know it's a difficult and scary time, but in the end it can be all better and that's the good thing ♥

On another note; my milk supply went down a lot during the stay in the hospital... but that's another story.

My son the day after his surgery.

It Has Been TOO Long

Hey everyone,  for those of you who were following my blog, I deeply applogize! I never stayed up with it!

Anyway A LOT has changed so I'm going to try and get us all caught up by summarizing the important stuff.

First things first, we found out my son had Pyloric Stenosis when he was about two months old and before that he was "spitting up" a lot, at least that's what doctors told us. ..but when he lost a bunch of weight in a week was when we took him to the hospital again and they finally checked him and found he had pyloric stenosis.

We had to be transported an hour and a half to another hospital where he would have his surgery.

So during the time we went in which was about 1:30pm until after we were transported and in our room which was about 2am...I could not breastfeed and didn't have a pump! Before he had to have surgery I had gotten my supply up to where I wanted but there it all went... it dropped. So sad.

Anyway...I will expand on the pyloric stenosis hospital stay in future post! Just want to get you guys caught up.

All in all, afterwards he has not vomited at all! So that is good, but he kept losing weight... because my supply wasn't going up! We didn't notice until a month after and so we had to supplement at that point and now...RIGHT now I can only feed him once in the morning...that's the only time he will nurse. :( and I will expand on this later as well.

Another new thing is that we have a new house! It was the house we wanted to begin with when we moved to Pennsylvania.  It is so much nicer!! Also will expand later on this. :)

Then, finally, my baby boy is going to be five months this month and I can't believe it!!

Time really flys!

Sorry again to everyone!  I will be working  on the posts to expand these topics and hopefully have them posted within the week! :)

Have a great day!

Week Five Postpartum

Ok, so I just managed to post my last weeks post today! (I know that was really late.) I even forgot to take postpartum pictures,  but oh well. Things happen.

So we've reached week five and as far as healing goes, I've stopped bleeding completely as I may have actually mentioned in my last post, but it's continued to stay that way so that's good! My stomach still feels a bit mushy but nothing like it was the first week after birth. My organs are probably still trying to move back in place.

As far as Angelo goes, he's already over 11 lbs as of two days ago! And he has been working on his neck muscles with tummy time. He's doing extremely well at it. But today we were supposed to have a pediatrician appointment and we slept over by a few minutes!  I thought we'd make it for sure, but nope! I had to reschedule which is a pain in the butt because our doctor is filled until August...and he seems to ALWAYS be booked. So I rescheduled with another doctor for July 5th but I think I'm going to have to reschedule that as well...Ugh.  It's pretty frustrating...

In other news, I'm officially a pampered chef consultant!  Just got signed up today so I'm hoping to do well with that and earn us some extra money. And the good thing about it is I can do it all from home. There's a way to do facebook parties and all I need is to have people willing to host.  They're completely free and the hosts get benefits as well. So if anyone comes across this and is interested, LET ME KNOW!  I can set you up. :)

As far as things go with this house we are renting...I'd say not so well...most places want you to have good credit before renting. And we are still looking but I still can't wait to get out of here...

Anyway, postpartum pics.. (sorry forgot to take them).

BY THE WAY, SO SORRY GUYS. I HAD THIS WRITTEN AND NEVER POSTED IT. I ALSO APOLOGIZE FOR NOT POSTING IN SO LONG. TIME FOR ME TO CATCH UP!

Week Four Postpartum

Alright,  so we've reached week four already! Not quite a month, but just about!  Time is seriously flying by SO fast.

For most of the week, we've been in NY visiting Anthony's family. We arrived Saturday night and were supposed to leave Sunday night or Monday morning, but turns out we left Wednesday night.

While we were in NY, we went to a few gigs to see Duncan Holmes (a blind pianist) and Anthony's dad, Jim (the drummer) play at some nursing homes and they've played in other places in the past. Pretty sure they've got some recordings on youtube. Here's one of their videos from last year. (I think I'm even in that one somewhere.) But anyway all the nursing home residents adored Angelo! So sweet.

But anyway we had fun and saw a few friends. Angelo had fun meeting everyone. Anthony got a major haircut. I got a trim. And Angelo keeps growin and growin and growin...

Anyway, as for my own healing progression, I found out that I weigh 145 lbs now and pre-pregnancy I was 135 lbs. Then again, I've got a lot of extra boob weight that I never had before, so that might be it.

Also, my postpartum bleeding has pretty much finished now! So yay!

I've been feeling really good. Not having to wake up as much during the night, but I feel like it's making me feel more tired when I do have to wake up. So if anything, I only feel tired.

As for Angelo, he's growing well, but he's still a bit jaundice. Really hoping it'll go away soon...

Last night, I decided to try out some fake nails cause they're a bit easier than painting the nail. I've just got to get used to the length of the nails because I normally keep mine short. But so far I do like them and they look nice. Might as well do something fun for myself when I can. Even if it's just something small and simple. I'm sure other moms understand. ;)

Andddd I'd like to inform you all that I am probably going to be making a future post about cloth diapering whenever we really get into it. Right now it's kind of part time because we don't have our own washer and dryer. And having no washer and dryer can make cloth diapering difficult.

Now, I apolpgize as I always do for my disorganized posts. I'm kind of writing this the night before I post it and just want to get it out of the way and have it ready for you to read by week four (tomorrow). But if you all would rather me organize my posts better from now on because it annoys you or whatever, let me know!  You're my veiwers and I'd like to make as many people happy as possible. :)
Thank you.

Sorry! Posted this a week late (June 16th) which was totally umplanned and don't have pictures this time! :(

Week Three Postpartum

So my baby is already three weeks! Time seems to be going pretty fast now,  and he's grown so much! As of yesterday,  Angelo weighs 9 lbs 14.5 oz. So he's growing very well. He still has a bit of jaundice in his eyes, but I think it's better than it was the first week. Hopefully it'll be going away soon.

Most of the week has just been extremely HOT. Especially earlier in the week. We only had our front two windows open because the others were hard to open with the paint. Eventually Anthony got them open though, so our house has been so much cooler. Yeah, upper 90 degree weather is no fun when you've got no A/C.

Anyway, I've still been doing well. Definitely not depressed, and just a bit tired at times. But I'm getting a lot more used to everything.

Physically, I have no idea if I've gotten any smaller. Lol. I feel like I've been the same since postpartum day 5...but I'll continue with the pics anyway.

Before I end this short post I'll share something hilarious from this week: About two or three days ago I was changing Angelo's diaper, and as I'm changing him he shoots poop out and it gets ALL over me. I bursted out laughing after that. It was hilarious even though it was very messy. So you can say, I've gotten used to the "grossness" of everything. He had a bath right after and I changed my clothes and got myself cleaned up while he did that. I totally wasn't expecting it to happen either! But sure is a funny story to share.

Anyways,  I know this post was short but I guess we didn't have as much goin on this week. Until my one month post!

Here's week three postpartum pics:

Week Two Postpartum

Small update from last week; Turns out, I was just tired that one day because I haven't felt down since, which is good. So I guess I don't have baby blues or postpartum depression. So that is really good...I was almost scared that I'd get something, but nope! :)

So far two weeks has passed but I think it feels longer! Little Angelo is already around 9lbs! So he's still getting enough to eat for sure. Been getting more used to nursing and I can tell the difference between when he's hungry and when he just needs a diaper change now.

As far as sleeping goes, he sleeps pretty well. Occasionally there's days where he won't sleep for a few hours(usually between 6-9 pm) no matter how much I try....but eventually it happens.

As for myself, I've been feeling good. My boobs aren't sore at all anymore, and my bleeding is slowing down. Also, my tear no longer stings. Just feels a little itchy at times. But I don't feel uncomfortable to sit in a chair for a long time anymore.  So I know for sure that I've made progress.

Wednesday morning we actually went to the midwife to have the newborn screening done and then after that we went to our pediatrician appointment; but I had to call and reschedule because we were late and thankfully they still let us in because the next opening wasn't until July! But anyway, we met the doctor and he was awesome! I did a good job chosing for the fact that all I did was look at reviews online to see who looked like a good doctor. But turns out he's better than we expected and not the type of doctor to pressure you into things like vaccines which is pretty much one of the first things he said he doesn't do (some doctors will tell you to get out if you don't choose to vaccinate). So we're happy with the choice I made. (:

On another note, these past two days  have been nearly 100 degrees outside!! And we only have two windows that open upstairs and no A/C. But today I realized A LOT of heat was coming from the attic which wasn't closed off because when the inspector came awhile back, the door for the attic kind of disappeared. So Anthony got some boxes to close it off and that helped a bit. But seriously, every time I passed it, it felt like hot hot air from an oven! The heat has really not been too fun...but we should be moving hopefully by end of June. HERE'S TO HOPING!

Gotta say though, it's pretty amazing how much things have changed in just a few days. My body has made progress way faster than I ever expected, and Angelo is already getting bigger and bigger! It's just all happening so fast!

Now for week two postpartum pictures!

Week One Postpartum

So, It's already been a week since Angelo was born! And you're wondering how him and I are doing?

Well...

We are doing great! :)
When we first brought him home I had some trouble latching him on to eat, but later that day he latched on perfectly. It seemed frustrating at first...but being that it was only difficult for a few hours, I was surprised.  And thankful.

Changing diapers; his first poops were thicker and harder to wipe up and he's peed on us a few times. But over time his poop wasn't as bad and it's actually very easy to clean. Also, having never changed a diaper in my life before,  I'd say I've become a pro! ;) One plus side to breastfeeding is that their poop doesn't smell bad! Hooray! Honestly this is a lot easier than I expected.

For myself, when I go pee I use the peri bottle which feels pretty nice and then pat dry and put on a new pad. The first day I had the worst bleeding and after that it became more like a period and now it's like a very light period. As each day passes I've noticed my stomach is a whole lot smaller!(will post a pic for one week postpartum at the end) Gotta say I am absolutely surprised at how fast my stomach (more like uterus) has shrunk.

Another thing I've done is the sitz bath. It feels sooo good and I'm glad we have it because we don't have a bathtub. My healing thus far has been good. I can walk normally and probably could do more things (although I'm not cause really I'm not supposed to do a whole lot of anything yet).

After about a day or two my boobs were SO engorged they felt like they were gonna overflow (which really is what started happening). That is the sign my milk has come in. And my nipples were very sore up til after the first day my milk came in. I've been using the"Motherlove" nipple cream which has been fine for me since my nipples really weren't that bad anyway. Now that I've been nursing a few days it doesn't really hurt.

When I first started, and he first latched to start nursing at each session, it was a very strong pulling sensation and I literally could feel the oxytocin like taking over my body! Also, the uterus contracting felt like period cramps while I nursed. Now, I don't really feel any of that. Which makes it a bit easier and more comfortable for me.

About a day or two ago he started to spit up a bit. And I was worried he wasn't eating enough. I started burping him more which has helped a lot, and because I think my milk is fast it sometimes goes faster than he can swallow so giving him a little break between has also helped.

As far as growth goes, my nurse weighed him Friday and he was 7lbs 6oz so he lost a bit of weight which is normal. She came by again on Tuesday and he weighed 8lbs 1oz which is wow! So we definatly knew he was getting enough milk.

As far as any depression or baby blues goes, I've got none. I've actually felt happier now! Occasionally I get more emotional but that's it. Gotta say I'm surprised on that too cause I had gotten a few down days during pregnancy and being that postpartum depression is common, I thought I'd have it...but so far so good!! :)

[Small update: I wrote all this during the day yesterday,  but actually last night I was a lot more tired than I had been and it made me really frustrated and cranky and emotional....and I think I may be developing slight baby blues because it's not severe enough to be depression. So gotta keep an eye on it. Also I skipped my usual nap yesterday and gonna try to get more sleep today and see if it helps.]

And as far as anything goes...I feel amazed at what my body was capable of in order to have this baby. Thinking back, it really does get so much harder to remember. And having experienced it, I know I would do it again as most all women always say.

Now time for week one postpartum pictures. :) As you might see, I've also gotten a few stretch marks that didn't show up until near the end of my pregnancy.