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The busy weekend continued yesterday. After my short but sweet date night Friday night, I had a jam packed day to follow. I had two parties to attend, with baby girl. But I was going it alone, no trusty husband by my side for companionship, but more importantly, for help!
Off I went to the first party, chipper and happy. Husband packed up the car for me and then headed off to his cousin's bachelor party. The first party was a breeze, Evie slept through it. I put clicked her back into the carseat and off we went. Next stop, my mom's house.
I picked up the two trays of desserts I made (and had dropped off earlier) for the next party. I was starting to feel a bit tired, but I pushed any thoughts of fatigue out of my mind. We arrived to the most adorable 1st birthday party ever. Little Greyson probably won't remember it, but thank goodness our family took about 1,000 pictures to jog his memory later!
With my mom's help, managing Evie was a breeze. Chasing after my nephew, was a different story! The kid has energy! The party was at a huge (and gorgeous) local park. My sister, 8 months pregnant and riddled with thyroid issues, was in no position to climb, run, and chase after the tireless Danny. So my mom and I took turns, with my sister joining in for a shift when we could no longer dissuade her.
While running after Danny, I noticed I felt weird. Still, I told myself I was probably getting tired...after all, I'm not used to this! My baby is stationary, silently napping, and sweet. Danny was a ball of energy, but just as sweet as ever. While pushing him on the swings he looked up at me with a big grin and said, "Aunt Jennie, I love you." Melt. My. Heart.
You can see how a strange rumbling in my tummy was easily ignored.
At about 4am, there was no ignoring whatever was attacking my insides. Getting sick from both ends, husband had to step up big time. But we needed more help.
We called in the best and cheapest healthcare in the country, my wonderful Aunt. She is a nurse of 30+, specializing in maternity care and newborns. Um, jackpot. After some sound advice over the phone and some soothing words...Brian took care of his brand new family. This was not her first session with us. She has given us countless hours of over the phone care, and even more impressive, house calls (we live an hour away!)!
Figuring out that neither of his girls had fevers, husband got right to work. He knows I love the smell of fresh sheets and so he changed everyone's bedding for me (typically my chore since he hates doing it). He kept insisting that I drink plenty fluids, did all but pour them down my throat, and did all the dirty jobs associated with baby girl. He encouraged me when I felt too week to nurse to keep doing a great job. He held out a barf bag for me and didn't back away once and the sight and smell of things.
Now that I'm feeling good enough to sit up in bed to type and think, I am remembering so much of the beginning with Evie that used to be just hazy memories. The first few days my medical team consisted of my Aunt and my husband. What a team. My Aunt, and her infinite knowledge and wisdom in the field, helped us tremendously. I would not be breast feeding today without her. She taught me how to get baby girl to latch on properly, how to encourage good feedings, and how to relieve cracked, bleeding, and sore nipples. She saved me from reaching for the can of formula, which to me, appeared to be the easy out.
This is how great my healthcare provider is...she blamed herself for not arriving sooner to the hospital to prevent my nipple issues (despite knowing I was receiving care there). She stayed with me all night our first night home from the hospital. She held my hand each and every time I winced during the first few latch ons. She told me stories about raising her son, and about helping my cousin's go through this too. She reminded me how lucky I am to have a little girl, she always wanted a daughter. She held my baby close and told her how much she loved her.
