Big Sister

Nadia is definitely growing into her role of big sister. She hasn't been acting jealous lately, and she's been showing Ian affection in several ways. It was 100% her idea to give him kisses and to give him blankets last week. She likes to hold him and she often waves to him and says "hi" to him throughout the day. Yesterday on more the one occasion when he was crying, she tried to console him. When he was screaming in his car seat on the way to the doctor's office, she was leaning in his direction and saying very sweetly "Ian, Ian, Ian." Awwww it just melts my heart to see her being loving to her baby brother!!!

Yesterday was my first visit to the Pediatrician's office that as of February 1st is Nadia and Ian's PCP. They have 5 doctors. I was pleased that we were walking out of the building at 3:05 (considering our appointment was at 2:35). They didn't have any books or toys in the exam room (which they did at the clinic we used to go to) so I need to remember to bring something in there for Nadia. I thought the nurse and the doctor were both very nice. I was thrilled that they were both pleased with Ian's weight. I had weighed him at home and knew he hadn't gained any weight on Sunday or Monday as he was still weighing 7lb 1/2 oz. I wasn't shocked since so much milk was coming out of him after most feedings the last couple of days (along with a lot of mucus). I had my whole speech prepared about how he weighed 6lb 2.5oz on January 22nd so he had gained almost 1 lb in a little over 2 weeks, but it wasn't necessary. They were pleased he had gone from 5lb 8oz to 7lb .5oz. It was SUCH a relief to have medical professionals PLEASED with his weight gain. They were even more pleased when they found out that most of the gain had been very recent due to the placenta being removed 3 weeks ago. I was one happy Momma!

The Pediatrician (who is due to have a baby in May) commented that I was still in the postpartum period considering the placenta just came out 3 weeks ago. She was aware of the problems that would cause for nursing (she said the placenta produces progesterone which inhibits lactation). The Ob/Gyn I saw last week doubted that it had any influence on nursing. Huh?!? I wish I had been given an extension on my sick leave due to having a second surgery. I have plenty of sick leave available. I used personal days yesterday and Monday. Today through Friday were to be unpaid and then I'll start at the 50% pay rate starting on Monday when I go back to work. It hit me yesterday that I could use family sick leave since Ian (and Nadia) are sick. I put in my request last night which would make today through Friday paid leave. However today is a snow day at my university so I'll be retracting my leave request for today. We can only use 5 days a year for sick leave for a child so if I don't need to use a day today that's great. I would rather Ian be healthy, but at least my paid leave has been extended to a full four weeks due to his illness.

She said that if we had been there for his 2 month appt, she would have declared him healthy. He didn't demonstrate his cough or runny nose while she examined him. She said it's viral and likely he's getting antibodies for it through nursing since I also was exposed to Nadia's bug. She said if he develops any fever, starts to work too hard to breathe, stops nursing, or continues to stop gaining weight to call them back asap. She expects he'll bounce back quickly and will be healthy enough for his shots next Tuesday. Paul and I can tell just by looking at his eyes that he doesn't feel well, and we've continued to hear LOTS of coughing and crying.  She suggested putting saline down his nose and aspirating him prior to nursing him to cut down on how much he's spewing out afterwards, but the problem with that is he gets really upset and then has a hard time calming down to latch on and nurse. I hope he feels better soon. It's so hard to listen to such a little guy cough so much. He did better in the Nap Nanny last night although I was up with him from 2-3:30am and then from 4:30 onward. Still he spent about 7 hours total in the Nap Nanny which was better than the previous night. Nadia slept through the night again, and thankfully didn't get up until 6:40 this morning. Yesterday was the first day in 9 days that she ate three meals. Progress!

I took Nadia's picture upstairs this morning because a few weeks ago I bought another set of sheer curtains for her room (on eBay as they are no longer available at BRU). I think it looks SO much better with two sets of drapes. One just wasn't enough for the size of her window. I thought it was much more noticeable without the glider in front of the window.