IC and Breastfeeding

I knew that my pregnancy would affect my Interstitial Cystitis, and luckily it really wasn’t that bad.  However, I figured that once I had my kid, my IC would either improve or just return to the way it was before I got pregnant.  Wrong!

Lately, I have been aware of my IC every day.  It’s not horrible, but it is there.  I explained to my doctor what is going on, and she told me that since I am breastfeeding, I am still experiencing hormonal changes that cause dryness.  I asked her if it is safe to continue Elmiron (only drug on the market for controlling IC symptoms).  She said it’s up to me.  There has not been enough research to approve or disapprove of it for nursing mothers.  I have no idea what risk I’m putting Karis under if I continue taking Elmiron.  However, Elmiron has been approved for pregnancy, so I assume it’s safe for nursing.  Karis’s pediatrician asked me to only take it when I need it.  The problem is that Elmiron takes a couple of days to get into the system.  It was designed to be taken daily for pain management.  For now, I am taking it every day (except for today, I forgot, oops).

Thankful For

On the days leading up to Thanksgiving, I updated my Facebook status with things I am Thankful for. I'll admit: some days were easier than others. God has blessed me with so much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for...
1.  my loving and supportive family.
2. my hardworking husband.
3. good health.
4. wonderful girlfriends that I can call anytime to laugh or to cry with.
5.  my good girl. Karis slept 8 hours last night, and so did I!
6. the nursery workers at church.
7.  laughter.
8.  transportation so Karis and I could meet friends for coffee.
9.  my salvation and the hope I have in Jesus Christ.
10. the ability to nurse my baby.
11.  those who are serving or have served in the military. They've sacrificed time with family and many have sacrificed their lives for our freedom and safety. Thank you!
12. getting out of the house for some girl time with my sis.
13.  kindergarteners. I had a blast playing with them at church this morning.
14.  the roof over my head.
15.  my puppies. Even though I don't give them enough attention, they love me unconditionally.
16. Karis. She is my precious gift from above.
17. the encouragement I find in scripture: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13"
18.  friends who intercede for me when I am losing my mind. Thank you, Father for answering their prayers.
19. grace.

Cereal

Karis's nutritional goal was to have nothing but breast milk until 6 months.  Before she was even 2 months, many people suggested that we try feeding her rice cereal at night to help her sleep longer.  Karis's doctor did not agree with the theory.  He was confident that she'd be sleeping better soon.  Plus, since her weight was right on track, there was no reason for an alternative form of nourishment.

At her 4 month appointment, Karis's pediatrician was surprised that Karis was not sleeping at least 8 hours at night.  He said we could go ahead and try rice cereal if we wanted to.  I definitely wanted to try it if it meant we could get some uninterrupted sleep.

We tried feeding her rice cereal from a spoon.  She happily sucked on the spoon, but did not swallow any of the cereal.  Then, we put the cereal in a bottle.  She did great with that.  The main reason we wanted to start rice cereal was to help Karis sleep through the night.  It worked for two nights, then she was back to her old routine.  I felt like the cereal was useless, plus it was creating extra work for me, having to pump every day to add liquid to Karis's cereal.  Back to plan A: solids at 6 months.  It was clear that Karis was not ready for solid foods, and when she is ready, I want her to eat from a spoon, not a bottle.

A message from Karis: (she literally did this while sitting in her Bumbo as I was proofreading)

/. .......a./

 lll.////n //.////
 n

4 Months Old

I can't believe my little cutie is already four months old.  Woah!  Slow down.  Back up.  I'm still on month one of the book, "What to Expect the First Year."  Oh well.  I guess I'll continue to figure it out as we go.

We had our four month check up today.  Karis's head circumference is in the 25th percentile, while the rest of her measurements are in the 75th percentile.  "Peanut Head" takes after her mommy.  The doctor said there is no reason to worry about this.  Karis also got to shots, and she was a champ!

Karis is still getting over her first cold and not sleeping well at night.  She rolled over for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  Karis still struggles to roll over, but she will improve.  Doc says we can start giving her rice cereal.  I think I'll try it next week.

So far, month four is the best yet!  Karis's schedule is pretty consistent, and she is becoming really wiggly and chatty.  I love hanging out with her every day!

SFA Homecoming

The first thing I said on Saturday morning was, “How much money will we lose if we cancel our hotel?”  We were already an hour late out of bed, and I really didn’t want to make the trip out of town for the weekend.  “We will lose ALL of it.”  I groaned, rolled out of bed, and began loading everything Karis owns into the Accord.  With Michael’s help, we finally made it on the road to Nacogdoches for SFA’s homecoming.  The hardest part, getting out of the house, was over, and I was excited to see my friends. 

We stopped once to feed Karis, no problems.  Then, we went straight to Stacy’s Deli in Nacogdoches to meet my college buddies for lunch.  It was so nice to see Justin, Amber, and their little girl Brynn, Brooke and her sweet boy Titus, Keri, Jacob, Shawn, Callie, Cory, Denise, Sam, and Lerin.  I was happy for Mary and Josh, because they got to go on a cruise, but I was so SAD that I didn’t get to see them at homecoming. L

It was getting close to Karis’s next meal time, but I really wanted to stop at the bookstore to buy her an SFA onesie before the game.  Poor girl.  I pushed the limit, and by the time I got to feed her she was screaming her head off.  Michael drove around, Karis took a little nap, and then I was able to feed her.

Next, we met the gang at the stadium for the football game.  Karis did great in the Moby wrap.  It was very convenient too!  We just ran into a couple of problems: First, Karis spit up all over the front of herself and on my shirt.  Then, I turned her around, thinking if she spits up, it will go on the ground.  How dare I forget about her backside!  Sure enough, Karis had an explosion, and my shirt that was covered in spit-up also got poop on it.  Gross!  I did not want to deal with this!  Praise the Lord for Karis’s daddy!  The two of us found a secluded spot to get Karis all cleaned up.  I didn’t have an extra shirt, so I just had to wipe my shirt with a baby wipe and cover the stain with my sweater.  Ugh, so embarrassing.  After all that commotion, we sat and enjoyed the game a little.  Then, it was time to eat again.  I have never hated nursing more than when I had to do it in a football stadium, surrounded on every side, plus up and down. 

Break time!  At that point, I had enough.  Michael took Karis to sit with the group while I just sat by myself for a few minutes and ate a snack.  SFA even scored a touchdown, but I didn’t care, because I was in my own little world.  SFA did end up winning the game; I can’t even tell you what the score was.

Everyone met for dinner at my old fav: La Carretta.  Karis did wonderful at the restaurant!  We spent the night at La Quinta, and I was up replacing Karis’s pacifier once per hour.  Even though I got plenty of sleep, it was interrupted a lot, and I was quite exhausted in the morning.  We didn’t have plans till 11:30, so we enjoyed hanging out in the hotel room just playing with Karis. 

For lunch, we met up with Mary’s parents, Rita and JB.  They treated us at Cotton Patch.  So nice!  It was wonderful to catch up with them.  As usual, they showed us lots of love and encouragement.  Lots of people stopped at our table to ask if Karis was their granddaughter. J

The drive home went well.  Karis slept most of the way.  She was glad to get out of her carseat when we got home!