Ups & Downs of The First Two Weeks

Here is my 2 week summary that is detailed, but I just wanted to document. What should have been just a c-section recovery and snuggling Hazel turned into lots of appointments with all kinds of doctors for small issues that were fixed, but took time. Here we go:

Monday, August 6th:

• C-Section Recovery: moving slow, a little abdomen pain, needed help in and out of bed
• Nursing: the pain was getting worse and I started researching the lactation specialist in Bryan
• Hazel: precious and perfect and getting lots of attention from Atticus and Grace
• Appointments: None 
• Other: dinner brought by our neighbor, the Woods

Tuesday, August 7th:

• C-Section Recovery: same as Monday
• Nursing: terrible and by the end of the day, I pumped and gave Hazel a bottle because my body (so technically my nipples, but I'm not sure if anyone wants to see that word over and over, even though this is just life with a new baby) needed a break from nursing; it's tough to give yourself anytime to heal when you are feeding every 3 hours;
• Hazel: precious and perfect, but sadly LOVED that bottle and how easy the milk came
• Appointments: 11:00 am for weight check - Hazel was down to about 7 lbs. 7 oz. but was ok

Wednesday, August 8th:

• C-Section Recovery: same as Tuesday, but starting to get lots of bruising on my stomach
• Nursing: it was getting terrible; just like Grace and Everly, I would cringe when she latched and it hurt entire time I nursed and I was cracked, bleeding, and bruising
• Hazel: precious and perfect, but had one more bottle...she loved it again. And, she started not wanting to latch and nurse well. I have never had nipple confusion between breast and bottle with my other kids, so I was not hesitant to give her a bottle, but she immediately preferred the bottle. This was not in my plans.
• Appointments: 3:00 pm for lactation specialist - lasted 2.5 hours, but she was awesome*
• Other: Scarmardo's came by to bring dinner and visit

*Shannon Sanford was the L.S. we saw. She was very thorough with our appointment. She asked a ton of questions about delivering, previous babies and nursing, and wanted all kinds of details about us. Then, she had me nurse, but realized Hazel was not latching properly because she couldn't get enough nipple/aureola (there I go again with the uncomfortable words) into her mouth so she was just getting nipple and creasing it and hurting it. So, she showed me how to get her latched better and it felt SO much better! It was also interesting because she had a scale that measured in mg and we weighed Hazel before she nursed. Then, we weighed her after 10 minutes of nursing and she could tell exactly how much "milk was transferred" and we could see 1/2 an ounce or so difference. So, when we did the other side, she had to help me get the right latch again but then she barely moved any milk in 10 minutes, which meant while I thought she was nursing, something wasn't working because she wasn't actually getting much milk into her. At this point, she gave me a nipple shield to help and I will say that I have tried those things in the past and did not like them. I did not think they helped me latch better and while the point of them is to protect you while you heal, but still be able to nurse, I have just never had any luck. But, again, she got her to latch with the nipple shield and we got a better latch and she moved milk this time. However, she also looked at her mouth and determined she had a shallow latch which she thought was because of a tight jaw. She said her jaw will loosen as she grows, but she had some ideas on how to naturally help it loosen too. She also said that she thought that her frenulum could be causing the bad latch. She said it was not terrible, but it was still tight and if it was causing pain, then we should consider cutting it. She also said that because of the tongue tie, her tongue was not moving up and down in the back well and she did not have a good suction. She would put her gloved finger in Hazel's mouth and drop milk in to get her to suck awhile and she felt like there was not good suction. So, she gave us a special bottle that would help with this until we could solve these problems. It was 2.5 hours of a LOT of information. There were hormonal tears and Vic took notes and still, when I left, I was emotionally drained and overwhelmed. The next step was to try to get Hazel into an ENT quickly to cut her frenulum. Vic called Scott and White ENT's and they couldn't get her in until 10 days and 2 weeks later. Um...I could NOT do the pain for that much longer. So, he called the one we used last time, Dr. Salzar, and they were booked, but could squeeze her in Friday morning at 8:15. Praise the Lord! That meant I only had to last until then to hopefully fix this issue.

• The funniest moment of the day was by Vic. So, at the appointment, she told me to use "organic, virgin, coconut oil" on my nipples to help heal them instead of the Lanolin I have always used. So, whatever she says, right? Vic had to go to HEB that evening and he had a list and when GG saw this item on it, she asked what he was cooking? He stated "Sarah's nipples." I still laugh every time I think about this remark!

Thursday, August 9th:

• C-Section Recovery: started moving more, but swelling in my feet and legs began; also the bruising was looking rough - total purple all the way across my belly under my bellybutton and it looked terrible. I'd never had that with my other surgeries, so I was concerned.
• Nursing: awful; I could NOT recreate the latch's or the nipple shield latch from the L.S. appointment; I was in terrible pain, but knew that she loved the bottle so much and so, I started out determined to NOT use the bottle; it was a constant routine of nurse, pump, bottle feed, repeat and I was wearing down. Eventually, 15 hours prior to the next morning's appointment, I only pumped and gave her the bottle; my body hurt, but I was hoping if I gave it a break and the tongue tie appointment was successful, I would start nursing again. I also knew that I was not allowed to do a paci or a bottle for 24 hours after the tongue tie cut, so I could not have any rest then.
• Hazel: precious and perfect, but not eating great, although at least when she had the bottle, I knew she was getting enough milk.
• Appointments: No appointments this day.
• Other: TMI AGAIN, but of all days, on this one, I had a stomachache with side effects - all I can really say about this is that it was terrible. And why did it need to happen on this day?

*I should also mention here that this was my low point day. I cried from Wednesday night to Friday morning. The hormones were rough and I was feeling like a failure because of the hormones. Mentally, I knew I was not a failure, but my hormones told me I was. And, I was half decided that Hazel was going to have to be a bottle baby which killed me even more because I love nursing my babies. It was rough; I stayed in my room ALL day crying, pumping, feeding, sleeping, etc. Yikes.

Friday, August 10th:

• C-section recovery: going well, but bruising was still getting worse and abdomen was hurting more
• Nursing: after the tongue tie cut, I noticed a major difference - within the first hour of nursing! However, she had a hard time latching the first time. It was taking me 10-20 minutes for her to latch and then stay latched. She was just so frustrated, but once latched, nursed great and I didn't have "new pain". The soreness was there and I had to still heal, but it was so much better. For our second feeding, Hazel didn't even eat - she was so frustrated with trying to nurse that she eventually wore herself out and napped instead. But, we started getting better and better every few hours.
• Hazel: precious and perfect, but frustrated with nursing.
• Appointments: 8:15 am - tongue tie cut - took all of 2 minutes so WHY could other ENT's not get us in? 10:30 am - appt with OB nurse to remove wound vac and staples, and check on bruising; Dr. Bertsch said the bruising looked bad but was just because of the operation and the pulling and tugging they did. Thank goodness.
• Other: Dinner got double-booked and brought by a MOPS friend, Katie and The Kiessling family; Also, Mom & Dad arrived for an overnight visit! They snuggled Hazel, visited and we played Yahtzee; I was a new woman after getting that tongue tie cut and felt so much better about life!

Saturday, August 11th:

• C-Section Recovery: swelling, abdomen sore, but overall good!
• Nursing: making all good progress even though latching took awhile
• Hazel: precious and perfect
• Appointments: 11:30 am - weight check with L.S. - Hazel gained 2.5 ounces! Also, L.S. determined the suction was so much better (which I had also thought when I did it at home) so she thought the tongue tie cut was the right decision; 4:45 pm - went to after hours care because I was feeling like an ear infection was coming on in my right ear and sure enough it was; but the Dr. said we caught it early and gave me some drops or my ear
• Other: Mom and Dad headed home that afternoon; the Powell's were driving through so they stopped by; the Kirchoff's and Barmettler's also stopped by and brought us dinner

Sunday, August 12th:

• C-Section Recovery: swelling, abdomen soreness
• Nursing: Good! Still very sore and taking time to latch, but getting better.
• Hazel: precious and perfect
• Appointments: none
• Ear Infection: the right ear was starting to get pretty painful and I was back to using my c-section drugs (that I had mostly stopped using for c-section pain) just to relieve the pain; the drops were not working yet and my ear was starting to swell

Monday, August 13th:

• C-Section Recovery: swelling, abdomen soreness
• Nursing: Still getting better.
• Hazel: precious and perfect
• Appointments: 11:15 am - appt. with my GP because now my left ear was hurting and my right ear was in terrible pain and I wanted an oral antibiotic as well; he confirmed a double ear infection; he decided my first drops were not working (and he said sometimes they don't - what? thanks a lot! why not just skip them on a 1 week postpartum patient then???) and so he prescribed different drops and an oral antibiotic
• Ear Infection: my right ear was blocked now and it was hard to hear and my left ear was getting worse
• Other: the Schulze's brought us dinner

Tuesday, August 14th:

• C-Section Recovery: swelling in feed and legs, abdomen soreness
• Nursing: Still getting better.
• Hazel: precious and perfect
• Appointments: None
• Ear Infection: completely terrible; both ears swelling; couldn't hear well in either ear; pain was TERRIBLE until combined dose of Hydrocodone and 800 mg of Ibuprofen kicked in but then pain was bad again when they wore off and until I could take the next dose; I can't even explain the pain - it was just so terrible. I literally counted down the hours and minutes between pain meds and had no problem just saying "forget it - I'm taking them 30 minutes early" multiple times. And I couldn't sleep at all for 2 nights in a row because it hurt to lay on it; so I slept in my rocker which was comfortable, but then the swelling got worse in my feet and legs, instead of getting better
• Other: We had Meet the Teacher for Atticus and I couldn't hear well so trying to visit with people was tough. Also - I had more pain in the afternoon because I was delaying taking pain meds so I could have the most relief during Meet the Teacher. I should have skipped it, but I just didn't want to. I love things with the kids!

 Wednesday, August 15th:

•  C-Section Recovery: swelling was still bad, abdomen soreness
• Nursing: Good
• Hazel: precious and perfect
• Appointments: None
• Ear Infection: On Wednesday afternoon, I felt like my right ear was getting a little relief, but I was still deaf in both ears and the pain was still terrible.
• Other: Tonight was Meet the Teacher for Grace and I could hear even less than the night before. Also, we had my MOPS mentor, Susan, bring us dinner. And earlier in the day, we had newborn photos done (with the family as well). The only way I made it through each of these things was LOTS OF PAIN MEDS.

Thursday, August 16th:

• C-Section Recovery: swelling was starting to go down, abdomen soreness - bruising still bad
• Nursing: Good
• Hazel: Precious and perfect
• Appointments: 3:30 pm - L.S. Weight check; Hazel was back up to birth weight, so we were done with the L.S.!
• Ear Infection: I finally started to feel like my right ear was getting better and would have small doses of being able to hear; left ear was still terribly painful. My good pain meds ran out. :(

Friday, August 17th:

• C-Section Recovery: swelling was still decreasing, abdomen soreness/bruising still bad
• Nursing: Good
• Hazel: Precious and perfect
• Appointments: NO MORE ON THE SCHEDULE!!
• Ear Infection: By evening, I can hear in my right ear! 
• Other: My MOPS friend, Joanna, brought dinner, and we finally had a better day at home for everyone. Meghan and her kids came to play and the then the big kids got a fun pool day outside. We'd been so busy with all of my ailments, I was glad it was a better day.

Saturday, August 18th:

• C-Section Recovery: still sore, but bruising started to decrease
• Nursing: Good
• Hazel: Precious and Perfect
• Appointments: None
• Ear Infection: Left ear is starting to feel better! 

 Sunday, August 19th:

• C-Section Recovery: Feeling more back to normal for 2 weeks post partum
• Nursing: Still working on latching more quickly but going so well!
• Hazel: precious and perfect
• Appointments: None (only one is 2 week well check scheduled for the following day!) 
• Ear Infection: I can hear again in my left ear and I think we are on the mend!
• Other: Friend, Melissa B., brought dinner and this was our last night before the school year began!

So, in summary, it was a crazy 2 weeks! 9 appointments = No fun. But, 9 meals brought by friends = Fun. haha! I am so thankful that we took care of the nursing issue because I really love nursing my babies. It was just mostly frustrating because we KNEW the tongue tie was probably causing the pain and it took awhile for anyone to agree with us. We should have just made an appointment with an ENT immediately. And, it was crazy to have an ear infection and unusual bruising and a stomach ache all during these two weeks. But, we survived thanks to Vic and GG! Here's some quick pics of our two weeks - even through the tough stuff, there were sweet moments!

 Vic was the first one of us to take ALL 4 kids somewhere...on a walk around the block.

 And this was, technically, our first photo of all the kids together!

 I love a baby head nuzzled into my neck!

 Behind the scenes of the photo shoot.

 Everly has been intersted, at this point, but not sure what to do with Hazel. By the end of the two weeks though, she was asking "Where Baby Hazel?" and checking in on her regularly.

 For Grace's class, we had to have a family photo. So, we had to snap one of the Seidel Six.

 I never get enough pictures with my babies, so I may have gone overboard asking Vic to take my picture...all the time! But, he was home for two weeks, so I had to take advantage!

 First sponge bath.

 Pop and Hazel - I love when newborns sleep in any random position and are just as snuggly and comfortable as can be.

 A moment before this, Grandma was crying because she was remembering having newborn babies herself! But, 10 seconds later, she was back to happy! haha!

 GG is very snuggly!

 I've got to take a photo of the bassinet under the bedding in this picture and post it. This bassinet is pretty old. We know it held GG and Daddy, so it's at least 69 years old, but it also held some babies before them. So, I need to find out who and how old it really is!

I was really glad to have two weeks with the kids at home with Hazel before they started school. This is a lot of what they did when they had her with them.

 Atticus really has the best heart for his sisters and he loves them - all 3 of them!

 And, I can just never get enough. I don't know how much pain I was in at this moment in this photo, but I'm glad it's over and I'm glad we have this baby girl! We love you Hazel Laine!

Hazel's Newborn Photos

With Atticus, we took newborn pictures that were offered in the hospital. With Grace and Everly, I took them myself at home. But, with our last precious baby, I was considering a real photographer to do her newborn photos. But, have you seen the cost of those things? I'm not saying it's not worth it, but our budget only handles so much. So, when a photographer whose photos I liked, did a Christmas in July sale and put her newborn session at 50% off (AND it included a family pose and a sibling pose), I decided to jump on it. And, I'm so glad I did. With the chaos of the first two weeks, I don't know when I would have had patience and energy to enjoy taking photos of Hazel on my own. And, after I saw the sibling and family photos we got, I was so very glad we took a chance on the photo shoot. Check them out below. And, I should note that the kids were amazing! They did theirs right away, so Vic could take them home and GG and I stayed for Hazel to have her photos made. But, they were sooo good. I wasn't worried, but I didn't know how Everly would cooperate. These were in a studio so she positioned everyone and then took the pictures. Atticus and Grace did great, but Everly won the prize. While she didn't start smiling until I got her to in Vic's kid photo, she held every pose! My favorite was while we were setting up for the family shoot and she puts her little head and hand on my arm and freezes and does not move a muscle during the shots. It was so sweet and so funny! Anyways, here are some photos. I truly loved them and loved the ones of Hazel. Oh my sweet little girl!

 My friend Stacey said it looked like Everly was thinking "Why am I not the baby anymore?"

 I love this sweet little open mouth and face on Hazel.

 Now, Everly is smiling. She just needed her mommy to act silly behind the photographer!

 I love this photo. Our kids - all 4 of them! This is exactly what I hoped for when we got a sibling shot!

 Clearly, I can't pick favorites because I posted so many and there are even a few more! But, this one with her little sleeping grin is so sweet.

And this is by far, Vic's favorite. I just lovee them all! Also, you can expect to see these on your Christmas cards. Vic's deal to let me get newborn photos was that we wouldn't do annual family photos AND we would combine birth announcement/Christmas card in one! ha!

Meet the Aggie Football Team!

On August 12, Vic took Atticus on campus to Meet the Team for Aggie Football. They had a really good time and while Vic said the lines were really long to get into the building (and it was raining too), once they were inside, things moved pretty quickly. They were given a big poster of the number 12 football player and they made their way through the tables to get autographs. It was separated by position and they got almost all of the players to sign! They did not get Coach Fisher because his line was the longest and it ended before they could get in to wait. But, Atticus liked getting the quarterbacks the most! They had a great time and even got a photo with the yell leaders. Atticus said Vic looked like one of the yell leaders because he was wearing a white shirt.

Afterwards, they took a special lunch date to the Dixie Chicken for burgers. And Atticus said they are going to go back another time so they can play pool together. One-on-one adventures with the kids are so fun, so I was so glad they got to go meet the team and kick off the Aggie Football season!

 Atticus came home and told us that one of the Aggie Football players (but he couldn't remember who) told him he liked his sunglasses and that Coach Fisher wore the same sunglasses! :)

 Vic even stopped at Walmart on the way home and bought him a frame to hang it up!

 Lunch at the Chicken!

And then Atticus came home and got back to work taking care of his littlest sister!

The Rest of our Hospital Stay

On Saturday, about noon or so, I finally got my catheter out, the IV unhooked and out, the leg warmers off, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and walked around in real clothes! I felt like a brand new person, even though I moved slow. Vic's parents came again earlier that morning and then they left and went to the house to see the kids. GG and Atticus and Grace came up later that afternoon to visit and snuggle Hazel. Hazel had her hearing test that day, which she passed. Nursing was going ok but still painful at times. The lactation specialist came in and got her latched better, but as usual when she walks out the door, I was having a hard time re-creating the latch. It's interesting because I KNOW what a good latch is and I KNOW it's not supposed to cause pain. So, we asked her about a possible tongue tie and she said there was none. We asked both neonatologists that came in throughout our stay and both said no tongue tie. And while I agreed that it didn't look bad and it didn't pull her tongue back and she was nursing with her tongue out far enough (unlike Everly who was nursing with her bottom gum until her tie was cut), I really thought something still wasn't right. But, during the hospital stay, I felt like she definitely did NOT have a tongue tie since everyone said she didn't. But, I was wondering if something else might be wrong with her latch.

Otherwise, we snuggled her and napped occasionally and I would have bursts of energy and feeling good and then times of being more tired. Her bloodwork came back fine and her bilirubin levels stayed in the correct range. She had her 24 hour newborn screening done and as we later found out, everything was normal. Also on Saturday, Vic's cousin Melissa came to see us. And I had Subway to eat again. GG stayed with me on Saturday night and we also sent Hazel back and forth to get some sleep at night. On Sunday, Meghan got to come see Hazel! This was especially special because she and Cecilia were the first people I told at 4 weeks that we were expecting! I never tell anyone that early, but we'd left story time at the library and while we were sitting in Meghan's new car visiting, it came out! So, she has had to listen to the 100 names we've thought of and she had her entire family contributing ideas! It was always fun to get a text from her that had more name options in it! So, Meghan came and snuggled our Hazel for a little while. That evening, Vic and I had a "date" and he picked up Cafe Eccell for dinner, including a Strawberry Tart which is the most delicious dessert. Vic stayed with me on our last night in the hospital. The next morning, we just hung out for awhile and packed up and dressed Hazel in a teeny tiny outfit to go home. By this time, Hazel was causing a lot more nursing pain and I was already contemplating seeing a lactation specialist outside of the hospital that might help us more. I was starting to bruise and my nipples were cracking and bleeding (TMI, I know!). Also, at this point, I was really feeling good on my c-section recovery. I really didn't have any pain around my incision like I usually do. And overall, I just felt good. The only tough part was that for the last 24 hours in the hospital, I was having TONS of cramping when Hazel would nurse. I remember this with Everly too. I mean - they were the WORST cramps and although normal since my uterus was still contracting down and the hormones were coming while I nursed, it could really take my breath away. It was like having contractions. These lasted another day or two at home before they finally went away. It was right around lunchtime that we were discharged and headed home. We stopped for another subway sandwich for lunch. They were just so good! And then we began life at home as a family of 6! And, I will say that I will miss delivering babies so much. I love meeting a new little addition to our family and I love the surprise of what they look like, the surprise genders, naming them, and figuring them out. It's just so very special and I feel like we are always in a bubble when we are in the hospital. It's the special, precious little bubble that you can't just recreate any time you want. I know that, overall, my delivery experiences have been good, and I know everyone's are not. So, I take it seriously and love these memories so much. Okay, sentiments are over. :)

 I finally got out of bed and could walk again!

 Melissa stopped to see us.

 So much hair! It really doesn't look as dark with the light shining on it, but we think it's darker than any of our other kids at birth.

And Meghan met baby Hazel!

 

 This was us at our "date" night.

 Clearly, at the hospital, we did a lot of eating, sitting and snuggling Hazel.

 Grace colored pictures for me for our hospital room.

 Hazel got some earphones for her hearing test. So cute!

 And we are headed home!

 Waiting at the hospital for mommy's very important, very wonderful pain meds!

So, when Everly was born, the kids and Vic made a Welcome Home Everly sign and it has never come down from our door. I don't know why we didn't pull it down, but eventually, it was there for so long, that we just left it. Well, they made a patch for it with "Hazel" so now it's current again! :)

Ready for a new adventure!