ABX and BF - Day 15

Halfway through! If you haven't been following, you can catch up to speed on our Lyme, Doxy, and Breastfeeding story HERE: Acute Lyme, Treatment, and Breastfeeding  and HERE: ABX and BF Day 1 .

So things are going somewhat better now. DB managed to get a horrible cold this week, which added some complications to the mix A) sick babies really benefit from being able to nurse often, like more often than usual, which was already often, so the "no nursing" windows were very hard, and B) the nursing windows were hard because his nose was so stuffy he couldn't really get a good suction/compression cycle going. A sip or two, then snot, choke, cry, nose wipe, flail about, get latched again, repeat. A couple nights he couldn't really sleep because of congestion, but those nights excluded, sleep has gotten much better than the first couple nights of our new schedule. We've been skipping him going into his little side bed and he's just been in our bed from the beginning, it helps him sleep through that first waking, or just fidgeting a little, snuggling up differently, and falling asleep without crying to nurse, or even rooting, really. Now he tends to wake at 6 AM to nurse and fall back asleep again until he wakes up, usually with The Hero.

   Daytime went OK, the teething DB's been doing was the only real problem there, he's just super fussy. The cold plus teething made for sad and clingy baby. Lots of snuggles, plenty of naps, and we're making it just fine. It's been good for us to both learn soothing methods other than nursing, but I really can't wait for the next 15 days to pass and be able to nurse any old time I please! I've taken to pumping when I remember, in the middle of the non-nursing window, and dumping it out, because it isn't safe to drink, but the emptying of the breasts will help me keep my supply up. We can do this, we're over the hill!

ABX and BF - Day 1

Well, we got off to a rockier start than anticipated, but it all worked out on the first dose. I had planned on taking the pill at DB's bedtime, and his goodnight nursing would mark the last for the 6 hour window. I then learned that I had to wait a couple hours after a meal to take the meds and we had just eaten a late dinner right before DB went to sleep. I shifted the plan to taking the pill at my bedtime, around midnight. So at midnight, I popped the pill, and managed a decent dream nursing out of my sweet boy. He decided he was done in about 10 minutes, and we all went upstairs to tumble into bed. We slept comfortably until his first (and only) waking in the night, at 3:15 AM. He was rather confused and put out that A. his boobs weren't accessible (I put on a complicated bra and tight tee shirt to prevent sleep nursings, which both of us are accustomed to and I didn't want to accidentally nurse him in the "bad" window") and B. Mommy wasn't doing anything to make them more accessible. We cuddled, but that wasn't cutting it, we rocked and bounced. He stopped crying, he stopped whimpering, but he was clearly waiting for the part of the show where the boobies would appear and we would all get back to sleep. Through my whole song and rocking number he would stare at me with wide eyes, root for a second, and then stare again, interspersed with threats of tears, where I'd just try to calm him vocally and change his position. Eventually, around 4 AM he fell asleep for good, and even rewarded me for my early-morning mommy strength with a sleep smile and giggle. Yay! I needed it, because it was very hard to withhold his nursing from him.

Back to bed we all go, and he snuggles up next to me just fine, though he's a little restless once we lay down, he eventually quiets and we return to dream land. He woke again around 7 to enjoy his first nursing since bedtime and enjoy he did. When he sat up and started playing with my nose, I asked him "do you want leles?" and signed "milk" to him, the excitement was unmistakable and he got right down to business with some hard kicks to my hip bone and some rather adorable little piggy "yummy" sounds. As I type right now, we have an hour and a half left to nurse before dose 2, and we're taking advantage of it. I feel like daytime will be easier, I can distract and entertain him, as well as offer snacks and drinks that I couldn't in the night. We'll see!!

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  Dose two: took it at 11:30 AM, trying to move the time up to make up for our late start last night. DB was in the middle of a long nap when that time rolled around, so the last time he nursed was around 10:45 AM. When he woke up, he climbed up into my lap and laid his head on my chest, but didn't ask and I didn't offer, as I usually would. We hung out around the house until my fussy could take no more of this new and different leles free world he woke up to. We went out and ran errands, got our geocache for the day, dropped off dry cleaning, went shopping for some summer-weight long sleeve shirts since I'm about to be more sensitive to sun exposure. The errand running (and baby wearing, the two are always hand in hand...) certainly helped to distract the little guy, and some diluted juice to keep the thirsties at bay while keeping some calcium going in. We got home around 4:30 and I offered a snack of steamed sweet potatoes. While it was entertaining, not much got down. Some snuggles, more juice, and playtime were enough to hold him off to his 5:30 milk break! Another happy baby smile! I love it. I also love the much more comfortable feeling I've got going on. He chowed down and was "all done" but I'm thinking he'll be a frequent at Mom's Breastaurant until bedtime. All in all, the first two doses weren't too bad. 1 day down, 29 to go!