Happy 1 Month Brodie!

10.12.2009
I can't believe that it has already been a month! The days are long but the weeks are flying by! It has been a trying, but rewarding first month. We continue to have breast feeding issues which is making things very difficult and exhausting. We started off with latching difficulties and the slow arrival of my milk (it didn't come in until the 8th day). I still am not producing much as is, so we have had to supplement with formula since the second week when our midwife became concerned because Brodie was dropping too much weight.

Although we remedied the latching issues, we were unfortunate enough to get yeast infections! Mine in my breasts and as a result Brodie's in his mouth :( We began medication as soon as the infection was recognized, but after two weeks of meds and ointments we still didn't see improvement so we were told to use Gentian Violet, which is a dye that kills the yeast and turns EVERYTHING purple along the way. My breasts are now stained purple and poor Brodie has purple lips, tongue, and five o'clock shadow. And every blanket, towel, outfit, etc. that we touch turns purple! It is very annoying : ) Also...since yeast is difficult to get rid of and continues to reinfect, we have to boil and wash everything between feedings. Wow, add that to the regiment of breast feeding, supplementing, and pumping that I am already doing! It is a good thing babies are so darn cute!

Even though we have been continuing a strict regiment for almost two weeks now, even with the Gentian Violet we still haven't beaten this yeast and my breasts are incredibly sore and breast feeding is very painful. So today our midwife prescribed antibiotics because she is concerned that it may be a bacterial infection in addition to the yeast. I just took my first dose tonight and I pray that it works, because I am almost certain that my breasts are going to fall off if we don't cure this soon :) Oh well.

But on the good side - Brodie is simply adorable. Although he is starting to be a lot fussier due to the effects of the medications (lots of gas and tummy aches) he is just the most precious thing in the world. Damon and I are just crazy about him and so all of the pain and frustration is worth it. I just don't have as much free time on my hands to blog about it : ) Well here are some 1 month pictures from tonight!