Feeling Good!

This week I am really basking in the glow of sweet, sweet mastitis relief! After I wrote last week's "out of office" post my fever rose to nearly 103 and I felt like I was dying. I was very hesitant to get on antibiotics because it would increase risk of me/Alice getting thrush, but when the mastitis fever starts climbing you don't mess with it. You get on the antibiotics. (If you go into septic shock it could actually kill you.) My angel husband called me in a prescription and picked it up on his way home from work. After a day or two on the antibiotics the chills and body aches were much better. By 4 days in I felt almost completely back to normal other than trying to work out any lingering clogs/pain. I was diligent to take a probiotic every day and I even stayed almost completely away from anything sweet/bread/dairy last week to decrease risk for thrush. I think we're in the clear now. And today I feel like a new woman! Going into the mastitis I was still dealing with birth recovery pains, but coming out of mastitis the birth recovery stuff feels like it's almost over?! I am shocked and so grateful. With Jack it truly took half a year. 

The only remaining thing to fix is Alice's sleep. During my worst mastitis days I basically laid down by her all day and just tried to encourage her to sleep because I couldn't handle anything else. So she would nap, then wake up, and then I'd basically encourage her to eat until she fell back asleep. Worked great as far as surviving mastitis. But then we paid for it when her days and nights switched and she was up all night partying over the next few days. I've been working hard to wake her up before her naps get too long and extend her wake periods since then and we're almost back on track. Last night it was really hard to get her down, but then she only woke up once or twice. Fun parenting adventures!!!

Since I basically laid in bed miserable all last week, these pictures are all I've got for you. On Saturday I was feeling well enough for a little "fall leaves" drive up our mountain loop highway. Remains to be seen whether we missed the leaves changing, or whether they haven't really changed yet, or whether they're not going to do much this year because it was a dry summer. There were lots of brown leaves, a few leaves with color, but then also lots of trees that looked like they were still green. Also TONS of smoke. Lots of wildfires in Washington right now. 

^^Jack making "fossil tracks" with the rocks

^^Feeling like a boss and crossing off a Pro Mom bucket list item: Nursing bb girl in the front pack while hiking. Honestly I always thought front-pack nursing was a myth, but I had her in the pack and she started rooting around. I realized she was positioned perfectly and my outfit happened to be great for discreet feeding while hiking (high-waist biker shorts with a flowy top--that's her cute little arm you see peeping out by my hand). So she ate on our walk to the river and all was awesome until I felt like I was 10 months pregnant and in pain on the walk back to the car. But the fact I was able to even do this walk at a month postpartum was a huge win. 

And here is a picture of Alice lounging in an adorable outfit from my Grandma Roper. She's not quite big enough for it so usually it hangs on her wall as decor (it's just too cute to put in  a closet). But once she fills it out I'm going to to a full-on photoshoot with the matching bow and the cutest blue baby shoes from my mom. Very excited. 

For those who are only here for the Baby A content, Alice is doing great! She's got a shocking amount of neck strength for a 4-week-old, and I swear she gave me a real, not-just-gas smile over the weekend. She continues to take amazing naps, even when her days and nights aren't swapped. She loves being held close in the front pack and being serenaded by big brother. Jack is so sweet with her and does the funniest baby voice when he's talking to her. It's a beautiful time to have a newborn!