Well, Declan is doing better 3 weeks after birth than his mother. We went to the pedi on Monday, and he weighs 10 lbs, 4 oz and he's 21 inches long. That's an increase of nearly 2 pounds and an inch and a half from birth. You can really tell how he's grown. The pedi said he was doing well, and to try to up his bottles to 4-5 oz per feeding, or whatever will get him 3-4 hours or more between feedings. We're trying, but he's being difficult. He gets hungry in 2 hours, but only drinks 3 of the 5 ounces we prepare for him. Then he's hungry again in 2 hours. I guess he didn't understand the pedi. He also got his heel stuck for a blood test, and boy did he howl. Poor Daniel. He was holding Declan right next to his ear. I think he went a little deaf for a while.
Meanwhile, I've not done so well. The only big positive is that I've already lost 30 pounds of the 45 that I put on during pregnancy. The last 15 is probably from me eating too much junk food while pregnant and will take a long time to get rid of. The bad part is that my blood pressure has skyrocketed from 105/65 to 150/90. I'm also battling post partum depression.
It got so bad after my parents and my in-laws left, that I was crying several times a day and couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and when I did, I had nightmare. Finally, Saturday before last, I called the after-hours nurse, and she told me I really should go to the emergency room, because she didn't think I should wait until Monday to go to a clinic. I felt foolish, but I went. They prescribed me an anti-depressant and it worked great. Within 30 minutes of taking it, I ate a granola bar, a bottle of juice, started feeling sleepy, and on the way home, told Daniel to stop at McDonalds, where I got 2 cheeseburgers and a large fry, and I ate it all. Plus I was able to sleep for 8 hours that night. I felt so much better.
I managed to make it until my post-op appointment on Tuesday, but my BP was still sky high, and I couldn't talk without crying. They were concerned so they told me to see a therapist and get some friends to visit. My OB told me, "Everybody loves a baby," and she was right. I have great friends who've volunteered to come visit and help.
The biggest help so far is my mother-in-law. She offered to fly back from North Carolina for a week to help, and it's been wonderful. She flew, even though she hates flying. She's been happy to change diapers, feed him a bottle, calm him down, play with him, and everything. She's even done laundry and made us dinner one night. She's the best!
She leaves on Friday morning, and I hope that I'm up to the task of taking care of Declan on my own again. I'm feeling much better, if I can just get my BP down and chill out, I'll be doing great.
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