Mastitis - A Blessing in Disguise

Anyone who has talked to me since Alli's birth has no doubt had to listen to me complain about breastfeeding and has heard me threaten to quit more than once. In fact, just over a week ago, I told Garrett I couldn't take it much longer and if Alli didn't get better at it I was going to quit and switch to formula. Well, the day after my little temper tantrum, I started to feel really sick - in a lot of pain and had a fever around 103. Turns out that I had Mastitis. My OB put me on antibiotics that night. Unfortunately, the antibiotics did not work. They did, however, diminish my milk supply and upset Alli's tummy so we were both miserable. Now, many of you know that I have actually had a rather unique problem of having an overabundent supply of milk and have been trying to diminish the supply so that I am not producing for twins or triplets. I did not however expect to go from having way too much to not having enough in just a matter of a couple of days. My OB switched my antibiotic but my supply still seemed very low. I was terrified! Suddenly I realized how much I really want to be able to breastfeed. All this time I have been resenting this part of motherhood. Now I realize what a gift I have been given that I am able to nurse my daughter. Fortunately, my supply has come back full force, the antibiotics have begun to work, and Alli is much happier again. Best of all, I now look forward to our feeding sessions. I am even excited to get up at 3 a.m. to feed Alli! What a blessing to be able to feed and bond with my daughter like this. While I would never wish Mastitis on anyone, for us I think it was a gift from God. I like to think that God was giving me a swift kick in the pants to remind me how blessed I am to be able to breastfeed Alli. I guess blessings come in all shapes and sizes - even painful ones! I do not know how long I will be able to nurse Alli, but I will appreciate it for as long as I can!

Renewed Faith in the System

As many of you may recall, I was in a car accident last April when I hit a semi-wheel well that was in the middle of the highway. Although my only other option was to hit another car, my insurance company reported that I was more than 50% at fault and raised our insurance rates. I appealed this with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and we heard nothing until the end of February. We received notice that a hearing was scheduled for March 5th in Plymouth (nearly 2 hours from our home!) Obviously I could not drag Alli down there so I submitted an affidavit in lieu of attending. I assumed I would lose. You know what they say about assuming :) I won!!! The MA RMV agreed with me that there was no way I was at fault and has ordered the insurance company to remove any penalty and fees. I have a renewed sense of faith in the system. YEAH!!!

Thank you Mom!

We have been so lucky to have my mom out here to help us for the past month. I am not sure how we would have adjusted to life as parents without her help! She has been amazing by taking care of the house (cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, etc.) without asking us what she should do - she just does it. What a huge help this has been! Her help around the house allowed us to focus on Alli. Of course, her pearls of wisdom with regard to Alli have also been very helpful. We will certainly miss having that extra help at 5 a.m. when we would like to catch another hour or so of sleep and the little one wants to play. Gram was always more than happy to take a turn entertaining Alli

Thank you so much Mom!!! We appreciate everything you have done for us and will miss you very much. We cannot wait for August!
 

Gram meeting Alli for the first time.

Alli found a very snuggly spot to sleep :)

Checking out each other.

Three generations.

Garrett's Award

My handsome husband has once again shown what an amazing person he is. On top of being an amazing husband and father, he is also a fabulous Air Force Captain. In fact, his office has named him employee of the year!!! Alli and I are so proud of him :) He has been off work since Alli was born and will return to the office next Tuesday. It will be sad to not have him around all day but I'm sure we will manage and he needs to return to serving our country! Congratulations Garrett - it's wonderful to know that others recognize how great you are!!!!!!!!

Adjusting to life at home with Alli

We got home Thursday afternoon and are getting settled into life with Alli. Forgive us if we are tardy in our updates, Alli is keeping us quite busy!!! We have been having a fabulous time getting to know our little girl. Other than spending lots of time with Alli, we don't have much to report but I promise we will soon :) In the meantime, we have set up a website solely dedicated to Alli if you would like to visit that for more pics and updates on our beautiful little girl http://www.babysites.com/sites/allinicole/

Allison Nicole Fisher

. . .is a Superbowl baby!!! She made her unexpected appearance at 11:36 a.m. by c-section because she remained breech like the adorable, stubborn little lady that she is.

She weighs 6 lbs, 11 oz. and is 20 inches in length.

Mommy, Daddy and Alli are doing great and getting to know each other.

Congratulations Cori and Kevin!!!!

On January 28, 2007 at 11:23 a.m. my best friend Cori and her husband Kevin welcomed their beautiful and healthy baby boy into this world. Cohen Crawford Hartley weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was 19.5 inches. Congratulations Cori & Kevin, we are so excited to meet our new "nephew"!!!

A Relaxing Weekend

Oh yeah it really was.....and it kind of needs to be since the baby free weekends are now officially "endangered". We spent the weekend sleeping in, putting the finishing touches on the baby room and trying to do some of the things that won't be as easy to do later on. The good news is, I think we are officially ready for Alli to show up....at least as ready as two first timers can be before all the magic happens.


Nikki cannot wait for it all to begin. Ever since she's been taken out of work, she's remembered how much she doesn't like not working. She's even thought about heading back in to stay busy. I've had to remind her that she's on Doctor's orders. She'll be plenty busy in no time though.

Hope everyone has a great week and we'll make sure to keep the blog updated in case anything happens!

No Flipping for the 'lil fish

At our doctor's appointment yesterday, we learned that there is less than a 25% chance of success of flipping our little one with the version method. Given that this is an extremely uncomfortable procedure (and potentially risky), we opted forego the version and schedule the c-section. So we now know when our little one will make her appearance (assuming I don't go into full blown labor before the date!) We know that this is what is best for our baby but are feeling a little bummed that we will miss out on the excitement of the "natural" birth process and the surprise of when she is coming. Please understand that we would like to retain some element of surprise and have decided not to share the c-section date. We promise to let you all know when she is born!!!

World's Most Wonderful Husband!!!

As of yesterday, our 'lil fish was officially "full term." To say "thank you" and "congratulations," my amazing husband brought me the most beautiful yellow and peach roses! He is such a wonderful hubby and will be a fantastic daddy!!!