Recapping

I was hoping to have had this wrote and posted last night but I hit what better be the peak of my pain-if it's not, I don't know what I'll do. It's really that bad and I didn't help things out  by overexerting myself over the past couple of days. This is going to sound gross but the doctor told me around the seventh through the tenth day of recovery the scabs (Yes, ewhh, I know!) will fall off and when that happens I  will hit the worst portion of the pain (typical scenario). He said that it would feel like how the first day of surgery would have felt if there were no medications given. Well, the scabs (I know, I know-yuck) are gone and I seriously would like to just be knocked out! Today is just as bad and sometimes worse than last night, other times  it's managed to where the sharp edge has been slightly dulled but that's about the extent of relief that I am getting. Right now, I am kind of in the middle of wanting to scream and feeling the pain of my three day empty stomach but the sharp edge that I was referring to is at this very moment smoothed over ever so slightly and I am grateful for any relief, no matter how small.

Moments before going into surgery we spoke with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist about being able to breastfeed Vada after the procedure was done. The anesthesiologist said that I had to wait twenty-four hours and the surgeon said that the pain medications were okay to use while nursing. I was a little nervous about Vada going the full twenty-four hours without nursing but she had recently done it (when my tonsil became abscessed) and she was great throughout that time. Actually, this is when she really began having interests for eating and swallowing solid foods.

Justin had took the whole week off from work to help out around the house and to pretty much take care of me. That first night Vada ended up doing very well. She ate a good solid dinner, drank milk from a sippy cup and she even slept longer and was in what seemed to be a deeper sleep than she has been in a very, very long time. On day two I wasn't really feeling any pain but I was still pretty out of it from all of the medications so I didn't venture upstairs from our bedroom much. I had pumped a couple of times to keep a decent flow but I still hadn't nursed Vada. Justin said that she was doing really well with everything and that we should just see how things went.

To back track just a bit...

Vada has just recently picked up on eating solid foods, which she has only actually successfully been doing for about a month now. Before she would just put things into her mouth, chew on it a bit and then spit the food right back out. She would never stomach much of anything at least not intentionally. She enjoyed breastfeeding and never showed much interest in anything other than Momma's milk. I personally thought of weaning her off several times (only because of my depression and wanting to start my medication back up), but she was never interested in that either. Plus, she is most likely our last child, stopping means a lot more with that in mind. Once this is over, its over. Once around Christmas, I went a week with out nursing her. She was a wreck, I was a wreck and that was enough to continue nursing her. Truthfully, I enjoyed being able to do it. We were told to expect her to not be able to latch on and she once again proved the medical professionals wrong. I have grown attached to this bonding ritual that her and I have formed and I too am having a hard time letting it go.

Anyway, She had gone three consecutive days of eating solid foods, drinking from a sippy cup and not drinking from me when my nausea had set in and I began vomiting over and over again. When that happened I was put onto two new medications and those were not approved to be used while breast feeding. We figured that as good as she was doing and as much as she was eating, drinking and sleeping that this was our sign...to quit breastfeeding. Were on day number seven and she has yet to breastfeed. There are moments when she does the sign and sticks her hand at my shirt and pulls it but normally its when she is tired. Ive been giving her sippy's of milk and we've been doing a lot of rocky rocky (rocking in the rocking chair) but she isn't too fussy. Actually, she is actually quite amazing about it. I think I may be having the hardest time with it. I'm still pumping a couple of days because I am having that hard of a time with it. However, I am grateful that this has happened. I can start my medication again and my family can have a happier mom and wife!

This was two days after surgery. Me (attractive, I know) giving V some milk from a sippy.

The breastfeeding has been a pretty big ordeal but she has reached an amazing milestone throughout this week as well. She is now puling herself to a standing position. A couple of days ago Justin's mom walked into her room and she was standing in her crib. She pulls herself up to stand at the couch, at her physical therapy bench that we brought home and she now has an additional physical therapy toy, this huge "ring thing". It really provides the perfect height for her to be able to stand with ease.

Another accomplishment of Vada's is that she has begun doing the sign for "more". Well, she almost has it down but she does the gesture at the appropriate times, so we know that she knows whats she is doing. A little more practice and she'll have it down.

Finally, today at physical therapy Vada walked on the treadmill for a whole five minutes (this was her second time doing this type of therapy)! Kim, Vada's therapist, held Vada under her arms, turned on the treadmill and away Vada went. She just starting taking steps. She did have to break here and there for a quick "breather" but she was really working hard throughout her whole session and was naturally tired at this point.

Kiliegh surrounded Vada with some of her favorite things to play with-a little motivation.

I just love Vada's therapy times with Kim. I know that it may sound a bit odd-me actually liking that my daughter is in therapy but its more that I like who we have giving her the therapy, since Vada needs to have it. Did that make sense? Anyway, Kim is fantastic with her. She is gentle, yet she continues to push Vada to do a little bit more each time they do anything and this is a whopper of a great thing, to me, Kim has never said anything about what Vada probably can't or wont do because she happens to have Down syndrome. It's something that we have heard a lot of over the last two years but never once from Kim. Anyway, its neat to watch the two of them together. I not only walk out of the sessions with more idea's on how to physically help and motivate Vada, I also walk out feeling even more proud than had been just an hour before.