Home from the Hospital, Hurray!

For those of you not in my world on a daily basis, I thought I'd better update and let you know what I've been up to. My last update stated I'd be starting my Romiplostim shots to treat ITP later that week.
Well, things got worse a little too early in the week to wait. We were on the phone off and on with my hematologist all day Tuesday, discussing the treatment and if I really had any option to wait or go with something other than Romiplostim, because I really didn't want to have to stop breastfeeding just cold turkey and without tapering down Victory's feeding schedule, or without either of us being ready, frankly! Once I'd worked through all of my questions, concerns and frustrations (have I mentioned I have a really patient, kind doctor? because it needs to be mentioned) I decided, ok, I will go ahead with that plan. During the last conversation with my doctor, it was my husband on the phone with him. I asked him to ask my doctor if he could put in a lab order to check my platelets. I was really not feeling well - just exhausted, weak, and like things were just not right in my body. He put in the order, we drove the fifteen minutes to the lab, I got my blood drawn (and received much more concern from the phlebotomist than the day before, apparently I looked a lot worse!), and we left the clinic and started driving the long way home down backroads, because the traffic for the Justin Beiber concert that night was making the freeway look like a mess and a long wait.
Within ten minutes of leaving the clinic, my doctor calls - my platelets are down to 3,000, critical in the medical world. Criticial meaning, you're not just looking out for bruises or even nosebleeds, but your brain could just start hemorrhaging at any point. Not great news. Doctors orders, I had to get to the hospital right away and be admitted through the ER, and start some treatment.

I was amazed thinking about how I almost didn't get my lab drawn. I'd made such a fuss that day that my doctor had said we could wait until Thursday to draw any more labs. Definitely a God thing that I felt funny and spoke up!

So we got home as fast as possible (which felt like it took FOREVER!), threw some things into bags, I grabbed the ripe bananas on the counter to take with us because I figured they'd be black and very scary by the time we got home - not knowing when that would be, and we drove away. Dropping Victory at the grandparents' house (by the way, I am so grateful for amazing parents that I can trust to keep my baby safe and well taken care of, and the fact that they live in the same area. Thanks Mom and Dad, you are a blessing!) we continued on to the hospital. Driving there, I got a headache, and when we were waiting in the ER for my room to become available, it got worse and worse. When they tell you that your brain could hemorrhage any time, a migraine out of the blue makes you a bit nervous. It stuck around actually for the next four days, and finally went away when a resident thought to give me something called Imitrex (not sure on the spelling of that) which is for treating migraines. That was quite a week of pain I never want to repeat!!

I am too tired still to get into all the details of my hospital stays (yep that's plural-part of the long story), but I'll do a quick bullet point list, leaving out a bunch of the medical details I'll try to share later:

• Admitted to the hospital Tuesday night
• Given oxycodone (on an empty stomach - blech) for the headache, Tues late evening - didn't help
• Given tramadol for headache early morning Wednesday - didn't work
• Had to wait for Zofran too long, and threw up from oxycodone and tramadol - headache still there
• Nurses were so helpful and gathered sterile specimen containers and zipper top bags so I could pump milk, and they put it in the refrigerator so we could keep if for Victory. My doctor agreed to put off my shot one day so I could have more time to pump. That was really nice of them and meant a lot to me.
• Two infusions of IVIG Privigen (intravenous immune globulin) Wednesday 3 am and 8 pm
• Visit from my parents and sweet Victory Wednesday afternoon :)
• Visit and dinner and magazines to read from wonderful friends Wednesday evening :)
• Woke up and got sick, felt terrible, got everybody worried and wanting to keep me there more days - then felt much improved in the afternoon
• First Romiplostim shot Thursday 1 pm
• Convinced the doctors I was feeling better (I really was for a time) and got discharged Thursday around 4 pm
• Driving home, that night, next day, next evening - resting and fighting the horrible headache and feeling miserable
• Fever of 101 Thursday night and early Sat morning - went up to 102 point something then, and :sigh: I had to go back to the ER. Threw up at home as we were leaving - good thing I had a collection of pink buckets from the hospital stay 18 hours earlier!
• Arrived at ER, amazing husband told them I'd just been there thru Thursday for low platelets, I am a liver transplant patient (always a big deal when you have a fever and are in the ER - they take it very seriously), and had a high fever and horrible migraine type headache. They took my temp and it was up to 103. 
• I got an IV, they gave me a pain med called "Delottid" (spelling?), it helped headache, it wore off, they gave me more Delottid. In the meantime someone drew some blood for labs, I was taken for a head CT to look for brain bleeds, they put a mask on me because the doctor thought there was a very small chance I could have infectious meningitis, they gave me Tylenol in an untraditional manner to get the fever to go down, and they put in a catheter to get urine to test... and all I remember besides that is waking up every few hours, looking to my right and seeing Hubs leaning over the bed rail trying to sleep - or praying - I haven't asked him what he was doing. I just remember waking up, looking over, seeing that, and crashing again. Like something out of a movie I tell you! I have quite a colorful medical record, but I am not usually the girl creating a hectic scene in the ER. Interesting experience for me!
• Turns out we were there waiting to be admitted, for 11 and a half hours. Have I mentioned that my husband is a saint? He is the most incredible man I know, dealing with all of my nonsense health issues, and all the ramifications of those - financial and otherwise - and the guy never complains. He is a saint, and I am blessed.
• Somewhere around 4 pm I was taken to my room - woke up enough to walk from the ER stretcher to the bed (four steps or so). Went back to sleep, woke up at dusk. Fell back asleep. Turns out that the anti-nausea med they were giving me with the Delottid is very sedating, creating that 24+ hour blur I have. All that sleeping + high fever = a crazy damp bed, let me tell you!
• Saturday around 7:30 pm a neurologist came in to my room and said they wanted to get some spinal fluid to look for meningitis - because of the ongoing headache, high fever, and nausea. Translation: spinal tap! Another one for the medical bucket list! It wasn't that bad.
• I think it was Sunday morning, a resident suggested I get that migraine med, and I tried it and PTL, my headache left, finally!!! I got another dose of that when it tried to sneak back, and it worked and kept it away - and it hasn't been back since!
• Sunday I don't remember a whole lot, except kicking my hubs out to go to church and get some encouragement, which he did. Turned out he got a LOT of encouragement, hugs, prayers, LOVE! We have an amazing church!
• Sunday afternoon friends came to visit after church - more friends came - family and sweet Victory came - then everyone was gone.
• Sometime in there they came back with a report from my spinal tap that there were white blood cells in the fluid, which is called "aseptic meningitis - inflammation of the meninges." Also, we learned that the IVIG I got infusions of the previous stay can cause something called "chemical meningitis." 
• They had started IV antibiotics late Saturday night I think, and continued them late Sunday night/Monday morning.
• Monday all the doctors that had been following me came through and gave their OK that I could go home, as my fever was gone, headache was gone, nothing was coming back on my spinal tap, and I was feeling much better in general.
• The doctors concluded that my symptoms that brought me back to the hospital were either a reaction to the IVIG or Romiplostim, just a severe reaction not usually seen especially when only 5% of people react at all (agh, why do I always have to be the small percentage on the negative side of things? LoL), the chemical meningitis from one of those, or an enterovirus (stomach bug/flu). No real answer, they said, but those are their guesses. The spinal fluid cultures are still cooking, and they told me they will call if something shows up, and I need to come back in the get IV antibiotics. So far so good :)
• We left about 6 pm Monday, and I was feeling so good! Since then I've probably done more than I should (I have a difficult time sitting still, I want to DO things always!) which is probably why I feel weak and tired often. But I am feeling good, my platelets were at 32,000 Monday morning, the only bad thing is that my white blood cell count is now at a point where they get really concerned, and I have to be extra cautious of sick people and going out because an infection would be a bad thing to get right now. They have no idea why my white cell count is so low, so if you like, pray with us that they can figure that one out and find a simple solution.

Five nights and six days, and my husband hardly left my side. I am thankful that his employer and managers are understanding and concerned, and never make him feel pressure to be at work when he simply cannot because of my health issues.
I pray that God provides the resource that we won't have because of this last week of missing work, and provides for the bills that are on their way. Only He knows how we'll get this paid for. I even pray that somehow we'll still be able to take a family trip this year. We had just started planning a road trip to the old west, Yellowstone Park, Mt Rushmore, and many other fun and historical places, and I hope we can still do it. Six years and one vacation is not enough, especially for a family that lives with the kind of pressure we that is there, from my ongoing challenges.

Thank you to my church family, friends, relatives, and blogging pals near and far that have been praying and cooking meals, doing laundry, offering to babysit, and some have even sent cards and given resources to us that are so helpful in this time. It means the world to my little family that we aren't alone in this fight, and so many others are believing for my total healing. Thank you! I can't wait until that happens and we can all celebrate together! Xoxo

Post-Bone Marrow Biopsy Check-In, and Humbled Gratitude

Hello! I wanted to check in and let you all know how I am doing post-bone marrow biopsy. As of right now, I'm feeling well! The biopsy was kind of interesting... I got all ready and my IV in upstairs, then they wheeled me down a floor to the area where they do lung scopes, because they have the means to use sedation in that area. Once we were in the procedure room, the nurse got me ready - sticky things onto my chest for the heart and respiration monitor, getting me onto my stomach and keeping the cords untangled, etc. They let Hubs walk me down there, and he ended up staying the whole time. I told them he could wait in the corner (ha) but they let him stay right up by me and hold my hand throughout the procedure. It was pretty mild as procedures go: clean the area, stick some needles in to "numb" it, make a little incision for the bigger needles, stick in the bigger needles, get syringes of fluid, and again needles in, bottle up the samples and send them off to the lab. (This is the run-down that Hubs gave me.) The process was simple. What wasn't so simple was the fact that the doctor was going into my bone - my pelvic bone in my back, to be exact, in between my left hip and spine. Hubs said that at one point the doctor was tapping, tapping, tapping (kind of like hammering) to get into the bone for the samples. ::Shudder much?::

I am told that I was dozing for just the first minute or so. As soon as the needle for lidocaine went in, I cringed and said, "Ouch!" They had to keep going with that, and I repeated my cringing, flinching and "ouch"-ing. Then when the real needles started, I really yelped and was saying, "That hurts!" and crying. That all went on until they finished. :(
I'm glad I don't really remember that, although I have a weird dream-like deja-vu memory of it, and I woke up in recovery crying. (SO strange to me that I have no recollection of getting off the table and into the stretcher to be wheeled back upstairs - but Hubs said I was 'awake' and did it myself. Trippy!)
My poor doctor, he called me twice -later that evening and the next afternoon- to see if I remembered and how I was doing. I think he felt really bad. He is really compassionate; the nurse told me that most of the hematologists don't give their patients anything for this procedure. I have to give that a big, "OMG - are they crazy?! I wonder how they get any samples?!"

Recovery was simple, except it took me a long time to get the drugs out of my system. We got to go home within the hour after the procedure, but I took almost a two hour nap once I was at home, and stayed groggy all night. I was bummed that they gave me more sleepy juice when I was yelping, because it clearly didn't work quickly enough to inhibit the pain or my reactions, but it stayed with me all night. Icky stuff, but a blessing to have, too.

My doctor called that evening to say that a quick look at the bone marrow show it looks "quite healthy" (yahoo!!) and so in that case, he's going ahead with his hunch (after putting all the pieces of my recent and past health history together, which he did quite thoroughly in our pre-biopsy consult), that it is my immune system destroying platelets, something like the condition ITP. So he prescribed me a four day Rx of Dexamethasone, which is like a super-Prednisone steroid drug, to hopefully get my immune system to calm down. It was very interesting learning that this condition affects a lot of young women that he sees in his Hematology practice, and that often it can happen after a viral infection - your immune system is working hard to fight the virus, and it can "misfire" and start destroying platelets along with viral cells. Fascinating, and totally fits with Emily's immune health nonsense, right? (Haha.) Have I mentioned I would like a new immune system for Christmas? :)
On the positive, of course, there are too many things to list, but one huge one is that I'm grateful for an immune system that works overtime, instead of not enough!

So I'm on day three of the Dexamethasone, almost done, and it's not bad. I even get to continue breastfeeding for most of the day, I just pump in the mid-day when the dose is highest in my body and feed Vicky at bedtime and in the morning. She is so in love with nursing, still, it is so sweet, and I'm grateful I didn't have to take something that would have been incompatible with nursing. Weaning her abruptly would be traumatic. Another thing to thank God about! (By the way, I did check with my friend who is a brilliant pharmacist, and also with Vicky's pediatrician. Always good to make sure about these things rather than not informing yourself of any risks.)

One more thing about the biopsy:
My doctor is awesome - I asked him at the end of the consult if we could not do the biopsy if my platelets had gone back up to normal (they would draw a sample to test once I got my IV in), and he said sure, without even looking at me funny. I think he sees people with some faith occasionally :)  The gals from the lab came in to the procedure room right after my doctor, with their special sample-gathering equipment, and delivered the news on my platelets: they were down to 10,000 - that or below that is considered "critical." Yikes! My doctor looked at me and said, "It's good we're doing this then, just in case," and I agreed.

Tomorrow we re-check my platelet count. I am believing it will be back to normal! The exciting thing about this condition is that after this short treatment, it can disappear (or go into remission) FOREVER. Please agree with me in prayer for that outcome!

Speaking of prayer: Wow, I have been so humbled by the prayers of my Christ-following friends and my church family - my strongest teammates in life! They (some of you reading this!) are lifting me up to the Lord in mighty prayers, and I want to say thank you again! I really felt it yesterday in my body! Yesterday I woke up with NO MORE PAIN at the biopsy sight. It didn't hurt all day, until I was running through a parking lot pushing Vicky in her stroller and it just ached like a little bruise for a second (yes, I was running and pushing the stroller, and we were both laughing our heads off! It was the best!)
But back to what I was saying - I'm so thankful for a church that is family; just like God designed it to be. I am grateful for so many believing with us that my healing is on its way. I'm so thankful that God placed Hubs and I in our city four years ago this month, where we knew no one, and drew us into an incredible church where we knew not one person but each other, but knew right away that it was HOME.
I would be a messy mess without my church, without the wisdom, encouragement, and sense of belonging and purpose I receive from being a part of that house. And I am so, so grateful that somehow, although I feel like I don't contribute a thing compared to what I'd love to contribute since my health really took a turn, somehow our little family has been endeared to so many special people, and somehow it seems God makes our hearts and love and commitment to our church shine through even if we're absent more than we'd like, and not able to serve as much as we want to serve.

What a gift to know I am loved and not looked down upon one bit, and that so many of my teammates just want to see me whole and well again - BETTER than before. That reminds me of the heart of Jesus. I love you, my Champions Centre family!

A Little Surgery and a Lot of Faith

So, I had a little surgery on Friday. It was ambulatory surgery, which meant I got to go home about an hour or so after the doctor stitched me up. I had a lymph node on my neck swell to a noticeable size a few weeks ago, and when I was in for my annual liver check up last week, my ARNP thought it would be wise to have it looked at and biopsied by an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT). A "biopsy" turned into an "excision" (by the way, before this week I never knew that word existed, and I hate it!) in which they removed the whole thing so there would be more for pathology to study.

The medical experts looking after me are taking precautionary measures because a lymph node sticking around without any recent obvious infection or sickness is concerning, especially in transplant patients, who can have a higher rate of developing lymphomas because of the years of suppressing the immune system with medication to prevent the body from rejecting the transplanted organ.

The surgery was fine, I didn't even go to sleep (my choice), I just got a little bit of relaxation juice and they numbed the area locally. There was an exciting moment in which my surgeon (ENT specialist) had to move my nerve connecting my neck to my back shoulder muscles out of the way to remove the lymph node. He'd brought up that scenario as a rare possibility/risk of the surgery during our consult, and it was interesting that I ended up being one of the few people having that interesting (and challenging, for him) quirk in my anatomy! He got my attention when that happened, reminded me what he'd said in the consultation, and then let me know within that same minute when he'd moved my nerve out of the way. Riveting, right?!
I enjoy being semi-involved in the medical procedures I go through; it's fun to be able to speak to the team and ask questions, and also answer questions, and learn about what they are doing. I suppose not everyone feels that way about surgery, however, so thank God for general anesthesia for those who want it :)

The surgery took less than an hour in the OR. They stitched me up and sent off the lymph node to the lab where they will test it not just for lymphomas but also bacteria and fungus. What an interesting job that guy has that came to pick it up - transporting specimens. I wonder if he knows what he is transporting each day??
Anyway, then I went to recovery, and after I took a little snooze I asked my nurse for ice water and got a little cup of it. (Not eating for twelve plus hours gets easier with time - not drinking ANYTHING, especially when nursing and being a thirsty person anyway, is no fun!) When Hubs finally got to come back to the recovery area, he brought me my treat of choice, and possibly my new favorite thing: Ginger Root Beer Zevia and a nurse filled my water bottle with ice and I got to sip on Zevia and eat a pear.

Here I am in recovery, feeling less groggy and ready for my beverage and snack:

We stopped at Chipotle on the way home, where Hubs picked up a steak bowl for me - gluten free with extra rice, no beans, no salsa (boo nightshades!) and of course no cheese or sour cream.
Once we got home, per the information given me by anesthesiologist and the nurse anesthetist, I fed Victory as soon as she was hungry. The meds they gave me for the surgery were not concerning or requiring me to pump and dump, and we never saw any effects in Victory to show they got through the breastmilk.

This whole string of events happened very quickly, starting with my liver appointment on Tuesday, seeing an ENT that afternoon, having a CT scan of my neck Thursday and the surgery by another ENT on Friday.
It was a bit surreal to experience it all, to be sent from one appointment to the next, and have that concerned look from doctors and the word "lymphoma" keep getting thrown around.
But I got my bearings and "put my big-girl panties on" as my pastor's wife would say, and realized I just have to do what I have to do. I'm definitely growing in my faith, because I haven't fallen apart into hysterics or a blubbering puddle once! (No shame in that of course, I've done plenty of that over the years!)  I have had a peace that surpasses my understanding this whole week, and I thank God for providing me with that. It's truly been a Philippians 4 peace. I love the way The Message describes it:

"Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

I have been speaking health and wholeness over my body and trusting that Jesus' work on the cross has already provided for my healing of anything that would try to take root in my body. It is more faith testing and more character building for me, and that is exciting in a way because I know that means God has greater purposes for me ahead.

Speaking the Word over my body and my life is not something I always knew about, and practicing it the past few years has changed my life. I highly recommend it for every day, but especially when you are sick or getting medical testing done or walking through a fire of another sort. Nothing happens to you that God doesn't know about, so trust Him and keep your confidence in His promises, and speak and repeat them over yourself. There is power and life in our words (Proverbs 18:21)!

• By His wounds I am healed!  (Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24)
• NO weapon formed against me or my body will prosper! (Isaiah 54:17)
• God has good plans and a secure hope for me (Jeremiah 29:11)
• I have a hope that is an anchor to my soul (Hebrews 6:19)
• "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings" (Malachi 4:2)
• "For I WILL restore health to you, and your wounds I WILL heal!" (Jeremiah 30:17)

I am still sore around the incision, and OH SO itchy! I did not remember from my transplant so long ago that stitches itch like mad!!! My stitches have Steri-strips on top of them as well, so the corners of those poke the soft skin on my neck and it is just one irritating good time, haha! Thankfully the pain is better each day, I hardly had to ice my incision today. And I got the OK to shower tonight!

That reminds me, not being able to bathe for three days I ventured into the world of "dry shampoo" this weekend. I found a gem in the most affordable one out there: Suave Dry Shampoo Spray. I bought a can of it on Sunday morning before church and Hubs helped me spray it into my hair and I rubbed it in. It worked so well, my hair looked smooth and healthy but not too shiny, and it even made my natural color look prettier than usual. That was a great find.

The testing on my lymph node is expected to take until at least Wednesday to come back. It sounds weird to say but, in this context, we are obviously rooting for something like an infection to be the root cause here, because it's simple and treatable with antibiotics. We are praying and hoping for the best, and I am so grateful to say I'm not even playing the terrible "what if" game anymore.

I will update when we hear more.

I'll wrap up this post with this from Matthew 6. I have it written on my wall to read often:

"First, be concerned about your Father's kingdom and what has His approval. Then, all the things you need will be provided for you. So don't ever worry about tomorrow - after all, tomorrow will worry about itself."

Six Month BFing Milestone

This post isn't particularly related to food. Well, not adult food...

Yesterday my family reached a special milestone. Yesterday my baby girl turned six months old, and with the celebration of her life and health thus far, we also recognized six months of exclusive breastfeeding.
We did it! We made it to six months! It feels amazing to come this far and look at my daughter and see all the growing she's done, and her adorable chub and rolls, and know that it is from the milk that I have been able to give her!

I am thrilled to be a post liver transplant patient that pushed past the assumption that I couldn't breastfeed because of my anti-rejection meds. I did the research and found that it is a false assumption! For more info on that, read my post Medications & Breastfeeding. Also, check out the LactMed Drug & Lactation Database where you can look up your medications for any contraindications with nursing.

I believe that a key part of our success in breastfeeding has been my attitude about it. I was proactive during my pregnancy, I educated myself, committed to it 110%, surrounded myself with supportive people, and came up with a few back up plans. A healthy dose of prayer went toward this subject during my pregnancy, as well!

If you are a transplant patient or UC/IBD/autoimmune disease gal like me, or simply interested in nursing your baby, please feel free to ask about my experience. I'd love to share and help you any way I can with my (admittedly limited, yet so far successful) experience. As a woman who was embarrassed by seeing mothers nursing in public just a year ago, and being an adopted kiddo that never was breastfed myself, I love that breastfeeding is now one of my biggest passions!  :)

I thought I'd share a few resources that have helped me thus far, and then a list of my favorite nursing accessories:

Great Resources

Kelly Mom - This website is AMAZING for answering questions, looking for specific information, learning about new stages in breastfeeding, and so much more. We looked up a few issues in the first few days at home, and found reassurance and answers.

The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers - I found this at the used book store, and if a bit extreme at times, it is a great source of information to read during your pregnancy. It prepares you well. I felt it wasn't much use to me after our initial stage of learning, because after the basics it moves into covering complications and challenges which didn't apply to us. I also learned some of the material in our breastfeeding class (which I highly recommend taking as another resource!).

LactMed - As I mentioned above, it is a great resource for looking up your medications. If you have to go in for any medical procedures while you're nursing, find out what they plan to give you for anesthesia or pain, and look it up ahead of time. I had to do this a few weeks ago. I learned that I would need to "pump and dump" until the med cleared from my system, so I saved milk for bottles ahead of time

Some of my favorite breastfeeding accessories:

Avent breast pumps - I'm convinced these are the best designed and easiest to clean (and most sanitary!) breast pumps out there. Bonus: They are more affordable than the brands often suggested by hospitals and baby registry consultants. When my milk came in just 24 hours after I had Baby V, my post partum nurse suggested (several times) that we pick up the manual Avent pump on our way home from the hospital. I was fortunate to have the use of my good friend's Avent Double Electric pump for several months, and it was invaluable with my abundant supply. Thanks to this pump I had a rotating month to two month's supply in my freezer for the first three months, and a lot better (drier) sleep at night! Now I own the Avent Manual single pump, and it works great. I used it recently on a road trip and it worked great - super compact and portable with the insulated carrying bag. I highly recommend either one of those pumps to all my mommy friends.

The First Years Breastflow bottles - These bottles were suggested by the lactation educator that taught our breastfeeding class, because of their unique design much closer to actual breastfeeding than other bottles. It makes Baby work harder at getting the milk, more like the real thing, so it reduces the chance of "nipple confusion" and similar problems. We introduced an occasional bottle at six weeks with one of these, and had no problems. We moved up to the Stage 2 nipple after a few months, and that worked well too.

Nursing cover - You can pick these up at Target, Babies R Us, Amazon... But I'm old fashioned and prefer the DIY versions of most things, so I asked my mom to sew me one. My cover is made of fabric I picked out for the nursery and never used. It is a heavier weight and better quality than the covers sold in stores, being it was on the "decorator fabric" aisle at JoAnn's. I love it! With a cover I am more comfortable nursing in public because I feel I am respecting other peoples' space and comfort level (and I stay warmer since it's winter!). If you know sewing, see Simplicity pattern #2165. But even a beginning seamstress with the most basic skills can take on a simple nursing cover. Just sew a big rectangle and tack stitch on a ribbon; it will work!


Now that we've reached the six month milestone, it's time to introduce Victory to solids. Stay tuned for occasional posts about our adventures in baby led solids and homemade Paleo baby food. I am enjoying reading about Baby Led Weaning and we're approaching solids from that perspective. It's going to be fun :)
Any Paleo or BLW/BLS or homemade baby food making moms out there, feel free to give me your pointers and tips...

Medications & Breastfeeding

I am getting prepared for our upcoming pediatrician interviews. Our main criteria for a pediatrician was one that limits use of antibiotics unless absolutely necessary (for obvious reasons if you're informed about over-use of antibiotics and the consequences in this generation). We also want a ped that is supportive of our decision to breastfeed. Yep, "our decision;" Hubs is adamant that we breastfeed BG. The benefits of it can't be denied (especially with all the auto-immune junk in my genes), and he's supporting me any way he can. I'm thankful for that! Last week I read that spousal support for breastfeeding makes the difference in whether you'll succeed.

Anyway, today I'm gathering and printing out the little literature on breastfeeding while also taking the medications I am on (tacrolimus and mesalamine), to bring to the interviews and show the peds that it is in fact not determined to be harmful. One of my OB nurses recommended we do this. We hope that by presenting this info to the doctors first off, they will be more likely to fully support our decision to breastfeed BG.

This is a great little article on Breastfeeding and Tacrolimus, which I'm on for life so I don't reject my transplanted liver. I'm going to highlight it like crazy and hand it over to the ped: Tacrolimus use while Breastfeeding. It basically says that the absorption is so low, hardly any Tacro gets passed on to the little one, and when they've done studies on development and immune systems of babies who've had breastmilk from a woman taking Tacro, there weren't any contraindications. {Hurray!!!}

This is an article that focuses more on Tacrolimus' effects on a fetus during pregnancy: Tacrolimus Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Warnings I have to say, I think the worst case scenarios are probably in the pregnancies where they are taking the highest listed 64 mg of Tacro a day - yikes!
I've been on just 5 mg per day for over a year, and they raised it to 6 mg per day in my second trimester. Every growth scan and measurement we've had of BG has shown her to be healthy, growing, gaining weight, and developing perfectly, including and especially her incredible strong little heart! We are blessed and thankful for this, and believe she'll just continue to NOT fit in the box that the medical community would try to put her in because of my health history and the meds I have to take.

I'm very encouraged that in each case of breastfeeding that these two articles mention, things turned out positively; there was not a significant amount of Tacro detected in the babies' bodies, and the children are developing well!

Here is one more article I'm printing out because I also have Ulcerative Colitis, and for that I take Apriso, a mesalamine formulation - it's just like Asacol, a more common med which I used to take, but with Apriso I only take four capsules a day instead of sixteen. Mesalamine use while Breastfeeding. This one is much more "accepted" by the medical community for pregnancy and breastfeeding. I can't say that taking it has helped much during the pregnancy, as I've had active disease the whole time, and increasingly bad flares for the past few weeks :( But, I would never consider stopping it, because that could cause a situation even worse and more difficult to get under control.

Well, we're one step closer to our upcoming journey into parenthood! Next step: Pediatrician interviews :)

Healthy Choices for Baby

I am now 25 weeks pregnant, and I couldn't be more grateful for that. Baby V is moving all around in my tummy, and I can feel her every day now. I can feel her punching, kicking, and doing somersaults, but they are gentle and still somewhat muffled because of the anterior (front) position of the placenta. Our next OB check with my perinatologist is in a week, and we have another detailed growth ultrasound scheduled. I'm looking forward to seeing how much she has developed and grown since the last one at 18 weeks!

Judging by my growing baby bump belly and her activity in there, she is thriving. I pray for her every day, that she'll be healthy and not ever have any of the health problems I've had to deal with. God is in charge of her physical development, and we trust Him to take care of her. Meanwhile, Hubs and I have been discussing the healthy choices we want for our family, so we can give her every advantage from an environmental aspect. I thought I'd share them here with you all.

Before I share my big three, tell me: Do you do any of these things for your family? Do you have any other ideas to add?

Decision 1:

We are going to use cloth diapers and cloth baby wipes with our own cleaning solution, so we have control over the chemicals (or rather, so we can avoid the chemicals) that will be touching our baby's skin every day. Before we were even halfway through this pregnancy, Hubs and I read enough about the [toxic] chemicals in disposables (Dioxin, TBT, SAP) to commit to cloth without looking back.
Plus, the environmental bonus feels good. We won't be contributing to the huge mountains of little "poop bombs" sitting across our country in landfills. Did you know that disposable diapers take 500 years to break down? Yikes! Do you think that at some point our communities need to come together and address the fact that our landfills aren't bottomless pits? Human waste belongs in the sewer where it can go through the proper treatment, not the ground where it can get into our water supply.
Moving on though :) As a one-income household, the financial bonus of using cloth is huge! We'll save thousands of dollars not buying diapers and wipes monthly for those first few years. Plus, we'll be able to keep our small garbage can with the city disposal service. (We pay $25 a month now, and it would cost around $50 a month for the larger can to fit all the disposables in each week - that's a 100% cost increase!) And maybe the best bonus of all: no diaper-stinky garbage cans in the house ;)

Decision 2:

We've decided we'll make our own baby food. It really couldn't be easier to do, and very economical because we'll just be pureeing and cooking the veggies and fruits we buy for ourselves. It won't really be a chore, because I enjoy working with food and cooking. I expect it to be a fun activity, and it will feel GREAT to know what goes in Baby's food - no preservatives or pesticides, or packaging chemicals like BPA. And again, as a one-income family it's a smart and simple money-saving choice for us.

Decision 3:
Of these three decisions, this one is most important to me. My greatest goal as a new mom is to breastfeed my baby. The many benefits, from financial (it's free!) to convenience on the go (no bottles or formula mix or water needed!) are obvious, and then the health benefits for Baby. With all of the auto-immune and inflammatory conditions my body struggles with, I am always interested in research and information about them. Did you know breastmilk can prevent a multitude of diseases, including Ulcerative Colitis (I have that), asthma (and that), allergies (those too), arthritis (yep, got it). I'm committed to do whatever it takes to make breastfeeding work!
Part of why it is so important to me is because I was 100% formula fed as a baby, because I was adopted. From the age of ten onward, I've developed one auto-immune disease after another. I can't deny that there seems to be a connection between being formula fed, and my current state of health. So, I've made one single goal for the first month post-partum, and that is to start a successful routine of exclusively breastfeeding my baby. I am going to structure those first few weeks around this one goal.
I'm going to ignore housework, take every opportunity to rest and relax, ask for and welcome help - whatever I can do to succeed at this. It means a LOT to me to try to reach this goal, because I want to give our little one the best advantage I can in case the genes passed on from me are anything but good ones. I am even planning to have a lactation consultant come to our home to work with us if need be.
I know that there are sometimes medical reasons for having to use formula, and we will cross that bridge if we have to. But having this goal in mind and setting us up for success is the best way I can make it happen!




I've been doing a lot of reading, and thinking, and talking with tons of mothers throughout my pregnancy, and I've come to the conclusion that many women do not make informed choices about their labor, delivery, and motherhood. And that's a shame. It's largely a cultural failure I think, because we aren't told the whole story or given options. But I think that as parents we need to know the whole story and be able to make our own informed choices. We need to be empowered with information, and know we're not at the mercy of any (well-meaning but uninformed) doctor, nurse, neighbor or even baby-gadget salesperson. We're going to be parents, and now is the time to ask questions and make decisions for our families with sound reasons behind them.

So get out there, moms and dads, and ask questions, learn, get support, and be confident in your choices! All you can do is give your best, with what you have, where you are. If you're doing that, you should be proud - you are a great parent :)