Well, Liam and I surely have had our fair share of illnesses after the trauma at with birth which I reckon have actually caused our immune systems to be a little less effective than it should be! During pregnancy we were both extremely healthy and never had a days worry. I might have had the odd cold, but it was all better with paracetamol, which is the only allowed medicine when you're pregnant. The only time during my pregnancy that I felt horrid was the first trimester - I was sick the entire day and totally lost my appetite, which in turn cause me to be energy-less... but that is all normal and no cause for concern.
Let's see... First it was Liam with the elevated infection count in his blood while we were in hospital, then it was me with serous baby blues (even borderline post natal depression), then it was Liam's oral thrush with thrush on my nipples as I am breastfeeding... then I got a uterus infection... and then Liam had a blocked eye duct with yellowy discharge from his eye.
The baby blues hit me quite bad and there were a few days where I could do nothing but just sit and feed Liam when I needed to. That was nothing like me at all! I'm normally a happy, positive person and with the whole ordeal felt I lost myself somewhere. It was hard on Gavin, as well! He had to jump in and do EVERYTHING else! But what a wonderful husband I do have! He did all of it without complaining or blaming! Looking back now (I am much better now! :) ), I remember the tortured look he had. It was exceptionally difficult for him to deal with my problems and the tremendous life change that a newborn baby brings.
I think what helped me turn around the baby blues was the structured routine that I started to follow to some degree. I read the 'Secrets of the baby Whisperer' book and used it as a guideline. I started a 3 hour cycle instead of feeding every 2 hours (which was exhausting). First feed, then activity (changing nappy, playing and talking to Liam) then sleep time. He did not sleep long sprints initially and woke up every 20 minutes or so during the day. I then had to check to see if I can see anything wrong and calm him down so that he could sleep some more. I also played 'Mozart for Toddlers' music that my friend Anneliese gave me as a present and the calming music did wonders for both me and Liam! Thanks Anneliese!!! During the night I would change nappy first and then feed and put him back in his moses basket - all in dim lighting and talking softly or not at all. That helped during the evenings as it took quicker to settle him and therefore a little more sleep for me!
We also had the 'listening service' from the hospital come to us to discuss the trauma we experience at the hospital. I found that I had built-up anger towards the doctor that was so ignorant that she could only look at one symptom and ignored the rest. She also was unable to hear what Gavin and I was trying to communicate to her and sounded like a broken record... 'you only 3 cm dilated and technically not in labour'. It felt good to verbalise it. Gavin also verbalised a lot of his built-up frustration and I think it did help him, but he has actually gone through more than me as I was passed out a lot of the time and he was awake through it all! We are due to see the matron at the hospital on Friday, so hopefully he will be able to overcome his built-up emotions as well by talking through it again.
For the thrush and infection we had to go to the doctor who prescribed medicine.... With the infection Liam and I had a bad day one day as I was too much in pain to console him and him, being as sensitive as he is, was crying as I am not calm... so the boomerang resulted in both of us crying the entire day! At least it was only one day! The infection is now almost healed and I am feeling myself again... I even dance with Liam in my arms to the music. He does seem to like it!
I believe from now on out our family will only grow healthier and all illnesses will stay away from us!! I mean, enough is enough!!
