Reply To: Help me dry my tears

Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate the support. I do know that it’s normal to some extent so I’m not really worried, but I am frustrated with myself and really want it to stop. As I said, I’ve never had it to this extent after my other births. I guess I’ll just have to be patient and hope it goes away somehow.

I did have help right after the birth when I was really sick. I stayed at my mother’s house and she spoiled me rotten while I just lied in bed. I had high fever then and everything hurt and breathing took a lot of effort, so I couldn’t do anything else. I couldn’t stay there too long though because I have other kids at home and it was too hard on everyone. My husband is extremely helpful and supportive and took off quite a few days to man the fort, but I wasn’t calm being away from home and knowing how much he was struggling back here. As soon as my fever broke and I stopped feeling completely lousy, I came home. At this point, I’m still coughing and wheezing and it hurts to breathe deeply, but I don’t have that general feeling of yuckiness that comes along with fever. So I am on the mend and trying to get into some kind of routine to keep my house running somewhat smoothly. I do have some help from friends and neighbors–they’re still sending me meals and I had a chessed girl come over a few times at bedtime to help me out.

I try to sleep when the baby sleeps but I have a 2-year-old at home in the morning and some of my kids finish school at 1:30. I manage to get in some kind of a nap most days when my 2-year-old naps and the other kids aren’t home yet, but it’s usually not enough. I’m hoping the baby will get onto a better schedule eventually and have longer breaks between feeding so that at least my nights will be a little easier.

As far as eating well goes, I have no appetite whatsoever and have to forcefeed myself. I assume it has to do with the pneumonia because I’ve never had an appetite issue before. I know I have to eat to get my strength back and to be able to nurse my baby, so I try to at least have 3 small meals every day. I feel full very quickly though so I can’t do much more than that.

Thanks again for all the advice. I have to run to feed my little princess again–she’s right on schedule.