Still awake!

So, um... today was Thursday. My bad. I figured that out tonight when we met Evan's parents and brother at 6&34 in Sheffield for supper, and it was taco night. Whew!

Ardyn gave me a rough night last night. She fell asleep around 11pm, but I wasn't tired? I Had been exhausted at 6pm, but apparently I got a second wind. I lay down with her around 11:30, but decided to read a little. I started Dan Brown's Angels and Demons a few days ago, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I have only been able to read a little bit while breastfeeding, but last night I read for a LONG time (too long) and at 1:38am, I was chastising myself for not sleeping while she slept... and I paid for it later (of course) when she woke me up every hour and 45 minutes until 8am when she decided to be awake until about 9:45.... and then THANK GOD we both slept straight through till 1pm! Yay!

We had a laid back sort of day. Since I seem to have to buy everything, I ordered more sealing disks for my avent bottles, since I have been freezing 2 ounce increments in bottles and then I will freeze 4 ounce increments in bags. Of course now I am worried (a little) that I might have thrush... which means i would have to toss out all my milk I have expressed. Ugh. That's like throwing away gold! Well, the only symptom of thrush that either of us have- shooting stabbing pains when I am not nursing. Not sure if it's for real, but lots of people on the fertility/pregnancy/mom/breastfeeding boards that I frequent have had only that as a symptom and ignored it and it got MUCH worse and both of them had it and it took months to get rid of then. Ack. So tomorrow I will call my midwife and see what she thinks.

I also broke down and spent BIG BUCKS on a hospital grade dual breast pump. When I initially bought a pump, I got an Avent Isis IQ Uno, which is a handheld manual/electric combo pump. I love it. I didn't want to spend much because although I wanted breastfeeding to work out, you don't just buy a $200-400 pump without knowing if you will have milk or if your child will eat, etc. So when I was pregnant, I grabbed the $140 pump for $60 on eBay, new in box... and it works great. But when I go back to work and have to pump several times a day, every day... and I am working within time constraints, and I need to make sure my supply doesn't diminish because I am not pumping efficiently... So I did tons of research, and decided to buy the Avent Isis IQ Duo, which is basically identical to my single pump but with dual capabilities and a hospital grade motor. I feel guilty buying it, but I know I shouldn't, because I know I will use it, and that in the end the cost will be way less than the cost of formula, and that the pump will last for our next kids as well. I also bought some bulk mother's milk tea, so that I can continue to keep my supply up when pumping. Plus it has Chamomile and Lavender, so I will just plain enjoy it.

So here it is almost 2am, and Ardyn has been sleeping since midnight, and AGAIN I am stupidly sitting here watching TIVO'd episodes of Ellen Degeneres from the week. Ardyn and I watched the first one together, and now I am watching another while I do laundry, pump milk, and wash sterilize the bottles, pump parts, and pacifiers from the past day. I am a freak for cleaning stuff and sterilizing daily. Ellen covered this story about the bear who fell off a bridge and was sleeping underneath because he caught himself on a concrete ledge and was strong enough to climb up there and sleep until help arrived. Check it out if you haven't seen it already.

So that's the story. And I should really do my face treatments and go to sleep, but if I am smart I will wake her up and feed her again so I don't have to wake up in an hour. :)