AWOL

I've been tending to a cranky, sometimes-feverish baby teething molars.  Poor Schtinky.  He spent more than one night blazing heat like a little furnace and whimpering like a wounded puppy.  Last night was the first normal night of sleep since Thursday of last week.  He slept solidly from 8:30 PM to 8:30 AM.  The poor little guy . . . he hasn't been able to even nap normally. 

He's been rather a pest as well, either cranky and clingy, or climbing on Mount St. Something (the back of the potty seat to get at pretty little rocks on the window sill -!!!-, the perfectly-positioned toy vacuum for an extra boost to get up on play table, the toy box, the side of the tub, etc.), or trying to sidle in and destroy whatever project his brudders are working on.  He's been in the sling, the backpack, or my arms for most of the last week.

My poor breasts have been on a roller coaster ride as well, if you can believe it.  He abdicated food on last Friday, which is fine . . . he still gets most of his nourishment from nursing anyway.  But then, all of a sudden on Monday, he didn't nurse as much (or start eating for that matter) and that resulted in some, errrr . . . issues.  Think poor, sore rocks.  That lead to plugged ducts on my left breast, which must be a weakness for me at this point in time, because I just dealt with the same thing in the same spot a couple of weeks ago.

So I started to self-treat with warm compresses (hot salt in a pillow case) on the go, holding it in place with my hand or pinning it with my left arm.  That didn't seem to resolve the issue by itself (it did last time), so I started taking Vitamin C and echinacea yesterday afternoon.  The plugged ducts spanned about 6 inches, from the left side all the way around the top (the most I've ever dealt with at one time); very tender to the touch. 

By bedtime last night, nothing had changed after more than 24 hours of treatment and I started wondering if I was going to need to get radical; but I was so pleased to note at this morning's 4:00 AM nursing session that the swelling and tenderness had totally cleared.  Yesssssss.  Thank goodness.  Now I can get on with life.

All that is left of our issues now seems to be phlegm in the baby's lungs.  It is the strangest thing.  He hasn't been sick, nor has anyone else.  We haven't been anywhere in over week.  I can only conclude that must be somehow connected with the teething.  Strange.