New Hampshire

John's family takes an annual trip to Lake Waukewan in New Hampshire. John's parents have gone every summer since before he was born. This year they decided to rent a cottage for two months instead of the two weeks they usually do. We met them up there for a week. John's family actually took over all three cottages on the lake. John's Aunt Anne, Uncle Larry and cousins Anne, Tommy, and Jaylyn were in one cottage; John's parents, brothers Dave and Bobby, and Bobby's girlfriend Lexie were in another cottage; and John's cousin Larry, his wife Jeanellen, their 5-month-old Ian, John, Nate and I were in another cottage.

We drove up to NY 7/23 and stayed over at my mom's house for the night. On the way there I realized that the crummy feeling I had all day was more than just being tired. I took my temperature when we got to my mom's and I had a fever. The blocked duct I realized I had that morning had developed into mastitis. Luckily I was able to convince the nurse on the advice line to call in a prescription for me without having to go to the ER to be seen by a doctor. We left for NH that afternoon. We had a long trip with Nate needing to stop several times along the way to eat, burp and be changed.

I realized that taking a vacation with a newborn is not much of a vacation for mom. I had to pack an incredible amount of stuff for Nate. Not just his bouncy seat, swing, Boppy, pump, diapers, wipes, ointment, reflux medicine, syringes, nasal aspirator, thermometer, nail clippers, bath stuff, towels, wash cloths, toys, books, blankets, swaddlers, and stroller; but because Nate's reflux is so intense I packed almost every article of clothing, burp cloth, and bib we own. Luckily we have lots and lots of hand me downs so there are plenty of extras. We also brought the exercise ball because it is sometimes the only thing that will make Nate stop crying. Nate's suitcase was ginormous and we went through almost all of it by the time we got back to VA.

I was happy for John that he got to spend some quality time with his family. He swam in the lake, went golfing, hiking, fishing and played board games, soccer, catch etc. with his family. They tried to include me as much as possible, but with the change of environment and schedule Nate was more fussy and irritable than usual. He also had a really hard time sleeping in the cottage. Combine that with his usual reflux and frequent eating schedule to make up for all the milk he loses, and I spent most of the week either feeding or consoling him. It was nice to have more hands around to take a turn with him, but when he was so upset, most of the time only mommy would do to calm him down.

We drove back to NY 7/31 and spent 8/1 with my family for my mom's birthday. I was happy to see everyone but also exhausted from a week of no sleep and a very cranky baby. We drove back to VA and I was really happy to be home- even with the mounds of laundry I brought back with us.

Unfortunately, the calm I expected when we got home didn't last long. Nate's swaddler had some red tinged spit up on it in the morning and then his poop had some blood in it too. We went to the pediatrician today and she thinks he may have some kind of allergy. I already stopped eating dairy to try to help his reflux and since that is the most common allergy, the doctor isn't sure what is going on. She is consulting with GI and then supposed to get back to us to let us know the plan for follow-up. We will keep everyone updated when we learn more.