Ups and Downs

First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween! I can't wait for next year to dress Gemma up in a proper Halloween outfit! :)

Gemma's 2-month check-up went really well and she's grown fast!:
* Weight = 11.5 lbs (jumped to 75 percentile)
* Height = 22.25 inches (50 percentile)
* Head circumference 15.16 inches = (50 percentile)

OK - These past 2 weeks have been so very hectic & tiring with all our ups and downs.

Let's start up with an UP:
Grandma and Grandpa Krotz (Rich & Nancy) were able to meet Gemma for the first time this past week. They came out from Chicago to meet the latest member of the family. It has been really awesome to have them around to play with Gemma and give me and Scotty a little break. :)
Gemma's taken a particular shine to Grandpa - I think he sounds just like Scotty.DOWN:
This past week I've been healing from a breast infection called mastitis. It happens when milk ducts don't get completely drained and then clog and then become infected. It is an incredibly intense pain accompanied by fever and all the flu symptoms you can think of. Apparently more women than you would think have some sort of breast issue while breastfeeding, you just don't hear about it very often (unless you get something then you hear about other people's stories).

I've cried 3 times uncontrollably since Gemma was born - once when she was born (I was just so happy), another time when my mother left (I felt so overwhelmed), and the third time was 2 Fridays ago when I came down hard with mastitis. I was just so exhausted and in so much pain and Gemma refused to eat because I was stressed which stressed me out even more.

When I went to see the doctor, she asked me what was going on and as soon as I started to talk I started bawling my eyes out. She kept asking me in her thick East Indian accent, "Are you suffering from post partum depression?" I kept responding, "No" - I must have looked a mess. :) Looking back, I can laugh at it now but at the time it was the worst possible thing that could have happened to me. Scott has been such a major trouper. He's been taking such good care of me and Gemma. Before the antibiotics took affect, I was completely out of it and he was basically taking care of Gemma 100% of the time - a major crash course for sure! Well, I'm much better now, thank goodness. And thank goodness for my wonderful husband!UP:
Before I got sick, I shot my first official wedding. I wasn't the main photographer, but the 2nd shooter. I'm glad I wasn't the main photographer because it was a lot harder than I expected to get a good shot. So much happens so quickly. It is like photography on crack. Anyway, the wedding was in Santa Cruz and it was a gorgeous day and my first day leaving the house alone. I felt pretty darn great! Our good friend Marisa came down from the city to spend the day with Scott just in case he needed it. Turns out that both Gemma and Scott did great on their 9-hour tour but it was still nice for him to have the company. Gracias, Marisa! :)

DOWN:
Right around the time I was getting a little better from my mastitis, Blitz started getting ill. At about 5am in the morning one day last week Scott took Blitz to a 24-hour veterinary hospital. They ran a bunch of tests, only after having had to sedate him - he is so super feisty even at 15 years old, and they eventually found that he has a urinary tract problem and a thyroid issue. Scott came home later that day blurry-eyed with a sedated Blitzy and a stack of pills he had to give him. Now Blitz is super smart and it has been quite a headache for Scott to give him the pills several times a day. He's tried it all including hiding the pills in yummy treats which is hard to pull off especially when Blitz didn't have much of an appetite. So several times Scott had to catch Blitz and force pills and food down his throat - not fun. Little by little Blitz is starting to feel better and eating on his own. He's back to being his grouchy little self - all good! Check out his left forearm - they had to hydrate him and this is where they put his IV. I hadn't realized how skinny he is under all that soft fur! :)

UP:

My cousin Christina came to visit me just before Scott's parents came to keep me company & feed me while I recuperated. She helped me take Gemmita a bath and held her while I rested. Gracias, prima!!!! Here's a picture of me being crazy with calm Gemma. :)

SIDEWAYS:
Gemma slept through her first earthquake. We freaked out a little, but she just slept like nothing happened. :) 5.6 on the richter scale, centered in Alum Rock, in San Jose, just south of us.

UP:
Scott's birthday was Friday. It was nice to have his parents here to celebrate. We ate one of Scott's favorite foods, Chinese, and had chocolate cake made by his mom (yum!). We didn't do much, just tried to catch up on the sleep we all had been missing between me and Blitz being sick. He wanted to watch Spiderman 3 but we didn't get to it until Saturday. I think it still counts. :) Happy birthday, sweetheart!