Effing Mastitis

I, like all lactating mothers, produce milk. What you didn’t know is that I can also produce little white rocks.
Suprised? So was I.
It all started last Sunday when Rachel and I went to Perkins by ourselves for about 3 hours. 3 Hours! You may not know it, but this was a milestone for me. It was the second time that I have gone out without at least one of my children in over a year. The first time was over a month ago and was also with Rachel. We drove around laughing and looking in people’s windows (is that bad?) before going to Applebee’s. We had just as much fun this time, but we didn’t look in anyone’s windows.
I nursed Tucker when I got home and then sat down to watch tv with Seth. A little bit later, I started to feel sore. The feeling got worse and worse. My body must have been punishing me for leaving my children. I was so glad that Tucker woke up when I was going to bed so that I could nurse him again, but it didn’t help. How do I know this? Because I woke up screaming in pain at 3:30am. Nursing Tucker again didn’t help because he just wanted to sleep, so I tried pumping. By that time I was shaking and cold.
So cold.
So, so cold…
Anyway.
Seth woke up so he got a hot washcloth for the clog and threw a blanket over me before passing out again. Morning came and I felt even worse. Seth came home from work to take care of me (how sweet) and drove me to the doctor. I know. I’m pathetic.
I told the doctor that I had mastitis and he gave me a prescription for antibiotics. Later that day, after nursing Tucker, I noticed he had left some milk behind.
Only it wasn’t milk. Dun dun dun…
It was a little white rock.
Followed later in the day by pus and milk. When one is afflicted with mastitis the best thing to do is have your baby nurse on that side as often as possible. Any bacteria is destroyed by the baby’s digestive system, so they are not affected. Yummy. Tucker didn’t think so either. He kept giving me disgusted looks and pointing at the other side.
Now that you are thoroughly disgusted, here are some pictures of the boys.
Seth’s Uncle Lynn stayed with us Friday night to go hunting with Seth, Nic, and Eric. He brought his adorable little dog, Zoe along. When I fed her the next morning, Jackson wanted to eat his breakfast on the floor also.

Here are the geese Seth, Lynn, Nic, and Eric shot. Jackson and Zoe got in on the picture too.

We had an early Thanksgiving with Dale and Collette yesterday as they are going to see the girls in Colorado. Dale was showing Seth a new gun, so Tucker had to go stand by the guys with his gun too.

Cooking With Jackson: Part II

Jackson made some squash to go with our supper last week. As you can see, he was able to cut them in half with his bare hands! Wait, maybe it’s just his long fingernails. Note to self: trim your childrens nails, Anna!
Next, he scooped out all of the seeds.
He then realized that he was not wearing his apron, so we had to stop and he was not happy until we were BOTH wearing our aprons. After scoring the squash (with his long fingernails), he got a little crazy with the salt.
He put about a tablespoon of butter in each half.Next, some generous spoonfuls of brown sugar.

A little taste……

I didn’t have real maple syrup, so Jackson had to make do with imitation. (Sorry aboutthe quality of this picture, my camera strap got in the way. Heck, sorry aboutthe quality ofall of these pictures!)

Next, a cup of water in the bottom of the pan.

He covered the pan with aluminum foil and put it in the oven for 30 minutes. Then, I took the foil off for him and left it in there for another 25 minutes. After that, I turned the broiler on for 5 minutes….

Ta – Da! Seth liked it, but Jackson wouldn’t try any. I tried to tell him that it looks suspicious when the cook won’t eat his own food, but that didn’t work.

 

Now that Jackson has mastered the basics, we’ll move on to souffles! Just kidding…..or am I?