Leaving Baby Behind

Ahhhh so its most nerve wrecking time of any new mum...heading out for the first time without baby. Admittedly theres no 'right' time to take the leap but I'm thinking the earlier the better?

So I'm currently sat on the tube with the smallest bag I own with all of four things in it to take FULL advantage of not having to drag around a changing bag. Tayo is only just 3 months old and today I left him properly for the first time while I head out for a friends hen do. To say I'm anxious is an understatement, not because I'm worried about how my husband will cope, because I know he's going to be absolutely fine, its more how I'm going to cope being away from him for a day. Im sure after a few prosecco's my nerves will be calmed but that initial 'bye baby' was gut wrenching.

5 HOURS LATER

So I get home, slightly tipsy with extremely full boobs! I only missed two feeds but WOW my boobs needed emptying. With my Medela Swing double I pumped almost 8oz and dumped it. Slightly sad throwing away that much milk but it was definitely prosecco flavoured lol. That night Tayo slept through the night, yay a whole 8 hours. However, I was woken up with extremely engorged boobs at around 3am. Ouchhhh. I hand expressed some off, but by the morning I knew I had a blocked duct. I had a red patch on the side of my right boob and I recognised the pain from before. I tried hot and cold compresses that day, and I tried massaging the blockage out but by 7pm that night the flu-like symptoms of mastitis hit me like a train. DAMN. I knew I needed antibiotics and QUICK. I called 111 and they had a pharmacist dispense me a 5 day course that I collected that night. Thankfully the horrible symptoms only lasted 24 hours because I managed to catch and treat it quickly. Next time I miss a feed I need to figure out how to successfully and completely empty my boobs because unfortunately after having it once I'm prone to mastitis.

So other than my quick run in with monster-itis again and a slightly sore head in the morning, I'd say my first baby free day went pretty well. Daddy-day-care was a success !! I think I kissed Tayo a thousand times when I got home lol, I definitely missed him but I also enjoyed some me time with my girls. So if your reading this and you haven't had a day off yet, take the leap, its not too bad!