Somehow I escaped the family's cold and was able to celebrate my birthday this weekend.
On Friday afternoon, Aunt Kim stopped by with her gift of flowers and fancy bath products. Her logic: "Since you seldom shower, you should get to feel fancy when you do." Right on. She even hung around our house for a few hours that afternoon and bathed Reese (BONUS!) before leaving for a date with Uncle Ehren.
Saturday morning, Kevin informed me of the "real" birthday plans: Grandma Bailey was arriving at 11:30AM to watch the girls for the night, and we were taking off for a nice dinner and a night at a hotel!
The idea of uninterrupted sleep was about the biggest birthday present I could have asked for. Making things even more impressive, he had made reservations at 3 different restaurants for that evening so I could pick what I was in the mood for.
I felt slightly bad leaving Grandma Bailey with one sick kid and one kid who was barely done with her potty training, but she handled it all beautifully.
I decided we'd try a new French restaurant that evening where I tried rabbit for the first time, and (always the romantic) then I passed out at the hotel before 9:30PM. (And not because I over indulged at dinner.)
We came home to cupcakes and cards made by Reese and finished up our weekend at home on a rainy Sunday.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Swaddle Me: The Ongoing Saga of Paige & Sleep
Paige has been swaddled for sleep since coming home from the hospital. After dealing with a colicky baby Reese, we quickly learned the power of swaddling when it comes to soothing and sleep. (Major Harvey Karp fans at this house!) At first, Paige started off swaddled in a single blanket. When she easily wiggled free, we began double swaddling her in two cotton blankets--one on top of the other. As she got a little bigger we began using our swaddle sack. (A lifesaver held over from Reese's infancy.) Since Paige is still slightly undersized and incredibly strong, she still sleeps double swaddled--in a cotton blanket with the sleep sack over it. Any less binding and she breaks out instantly.
There's no doubt, that even from the start Paige doesn't like being swaddled. She will fight the process tooth-and-nail. But, the second she's swaddled and rocked, she drifts off to sleep. Try the same feat with her unswaddled and she'll hit herself in the face, squirm, and take longer to fall asleep..and unless you hold her, the odds of her staying asleep are dramatically lower.
Two weekends ago (before the terrible cold bug hit our house) we decided to try and see if Paige was ready to be unswaddled. We rocked her to sleep like always, but without her swaddle. With out fail, within minutes of being put down each time, she would startle and wake her self up. Back to the swaddle we went...
Paige's cold made for a temporary set back in her sleep. She was having coughing fits that were waking her up (day and night), and her congestion and drainage made it hard for her to rest. We relented and back peddled to putting her in her swing for sleep.
Now that she's recovered, we made one more attempt at unswaddling--this time seeing if she would sleep unswaddled on her belly in her crib. Gasp--yes, I know what the AAP says about tummy sleeping; but let's be honest, I'd dare say that a majority of babies <1994 were put to sleep on their bellies without incident, Kevin and myself among them. Our logic was that she would startle herself less in this position. Alas, it was also a massive failure.
So, we're back to the double swaddle in her bed at night. I can't remember if Reese required swadddling for this long or not, but to each their own. At this point, we're just trying to get the kid better rested. Since her night time sleep is settling, she's sleeping in her bed at night, but we're still keeping her in her swing for naps during the day. When we put her in her bed at this point for naps, she'll sleep for 20-40 minutes and wake up needing more soothing. Since she isn't old enough for sleep training at this point (and I can't take care of Reese when I'm re-soothing a baby all day), the swing is our temporary solution.
Do people really give birth to babies who they can rock and then put down for sleep without any of this fuss? Since I'm not having any more kiddos of my own, I guess I'll never know.
Ahh..I keep telling myself that Reese never slept either, and now (when she's not covertly pooping) she's a great sleeper.
There's no doubt, that even from the start Paige doesn't like being swaddled. She will fight the process tooth-and-nail. But, the second she's swaddled and rocked, she drifts off to sleep. Try the same feat with her unswaddled and she'll hit herself in the face, squirm, and take longer to fall asleep..and unless you hold her, the odds of her staying asleep are dramatically lower.
Two weekends ago (before the terrible cold bug hit our house) we decided to try and see if Paige was ready to be unswaddled. We rocked her to sleep like always, but without her swaddle. With out fail, within minutes of being put down each time, she would startle and wake her self up. Back to the swaddle we went...
Paige's cold made for a temporary set back in her sleep. She was having coughing fits that were waking her up (day and night), and her congestion and drainage made it hard for her to rest. We relented and back peddled to putting her in her swing for sleep.
Now that she's recovered, we made one more attempt at unswaddling--this time seeing if she would sleep unswaddled on her belly in her crib. Gasp--yes, I know what the AAP says about tummy sleeping; but let's be honest, I'd dare say that a majority of babies <1994 were put to sleep on their bellies without incident, Kevin and myself among them. Our logic was that she would startle herself less in this position. Alas, it was also a massive failure.
So, we're back to the double swaddle in her bed at night. I can't remember if Reese required swadddling for this long or not, but to each their own. At this point, we're just trying to get the kid better rested. Since her night time sleep is settling, she's sleeping in her bed at night, but we're still keeping her in her swing for naps during the day. When we put her in her bed at this point for naps, she'll sleep for 20-40 minutes and wake up needing more soothing. Since she isn't old enough for sleep training at this point (and I can't take care of Reese when I'm re-soothing a baby all day), the swing is our temporary solution.
Do people really give birth to babies who they can rock and then put down for sleep without any of this fuss? Since I'm not having any more kiddos of my own, I guess I'll never know.
Ahh..I keep telling myself that Reese never slept either, and now (when she's not covertly pooping) she's a great sleeper.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
paige roll over
A few weeks ago, Paige started rolling over from her tummy to her back. Now, she can't be stopped. It's nearly impossible to do tummy-time with her since the second you put her on her stomach, she rolls herself over. I tried to catch some video of her "work" below:
potty time
The last two weeks our family has been besieged by a terrible cold virus (likely courtesy of Reese's classmates). Reese was the first to go down, followed by Paige, and then by Daddy.
Somehow Mommy avoided the bug--I thank years of teaching small children for building my immune system. That, or the universe knows that someone had to stay well and keep the house running.
The only good thing that came from our virtual house arrest (combine sick kids and cold rainy weather), is that Reese is nearly potty trained. I would claim total victory if it weren't for some sticking points I'll address later.
Before she got sick, we announced to Reese that we had bought our last box of diapers. When they ran out, that was it--no more diapers. Our announcement was met with immediate enthusiasm. She wanted to start wearing panties (cotton training pants) immediately.
There were a few days of accidents on the floor, but after about day three, we had only one accident right before nap time and she was wearing panties to bed at nap also. She's also had multiple days at school in just panties and every day I've gone to pick her up, she's in the same set of clothes--so, no accidents on that front.
We kept our sticker chart incentive program to help her along, but added a bonus that proved motivating in the first few days: Skype calls with Grandpa Righter. In her enthusiasm to announce her successful potties to the world, Grandpa Righter was included in the list of people she just had to tell. (The others on the list were mommy, daddy, Paige, and Annie--as well as anyone else in the house at the moment.)
Like I said, our victory has been sweet, but not nearly complete. For some reason, Reese is terrified to have a poop in the potty. She will withhold her poop until night time (when she's still wearing a diaper) and then poop in her diaper and demand a change. I've got a transition plan in mind--we're keeping diapers around for the poops, then we'll move to pooping on the potty in a diaper, and finally on the potty without a diaper...I figure we've got time. She's got to be fully "trained" by 3 for school, but that's still 6+months away.
Somehow Mommy avoided the bug--I thank years of teaching small children for building my immune system. That, or the universe knows that someone had to stay well and keep the house running.
The only good thing that came from our virtual house arrest (combine sick kids and cold rainy weather), is that Reese is nearly potty trained. I would claim total victory if it weren't for some sticking points I'll address later.
Before she got sick, we announced to Reese that we had bought our last box of diapers. When they ran out, that was it--no more diapers. Our announcement was met with immediate enthusiasm. She wanted to start wearing panties (cotton training pants) immediately.
There were a few days of accidents on the floor, but after about day three, we had only one accident right before nap time and she was wearing panties to bed at nap also. She's also had multiple days at school in just panties and every day I've gone to pick her up, she's in the same set of clothes--so, no accidents on that front.
We kept our sticker chart incentive program to help her along, but added a bonus that proved motivating in the first few days: Skype calls with Grandpa Righter. In her enthusiasm to announce her successful potties to the world, Grandpa Righter was included in the list of people she just had to tell. (The others on the list were mommy, daddy, Paige, and Annie--as well as anyone else in the house at the moment.)
Like I said, our victory has been sweet, but not nearly complete. For some reason, Reese is terrified to have a poop in the potty. She will withhold her poop until night time (when she's still wearing a diaper) and then poop in her diaper and demand a change. I've got a transition plan in mind--we're keeping diapers around for the poops, then we'll move to pooping on the potty in a diaper, and finally on the potty without a diaper...I figure we've got time. She's got to be fully "trained" by 3 for school, but that's still 6+months away.
Friday, January 14, 2011
You ate what?
I now have the number for poison control saved in my phone. After my second call in the last six months I thought it was a good "investment."
While the topic is still fresh, I figured a blog about the history of Reese's food "experiments" was timely.
1. In June, the day before we went to the beach Reese I made my first ever call to poison control. While I was taking a shower, Reese brought her step stool into our bathroom, pulled it up to our counter, and got a hold of a tube of toothpaste. She managed to remove the twist off cap, and when I exited the shower, she was spooning finger-fulls of toothpaste into her mouth. Luckily the tube was almost empty, so she couldn't have consumed very much. I was shocked on several levels, mainly: When did she learn to unscrew things? How resourceful that she figured out that she needed her step-stool to get things off the counter. And so began my experience with poison control. Luckily, based on her weight and the amount she ate, we were able to easily solve the problem by giving her a glass of milk and some tums. (To bind with the fluoride and neutralize it.)
2. Several weeks after our trip to the beach, Reese became interested in floss. Knowing that she'd have to start flossing some day, we indulged her interest, and helped her floss her teeth each night. After Mommy and Daddy did the majority of the flossing, she got a turn to try herself. One night, Daddy was flossing his teeth after dinner and when Reese asked for a piece of floss he gave it to her. Wrapped up in doing the dishes, neither of us noticed that she swallowed it. When we asked her what happened she very quickly and honestly told us she ate the floss. I called the pediatrician the next morning to ask their advice. "It should be no problem," they began, "she'll likely pass it in her stool in the next day or so. But, if you don't see it come out in the next two days, or she starts having trouble having bowel movements bring her in." What was their concern? That the piece of floss could get bunched up or wrapped around her intestines requiring surgery. Great. She got a dose of Miralax that morning to ensure there would be no holding back. Mommy had a day of poop foraging, and by the evening had discovered a six inch piece of floss embedded in a dirty diaper.
Which brings us to last week, and my second call to poison control
3. Bath and Body Works now makes their "anti-bac" line in every format imaginable. Soap, lotion, hand gel, and now a hand spray. Shortly after Paige was born, I bought a small container of hand-spray-sanitizer to keep on the changing table.
While changing Paige's diaper, Reese got a hold of it and took it to the living room. By the time I got to the living room with a freshly diapered baby in tow, Reese had unscrewed the cap and was working on disassembling the sprayer. I immediately asked, "Did you drink any of the spray?" "No, it tastes yucky." Hmmm...the logic here had me concerned. "How do you know it tastes yucky?" "Because it's yucky in my mouth." we continued. "Then you did drink some spray?" "No." This exchange continued until I finally understood it was an issue of semantics. Yes, Reese did drink the sanitizer solution, just not from the sprayer. And why not try something that smells like coconuts? With 70%+ alcohol content, and God only knows how much in her system, it was time to call my friends at poison control. The woman who answered my call scrolled through her data base, "Let's see, was it gel, lotion, or soap?" "None of those, actually, it was spray." I had the "honor" of explaining the new product line, reading the alcohol content off the back and helping her update the poison control data base--apparently we were their first call about ingesting the "spray" variety. Again, the concerns were minimal--their main advice was to watch for signs of intoxication and to give her a sugary snack (lest her blood sugar dip while she metabolizes the alcohol). There was no running into walls, or even staggering around that afternoon, so i can only assume she's inherited some good tolerance. ;o)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Do you smell that?
Kevin and I have joked on many occasions that since having children our house is full of strange smells on a nearly constant basis. Between pets, formula, baby food, diaper pails, spit up...you get the picture. Let's just say our stomachs are stronger and our noses are more sensitive than a few years ago.
This weekend, we smelled something new. Both in Paige's closet and our garage we could occasionally smell the faint trace of natural gas. By Sunday afternoon we were getting concerned since the furnace was running more frequently in the colder weather.
So...Kevin called the gas company. I had just pulled dinner out of the oven when he hung up and told us that we were supposed to evacuate the house and wait outside until the repairman arrived. 5pm, a misty 40 degrees, and two small children who hadn't eaten dinner? Who were they kidding?!? I immediately got on the phone with our neighbors and ended up dragging Reese, Paige, my diaper bag, and our dinner two houses over.
Luckily we have amazing neighbors. These are the same people who I've called on constantly for last minute emergencies--going into labor, taking Paige to see specialists, when Kevin had a car accident etc. etc. They welcomed me into their house and we all tried to laugh about our terrible string of luck lately.
Meanwhile, Kevin wrangled Annie into the back of my car and waited for the gas-man to arrive. Apparently Annie was a basket case since the car never started moving (usually car rides = going somewhere fun) and people who were out walking their dogs kept constantly passing by. I was sure that when the repairman arrived and Kevin had to leave her in the car she was going to either tear my upholstery to shreds, get nervously-induced-explosive diarrhea, or try to climb into the front cabin of the car.
The girls and I made due at our neighbors, although the visit wasn't without it's mini dramas:
1. When our neighbor held Paige so I could serve Reese dinner, she managed to pee all over herself and down his dress shirt. (He was dressed for a meeting later that evening.) Luckily, they both had changes of clothing available.
2. Our neighbors kindly let me give Reese a bath in their bathroom (a good distraction for Reese and a leg up on the bedtime routine once we got home). After her bath, though, I realized that I didn't have any Reese-size diapers in my diaper bag. I would have let her go without, but she insisted she needed to have a bowel movement, and she was terrified of trying to go on their "big" potties. So...I squeezed her into one of Paige's size one diapers...quite a sight to see.
A little more than two hours after our evacuation, we were allowed back in the house. Kevin relayed the story of the repair to me: There had been a leak in the flex-hose that goes into our furnace. The repairman located the leak and then Kevin did most of the repair. Luckily Kevin had all the tools he needed to fix the hose--tin snips, teflon tape, multiple wrenches. Why the repairman had none of these items, I'm not sure. I am glad, though, that I hadn't waited until Monday when Kevin wasn't around--God only knows how long they would have had us evacuated if we had to wait for someone to bring tools etc.
What a long end to our weekend...did I mention that Reese is running a fever today? If it's not one thing, it's another. But I can at least say that our home is no longer "an explosive environment."
This weekend, we smelled something new. Both in Paige's closet and our garage we could occasionally smell the faint trace of natural gas. By Sunday afternoon we were getting concerned since the furnace was running more frequently in the colder weather.
So...Kevin called the gas company. I had just pulled dinner out of the oven when he hung up and told us that we were supposed to evacuate the house and wait outside until the repairman arrived. 5pm, a misty 40 degrees, and two small children who hadn't eaten dinner? Who were they kidding?!? I immediately got on the phone with our neighbors and ended up dragging Reese, Paige, my diaper bag, and our dinner two houses over.
Luckily we have amazing neighbors. These are the same people who I've called on constantly for last minute emergencies--going into labor, taking Paige to see specialists, when Kevin had a car accident etc. etc. They welcomed me into their house and we all tried to laugh about our terrible string of luck lately.
Meanwhile, Kevin wrangled Annie into the back of my car and waited for the gas-man to arrive. Apparently Annie was a basket case since the car never started moving (usually car rides = going somewhere fun) and people who were out walking their dogs kept constantly passing by. I was sure that when the repairman arrived and Kevin had to leave her in the car she was going to either tear my upholstery to shreds, get nervously-induced-explosive diarrhea, or try to climb into the front cabin of the car.
The girls and I made due at our neighbors, although the visit wasn't without it's mini dramas:
1. When our neighbor held Paige so I could serve Reese dinner, she managed to pee all over herself and down his dress shirt. (He was dressed for a meeting later that evening.) Luckily, they both had changes of clothing available.
2. Our neighbors kindly let me give Reese a bath in their bathroom (a good distraction for Reese and a leg up on the bedtime routine once we got home). After her bath, though, I realized that I didn't have any Reese-size diapers in my diaper bag. I would have let her go without, but she insisted she needed to have a bowel movement, and she was terrified of trying to go on their "big" potties. So...I squeezed her into one of Paige's size one diapers...quite a sight to see.
A little more than two hours after our evacuation, we were allowed back in the house. Kevin relayed the story of the repair to me: There had been a leak in the flex-hose that goes into our furnace. The repairman located the leak and then Kevin did most of the repair. Luckily Kevin had all the tools he needed to fix the hose--tin snips, teflon tape, multiple wrenches. Why the repairman had none of these items, I'm not sure. I am glad, though, that I hadn't waited until Monday when Kevin wasn't around--God only knows how long they would have had us evacuated if we had to wait for someone to bring tools etc.
What a long end to our weekend...did I mention that Reese is running a fever today? If it's not one thing, it's another. But I can at least say that our home is no longer "an explosive environment."
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Paige's Predicament
I've been absent from blogging due to an excess of medical drama at our house lately.
I blogged recently about how Paige wasn't a good sleeper or eater; truth be told, my blog barely scratched the surface on those issues and in the two weeks leading up to Christmas, things started spiraling out of control.
It started when Paige began waking up crying every hour at night and wouldn't sleep more than 15-30 minutes during the day. Even in her swing (which was our go-to for guaranteed sleepy time), she would wake after short periods of time (day or night). Talk about exhausting. (She didn't even sleep the duration of an hour drive to San Antonio for Christmas--aren't babies + cars supposed to = magic sleeping time?)
We figured it was a growth spurt or the result of her cold. I took her to the pediatrician who checked her ears for an ear infection, her chest for congestion, and explained that her stuffy nose may be making sleeping and eating difficult since at this point she's still an obligate nose-breather.
During this same time, Paige's eating also started to take a turn for the worse. At the beginning of December I did a two day "study" on how much she was eating vs. how much milk I was producing. (I was motivated both by curiosity and a selfish desire to see if I could pump less and still keep up with her eating needs.) At the time, she was eating 17-20oz/day of expressed breastmilk. (See previous blogs about the drama and decision to bottle feed her.) By New Year's weekend she was down to ~80z/day.
Not only were her feeds small (or non-existent), but they were filled with screaming. Paige would root frantically for her bottle, take a few sips, then start arching her back screaming. We would get her calmed down only to restart the process minutes later. At a good feeding, we'd somehow manage to get her to eat an ounce. It was exhausting and frustrating to listen to her screams and see that she was still hungry, but unable (or unwilling) to eat. Add on to this the strange phenomenon that she had stopped having regular bowel movements and we were worried. I know breastfed babies poop less often than formula fed babies, but 7-10+ days isn't in the normal range. We weren't sure, though, if it was just related to her lack of intake.
We thought of and tried everything: Maybe the milk is too hot? too cold? Maybe it's the bottle? (We tried a new brand of bottle as well as putting her back to the breast.) Maybe she wants to eat in a more/less reclined position? Maybe she needs a quite dark room? Maybe she needs soothing sounds/music? Maybe she needs to be swaddled? Maybe she only likes it when _____ feeds her? Has she forgotten how to eat? Does she need gas drops? Does her dose of reflux medicine need to be adjusted?
The week after Christmas I had had enough. I was at the end of my rope and I actually video taped a feeding session and brought the footage to our pedi. Since our usual doctor was booked, I saw another doctor--and by coincidence, he was the same one who prescribed Paige the refulx medicine around Thanksgiving time at the after hours clinic. He remembered our case, watched the video and was extremely sympathetic. He explained that sometimes the reflux medicine he prescribed doesn't work--it just reduces acid, it doesn't prevent the creation of acid. If Paige's problems really were related to reflux, she might need to be on a different medicine (that has to be specially compounded at a pharmacy that doesn't accept our insurance), and she may be reacting to the pain of damage in her esophagus due to chronic refluxing. In short, he gave us a new prescription and told us to come back if things hadn't improved in a week.
The weekend following our visit and new medicine, things got even worse. She wasn't sleeping at all, and her feedings were out of control. Like I mentioned above, we were lucky to get 80z into her in a nearly 24 hour period. I went back to the pedi on Monday after I dropped Reese off at school.
Monday's visit came with a call to a pediatric GI, some new ideas, and lots of horrible tests.
Ideas: She has a UTI, metabolism/absorption problem, kidney/liver/pancreas function issues, a REALLY horrible case of reflux, or a milk/soy protein allergy.
Tests: a cath to get a urine sample (it took many horrible attempts to get just a tiny sample), a blood draw (took multiple sticks since she was dehydrated), an abdominal ultra sound (to check her anatomy), and an upper gi.
It all resulted in a lot of tears for Paige and Mommy, a trip to Dell Children's hospital, and a few sample cans of some hypoallergenic formula.
All of Paige's tests came back normal--her blood work was fine, her urine culture was clear, and her parts are all in the right place. So, we're left to assume that it's still related to a food allergy, bad reflux, or both.
After a few days on the new formula we were having mixed results, so we went to see the pediatric GI specialist at Dell Children's Hospital. He listened to the story of our experience, checked Paige thoroughly, and gave us a plan of action as well as a follow up in four weeks.
Right now, we're currently:
1. Feeding Paige the hypoallergenic formula (and hoping things improve, since we don't really want to have to put her on $100/can amino acid formula); this means I've decided to stop pumping/breastfeeding completely. I've got too much going on keep pumping with the idea that she'll eventually go back to needing my milk; and if she's got an allergy to a protein in my diet, I've decided I'm not going to try and survive on celery and water chestnuts just so I can keep producing milk that won't give her issues.
2. Putting her to sleep in a bed at 30 degree angle. Yes, you read that right: 30 degrees. It looks ridiculous, and we had to rig up a head support system with a quilt shoved beneath the legs so she doesn't slide down it all night every time she wiggles. It's supposed to limit the reflux while she's laying down.
3. We're continuing with her medicine, but trying a new form prescribed by the GI. It's the same medicine and the same dosage, it's just compounded at home using water. It's supposedly "more bio-available" and absorbed/processed better.
4. Giving her suppositories "up to daily" for the next month. It took almost a week for her stools to stop looking like breastmilk stools and for us to be sure that she passed all the barium that was used in her upper gi testing. No one feels good when they're irregular.
So...after a full week of these procedures, we're seeing improvements. Her tummy issues have settled dramatically and she no longer cries in pain when passing gas--and she doesn't sound like a machine gun who's passing gas all day either. Almost all of her feeds are screaming free lately--at least 80%+, anyway, even if they are still somewhat small in volume. She's only getting up 2-4 times a night, and every once in a while she'll take a nap that lasts more than an hour. Through all of this, she has remained a happy baby, and for that we're grateful. We just hope that through all these adjustments we can make her comfortable during her eating and sleeping times too.
Until then, I'm a mommy with cabbage in my bra and all my digits crossed.
I blogged recently about how Paige wasn't a good sleeper or eater; truth be told, my blog barely scratched the surface on those issues and in the two weeks leading up to Christmas, things started spiraling out of control.
It started when Paige began waking up crying every hour at night and wouldn't sleep more than 15-30 minutes during the day. Even in her swing (which was our go-to for guaranteed sleepy time), she would wake after short periods of time (day or night). Talk about exhausting. (She didn't even sleep the duration of an hour drive to San Antonio for Christmas--aren't babies + cars supposed to = magic sleeping time?)
We figured it was a growth spurt or the result of her cold. I took her to the pediatrician who checked her ears for an ear infection, her chest for congestion, and explained that her stuffy nose may be making sleeping and eating difficult since at this point she's still an obligate nose-breather.
During this same time, Paige's eating also started to take a turn for the worse. At the beginning of December I did a two day "study" on how much she was eating vs. how much milk I was producing. (I was motivated both by curiosity and a selfish desire to see if I could pump less and still keep up with her eating needs.) At the time, she was eating 17-20oz/day of expressed breastmilk. (See previous blogs about the drama and decision to bottle feed her.) By New Year's weekend she was down to ~80z/day.
Not only were her feeds small (or non-existent), but they were filled with screaming. Paige would root frantically for her bottle, take a few sips, then start arching her back screaming. We would get her calmed down only to restart the process minutes later. At a good feeding, we'd somehow manage to get her to eat an ounce. It was exhausting and frustrating to listen to her screams and see that she was still hungry, but unable (or unwilling) to eat. Add on to this the strange phenomenon that she had stopped having regular bowel movements and we were worried. I know breastfed babies poop less often than formula fed babies, but 7-10+ days isn't in the normal range. We weren't sure, though, if it was just related to her lack of intake.
We thought of and tried everything: Maybe the milk is too hot? too cold? Maybe it's the bottle? (We tried a new brand of bottle as well as putting her back to the breast.) Maybe she wants to eat in a more/less reclined position? Maybe she needs a quite dark room? Maybe she needs soothing sounds/music? Maybe she needs to be swaddled? Maybe she only likes it when _____ feeds her? Has she forgotten how to eat? Does she need gas drops? Does her dose of reflux medicine need to be adjusted?
The week after Christmas I had had enough. I was at the end of my rope and I actually video taped a feeding session and brought the footage to our pedi. Since our usual doctor was booked, I saw another doctor--and by coincidence, he was the same one who prescribed Paige the refulx medicine around Thanksgiving time at the after hours clinic. He remembered our case, watched the video and was extremely sympathetic. He explained that sometimes the reflux medicine he prescribed doesn't work--it just reduces acid, it doesn't prevent the creation of acid. If Paige's problems really were related to reflux, she might need to be on a different medicine (that has to be specially compounded at a pharmacy that doesn't accept our insurance), and she may be reacting to the pain of damage in her esophagus due to chronic refluxing. In short, he gave us a new prescription and told us to come back if things hadn't improved in a week.
The weekend following our visit and new medicine, things got even worse. She wasn't sleeping at all, and her feedings were out of control. Like I mentioned above, we were lucky to get 80z into her in a nearly 24 hour period. I went back to the pedi on Monday after I dropped Reese off at school.
Monday's visit came with a call to a pediatric GI, some new ideas, and lots of horrible tests.
Ideas: She has a UTI, metabolism/absorption problem, kidney/liver/pancreas function issues, a REALLY horrible case of reflux, or a milk/soy protein allergy.
Tests: a cath to get a urine sample (it took many horrible attempts to get just a tiny sample), a blood draw (took multiple sticks since she was dehydrated), an abdominal ultra sound (to check her anatomy), and an upper gi.
It all resulted in a lot of tears for Paige and Mommy, a trip to Dell Children's hospital, and a few sample cans of some hypoallergenic formula.
All of Paige's tests came back normal--her blood work was fine, her urine culture was clear, and her parts are all in the right place. So, we're left to assume that it's still related to a food allergy, bad reflux, or both.
After a few days on the new formula we were having mixed results, so we went to see the pediatric GI specialist at Dell Children's Hospital. He listened to the story of our experience, checked Paige thoroughly, and gave us a plan of action as well as a follow up in four weeks.
Right now, we're currently:
1. Feeding Paige the hypoallergenic formula (and hoping things improve, since we don't really want to have to put her on $100/can amino acid formula); this means I've decided to stop pumping/breastfeeding completely. I've got too much going on keep pumping with the idea that she'll eventually go back to needing my milk; and if she's got an allergy to a protein in my diet, I've decided I'm not going to try and survive on celery and water chestnuts just so I can keep producing milk that won't give her issues.
2. Putting her to sleep in a bed at 30 degree angle. Yes, you read that right: 30 degrees. It looks ridiculous, and we had to rig up a head support system with a quilt shoved beneath the legs so she doesn't slide down it all night every time she wiggles. It's supposed to limit the reflux while she's laying down.
3. We're continuing with her medicine, but trying a new form prescribed by the GI. It's the same medicine and the same dosage, it's just compounded at home using water. It's supposedly "more bio-available" and absorbed/processed better.
4. Giving her suppositories "up to daily" for the next month. It took almost a week for her stools to stop looking like breastmilk stools and for us to be sure that she passed all the barium that was used in her upper gi testing. No one feels good when they're irregular.
So...after a full week of these procedures, we're seeing improvements. Her tummy issues have settled dramatically and she no longer cries in pain when passing gas--and she doesn't sound like a machine gun who's passing gas all day either. Almost all of her feeds are screaming free lately--at least 80%+, anyway, even if they are still somewhat small in volume. She's only getting up 2-4 times a night, and every once in a while she'll take a nap that lasts more than an hour. Through all of this, she has remained a happy baby, and for that we're grateful. We just hope that through all these adjustments we can make her comfortable during her eating and sleeping times too.
Until then, I'm a mommy with cabbage in my bra and all my digits crossed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)