Weekly Natalie - Week 8

I can't believe this child is almost 2 months old ...

Bright-eyed baby

Hanging out with Daddy She has yet to grow into her tongue ... At the park

Frustration

So we thought we had this reflux thing beat. I changed the way I fed and burped her at the suggestion of Nat's pediatrician. And on Tuesday and Wednesday, she hardly spit up at all. We were thrilled!

Unfortunately it was short-lived.

She started spitting up again on Thursday - and has been doing it after most feedings since then. Ugh. She still seems like she's in pain, but at least it doesn't happen with every feeding.

Nat's pediatrician said it could take another week or so for the Prilosec to get rid of the pain completely. And it could take up to a month to see a difference in the amount she spits up.

I pray that the Prilosec works quickly. Lee and I hate seeing her in pain. She's too young to understand what hurts or why it hurts - and not being able to take away that pain is really, really hard. And her not gaining a lot of weight is unsettling to us. She's ranging between the 35th-50th percentile for weight. There's not a cause for concern, but I just figured that she would have long outgrown her newborn clothes by now. I want her to be healthy and I don't see how she can continue to be healthy if she can't keep her food down.

Go away, reflux. You're not welcome here.

Weekly Natalie - Week 7

When she gets old enough to care, I have a feeling she'll SO care that I posted these pictures:

Right after I gave her gentian violet to help with her thrush

(I tried to be very neat and make sure it didn't get all over her face)

About 20 minutes later ...

Sorry Nat, but these pictures are hysterical. One day you'll (hopefully) agree with me ...

2 Month Shots

Natalie got her 2-month shots today. She handled it like a champ, only crying for a few minutes. I, on the other hand, immediately burst into tears when the nurse brought out the needles and I didn't stop sniffling until I was driving home. I'm so glad Lee was there to hold Natalie still - I would have had a really hard time doing that.

She doesn't seem to have any ill effects from the shots - just a bit sleepier than normal. So she and I took two high-quality naps on the couch together. I love it when she's sleeping soundly all bunched up on my chest. Very few things are better than that.

Weekly Natalie - Week 6

I often check the tip of her tongue to see how dry it is - and it's frequently very, very dry. It doesn't seem to bother her, but sometimes I poke it back in her mouth so it can get rehydrated. But then she pops it right back out ...

I seriously love this kid.

Thankful ... but still frustrated

We took Natalie to her pediatrician yesterday for a follow-up appointment. The doctor checked Natalie's abdomen to see if she felt any abnormalities. She couldn't rule out a possible case of pyloric stenosis, so she had us go to Sacred Heart and get an ultrasound done on Natalie's stomach. Thankfully the ultrasound was clear (the only way to fix pyloric stenosis is surgery), but it's also frustrating in that there's still not a clear reason why she's spitting up so much.

Her doctor prescribed some Prilosec. I feel good about this switch, and I've been reading some really positive stories about how it helped other peoples' children. So I'm really praying that this new medicine will work better than Zantac (nothing against the makers of Zantac - it's just that your medicine is no match for our super puker).

Fatten up, kid!

The Saga of the Never Ending Spit-Up continues ...

I've been doing this no dairy thing for almost two weeks and I'm not convinced that my diet changes (and having her on baby Zantac) have helped much. There are times when she spits up less, but it doesn't seem to be as much of a difference as I was hoping. And she seems to still be in pain when I burp her sometimes. We started giving her Mylicon after each feeding and I think that's helping a bit. But still, not enough as I was hoping.

So I took Natalie to see my lactation consultant yesterday for a weight check. Two weeks ago, she was on the low end of weight gain for a baby her age. Yesterday was a follow up appointment to see if my changes in diet have helped her gain more weight. And the verdict? She's still on the low end. Bummer.

She's only gained 1.5 lbs since she was born. My lactation consultant said she'd like to see at least a 2 lb increase by this point, but that 2.5 lbs would be ideal.

My LC suggested I cut out beef from my diet for two weeks, in addition to dairy. I don't eat a lot of beef anyway, but I had planned on eating more of it as a way to get extra protein and fat into my diet. So there goes that idea. Time to buy more chicken and fish!

My LC also noticed that Natalie had yeast in her mouth and also a diaper rash caused by yeast. I had noticed a white coating on Natalie's tongue, but I just chalked that up to her spitting up so much. Apparently some of the white on her tongue is from spitting up, but most of it is yeast. Who knew? My LC said getting that cleared up might help with how much Natalie spits up.

But I'm going to bring Natalie into her pediatrician tomorrow to see if there's another medicine we can put her on. My LC said that pediatricians are very hesitant to put babies on medicine, but that Natalie is on the cusp of needing something stronger than baby Zantac.

I really hope we can find something to help her keep food down. Please keep Nat in your prayers!

Weekly Natalie - Week 5

So here's more proof why I can't get anything done during the day. I spent a few hours yesterday taking pictures of her crazy facial expressions. I challenge anyone to look at these and tell me that you'd do laundry over watching these:

She's good at giving the stink-eye

(I love her leg chubs)

getting a teeny bit annoyed with me taking pictures ... fully committed to being annoyed with me taking pictures excuse me while my heart melts into a little puddle ...

January 2009 - Recap

Well Nataroo, you survived an entire month with your rookie parents. And likewise, your rookie parents survived an entire month with a newborn.

January 2009 was a month chock full of adjectives - wonderful, scary, sleepy, amazing, breathtaking, heart-breaking, love-filled.

Your dad and I had no idea how we could love someone so much so quickly. Someone with the most beautiful pair of lips, someone who frequently expels the contents of her stomach all over our clothes, someone whose tongue is permanently taking residence outside her mouth, someone who (for the most part) calms down when her rookie parents sing "You Are My Sunshine", someone who could easily take the title of "World's Best Snuggler", someone who gets fairly grumpy when her mom makes her burp during feedings, someone who has single-handedly managed to fill the hearts of numerous people with an astonishing amount of love.

High points:

• Random smiles. We can't wait for you to smile on purpose!
• Your hysterical facial expressions. Seriously - this is why I can't get anything done during the day. I watch you for hours, waiting to see what you'll do next.
• Finally getting the hang of nursing
• Sleeping for four hours in between nighttime feedings. I don't expect this to last, but the few nights it's happened have been wonderful.
• You sleeping on our chests - one of the most peaceful experiences ever.
• Bath time (minus the horrific first bath - you would have though we were bathing you with hydrochloric acid)
• Introducing you to our friends and family. You have no idea how many people love you.
• Making up new songs
• Coming up with all sorts of silly nicknames for you (unfortunately "Natalie" is very far down on our list of names we call you)

Low points:

• The first two days home from the hospital. No need to relive it. It was rough but it didn't last long. And thankfully we never have to go through that again with you.
• You pooping on my hand after giving you a suppository (High point? Me wiping poop on daddy's hand after he laughed at me for getting poop on MY hand. Always remember this: never laugh at someone with poop on her hands.)
• The pain that acid reflux was causing you. Your dad and I have never felt so helpless.
• Your days and nights being mixed up for the first week or so.
• Me going on a dairy-free diet in the hopes that it'll help you not spit up so much (I know this isn't technically a low point, especially if the dairy-free thing helps you ... but seriously. Mommy misses cheese.)
• The first time I took you out by myself.

You made us parents this month. And it's been the best and hardest month of our lives. We couldn't be happier. We could be a little more well-rested (I'm lookin' at you, kid), but we couldn't be happier.

Hugs and smooches,

Mommy & Daddy