Day 12 Dairy Free

Today is my 12th day on the dairy free diet. The adjustment hasn't been that difficult. I am eating a lot more fruit than before. It is amazing how many things contain milk proteins, whey, casein, etc... It is a learning opportunity!

They say it takes 10-14 days for dairy to be out of your system. I think we are already starting to see a difference with Melia. Of course, that could be medication working. Our medication says it works to help with the acid and damage caused by reflux and doesn't actually make the reflux go away. When her current Rx runs out, we are going to wait to refill it and see if we have a flare up. If we do I will put her back on the Zantac. I just really want to know if the milk protein sensitivity is a concern.

I know that this is something she will grow out of, I just hate to see her in pain now. Her face gets beat red, she is very gassy and curls up in a ball. She doesn't cry when the vomit comes through her nose, but it makes her congested. Which in turn makes her uncomfortable at night.

A lot of people have told me their kids had this issue, which makes me feel better. However, one of my girlfriends is still dealing with the problem with her 15 month old. They are now thinking she has severe food allergies. I just pray that this really is reflux she will grow out of in a few months.

Bye Bye Preemie!

Weighed Melia today and she is 8lbs! We moved out of preemie diapers a few weeks ago and yesterday we wore our last preemie outfit. She can finally fit in all of her newborn clothes. The preemie stuff was starting to get tight. The way she is growing, I don't think we will be in Newborn clothes long. Which is a good thing, as we don't have a lot in that size! Plus, she has so many cute outfits in 0-3 months.

We are going to Michigan on March 3rd to visit family. My mom sent the most adorable bunting for her to wear when we visit. It is 0-6 months, but still looks huge! She reminds me of the little kid from A Christmas Story when I put it on her. Good thing she is in diapers!

Now, if only mommy could fit into a different size!

6 Sleepless Weeks

Yesterday Melia turned 6 weeks old! It really is going by fast. She has had her nights and days confused since the beginning. She could sleep for 4-5 hours at a time during the day, but is up every 2 hours at night. I am sure some if it is our fault for waking her every 2 hours to eat the first 4 weeks. And I am guilty of letting her sleep as long as she wants during the day, because then I can get some housework done!

Of course, she sleeps really well when she is being held. I am guilty of sleeping in the recliner in the living room with her so we both can get some rest. Because of the reflux I have let her sleep a few nights in her bouncy seat as well so she has an incline. When we go out to run errands she sleeps the entire time in her car seat. I wish she would sleep like that in her bed!

Is it too early for me to expect a sleep schedule?

I have been pumping so I have bottles for Chris to feed her with. The other night he was trying to be sweet and let me sleep for 5 hours while he got up and fed her/changed her/etc... I appreciate the gesture, but I was so engorged when I woke up I thought I was going to explode!

Any suggestions on getting this night/day confusion fixed would be great! I read the "No Cry Sleep Solution" before she was even born. I am not a fan of letting them cry it out. Especially since she is only 6 weeks old. I try putting her down when she is sleepy, not asleep, but she wakes up as soon as I let go of her. She is so cute when she sleeps, I just wish she would do more of the sleeping at night so I could get some sleep!

Mommy Update

Tuesday I went to my doctor for my post op visit. Incision is healing nicely. I have lost 20 pounds (yeah!) but still have 30 more to lose :(

I am starting a dairy free diet to see if it helps with the reflux. It is the equivalent of switching her to soy formula. Cheese is going to be very hard for me to give up, but if it helps Melia it is worth it. Everything I have read says it takes 10 days to get all the dairy out of your system, so it could take up to 2 weeks to notice a difference in Melia. I really hope it helps. Today she had the worst vomit episode we have ever had. I feel so bad for her.

Thank you to everyone that has given me advice and info. It is nice to know other babies that have gone through this and gotten over it.

GERD

For the past two weeks, we have been having an issue with excessive spitup, spit up through the nose, projectile spit up, and excessive hiccups. We have tried feeding smaller amounts more often, holding Melia upright for a half hour after eating, etc... The ped said it sounded like reflux and that we might want to try medication. I am not big into giving babies meds, so I was a little hesitant.

After our check up on Tuesday, he said to keep an eye on things and call if they got worse. Well, it did get worse and more frequent so I called on Thursday afternoon. He said based on the symptoms and her prematurity, it sounded like she had pyloric stenosis. Pyloric stenosis is diagnosed with an ultrasound and treated with abdominal surgery. He sent us to the ER at All Children's. I had a little panic attack. After blood tests and ultrasound, the determined she did not have pyloric stenosis, but she did have GERD.

Melia was prescribed Zantac and will have to take 2 doses a day for the next 30 days. She may have to continue the prescription for a few months. Usually GERD will go away in babies on its own. The ER doc did say to keep an eye on her, because pyloric stenosis could develop sometime in the next 3 months. They said the Zantac could take a few days to work, so we will hope and see!

One Month Check Up!

Tuesday Melia was 4 weeks old. We saw the pediatrician for her one month check up. Time really does fly!

She was up to 6lb 6oz and 19 inches! Her head has grown a lot. The doctor will keep an eye, but says not to worry because it is in proportion with the rest of her growth spurt.

He also said we could go 3-4 hours at night between feedings! This is amazing news - we are exhausted! So last night we were super excited, because Melia can sleep. Normally we fight to wake her up every 2 hours for her feedings. Except last night! Now that we can sleep, our girl was waking up on her own every hour and half to 2 hours! I guess she didn't get the memo!

She is starting to fit into her newborn outfits. The preemies still fit, but there are a few that are snug. It has been so cold the past 2 weeks, she really hasn't worn much besides her footy pajamas. I guess we will have to wait for springtime to play dress up! I am looking forward to finding some good sales and getting her lots of cute outfits!

So we are now on a regular "baby" schedule with the doctor and don't go back until her 2 month check up. We started talking about development things we would notice this month, but he said to remember her "adjusted" age. Premature babies sometimes develop based on their due date versus their actual birth date, so she may be a month behind with some developmental things. He said almost all preemies are caught up to the peers by age 2. I am really not stressed about it. It is probably a good thing for me. I think had she been born at term I would have been a little anal about making sure she hit the development benchmarks. Now I just enjoy every healthy day!

Due Date!

Today was Melia's due date. Tomorrow she will be 4 weeks old. It is kind of cool that we got this extra 4 weeks with her.

Today we went to see the lactation consultant at the hospital. Melia has been doing well nursing, but preemies tend to have some issues so we have gone in for some help. They weighed her there and she is up to 6lbs 4oz! I could tell she was growing, but I was still impressed.

She is filling out her preemie clothes and actually starting to move into the newborn size. We got some cute jammies from Nonna (Robin), so she has been trying out the new size. We have moved out of preemie diapers and are now comfortable in the newborn size. She sure goes through a lot of those!

Tomorrow we go to the pediatrician for her one month check up. The lactation consultant said we should be able to come off the mandatory 2 hour feedings with approval of the ped tomorrow. I can't imagine what 3 hours of sleep will feel like! Keep your fingers crossed!