Thursday I took our baby boy to the pediatrician for his 8 day check up. He’s been a little jaundice, and I really wanted to get that checked out - though he doesn’t look as yellow as our last baby did. The pediatrician didn’t seem too concerned, but still ordered a blood check since his eyes were a little yellow.

I told her that I didn’t think he was as yellow as he was the other day, and she agreed that was probably true - that the eyes were the last thing go back to normal. Hmmm…. I never knew that! Note from today - he’s hardly yellow at all!

He’s gone from 7 lbs. 6 oz. to 7 lbs. 9.8 oz. in 8 days - really good for a breastfed baby! Remember, baby’s lose weight the first few days before mom’s milk comes in. We left the hospital the day after he was born, and he weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. that day (with the baby alarm on his foot). So that’s an ounce a day pretty much.

I’m a bad mommy on the other stats - I have no clue what his head was before, but it’s 14 cm now. He’s 20.5″. I thought his face looked like it was filling out, so was happy to see he IS gaining weight good.

Our feeding schedule is really no schedule at all, and if you’ve read for a while, you know this is me. The ‘feed when they’re hungry’ deal worked great last time, and seems to be this time. He’s gaining weight good, and eats enough every 1 to 2 hours during the day that he only wakes 2 or 3 times at night.

I think we’re usually around 10:30 PM, 1 to 2 AM something, 4:30 to 5ish, then 7:30. Most mornings he’ll continue to sleep until 9:30 or 10. I can deal with the 2 or 3 spells a day where he’s awake 2 hours straight, since this means he’ll take a couple of 2 hour naps during the day plus sleep all night.

I’m trying to enjoy the sleeping times during the day when he’ll sleep in the playpen (when I can put him down - I’m still loving to hold him!!), since this is when I’m trying to regain my ‘position’ as housekeeper/ cook.

Today, DH had to take #3 to the dr. since he’s been waking up the past 3 nights screaming and extremely upset. While he was gone, the older two and I tackled the living room. This is always the room I want picked up first and foremost, I guess since we’re always in there.

It took a good 20 minutes of the 3 of us working to get laundry folded and put away, toys put up, shoes in closets, etc…, and then I felt SO much better! I also managed to get 2 batches of banana bread made this evening, trying to build up some snacks for next week when DH goes back to work.

I still have much higher hopes than I have energy, such as the 4 loads of laundry I wanted to do today, plus the homemade granola we were going to make along with homemade cinnamon rolls. Yeah, I feel great, but get slowed down quickly.

I was wearing normal clothes the day after he was born, normal such as not pregnant clothes. I’ve lost down to the weight I’d like to stay at, been there for days. My only complaint is my hormones messing up my skin. Thankfully, my hair hasn’t really started falling out yet.

Oh yes, for you first time moms, your hair more than likely WILL fall out after you have a baby. Being pregnant is wonderful - your hair gets so thick! Within a few months of each of my babies, the hair on the sides on my head gets so thin you can see the skin easily. This pregnancy was the first time it took a good 6 months before my hair stopped falling out.

Funny note - DD had my hairbrush last night brushing everyone’s hair. DH was a little grossed out by the hairs in it when it was on his head. This started a conversation of how Mommy’s hair would start to fall out since I had the baby come out of my tummy.

DD took this the wrong way - she became all worried that HER hair was going to fall out, and her Daddy’s, because the baby had been held ‘in their laps’ too. Oh, poor thing! It was precious, and I don’t think I did a good job holding back chuckles. ;P

Sleep - I’m still wondering how I’m going to get the 11 hours of sleep a night that I’ve become accustomed to the past week. I can’t believe I’ve been able to sleep so much, but I guess I’m making up for the past few months of waking every couple hours. Well, technically, I’m still waking to feed the baby, but I’m usually sound asleep 2 minutes later.

I have no clue how in the world I was able to wake up to nurse my first. By this I mean waking up, sitting in a chair for an hour to nurse him, change his diaper, go back to bed, and do it all again 2 hours later. With my 3rd, and now 4th, I hardly hear them rooting around in their sleep to eat.

All I remember is waking to get them started, then nothing until the next time they wake. At least I wake up enough to burp them before I let them eat again. It’s working good - I’m getting the sleep I need and he’s eating/ sleeping well too.

Of course, we’ve had a wet bed a couple of times due to no diaper changes in the middle of the night! My thoughts - put on a bigger diaper! I did that last night, but it still filled up and leaked by 7:30 this morning. But I can’t justify waking him or myself up (and possibly being awake for an hour or two) just to change a wet diaper. Sure, if it was dirty, but not just wet.

Another funny note - I just realized the other day that the stripe down the front of disposable diapers has a purpose! I thought it was just an ink error, until I glanced at the package and saw it changes colors when wet. LOL. I had no clue they did this on diapers!

We use LUVs with our 20 month old, and they don’t have this. Maybe it’s just a newborn thing? I guess it’s good for first time moms and dads, but it seems kinda pointless to me. Just squish it a little to see how wet it is.

What I love is when DH has stuck his finger in to check a diaper, only to pull out a dirty finger! LOL. He did get his first ’spraying’  yesterday while changing diapers (first for this baby boy). We’ve gotten pretty good/ fast at changes, except those dirty diaper ones - they take a minute or two to clean up.

Well, hoping to get some of that laundry done tomorrow - getting a handle on things before Monday morning comes. DH has been such a great help this past week, I’ll really miss him being around next week. DD will too, he’s all the world to her! This is the neatest thing in the world to see, a little girl that adores her Daddy so!

He has arranged to take off Tuesday and Thursday, so I won’t be 100% on my own all week - then taking off Wednesday of the next week. After that, hey, I’m taking applications for help! Have a blessed weekend!

“Little Mommy”

I’ll admit, I’ve been a little hesitant to post again. While I’ve tried to be open to hearing from everyone, I have been ’stressed’ a little, to say the least. I know that for the most part, comments and personal emails sent our way regarding circumcision have been well meaning, but some seem to be just for controversy.

In the future, please feel free to comment on posts and continue to read our adventures, BUT ONLY if it’s not for the reason of causing arguments with me or other readers. This past week has been a very hard week emotionally for us, and some of these comments have been even harder to take.

As a new mom once again, I want this to be a happy time, not one where people criticize me for personal decisions we make as parents. I had no idea what my simple post would spark, and intend to keep the blog from getting this intense again.

We made our final decision regarding the circumcision, and it’s a personal one that will be kept private for our baby’s sake. It was the right one for us at this time. For those of you that shared from your heart, even in emails or Facebook, thank you.  We did make it through most of the links before we made our decision. I can now truly say that I see BOTH sides of this issue.

Just as we are keeping this matter private from here out, please realize that this is a private matter for all parents to make. Being informed is a wise thing, but we always need to respect each person’s privacy and decisions. Remember my asking NOT to make me feel bad??

I’m happy to share both sides of this argument on a separate page in the future, since like I mentioned, I can see both sides - even after we made our decision with this baby. We just have to trust that God led us to the right decision and accept the peace He gave us with it. We only desire what HE wants for our children - nothing else.

Please consider this topic closed as far as ‘arguing’ either way goes.

“Little Mommy”

Our baby is a week old today - boy, this week has flown!

Today, DH took our older three to the zoo for several hours. I really needed a little extra quiet time, plus I think he needed to get out of the house! He ended up taking a short run the other night around 9:30 - after all the ‘fun’ adventures he’d been through (tee tee in the floor, water poured from cup onto clothes, etc…).

They had a great time, and I really enjoyed the time to relax a little. Somehow, I kept finding myself in the recliner with the baby in my arms, or sleeping on my shoulder. I just can’t get enough of him!! Babies are so sweet, and those noises - oh, they are so precious!!

DH was fine with my afternoon, thinking that the baby sleeping in our bed part of each night would spoil him more than me holding him so much. Personally, I’d rather have him sleep in our bed part of the time vs. having to hold him for naps during the day - at least full time. For now, the holding is simply selfish on my part!

I WILL have to resume “Mommy” role next week when DH goes back to work, so my holding time will be less. I’m not sure how that’s going to go yet. So far this past week, DH has been wonderful getting up with the kids and letting me and the baby sleep in until 9:30 or 10.

This morning, child #3 woke up sometime after 4, and didn’t go back to sleep until 7ish. DH was up with him til 6, then I got up after nursing the baby. All the screams woke up DD around 6:15 - but stayed in bed at least.

#3 finally fell asleep on the couch, DH asleep in bed, so I took the baby to DD’s room - where we were awake until 7:30, then fell back asleep. Oldest son woke up then, but played quietly until 8:30. Okay, I’m boring everyone - but point being - we really needed that zoo trip today!

I was able to get some anniversary shopping done online. DH and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary next Monday. I had no idea a copper gift would be so hard to buy! (Or that copper was so expensive) I finally found something that has sentimental value for me, and hope it can get here by next Monday…. I really should’ve started on this earlier!

Tomorrow, we’ll be taking the baby to get his circumcision done. I’m already fighting tears, I SO don’t like the thought of my children being in pain. Why are we doing this then? Well, it’s not because we think it’s necessary for salvation - the New Testament makes it clear that this is no longer needed.

But I truly believe that God wouldn’t have established something without any other reason for it - I believe there is some benefit, and that it’s probably a health benefit. This was an outward show of devotion to God, and I still see it that way. We are doing this out of respect and reverence for something GOD established many years ago.

It gave me comfort when I read a passage last week that spoke of Jesus being circumcised. I mean, Jesus is New Testament, and He was salvation - this was not ‘needed’. But He was circumcised as a showing of honoring God, submission to Him.

DH even feels better about it after reading Genesis 17 (I believe that’s where he said). I just wish it didn’t have to hurt. We are waiting til the 8th day, since we know that the Vitamin K levels are at their peak (this assists in clotting). I was confused if you count the first day or not, but the drs. office said to come in on Thursday - so I’ll have to trust them.

I’ll be needing lots of prayers for sure, along with the baby needing them! This doctor gives you the option of going back, but I believe DH will decline. I do hope that I’ll be able to hold and/ or nurse him right away though, to maybe give some comfort. We are glad that it’s a Christian doctor we found to do this - if anything could help.

We’ll still have to stop and get a tube of Vaseline. You’re supposed to coat the area with vaseline to prevent the diaper from sticking to the healing area. We learned with our first that it was much easier to squeeze and big blob all the way around it rather than having to rub it on with our finger or q-tip.

I’m wondering if he’ll need Tylenol or something? I guess I’ve never thought much about it hurting really bad AFTER it’s done, but it must! I know with our last I couldn’t convince them to give a shot to numb it. They insisted that the shot would hurt worse than the procedure itself. DH had to agree that he wouldn’t want a shot, so I had to agree with his decision (though I cried tons!!).

Okay, I’ve got to stop, I’ve been trying not to think about it! I should be better tomorrow night…. Oh, please, please, please don’t leave comments making me feel worse about this - thank you!

Good news - he’s gained weight since we brought him home. He was 7 lbs. on our scales, and now he’s 7.5 lbs! They are supposed to be back to birth weight by 2 weeks, so he’s doing good. Our scales aren’t as accurate as baby scales, but they were pretty close with our last baby.

He’s still sleeping a good bit, having 2 or 3 times a day where he’ll be awake for 1 to 2 hours at a time. He’s so fun to watch when he’s awake, I just wonder what he’s thinking as he looks so intently at our busy crew.

He’s been looking a lot like oldest brother when he was a newborn, but tonight, something about his sleeping face looks so much like his sister at that age. I can’t wait to see ‘who’ he becomes! But for now, I’m loving every second of this newborn stage!!

“Little Mommy”

Yep, our baby is 1 month old today! WOW! It’s true - how things can seem so long, but so short of a time as well.

Baby boy is growing well, over 10 lbs. now. Somehow I got 11 lbs. last night, but it was over 10 this morning. I wish I’d gotten his length today, but it’s been a crazy day.

Two days ago, we had the couple that looked at our house the week before the baby was born call us. They wanted to see the house again and talk details. I set them up to come tonight.

They made an offer, a good bit lower than we were hoping - but we accepted based on the market. Plus, we prayed that God would work it out if He willed, or close the doors if He didn’t. For me, they wouldn’t have come back or made an offer if it wasn’t His will.

We might not be 100% debt free for a few months, as the start up costs on the land are more now that the contractor we hired ripped us off. He took our money, spent it on Christmas, and never did the job.

So now we’re having to try to get back a little from him (he’s offered 1/2 of what’s ours back, but we haven’t gotten it yet), plus pay the higher bidder his price to finish prepping the land and doing the septic tank.

We’re starting trailer shopping tomorrow. I’m praying baby boy won’t hate his carseat for once! He’s been better somewhat with his fussiness. I’ve been introducing one trigger food a day, and have noticed some spitting up/ choking, but he’s not near as fussy.

He got a ball thrown to him yesterday - needless to say, he didn’t catch it. Oh, he caught it in his face - but that’s not the same is it? Poor thing, he screamed for 10 minutes probably. It was one of those hard rubber kickballs.

I’m amazed at how well he can look around and how much strength he has. He wakes up around 6:45 each morning (yuck), and first thing he does is starts looking back and forth in our room - window to window. He’s taking it all in. I wonder if he’ll realize he’s in a different place? How soon do they start recognizing things?

I do worry about the older ones. They’ve all had big adjustments with this baby - and now we’re throwing them another big one. Stuttering and crying have been the main things - we’ve really been able to see their uncomfortable with things.

I’ll be posting less, trying to be a great mommy as much as possible for them right now. (Though shouldn’t I always!) We only have 4 weeks, and it’s going to be CRAZY!!

Oh, I did try cloth diapers all afternoon on Wednesday. We had 2 dirty ones, and it didn’t all wash out - not sure what I did wrong? I did like the ease of the cloth wipes going right in the diaper… I need a bag or pail for sure before I start this full time.

“Little Mommy”

Well, I’m on my 4th nursing baby, and decided I’ll be on my 20th before I have a perfect nursing experience with no problems.

I’ve tried cutting out nearly everything in my diet - tomato based products, cheese, extra butter, now even an occassional fast food and cinnamon - in attempts to find out what is putting my poor baby in such misery.

He gets better, then hits another wall - like yesterday. He and I both were in tears, literally. I physically hurt because I’m SO hungry, and he hurts from my milk (or what I’m eating).

This conversation has mainly been on Facebook, but I decided I should share it here for anyone else that might need to read what we’ve been discussing.

Basically, baby boy has been having a really hard time for the past 9 days. Spitting up rarely, but rather swallowing what’s trying to come up his throat most of the time. He’s begun thrashing around while nursing - he wants to nurse, but once latched on he fights it.

He hiccups often, and gets very upset with these. He appears to be in pain when he burps - and these are sometimes ‘wet’ sounding burps. His screams are heartbreaking, and you can see the pain in his eyes. No baby should ever cry like this on a regular basis - this is sign #1 that something isn’t right somewhere, and Mom better start investigating.

Babies at this age should only cry 5 to 10 minutes at the most IMO - if there’s nothing wrong. First thoughts would be to check for a wet/ dirty diaper, ask if the baby is overly tired, and one that I experienced with my last baby  - check their fingers and toes for hairs.

Our last baby cried for ages, death screams. Just as we were about to take him to after hours care the 2nd day of crying, DH happened to notice that he had several of my hairs around 2 of his toes! It was bad, they were so tight, we could hardly get scissors in to clip them. They had dug into his toes, cutting deep into the skin.

I felt horrible! My hair was longer at the time, and I had play time with him - he would be lying on his back on the floor, and I would lean over his face with mine - laughing and smiling together. Apparently, he kicked his feet up while my hair was hanging down, and it got all twisted.

But back to the point - little babies shouldn’t cry much IMO. If they do, something is wrong.

Our dear one seems fine at times, then appears to be dying at others. The doctor said reflux during they day, but feels his night time fussing is colic. Well, a drs. opinion isn’t the end for me, I keep searching for answers until I find one that I know is right.

Sure, the Zantac he gave me would fix a symptom for a short while, but it wouldn’t fix the problem. Thus, my diet went to basically eating bread and water. Even if I’d eat cereal, or toast, he’d scream hours later - until I realized the cinnamon was a common ingredient, so I’m trying to exclude it for a while.

The other day, a FB friend, Melissa, commented that maybe this isn’t reflux, but another issue that I had never heard about. Overactive letdown, or oversupply of milk are just a couple of the names of this condition which I had never heard of before.

The more I’ve read, the more I’m hoping this IS what I have. The symptoms match reflux very closely - and I can say that with each of my children I’ve had way more milk at times than needed.

With my first, even after nursing I would be full, so I began pumping. One day while pumping, I didn’t really pay attention to what I was doing, but pumped until I felt relief. Imagine my shock when the bottle was FULL - and this was an 8 to 10 ounce bottle - on only 1 side!

Nursing with him was frustrating, because I’d either have way too much milk, or would dry up and have nothing. When my supply would get back to normal, he’d empty both sides, but then a few days later I would be overfull again due to him emptying me each feeding. Ughh… endless cycle.

Some symptoms of this are leaking, over abundance of milk, baby choking or gagging during letdown, spraying. The gas and tummy pains are due to the baby only getting foremilk. Think about it, you have tons of milk - like 8 ounces a side for a 2 to 4 ounce feeding.

After 10 or so minutes you switch sides. This means the baby is only getting foremilk on each side, not the fat content of the hindmilk. Well, with this condition, the baby’s tummy can’t handle the lactose/ sugars from all the foremilk - there’s no fat to balance it out - so their stomachs become irriated.

One remedy is block feeding, which is something I have begun the past few days since Melissa brought this to my attention. I nurse the baby on one side for a 2 to 3 hour period. This doesn’t mean continuously, but each time he wants to nurse during that time, I allow him to do so - but on that ONE side.

After that initial letdown, the flow slows down for the baby. This helps them eat without gulping too much air = gas pains. Plus, after the first feeding, they will be getting ‘fatter’ milk - more calories which will satisfy their hunger more. In between times I give him a pacifier - this is when I can tell he’s full by his pulling off and fussing, but still wanting to nurse.

He has been doing better the past two days, so we’ll see how it works out. I added pizza into my menu today, scraping off most of the sauce and cheese though. He’s appeared to be fine from it so far - only a little gassy once.

But it’s been wonderful to be able to hold him or place him in his swing and him be content - not screaming! Believe me, this is extremely stressful on mom!

Oh, one last thought…. In my attempts to cut out trigger foods for reflux, I was so excited to find that my homemade granola recipe would be okay to eat. Let’s just say I’ve had a LOT of granola since the baby was born, only now I have to take out the peanut butter and chocolate chips - replacing them with dried cranberries.

In my state of hunger, this has been WONDERFUL, and I’ve been wolfing it down the past three days. Even with the block feeding, I’ve had lots of milk. Then last night I came across something - oats stimulate your milk supply! I had no idea! So, if any of you need to boost your milk - eat oatmeal or granola - it just might solve your problem (it’s made mine - LOL).

If any of you have any thoughts or comments here, I’d love to have you jump in and share with me and the other readers. I love that I’ve already learned so much (on my 4th baby!!) from some of you I’ve met online the past few months! Thank you for taking the time to share with me, and maybe some other mom can benefit from our discussions too.

“Little Mommy”

Unusual title? We’ve had an unusual experience!

During all of the screams of pain from reflux the past week, we’ve seen quite a bit of the inside of little boy’s mouth. Something caught my eye a few days ago though…

As I was walking him, holding him out in front of me, I guess I walked under a light. Something in his throat looked strange, I didn’t see that little thing that hangs down in the back of your throat. In fact, his throat looked really weird….

Each of our children has a different type of congenital issue, so we’ve been keeping our eyes open for anything unusual on baby boy. Genetic tests haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly what’s going on, but we have to at least be on alert for DS1’s heart problem showing up in another child.

DH and I have since spent time trying to look into baby boy’s mouth with a flashlight, then comparing his throat to the other children’s. We didn’t think much about it, but decided we would keep his 1 month appt. next week - just to have him looked over.

Well, yesterday I remembered to search online for what this might mean. I found out that the little hanging thing is called a uvula. People CAN be born without it and have nothing else wrong whatsoever. BUT, other symptoms are cleft palate (really glad I didn’t take that steriod from the ENT now), heart abnormalities, or other congenital defects.

This raised my eyebrows. Though none of our children have cleft palate, it can fall into the genetic category of things the genetics dept. has looked into with our crew. Then, we DO have heart abnormalities already, along with other issues.

Then yesterday, baby boy began gagging - a lot more than normal. He has started choking when he nurses (also a sign of reflux - might have to pull that nursing shield back out to slow the flow a little). But we could have him propped up on our bent knees and he would choke.

Last night, he really scared us - he began choking/ gagging in his sleep. We both jumped up and lunged for the playpen. I had already moved it directly beside our bed (to help hold his paci in the other night - I’m lazy), so I was able to grab him up pretty quick.

Well, since I had read that the uvula helps close your throat so food doesn’t go up your nose, I thought it would at least be worth calling the pediatrician about and letting them decide the importance. Maybe he wasn’t dealing with reflux, but a true health matter that would need medical attention. (It can also cause chronic ear infections that lead to hearing loss.)

A million thanks to my parents for changing their ‘off day’ plans today to come watch our older 3 - because the dr. did want to work us in this morning. After over an hour wait, we finally got to see him. He did a very thorough exam, saving his throat for last.

I couldn’t believe my ears when he announced that he HAD an uvula! Yeah! Yesterday, I didn’t have a clue what this was, but today I’m so thankful God gave him one! It’s nothing important (as far as we know), but my concern was in it that if you don’t have it - other ‘big’ things could be wrong.

So why didn’t we see one? Well, when a baby screams his head off cries, the muscles in their throat tighten up. This causes the uvula to pull upward into the throat. But with the tongue depresser, we were able to see that he did indeed have a uvula - YIPPEE!

Heart sounded good - more good news. He didn’t look in his ears… guess we got distracted. Since this was a sick baby visit, they didn’t do all the measurements, but he weighed 9 lbs. 3 oz (with a little onesie and socks on - no diaper).

We’re good until his 2 month check-up, which I haven’t set yet. We’ll be going back sometime for sure, just to keep tabs on his heart. DS1 was 4 months old when they first heard his murmur. I myself never knew I had a murmur until I was a late teen, but mine is just mitral valve - nothing major.

How am I doing now? Ha - laughing at myself, but glad things turned out the way they did. I feel like a 1st time mommy all over again, getting panicked over nothing. The doc was so nice, saying it was good to have it checked out. I do still feel that way with our family’s medical history.

We came out with a RX for Zantac, but really, he’s doing much better since I’ve adjusted my diet. I’m just dropping weight like crazy now. Doc did have a good twist on peanut butter - I can try almond butter. He just wants me to be sure I’m getting plenty of proteins and fats (not my diet exactly).

We’re probably going to wait a little on the Zantac, since it only treats the symptoms - not the problem. Of course, I won’t put my baby in unnecessary pain though. If he’s really in a pain a lot, we’ll be giving it! He only has an hour or more of crying each night, which the doc said could be colic.

Hmm… I didn’t think that was a term that existed anymore since reflux was diagnosed. Apparently, it strikes around 3 weeks of age, and presents itself a night. Not sure about anything else about it - can you treat it? Just have to live with it? Didn’t think to ask.

“Little Mommy”

I’ll apologize now if anyone has sent in a comment and it hasn’t appeared. Computer time isn’t what it used to be, and so one of the things that I have been neglecting is keeping an eye on my comments.

Well, for some reason, this particular blog seems to bring in a lot of spammers - a LOT! If I miss a couple of days cleaning out my spam filter, I’ll have hundreds of comments to go through. It’s been nearly a week since I last purged, so let’s just say that I REALLY had a lot of comments.

Why am I apologizing? Because I decided it wasn’t worth the time to go through page after page after page of comments which were probably 100% spam, or at least 99%. If you’ve left a comment this week that was questionable on any of my postings (more than one link for example), it went to spam and just got deleted. Sorry, please try again.

Okay, now some pics. These aren’t the best quality, but here’s a few pics from our recent Target session. They only provide low resolution files for online sharing, but you can get the idea. (2 week old pictures)

“Little Mommy”

Oh my, our little bundle is 3 weeks old!! He’s such the cutest little thing, his face beginning to fill out thanks to some hearty eating.

I haven’t done measurements lately, but know he’s over 9 lbs. on our bathroom scales now. You can see how much he’s growing (size and length) when he’s in the swing - we’ll have to be letting out the buckle straps soon!

Since I wrote the other day, the reflux is better. I haven’t been able to have 100% avoidance of all trigger foods, but have used small amounts instead of normal ones. I can’t believe they’ve added peanuts and eggs to the list of trigger foods, they weren’t there 2 years ago (at least not what I can remember).

Wheat is also on the list, but there’s a big problem - I don’t feel full unless I have wheat, and lots of it. I know, that’s a bad sign and means I need to avoid it…. But I’ve tried to cut back before, and lost too much weight. (Yes, that’s possible)

I really need to try to do this though, because I believe all of my group shows signs of wheat intolerance. They all have some bumpy rash on their arms, and DS1 itches ALL the time. So if any of you have suggestions and recipes for wheat free foods, please forward them on!!

Okay, back to the baby. He slept a TON  yesterday! I think it was partly due to finally being able to sleep. We’d been placing him on his side to sleep, but it was still flat. So the reflux had been bothering him, causing him to wake up often.

Yesterday was the first full day of having him sleep in the Boppy Pillow. He slept nearly 4 hours one time! The only downside was that he wasn’t so sleepy last night - LOL.

Better go for now - we’re about to get some more severe weather here in AL. It’s getting darker and I can here the thunder getting closer. I can’t believe the tornado warnings we’ve had the past week. It’s usually mid-April when we have the most severe weather.

I’ll try to get some pics up later -

“Little Mommy”

Here I am with baby #4, and once again, I’m faced with a reflux baby. Poor little guy, he’s been screaming in pain all afternoon. Reflux seems to hit my babies around 2 to 3 weeks old.

I was ‘hoping’ my eating splurges this week weren’t going to bother him, but I was wrong. Bad, bad mommy! We had cake with peanut butter icing sent over this week (no no’s because the cake mix has hydrogenated oils and the peanut butter more than likely did). Oh, and from my reading tonight, peanuts can sometimes trigger reflux in babies! I’ve really been eating a lot of non-hydrogenated oil PB since baby was born.

Okay, mistake #2, for our anniversary this past Monday, I asked DH to pick up a cheesecake. Cream cheese is dairy - a HUGE no no for reflux. The graham cracker crust has hydrogenated oils. Who knows what else they stick in the mix itself.

Mistake #3 - Chocolate milk. I DID use goat’s milk, but chocolate/ caffeine are big no no’s with reflux too. Are you thinking what I am? It’s tough being a mom to a reflux baby! You can’t eat or drink lots of yummy things!!

There’s been a few other triggers - such as pizza and spaghetti (cheese and tomato based products). What is this milk, tomato sauce eating mommy supposed to do? Probably not eat anymore of that orange sherbet either. ;P

Signs of reflux he’s showing -

Screaming like he’s dying from being at a perfect calm

Inconsolable

Wants to nurse all the time, but this only adds more to his tummy, making the pain worse

Fast, rapid breathing

Gags when nursing

Burps/ chokes after eating

Spitting/ throwing up a LOT (our son isn’t doing this, but is swallowing it instead, which is worse since the acid comes up and then has to go back down)

Pained, worried look in his eyes

Screams when placed on his back

Oh, my heart breaks! I guess I’ll be dropping the few pounds I had left from my pregnancy as I drop a LOT of foods from my diet over the next few weeks.

Strangely, they say breastmilk is BEST - to avoid switching to formula for reflux. Mommy’s milk is easier to digest, although it’s my milk making him have reflux. Zantac can be used in infants, but I’ll only resort to this is he’s totally miserable and diet changes don’t work.

Really, this is what’s recommended anyway - changes first, meds later. Even if you DO begin using Zantac, it’s only recommended for 6 to 8 weeks at the MOST. This actually will begin to change your baby’s body chemistry, making the reflux worse. We didn’t know this until AFTER our first son was left on it for 2 years!

We’ll be elevating him to sleep now. It’s said NOT to place them in swings, carriers, or flat on their backs - as this causes more pressure on their stomachs. Hold baby’s upright (not sitting!) for at least 30 minutes after eating.

Shorten feedings, make them more often. Too much milk in their tummies will cause more pressure - more acid to come up. Let baby nurse a long time on side. Sometimes they’ll be content with milk on one side and happy to continue nursing once it’s empty - they just need the comfort, not necessarily the milk. Burp a LOT!

The hard part for Mommy? Patience for this poor little baby. It’s hard emotionally dealing with a crying baby all day long, having to hold them constantly, with screams still coming.

It’s hard on the other kiddos here, since I can’t do much with them since I’m with the baby. Pray for a quick recovery, especially since pizza was dinner tonight. I’m now nearly 100% positive this is starting!

Little Mommy

PS - Here’s a very interesting link if you think your baby might have reflux - http://www.pollywogbaby.com/refluxandcolic/remedies.html.

Oops - I missed baby boy’s 2 week b’day post! It was quite a busy day (in my defense). I was the last one up in our group at 7:45 AM - and my main mission was to get everyone fed, dressed, and out the door to visit my mom before pictures at Target.

Yep, we have found that Target is the BEST source for pictures for us! We have taken each child on their 2 week b’day to have their picture made in the coming home outfit my parents have gotten them. Only one child was a day off, not sure what the reason was anymore….

Anyway, it’s the best deal for us. No sitting fees, $3.99 portrait sheets, as many people as we’d like - and this time we even received a coupon for $20 off of $75 or more! We’ve never spent over $50, but this time, we set a record - almost $295 before savings, $107 final price. Of course, my parents came along to order some themselves too, so we didn’t spend this much on our own.

These have been a lifesaver for us, you can’t find pictures that cheap elsewhere - at least not with all the options they give us (we haven’t found better prices, they could be out there I guess). Be aware, only the basic pics are that price, and you have to have a coupon for them (shouldn’t be hard to get on their mailing list, or check coupons in the paper maybe?). Any upgrades cost extra, so we usually forgo those.

Okay, back to our day. The baby would NOT take a nap for anything! I couldn’t believe he was so awake all morning long - until after 11, I think it was! I finally had to turn on the TV for the older ones, so I could put the baby in the playpen while I showered.

It only took 6 hours to get everyone ready (since we had to add lunch in now), get the clothes picked out for our pictures, loaded up and out the door. By this time, we only had 2 hours at my moms. I used this time to iron our clothes. I soon discovered why I gave up ironing years ago - it’s not fun!

We made it for our photo shoot only a few minutes late - pretty good considering I’m still fairly new to 4 children! We even got our 50 shots made in an hour. Perfect timing, cause the baby was ready to eat just as we finished. Should I mention it took over an hour to pick out our favorite pictures? Yeah, don’t ever ask me to make a decision quickly.

Actually, it seemed pretty quick for us. We ended up saying yes to more pics than we usually do, although many are the smaller sizes. But we’ve got some REALLY good shots - some of our best ever! DD has one that should go in a magazine!

It was funny, baby boy was SO alert AFTER the photo shoot - I guess he’d slept long enough by then, plus had a full tummy. Oh well, I think we had one pic with his eyes open.

Stats - on our basic digital scales, he’s at least 8 1/2 lbs. - anywhere up to 9 lbs. That’s 1 lb. since last Thursday. So eating is going well!

Sleeping - He sleeps GREAT, when he’s sleeping next to me or in my arms. LOL. DH says he can’t blame him, that he has it made. I guess he does! Part of me would like him to sleep in the playpen at night, but he hasn’t made it all the way through the night in it yet (not that I’ve tried too hard).

And yes, I keep mentioning the playpen because we don’t have him a crib set up. We have a crib, but just don’t have it up. For one, I don’t want to have to get up and go to another room every couple hours during the night to feed him. And two, I don’t trust leaving him with the little ones just yet.

They would never want to hurt him, but don’t understand how offering a blanket or toy could hurt him - especially if it was thrown over the side of a crib. SO, we’re just using the bassinet on the playpen in our room for now.

We’re holding our breath and praying for God’s protection right now. My grandfather visited the other day, but didn’t mention beforehand that my grandmother had been sick. (Or else we would’ve asked him to visit with her later) She didn’t come, just him, but he held the baby for a while, as well as asking the other little ones to give him hugs.

Well, the next day, yesterday, my grandmother finds out she has pneumonia. YIKES!! This is highly contagious, and you CAN be a carrier WITHOUT having it yourself. I am SO mad at myself for 1) not asking if everyone was well first and 2) asking him to wash his hands when he walked in the door.

I usually am pretty firm about health things, but didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Now, I’m having to suffer through the worry of wondering if we’ll all come down with pneumonia - it’s not a fun feeling. Esp. when I think that I  could’ve made it less likely. It also doesn’t help that the world is starting to get panicked about this swine flu thing.

Come on people, if you are sick, or someone in your house is sick - STAY home and away from healthy people!! A runny nose or sore throat isn’t always just a simple cold or allergy - it can grow and mutate into something worse. That was the case with my grandmother. She was just tired and had an earache. Nothing was wrong when she went to the dr. last week, but one week later she has pneumonia.

I’m really having a hard time fighting off the worry, though I am better today than yesterday - thanks to some sleep last night and praying about it.

Other news, child #3 has made changes since baby brother came along. Friday, we moved him from his baby bed to a toddler bed. At 20 months, he was ready! Of course, he still likes big brother’s bed, but has done much better with his bed than the crib. It’s also helped that we have a Finding Nemo “fish” pillowcase and quilt on there. This was a great find at Wal-Mart with our oldest son years ago for only $9!!

Can you believe they charge over $35 for these things!!! We watched this one for ages as they kept marking it down, finally snagging it at $9 - we were thrilled! Not that they know who Nemo is, but they like fish.

Okay, my little ones are in from playing outside, so my time is over. Until next time,

“Little Mommy”

PS - We have a new home on the web, for ‘family’ highlights. Give me a shout at Candace @HeavenInOurHomes.com, sharing a little about yourself and how you found us, and ask for the link!