Baby Girl turned 3 weeks old today! I’ve been thinking how she just doesn’t look like a newborn anymore, and realized today why…

I didn’t get a length on her today (though last Monday – 8 days ago – she had grown 3/4″ in 13 days and was 21″ long), but she’s eating and gaining well. From her 7 lbs., 12.8 oz. at birth, she weighed in at 9.5 lbs. on our scales at home today, which measure in 1/2 lb. increments.

The newborn AIO cloth diaper I have hardly wraps around her now, and the newborn prefolds are getting pretty small. At least we’re still in 0-3 month clothes, I’d really be sad if I had to pack up baby clothes already.

We’re seeing the first signs of reflux, but I’m hoping that some digestive enzymes will help with that – spitting up, wet burps, fussiness constantly – it’s so sad… I’ve been on goat’s milk, but did have cheese pizza the other night, along w/ spaghetti sauce Sunday and 4 tacos for dinner last night. Let’s just say she wasn’t happy today!

Nursing is going pretty well. I started block feeding her at 3 days and that really helped w/ overproduction (which leads to reflux). She also woke up a stuffy nose today, poor thing.

I’ll try to get back on later this week w/ a few pics we had taken last week for her 2 week portraits, even if they were two days late.

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”

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.

Wow – only 10 weeks (more or ‘hopefully’ less) to go!! Due to the fact that I’m not completely miserable, I’m still guessing this is a girl. But then there’s the big basketball belly that makes me doubt myself – since that’s boy….

Things have pretty crazy here lately, mainly due to Sonbeams. The cd I’ve been working on for almost a year and a half is finally done and going to be released this Sunday. This has had me working day and nights pretty much for a couple of weeks. 6 hours of sleep isn’t much to go on with 3 little ones AND being pregnant – it used not to be enough just me!

Yes, children have changed my life. I cannot see how in the world I had free time before – sleeping 10 to 12 hours (lazy!!), watching hours of tv a day (again, Lazy!), being ?? what’s the word – bored!!? (LAZY!).

We’ve had our house on the market, though not actively trying to sell. Although we do have our new land, I’ve lost interest in moving now. I think part of it must be the nesting instinct, knowing the baby is so close now – it’d be too much to pack up and move/ build. We had hoped to have a garden this year, but I’m starting to think about container gardening now instead.

Although, we might could try a garden on the land – visiting on weekends and maintaining it. No goats though, so we’ll have to keep paying $3.36/ quart for that – yuck! For new readers, I discovered that cow’s milk was what was causing my children’s reflux issues. This is a very handy piece of info for new moms – don’t trust drs. all the time, sometimes meds AREN’T needed – just a change of diet!

I am excited about getting an email today. The ‘new’ thing in baby land (at least in my world) are nursing covers. Not some that I knew of years ago, but these are cute! The pattern I got was more basic than some I’ve seen at church, but will still serve the purpose. Once I get the time, I’ll save it online and put a link to it in case any of you are interested in making one.

This baby has me wanting only certain items, and a nice nursing cover was one of them. Of course, now I still have to find the time to make it – ha!! Since our oldest is a boy, and will be close to 5 when the baby is born, I figured it was time to start being more covered for nursing time.

My other biggee that I’ve kept my eyes open for are cloth diapers. Again, these have come a LONG way! I do know from past buying that I don’t want ones with velcro – they stick to everything nice in the laundry.

In my mind, cloth diapers are rectangles held together with pins…. but now… WOW! They velcro, they snap, they buckle! The snaps look the most interesting, and from what I’m hearing from other moms, the one in alls aren’t as good of a route to go as the individual pieces. But then, how in the world do I know what all is needed??

There are inserts, wool and hemp, covers, etc… But when I read all the info coming out about the chemicals used in diapers – I feel I have to try these. What if it IS true that these chemicals have caused a spike in cancers? It only makes sense to me!

Well, the final 10 weeks are here – and look busier than ever. So much to get done and so little time to do it! I am about ready find someone to maybe swap children for a little bit – to at least give me time to get some stuff done around the house. It seems these 3 here can demolish more – quicker than I can clean up now!

“Little Mommy”