Fun Around the House

We have spent alot of time at home lately since Jack is so little and Sam has been such a good sport about it.  He is always so good about entertaining himself if need be and he has a great imagination!  His favorite thing to play with lately has been the "man box."  This is what he calls the big tub of Adam's old action figures and small toys from when he was a little boy.  Tonight after dinner he was playing in the man box and found these two little plastic Cabbage Patch dolls.  He thought it was so funny that they were little bitty!

Later he took a break from the man box and brought out his tools.  It seems as though one of his trucks was in need of a tune up and he even called Rusty in for some moral support.  ;)

Getting Creative

Who said a grocery basket couldn't also be used as a catcher's mask?

Batter UP!

Two Months Old!

I think I might have spoken too soon when I said the second time around was much easier.  Poor Jack has been a challenge to figure out the past few weeks and it is the worst feeling in the world for a mama to watch her baby hurt and not be able to do a whole lot to help!  He has sure been a trooper though and tries his best to give us a smile even when I can tell his stomach is definitely bothering him and he probably doesn't feel very good.

What has Jack been up to lately?

*I think the formula pictured above is going to be our lifesaver.  Since our two visits with Dr. Sherwood last week we have tried Similac Alimentum for a few days without much luck so I took a chance on Enfamil's Nutramigen.  They are both pre-digested formulas but for some reason Jack seemed to not resist drinking the Nutramigen like he did the Alimentum so maybe it tastes better?  We started it late last night and have had the best day today in I can't remember when. 

*He has been eating 4 oz every three or four hours during the day and usually won't go much longer than that at night, on a good night.  Dr. Sherwood said that he might start eating more ounces more often on the new formula since it is pre-digested and pretty much runs right through him. 

*He hasn't been sleeping well at all during the night lately.  His colic symptoms seem to be at their worst between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.  Sometimes I think the only reason he has fallen asleep between 2 and 3 a.m. is because he has worn himself out from crying.  This sleep schedule proves to be a bit challenging when you go to sleep around 3 a.m. and have a 2 year old full of energy ready to play between 7 and 8 in the morning!  Needless to say I have started drinking coffee again after giving it up for a while.  ;)

*He is wearing a size 1 diaper and 3 or 3-6 month clothes.

*He is very strong and has great head control, especially since he hasn't felt like having alot of "tummy time" lately. 

*He has started trying to laugh and it is the funniest thing.  When he gets really tickled at something we do or say to him he makes a loud noise and just opens his mouth as wide as he can. 

*He is a mama's boy and I would be lying if I said I didn't love it!  He seems way more attached to me than Sam was at this age but I think it could be because he has spent more time being held in my arms since he hasn't been feeling very good.  I love to snuggle with him every chance I get so I'm soaking this up.  He is also very particular about who feeds him and usually won't drink very much unless I'm the one giving him his bottle.  I keep telling him we are going to have to work on this so he doesn't starve when I go back to work!

Despite the rough patch we have gone through I am just so grateful that what we are struggling with is temporary and can be fixed.  We constantly remind ourselves that some day this will all be a distant memory and we try to focus on the blessing of a healthy baby boy.  One big smile from him is all it takes for me to forget a sleepless night of rocking and walking the floor.  We love you so much, Jack!

Things Are Looking Up!

My hopes of getting fast relief from the new formula we started Tuesday were dashed after we had a pretty rough day yesterday and then woke up this morning with a baby that refused most of his bottle and later threw up the little bit he actually drank.  I was beginning to wonder if the new formula still wasn't our answer and since Jack was almost inconsolable and not eating I decided it was time to go back to see Dr. Sherwood.  Two visits with her in one week is a record at our house!  By the time we got to the clinic mid-morning his stomach was so bloated that it had caused his belly button to pop out.  It was like a little ball sitting on top of his stomach.  She took one look at that and ordered an enema to try and relieve some of the pressure in his belly.  She said it was probably going to take a little while longer for the old formula and rice to get completely out of his system and she suggested that I do suppositories at home for a few days to help clean him out.  Poor guy!!  He finally calmed down some this afternoon and by tonight he was actually happy enough to pose for a picture.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better day!

2 Month Checkup

Jack had his two month checkup today with Dr. Sherwood and he also got his first set of shots.  He weighed 13 lbs. 4 oz. and was 24 inches long!   He has certainly been busy growing these past eight weeks!  He has also been in quite a bit of pain and it has just about broken my heart.  We have spent a good four or five weeks trying to get this poor guy some relief and I was so happy to finally get to see her in person today in hopes that she could figure out what was going on.  It seems like we have tried just about everything to make him feel better.  We started in early December trying to treat what we thought to be reflux like his big brother had.  The day we went in to the clinic Dr. Sherwood was out so we saw Dr. Cook and she put him on Zantac and said if that didn't work we would move on to Prevacid.  I wasn't holding my breath for the Zantac to work since it hadn't done too much for Sam and I could already tell that Jack's reflux was much worse than Sam's ever was.  After about a week on Zantac with no relief Dr. Cook switched him to Prevacid.  It definitely helped him some but he was still obviously in more pain than I thought he should be after being on medication for awhile.  Next we started to wonder if maybe my milk wasn't agreeing with him.  Around Christmas I kept pumping but tried him on some Similac Sensitive formula just to see how he responded and I couldn't tell much of a difference.  I happened to remember that the combination of Prevacid and rice was almost magic for Sam so I called Dr. Sherwood's office and the nurse said it would be fine to go ahead and add some rice to his bottle.  For the first few days I could tell a big difference.  He was sleeping much better, had stopped crying as much and wasn't scrunched up in a ball because his belly was hurting so bad.  Maybe we had found our answer?  Oh, think again!  The screaming and balling up came back worse than ever a few days after we started the rice so I held on for a little longer until today's appointment arrived.  He screamed most of the appointment, which I was honestly glad about so she could really see what we had been dealing with for quite some time.  It has been one of those things that you almost have to see to believe.  She said he was absolutely pitiful and definitely was having trouble digesting not only the formula but the rice too.  She said he had classic colic symptoms in addition to reflux symptoms and she explained how the reflux was only made worse by the colic.  Wow!!  No wonder we hadn't slept in weeks and neither had he!   She said to switch to a predigested formula, either Similac Alimentum or Enfamil Nutramigen, to help with his colic and to stay on the Prevacid for his reflux.  Hopefully by his four month appointment the colic will pretty much be gone and we can switch back to the regular Sensitive formula and add some rice to his diet.  I was thrilled she had finally figured out what was going on with him and I was so happy to start the new formula today in hopes that he will feel better soon!

Calling the Ladies