Can you believe it? I can't.

u2034.jpg

This last week has been kind of hard. We had our live in company leave (my mom and sister) and Josh went back to work this last weekend. I have been taking the night shift since Josh has to wake up and be at work by 6 am and Solomon started getting very fussy 4 days ago. He had been practically a dream baby before that, but it could have been because he had people holding him upright and over their shoulder the entire time. 

Solomon was put on Zantac yesterday for acid reflux. He started acting pretty fussy over the weekend and I just had that motherly instinct that it was from something other than just his "fussy" time of the day. I started to watch him closely and made a list of things that were out of the ordinary. Things like these: being REALLY fussy and inconsolable if no one was holding him upright, only sleeping when he was at an incline on someone's chest, making gulping noises, frequent hiccups, eating a ton, spitting up little curds, not sleeping when he should be, pushing up with his legs while I held him and things like that. I began to notice that they were signs of acid reflux and after 3 days of watching him we took him to Dr. Evans yesterday afternoon and he got put on Zantac. After giving him the first dose he was back to being our dream baby in about 30 minutes! He slept for 4 hours straight and went back to his usual 2-3 hour sleep/feeding schedule during the night! 

I can cope with just about any situation pretty well, but after 3 days of being on full time mom duty without any help for 17 hours a day I was starting to feel trapped. Until today I couldn't do anything without holding him over my shoulder and patting him (which takes two hands of course). My emails were starting to pile up along with all of the housework and my personal time was non-existant. Josh takes over when he gets home, but by that time all I want to do it lay around and do nothing. 

Today was the start of a new day though! I had resolved in my heart to start the Baby Wise schedule of feed, awake time and then put him down for a nap when he was 2 weeks old and today I was able to start! He is on his own timetable for the feedings, which is about every 2 1/2 hours, but I had never attempted to put him in his crib awake to let him sleep on his own. 

I knew that he was changed, fed, burped and had his medicine and so I felt good about letting him fuss for a while. I took a shower, fixed my hair and even put on makeup! He fussed for about 30 minutes while he was on his back and I went in to check on him and rolled him to his tummy (our Dr. said he was strong enough to sleep on his tummy for everyone who is worried about this) and he immediately calmed down and only fussed for about 5 more minutes before falling asleep on his own!

He slept for about an hour and a half and woke up hungry. I fed him and then read some books and kept him awake and upright (to help his reflux) for about 30 minutes and when he yawned I put him in the crib again. He only fussed for 8 minutes this time before going to sleep!! I keep my IPAD2 in the crib with him on skype so that I can make sure that he is doing ok. I even sing or shhhhushh him when he gets a little fussy through it. I love my IPAD2 and I love that my son is now starting to sleep in his crib! YES!

What's new this week:
-Solomon weighs 8 pounds now! He is outgrowing his newborn onesies and is moving into his 0-3 clothes.
- I feel like he looked at me this week and watched my face! It was special.
- He is lifting his head so much longer this week, he is getting really strong.
- I am trying to cut out dairy to see if it will help Sol's AR (I'm on day 2 now) and boy did I not realize how much of it I was eating! I mean seriously! Ice cream, cereal, butter, cheese, cheese, cheese!! I am sure to drop below my pre-pregnancy weight without being able to eat all of these things! 
- I've lost 26 pounds now!



Solomon is 2 weeks old!

July 13, 2011

Can you believe it? I can't.

u2034.jpg

This last week has been kind of hard. We had our live in company leave (my mom and sister) and Josh went back to work this last weekend. I have been taking the night shift since Josh has to wake up and be at work by 6 am and Solomon started getting very fussy 4 days ago. He had been practically a dream baby before that, but it could have been because he had people holding him upright and over their shoulder the entire time. 

Solomon was put on Zantac yesterday for acid reflux. He started acting pretty fussy over the weekend and I just had that motherly instinct that it was from something other than just his "fussy" time of the day. I started to watch him closely and made a list of things that were out of the ordinary. Things like these: being REALLY fussy and inconsolable if no one was holding him upright, only sleeping when he was at an incline on someone's chest, making gulping noises, frequent hiccups, eating a ton, spitting up little curds, not sleeping when he should be, pushing up with his legs while I held him and things like that. I began to notice that they were signs of acid reflux and after 3 days of watching him we took him to Dr. Evans yesterday afternoon and he got put on Zantac. After giving him the first dose he was back to being our dream baby in about 30 minutes! He slept for 4 hours straight and went back to his usual 2-3 hour sleep/feeding schedule during the night! 

I can cope with just about any situation pretty well, but after 3 days of being on full time mom duty without any help for 17 hours a day I was starting to feel trapped. Until today I couldn't do anything without holding him over my shoulder and patting him (which takes two hands of course). My emails were starting to pile up along with all of the housework and my personal time was non-existant. Josh takes over when he gets home, but by that time all I want to do it lay around and do nothing. 

Today was the start of a new day though! I had resolved in my heart to start the Baby Wise schedule of feed, awake time and then put him down for a nap when he was 2 weeks old and today I was able to start! He is on his own timetable for the feedings, which is about every 2 1/2 hours, but I had never attempted to put him in his crib awake to let him sleep on his own. 

I knew that he was changed, fed, burped and had his medicine and so I felt good about letting him fuss for a while. I took a shower, fixed my hair and even put on makeup! He fussed for about 30 minutes while he was on his back and I went in to check on him and rolled him to his tummy (our Dr. said he was strong enough to sleep on his tummy for everyone who is worried about this) and he immediately calmed down and only fussed for about 5 more minutes before falling asleep on his own!

He slept for about an hour and a half and woke up hungry. I fed him and then read some books and kept him awake and upright (to help his reflux) for about 30 minutes and when he yawned I put him in the crib again. He only fussed for 8 minutes this time before going to sleep!! I keep my IPAD2 in the crib with him on skype so that I can make sure that he is doing ok. I even sing or shhhhushh him when he gets a little fussy through it. I love my IPAD2 and I love that my son is now starting to sleep in his crib! YES!

What's new this week:
-Solomon weighs 8 pounds now! He is outgrowing his newborn onesies and is moving into his 0-3 clothes.
- I feel like he looked at me this week and watched my face! It was special.
- He is lifting his head so much longer this week, he is getting really strong.
- I am trying to cut out dairy to see if it will help Sol's AR (I'm on day 2 now) and boy did I not realize how much of it I was eating! I mean seriously! Ice cream, cereal, butter, cheese, cheese, cheese!! I am sure to drop below my pre-pregnancy weight without being able to eat all of these things! 
- I've lost 26 pounds now!





Comments
Ashley Hlavaty:

Your such a good Momma!

 (07.13.11 @ 01:18 PM)
tina:

oh i love this shot. have been looking forward to seeing which shots you got of your baby. we're not friends, but i think we know lots of the same people because i lived in lubbock for a few years & went to trinity church, plus i follow your blog & you know how that makes you feel like you "know" the author. anyway, i had a baby 3 weeks ago. i'm going through similar things. just want to say how ahead of the curve you are in your approach (schedule, stomach sleeping, crying it out, etc) for being a 1st time mom. and also wanted to encourage you to keep sharing your feelings with someone or on your blog like you did here. motherhood can be so isolating & draining at the same time it is fufilling. sharing those thoughts are important to keeping you from drowning in them! i learned the hard way. congrats!

(07.13.11 @ 01:26 PM)
Meghan:

Are you eating dairy? You may try eliminating all dairy products from your diet as well. It takes 2 weeks to exit your system, so he will be an even happier baby in two weeks with his medicine and no dairy :). My baby has the same acid reflux problem and we were put on zantac, but we found out a few weeks later that the acid reflux can actually be caused by a milk protein intolerance (MSPI). And sure enough, they tested her stool and she had the MSPI. It is very common in babies and they usually outgrow it between 6 months and one year.

(07.13.11 @ 01:33 PM)
Katherine I:

You are becoming a great mommy. You know what to do. I'm happy he is feeling better. I am very proud of you on your weight. I kinda didn't lose the weight and now after almost two years I'm getting it off(it's harder after a long period of time). You are doing great!!!

 (07.13.11 @ 02:05 PM)
Brenda Landrum:

I loved using the Baby Wise method. My daughter is now 6 and she's so well behaved (of course she has her moments!) and she's so comfortable with who she is. I believe that a routine is what has made her comfortable, she always knew what to expect and was never surprised and wondering when was what. A routine is key!! Not that you have to live life according to it but it really does help. :) She has always slept very well at night with only a period of time when she was moved to a big girl bed and had to get use to that plus her trying to claim some independence. Sorry for babbling but I just wanted to tell you that I loved Baby Wise and the books that follow. Oh and Soloman is such a cutie pie!! Congrats!

 (07.13.11 @ 02:34 PM)
Lindsay Nicholls:

My child had silent reflux. it was hard to diagnose him because nothing ever came up. Hince the name silent. YOU were very smart to notice the signs early. It can be tough! It sounds like you are doing well. Something else i swore by was the book Happiest Baby on the Block. You might have heard of it all ready but it got us through some tuff days. I give it as gifts now when i go to baby showers. Hope this advice from a stranger is not too weird. I am sure you are getting tons of advice and probably more than you want ; )

(07.13.11 @ 04:43 PM)
Jennifer F:

Your doing great!! I remember when we brought our daughter home and I was so overwhelmed and couldn't get everyithing done. I was telling this to a friend and she said...Don't worry about having your house clean and dinner on the table by 6 o'clock everynight. Your babies grow up so fast and you can clean your house in 20 years when their grown and in college. This was the best advice given to me. We did the Baby Wise and I HIGHLY recommend it! It gave me a lot of freedom and it also made me feel better knowing that they were getting really good sound sleep. And with the baby on a sleep schedule it gave me time to pick up the house. I started doing one chore a day, like Mondays I vacuum, Tuesday I dust, Wednesday I clean bathrooms, Thursday I sweep and mop and Friday I vacuum and Saturday and Sunday I don't clean house at all and then I do one load of laundry a day. I hope this has helped you. Just remember the stage won't last long so enjoy every minute of it!

 (07.14.11 @ 03:09 PM)
Sara Davis:

I love that sweet picture. It's one of my favorites you have taken of him. Congratulations...I am glad he is getting back on track!

 (07.14.11 @ 03:56 PM)
Ash Tollett:

Oh my! This sounds exactly like Asher's newborn period. Acid reflux + a little colic = one tired mom! We're still doing Zantac with him. I think baby boys are much more needy of their mommy....especially if they don't feel well. Hang in there...it does get a little better and much easier. But there's no doubt it is the MOST exhausting period for ole mom =)

 (07.15.11 @ 09:06 AM)
cortney:

So glad to hear things are going well! My sister's little man has acid reflux bad too! he's about 3 1/2 months and things are getting better with him too! Email me and I can send you her email if you want to chat about it.. i know that always helps! Hope the puppy doggies are loving their new little brother! Take CarE!

 (07.15.11 @ 03:57 PM)