Morgan and the No Good Very Bad Digestive Tract

For the most part Morgan is super healthy. He is gaining weight, becoming more alert, and staying well hydrated. However a week ago while changing his diaper my mom say that there was blood in his stool. This happened 5 days after switching him to formula and about 2 days after he was only consuming formula. Additionally we had noticed an increase in gassiness and fussiness from the formula so we obtained the gentler form of formula which addressed the gas and fussiness. The doctor put Morgan on hypoallergenic formula (he weighed in at 10 pounds 4 ounces). He has been on it for one full week. Starting last Thursday Morgan's stools changed again. . . this time they were the consistency of split-pea soup and just about that color. He started having really bad gas from both ends as well. And a baby who was once not collicy had seemed ot become so in the evenings. So I called the doctor on Friday and the nurse recommended that if things had not changed by Monday that I should call again. So I did. They had me come in and check his stool for blood (he weighed in at 11 pounds 8 ounces). There was no blood, but there was concern about the stools. So the doctor recommended that we try the other brands hypoallergenic formula. Additionally based on the symptoms Morgan was presenting and concerns I had about them she prescribed Infant Zantac (which I should only start if after 3-5 days on the other hypoallergenic formula the symptoms do not go away). So last night after feeding him the new formula he was the fussiest he has been to date. He was pratically inconsolable. Eventually I fed him the original and he quieted down immediately and dozed off.

Since I am now taking responsibility for all the night time feedings I decided that I would try changing him over to the new formula today. I wanted to get as much sleep as possible. For the most part he slept well, but not his best. This morning he was fussy after the new formula was given to him, but not horribly so, until we were in the van on the way to a destination and he totally freaked out. I think it was gas, but it is hard to tell when you aren't psycic and don't have the ability to comfort while your not even halfway to your destination. He seemed ot calm himself down after that and slept until about mid-day. So the jury is still out on this new formula . . . I will give it another few days. I am going to alternate (as I see fit) the two until he is only on one, but I dont think I will wait for the Zantac. I think that will help us out on the non-stool issues that he is having. I just want a happy healthy baby.

What little information I found on Infant Zantac makes me hessitate to give it to him. I could not find a list of possible side effects and most of the disscussion I found was anti giving it to your infant. Morgan will be 6 weeks on Thursday and that was then I planned on getting it for him. Have you used it with your kids? Did it work? Hopefully it will help Morgan remain as healthy as he is, but give him a better digestive tract and become the content kiddo I know he can be.

Don't Mess with Mommy (Guilt)

Sunday and Monday were the epitome of suckage!

For breakfast I had a healthy dose of ego dowser while I was backing out of our driveway and ran into a parked car. I blame it on the fact that I was tired but mostly because the car was parked (IMHO) illegally (at the base of our neighbors driveway). There is not much room for backing out to begin with and I didn't notice them in time, so anyways... moving on.

On Monday morning while reading my RSS subscriptions and other blogs I came to my SIL's and low and behold I find out that my FIL is not expected to live much longer. A few weeks ago I found out through my BIL girlfriend that he was in the hospital with a syndrome that was not expected to be fatal. Because my FIL had little to nothing to do with his 4 kids there are a lot of mixed feelings and reactions going around. Since I don't know him well (and have bad mouthed him because of his deadbeat dad rap) I have no clue what I would/could/should do in this situation. I am just going to remain supportive to Jason.

Later in the day, after getting back from an outing with Grandma, we discovered that Morgan had blood in his stool. At which point I totally freaked out. My poor baby! This weekended I noticed with the formula that he was still showing signs of gassiness and spitting up. So we switched him to a gentler formula. I really thought it was working better for him, but apparently not. So I took him in to his doctors. They tested the diaper that I brought in and confirmed that there was indeed blood in his stool. The doctor decided that it would be a good idea to draw out a diagram that showed how because I switched him to formula we are dealing with the blood. That breast milk is best. Not that I was trying to justify my decision to switch, but I was. I told her about my reasons. One of which is that pumping and feeding with a toddler looming is very stressful. Another is that I couldn't cut out milk products from my diet since they are full of calcium that I need since I am on Lovenox and it depletes calcium. Ugh, why do I have to explain my decision to switch... it is obvious to me that he has had the lactose issue from birth. And dear god I hope it goes away. I don't want to have to deal with food allergies and my kids as selfish as that seems. So the doctor recommended this as the "best" option. She was like a Similac commercial (I wonder if she gets paid for the sales pitch?). I went out and bought some immediately and Morgan has showed a great amount of improvement. We have a follow up appointment in 2 weeks. If there are still trace amounts of blood in his stool we will have to go to a gastrointerologist. So technically he is still on lactose, but it is a broken down version that is much easier on his digestive system. (It was recommended above the soy formula).

All that I can do now is wait for the appointment to get my bumper fixed and chomp on my nails about the $500 out of pocket that we are going to owe and how the accident will effect my insurance. And wait for news on my FIL and what Jason wants to do. And wait to see how Morgan does on this new formula. This blows!

So long Suckers!

So I finally did it, I stopped pumping (expressing) breast milk yesterday. I feel no remorse about it, which in itself is great, but I do wish it wasn't so dang uncomfortable. I have been slowly weaning off the pumping this week, but these babies are Plenty-Full (lol). So it gets pretty uncomfortable. I tried searching Google last night to find out how long until my boobs would take to go back to pre-pregnancy status (i.e. size and lack of milk). Of all the searches I did, not one was straight forward. They were all like you don't have to wean your toddler yet (and the like). WTF! I'm about to get on my opinionated soapbox which is not meant to offend, but purly share my viewpoint.

Simply put: If they can ask for milk then don't offer them your breast! I can understand going a year and I commend you if you can, but then let the child drink from a "sippy" not mommies "boobies". Again this is my personal opinion.

I don't have the dedication, desire, or dicipline to breastfeed longer than 1-2months (apparently). Considering Abby got the hang of it, and that was going great until I ended up in the hospital and she ended up getting pumped milk. Then I went back to work a week or so later. So by 6-8 weeks Abby was on formula. My choice, not because I couldn't give her the milk, but because I was so busy at work it became taxing on my nerves. With Morgan, he just didn't get the concept of nursing. I didn't have the patience to try to make him figure it out after 2.5 weeks of trying. And I did try all the suggestions, he just didn't want to eat that way I suppose. I plan on teasing him or maybe not about the fact that he isn't a boob man (or maybe he is and he just likes the fake implant ones since he has an affinity for the plastic nipples). Last night I gave him some formula (to test his acceptacnce) and he LOVED it. I mean he was so into it that when he slowed down from horking the bottle down I took the bottle away and he flipped out! And then for the first time is weeks (months even) I got a full 5 hours in a row of sleep!!! I love me the formula. So I have a lot of frozen milk that I plan on thawing and feeding him in the daytime, but at night he will be on formula until all the milk is gone.

So I highly HIGHLY respect (and commend) the women that have the patience and determination to breastfeed (yes even the ones I find to be weird and go for longer than I deem "normal"). But I have finally come to terms with my decision to stop the madness. And I don't feel compelled to appologize about it either. I know that my babies are healthy for having the few weeks with the breastmilk and will still continue to be healthy without it.

And that is the last time I plan to post about breastfeeding stuffs.

SAHMotherhood. I FAIL.

If today was any indication of how I will handle myself in a stressful situation with 2 kids then I FAIL. Miserably.

My poor baby boy is dealing with gas, poopiness, and spitup. He seemed to be eating almost 3 ounces every hour and a half and then spitting up within the hour even though I would hold him upright until he burped. This has been my life since last night. He didn't sleep really well. So now he is sleeping in the car seat. Yes the car seat. I had to call in the troops (a.k.a. dad) to get me out of the house for lunch. Where I could calm down. Because the Girl decided today of all days she neeeeded mommy. More than the past two weeks. I just wanted to have breakfast. Breakfast, the most important meal of the day. But most importantly when I was able to get my caffine fix. Try making coffee when the Infant is crying for his 3rd (or was it 4th) breakfast of the morning and the Toddler is having seperation anxiety from Daddy (and me because I am in the other room and not watching Elmo with her) and Can. Not. Be. Alone. So I left her alone, fed the baby, spread the cream cheese on my bagel, and made the coffee without too much difficulty. Then the baby was done and I burped him and he spit up. Then I had to change him. The whole time the Girl is shouting mommy over and over again.

Then the Girl finally conceded to reading some books in the other room. But then the Boy needed more food. Oh and by the way inbetween all of this I am trying to find time to pump. And so it goes. Boy needs me, Girl needs me, Boy needs me . . . etc. Boy could only be left alone for 5 to max 10 minutes before insisting on being picked up and either fed, burped, or pooped. And the Girl had the same idea. . . sans the burping and pooping. She just wanted me to Pay. Attention. To. Her. and only her.

So I started adding cus words into my sentences and then using them in front of her and directed at her. So. Pissed. OFF. I don't want to lose it in front of my kids. I want to keep a level head and be able to be a fair and just ruler mommy. Did I mention the cus words? I so. FAIL. And the patience which by now I am suspecting that I have none. I have noticed that the less sleep I get the faster I lose it. This leads me to my deciscion which my Hubs seems to think is ok considering he prefers that I have some sanity. That I am going to switch to formula. Sooner rather than later. I haven't finalized when this will happen. But considering I am not drinking alcohol, eatting peanut butter, and now have been informed that I should cut out ALL dairy to see if the Boy may be having a reaction to (I called the nurse today to run by what the Boy has been dealing with lately — did I mention that he and the Girl have colds?)) all for the sake of the boy. I think it is time.

Well it has been about 4 hours and the boy hasn't begged for food yet. My delima is that I heated food for him 2 hours ago and don't want to throw it away (how long does breastmilk last when it has been heated up?). The Girl is sleeping. And I am finally getting some down time. So do I wake him up? UGh. So Tired.

All About the Kids

Morgan is 3 weeks today. We had his 2 week checkup and Abby's 2 year check up today.

Since bringing Morgan home he has fought and overcome dehydration and dramatic weight loss. Sadly he decided that breastfeeding was not his thing, so I have been pumping what feels like constantly. And I will just see how long I can take it before I switch him over to formula. I have to admit that having Abby say "mommy cow" while I am pumping doesn't make me feel all that good about my endeavors. Additionally I don't think I am the La Leche League type of mom that is all gung-ho about breast milk. My daughter is uber healthy and was put on formula about 6-8 weeks into her life. So other than formula is expensive not much is keeping me from switching right now. I am going to try to hold out for at least another month though. Is it so wrong that I am trying to talk myself into continuing with breast milk?

So at the check-up it turns out in the 17 days since we saw the Doctor Morgan has gained 30 oz. Which is "Impressive" according to the Doc. He is now 9 pounds 1.8 ounces. 21.5 inches long and 14 and 7/8 inch round head. He has been over eating quite a bit lately and more than once has covered me with The Exercist style vomit/spitup. But in general he is in great health which is all I could ask. Now we need to work on his night and day confusion. I am not getting more than 2-3 hours at a time.

As for Abby, she is handling big sisterhood in stride. At her check-up she is weighing in at 28 pounds 12 ounces and is 36.5 inches tall. You go girl!

So both kids are healthy and that makes me very happy. Now I need to work on my health. And also a better routine for the kids.