I think we might have the strongest baby alive...

because when her blood was drawn today, 4 people had to hold her down, including myself and my mother...

so long story short, our little girl has been extra fussy, especially during feedings.  I would nurse her and she would stop around 5 - 6 minutes and then refuse to eat more.  This has been going on for the past couple of weeks but has been fussy all along.

We went to the Gastroenterologist today and apparently there was a trace of blood in her stool after they did a test.  It turns out that she's allergic to Milk Protein, which means that she's allergic to my milk.

That was tough to hear.  So what were the options?? Put her on a very expensive formula (similac allementum) which is for babies who are allergic to Milk proteins.  I told the doc that I cut out dairy and he said that it wouldn't help much and there could be a possibility that she's allergic to something entirely different than cow's milk.

So pretty much 1 option.  Put her on formula.  Gasp. Not what I wanted for at least 6 months.  The inconvenience, the expense, the lack of bonding... They mentioned they were doing a study with infants that had the same allergy.  Pretty much 1 out of 10 babies are allergic to Milk Protein and what's been done in the past was that they were put on this formula for a full year and then the child would go back to a normal formula.  Well, guess how much 1 can costs?  Approximately 40 bucks. And a baby goes through 16 cans a month! Cha Ching!  So the study that they are attempting to do is to have the child on this formula for only 6 months and then they would return to the original type of feeding that caused the allergy, which in this case is my breast milk.

So the doctor was explaining to me that Jocelyn could be a part of this study and be monitored throughout the 6 months.  At first, I was very hesitant bc I didn't want her to be part of a laboratory experiment.  After hearing all what was entailed in the study, it wasn't bad at all.  They would provide the formula (so no cost for us) and every week we would need to send in a stool test to see if there is any traces of blood.  And of course we would go for visits every month.  I called Nelson and the doctor explained it to him over the phone.  And we both decided that it's best to go with the study just because she will get special treatment and be monitored closely.

In the meantime, I am going to continue to pump.  I have milk in the freezer already and since I can't breastfeed her, I will pump and attempt to use it after 6 months.  The study will continue after then because we will still have to see if she's allergic to Milk protein.  I still will have a dairy free diet just because I feel like that may have something to do with it.

I knew something was up.  Moral of this story, always trust your instinct.  A mother's instinct can never be wrong :)

Oh and after the traumatic blood drawing...She got a spongebob band-aid.

So far, she's had 2 bottles of the formula.  It smells like dried cat food. Gross.  It's tough for the first 5 minutes for her.  She knows it's different so she cries.  I told her that I felt the same way! After a few moments, she ended drinking the full bottles without any problem.  I've already noticed a difference in her behavior.  She's a lot less squirmy and a lot more comfortable and a lot more cuddly! 

10 Pounds at 10 Weeks!

Today, Jocelyn is 10 weeks old!  Our day started with bringing daddy to the subway, then taking a morning nap...

I decided to put her in her crib this morning to see how she would do.  She only has been sleeping in her Rock and Play sleeper.  I also decided to half swaddle her to see what would happen.  She slept for a good 40 min and then woke up.  I watched her through the monitor the majority of the time and she would flail her arms from time to time but she was able to put herself back to sleep easily. 

Then later this afternoon we had our pediatrician's appointment for her shots.  Eek!  I was afraid for her.

This is her cute little face as we were waiting for the doc.  She was actually in a very good mood when we got there, smiling and relaxed.  Since this appointment was for her vaccinations, they didn't have to weigh her, but we asked them if we could see how much she weighed.  She came in at a whopping 10 pound 13 ounces.  She gained 1 full pound in 2 weeks.

As for her reflux, the zantac that she's on isn't quite taking away her pain.  She still stiffens up while eating and is a very fussy eater.  Today she would just cry when I attempted to feed her again after only eating for 5 minutes.  So the pediatrician recommended us to go to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist to get some more testing.  They will be able to figure out what will exactly work for her since the pediatrician isn't specialized in that.  Our appointment is next Monday! The doc also said for me to lay off the dairy, entirely.  I've been trying my best, but I feel like certain foods have hidden dairy! For example - this vegetarian cheese I have, has Milk protein! That makes me mad.  So for now, no butter which is fine I use Smart Balance, no cheese, no milk, no veggie burgers (has milk!), no chocolate, no icing on cakes! Seems like I can lose some weight from a no dairy diet! :)

So then after that discussion, she got the wonderful shots! She didn't do that bad actually, which was surprising.  Yes she did cry but I've heard louder shrieks! After leaving the office we took a little walk at a nearby outside mall. 

Check out this drugged up little face...

What a sad little face!

So what do you do with a baby that is so mellow?  Try to cheer her up with some shades!

  

great news

our little baby slept a clip from 10pm-4:30am so a total of 6 1/2 hours. she woke up at 4:30 bc I poked her face since I thought it was too good to be true.  I kicked myself. Let's hoping she'll continue this and it's not just a fluke!

what we now have to work on - mommy and daddy going to bed at a decent hour so we get the same good z's as our little gal. Poor Daddy worked this whole weekend and didn't get home until 10:45PM last night! AND he had to be back at 8:30am this morning. And it's not very easy just to fall asleep!

Here's our little girl hanging out in the big people's bed.

'

I like this bed so much better! Why are you guys holding out?!

here's our birth announcement.

Plainly Perfect Black Birth Announcement

Find hundreds of cute baby birth announcements at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Baby Zantac and Sleeping for Survival

Our Jo has acid reflux.  Poor baby.  about a month ago I noticed that she spit up a lot and there were a few times that she threw up.  One day we noticed that she had a really scratchy voice, as if she had a sore throat.  I, of course being a new mother and always a worry wort, took her to the pediatrician first thing in the AM and he said that it could be that the acid was hurting her voice box.  It was sad to see her cry because it just pained her and it pained her to the point where she just couldn't cry her fullest.  Yes it was nice not get really loud yells from her but it was more sad to see the pain in her face!


A few days later passed and her throat got better, from the recommendations from the doc - keep her elevated after eating for 45 minutes, give her saline drops through her nose, etc.

The next dr visit was a few days later and she still had those colicky like symptoms just without the fussiness for hours on end.  The doc gave us some baby zantac.  poor little one is on meds already!  its a very low dose and we think it's helping a little. there's still some spit up, but not the amount that was before and we think she's in less pain.

This is not Jo but that's how I administer her Zantac every morning and night.  She gives the same face!

We also noticed that she doesn't sleep peacefully in her crib (even with it being elevated).  She can fall asleep but then wakes up about 20 minutes into her nap/sleep.  What has been a huge lifesaver is our Rock and Play Sleeper.  She can sleep in that for hours! so for us now its about survival and we will deal  with the repercussions later.

Who would think that this baby equipment would be our saving grace?

Grandpa chatting with Jo