Waste of time...

Well, the appt with the GI specialist was a complete waste of time. He was more interested in lecturing us on being new parents, saying that we just have to figure out what our baby likes, and that babies cry. He didn't have time to answer our questions, and instead cut us off with his own comments. He says that Camila cries because she's eating too much, that we need to basically put her on a diet (What??), etc. And he wasn't interested in helping with her reflux because it's not GERD, but GER (minus the "D" = disease). We know it's not as severe as it is for some babies, but we were just looking for reassurance. Anyway, he was quite rude. Oh, and when I said that I find it hard to believe that she cried 12 hours per day for 8 weeks straight that it was for no reason. His response: there was a reason, it's called colic. Nice! In the research we've done and in talking to our Pedi, they've discovered that colic is just a catch-all phrase, and that most of what seemed to be "just colic" is actually reflux...which is why we were there. ANyway, the silver lining is that we trust our Pedi, and our appt with this GI doc makes us trust and like our Pedi even more. Camila has slept basically thru the night 2 nights now; Sun from 8:30-3:30 and again Tues from 8:30-4:30. Considering her sleep was getting pretty irratic, we're happy to see that she can occasionally sleep thru the night still! :) Lots of reaching for her toes when sitting in the right position, which is really fun to watch. She's also getting louder when "talking", and we love talking back to her. She thinks we're having a real conversation. :)

This was my 3rd week back at work, and it's getting easier (rather, I'm getting used to being sleep deprived!) We're not sure what's going on with Camila (that's pretty usual for us!) but her sleeping at night is now getting goofy. She's wanting to go to bed earlier, so she's usually out before 8:30. Typically, that means getting up at 1:30 to eat, and then again at 7:30 for the day. However, the past couple of nights she's gotten up a few extra times. Thurs night she woke up an hour after we put her down, again again 1:30, and then at 6:00! Last night she slept from 8:30-1:30, but woke up at 5:00! Fortunately she goes back to sleep easily for a couple more hours, but it's quite an interruption to our sleep. :) Her daytime naps are getting easier, but not quite as scheduled as we'd like. She's been taking a longer nap in the morning around 10:30 (usually about 2 hours) but then sometimes she wakes up happy, other times she wakes up cranky. Those times (like today!) I feed her and put her back down for a nap within 1-1 1/2 hours after she wakes up. Sometimes that means for 45 minutes, other times it's for 2 hours. We scheduled a consult with a pediatric GI specialist for Tuesday. We want to be certain that we have her reflux under control so we can begin sleep training her. Right now we never know if she wakes up crabby because she's uncomfortable or not. Plus, we want to make sure that we have a good treatment plan. We hate second guessing everything, and this will be a good start to help us feel more confident. I start back at work full time the week of Feb 4, and Fabricio's mom arrives that night. Maybe Rita will be able to help us get Camila on a better schedule! :) I'm trying to think of any developmental milestones she's hit this week. I think I already mentioned that she's beginning to reach for objects (without much success). She's also starting to play with her toes a bit. Oh! I just remembered the biggie for this week. She's adding a few consonants to her vocalizations - "bbbb" and "pppp". At first we thought she was just blowing raspberries, but now she's incorporating it into her chatter. She loves to watch us blow raspberries at her, so I imagine it won't be long until she's trying to imitate us.

Pictures

I don't have much time to update the blog today, but here are a bunch of pictures from the last couple of weeks: showing off her hair after her bath with Dad, 3 month pictures, playing with her new toys, FINALLY wearing her "coming home outfit", etc. We can tell her reflux is starting to bother her again, so we set up an appt with a Pediatric GI specialist for Jan 29. At a minimum, we just want confirmation that we have a solid treatment plan, and when we should come back for follow-ups, etc.

I don't remember if I wrote this in my last update, but she has a completely bald spot on the back of her head! One of the negatives of her finally being able (and wanting to!) sit by herself and look around at everything is that she's worn a bald spot. Her hair is kind of funky looking, as the ends are dark brown with the roots coming in blond. Add that bald spot, and it's hilarious!

Finally, an update :)

I haven't had the chance to update in 1 1/2 weeks, so I thought I'd quickly post while eating my lunch. :) Going back to work has been quite a transition, but fortunately I only go to work 3 days each week. I thought I was sleep deprived before, but this feeling gives that a whole new definition! Camila was sleeping until 5:00 or so the week before I went back, but of course, my first day back at work she woke up at 3:30, and did this the entire week! It's tough, because when she goes back to sleep around 4:00, I'm still tired and want to sleep but I have to get up at 5:00. That short hour kills me. Plus, it takes me 2 hours before I can get out the door (I either feed her or pump before leaving, so that adds to it.) Pumping at work has also been a challenge, because it takes 30 minutes each trip. I feel like I'm hardly ever at my desk. Hopefully it will be quicker once I get the hang of it. By the time I get home, usually at 6:00, she's already cranky and tired, so it's quickly eat dinner then feed her and put her to bed. She's usually asleep by 8:45, and Mom and Dad are shortly thereafter. I never thought 9:30 would be late for me! :) However, the past two nights she's slept until 5:00 again! The first morning it threw us into a tailspin, because we already had our morning "routine". That extra hour of sleep was great though, so no complaints! A few other developments she's made are that she's enjoying playing with toys, even beginning to reach for them and put them in her mouth. Plus, she's trying to lean forward to grab things or get a closer look, but doesn't quite have the stomach muscles or coordination yet. :) She'll put everything in her mouth, especially her hands, diaper cloth, and her Blankee. Her naps are all over the place still, without a consistent routine, but we're trying. Also, sometimes she'll put herself back to sleep, but she has to be REALLY tired to do that. Anyway, I'll add pictures later, when I have the chance. I just wanted to get a written update while I could!

What next?

Well, in my last post I spoke too soon. After Camila's ear infection I thought that would be the end of dr visits for a while. Well, on Sunday afternoon she started crying unconsolibly for 30 minutes, completely out of the blue. WHile this would have the norm for her 3 weeks ago, it was a surprise to us at this point. We called the triage nurse, and they said she might have meningitus, so we should bring her to Children's Hospital right away. Well, that seemed a little drastic to us, so we decided to take her to urgent care (we weren't convinced it wasn't related to reflux or her cold.) Sure enough, her reflux is bothering her again (we had noticed some signs, but the dr was able to see her struggling in the office.) Plus, while her ear infection is looking good, she now has a wheezy cough. So, double her Prilosec and we have to use a nebulizer for her cough for the next few days. We were really glad we went in, especially since we're getting a head of her reflux. Needless to say she doesn't have meningitus (urgent care staff also thought that was drastic.) However, it can't be that simple, can it? Especially not for us! When I sat down to use the nebulizer this morning, it didn't work. We tried to figure it out for an hour, called the company, and they drove out to take a look. Sure enough, the whole machine (brand new) was broken!!! They gave us a new one, but wow, we're so tired of all these problems we have to deal with. I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow, and even though it always would have been difficult, these past few days have really drained me. As I told my mom, the easiest part of this was labor... Oh, and to top it off, the albuterol makes her excited and sleepless, so I got about 4 hours of sleep last night...

Camila slept thru the night, but Mom didn't!

Camila slept thru the night again last night (9:30-5:00) so we're hoping that she's 1) feeling better from her cold and ear infection and 2) that she's starting to transition to sleeping thru the night in general. Too bad I didn't fall asleep until 1:00. I feel like crap, but hopefully I'll be over this cold soon. Just so I don't forget, she slept through the night 4 nights in a row, and then started waking up 1-2 times again for 3 nights. Now it's 1 more "sleep thru the night". Here's hoping! As a fun comparison, above is a picture of Dad giving Camila a bottle at 11 weeks. Below is him giving her a bottle at 3 weeks. It's amazing to us how much she's grown! (Including her tummy!) :) Here are just a couple of fun pictures to share. She's starting to "talk" a lot more, and the other night when I was putting her to bed I was talking to my mom on the phone (Camila likes to hear voices as she's falling asleep.) Grandma Nelson got to hear Camila "talking" to her thru the phone, which was pretty cool for all of us! Camila's also starting to cry less, and instead is starting to voice her displeasure, if that makes sense. We can tell she's complaining rather than generally crying, which is kind of fun.

Another thing we've noticed recently is that she likes clasping her hands together in front. Her movements are becoming more coordinated, and it looks like it's just a matter of time before she starts purposefully putting things in her mouth (rather than her fist!) :)

Reflux, a cold, now what?

Let's just recap what Camila's had since she was born: jaundice (extra night in hospital) diaper rash leading to sensitive skin (intolerance to any baby wipes & diaper cream), reflux (5 weeks of non-stop crying/screaming), a cold, and now, an ear infection. Yep, she now has an ear infection! We brought her in to the dr again yesterday (we were just there on Monday) b/c she was getting more irritable and sleeping poorly. In the doc's own words: "Wow, you guys have had a rough 11 weeks!" It nice to know it's not just us that think so! ;) So, Camila's on antibiotics, and hopefully her ear infection will clear up soon. Oh, I'm also redoing her Prilosec prescription because Walgreens didn't add any flavor. So, we've been forcing Camila to take cold, salty tasting medicine for the last 2 weeks, and she HATES it. I called good ol' Target, and yep, it's supposed to be bubble gum or grape flavored. Farewell Walgreens! And on to me, I now have a cold! At least I got sick during leave, otherwise it would have been tough to go back to work next Tuesday! Hopefully I can get rid of this cold quickly!!