Friday, August 6, 2010

Two Month Pedi Appointment

Lillian had her two month doctor visit last Friday. I was soooo nervous beforehand because she had to get five shots. The nurse who administered them rocked - she did them so fast that Lillian barely had time to cry before they were finished. She did scream, of course, but she calmed down quicker than I expected, (nursing really helped with that!).

We saw the other pedi at the office this time, and I love, love, love her. She is younger than the man Lillian has been seeing, and not nearly as old-school. She is much more sympathetic to our sleep issues, (Lillian will only sleep in her swing), our tummy time troubles, (tummy time = face plant into the floor and screaming :/ ), and she made me feel so much more reassured about what we are doing. She agrees that two months is too young to cry it out and said we really don't have to worry about transitioning her to her crib until 4-6 months. And she said holding Lillian over our shoulders so that she has to hold her head up = tummy time, which rocks because Lillian loves doing that and looking around. I think I am going to request this doctor from now on.

Lillian is growing well. She is in the 45 percentile for height and weight and the 60 percentile for head circumference, (her daddy has a big head). The doctor said she is very alert for a two month old, and commented on how her smile "took up her whole face."

I asked about the possibility of a milk allergy, and the doctor said that, if she had one, it was most likely mild because she hasn't had significant blood in her poop. She also said the rashes were normal. So, she wanted me to go one more week on the dairy elimination diet, and then gradually add things back in to see if there is any impact. I do think Lillian's diapers look less mucusy after cutting out all dairy, but I am going to try adding some things back in because this diet is so restrictive. I just started eating a few things with dairy in them, (like fake cheese powder and a Lean Cuisine containing whey), and haven't noticed a difference in Lillian yet.

We also walked out with a prescription for Zantac, because Lillian spits up a ton, gets the hiccups all the time, fusses at the breast, and cries when we lay her flat on her back, (except when she is getting her diaper changed - then it is party time). So, far, I have not noticed that this has helped. She has been extremely fussy the past few days and spits up so much. Today she projectile spit up over my shoulder and all over the floor, and was screaming and arching her back, so I went to Walgreens and bought some Mylanta, as the doctor suggested. She just got her first dose, so we'll see if that helps at all.

In other news, Greg and I realized Lillian is not napping well. We figured she would "just fall asleep if she was tired" and have been putting her in the swing in the living room, but she likes to fight sleep to watch the action (by "action", I mean me cleaning :P). There have been days where she hasn't napped AT ALL, and others where she has taken maybe two 30 minute naps. So, since last Thursday, we have kept the swing in our bedroom, (where she sleeps at night), and left the fan running for nap times, and it seems to help. We also put her down as soon as she starts yawning and getting fussy. She'll protest sometimes, but then fall asleep pretty quickly. She has been napping a lot more, and I am learning her schedule - it seems like she can only be awake 1-1/2 to 2 hours between naps.

So, between the napping, the milk allergy, and the reflux, I was hoping we would figure out the reason for her fussiness. But, so far, that has been a big FAIL. She still likes to cry and fuss all the time and I still feel like I can't leave the house. I've also tried two different slings and she will only tolerate one of them for a few minutes. I love her so much and I hate seeing her upset all the time! I really hope this gets better soon!

7 comments:

mtendere said...

I feel like I've been in your shoes! I was able to just eliminate obvious dairy and have the same results. I added it back when she was 8 months old (after some failed attempts when she was younger) and have no ill effects. She was also on zantac for reflux and was a new baby after we started it. Nursing was so hard before the meds.

I hope you get some relief soon!

Alicea said...

Oh, I remember those days. I remember when I was able to get in and out of Target in under 15 minutes when I ran out of formula and considered it a success when Kyle didn't start crying until right as we were leaving. He has such bad colic. We used soy formula, mylicon, prevacid, Dr. Brown's bottles and Gripe Water/Colic Calm. It got better around 10 weeks for us. Hang in there - it will get better!!

Maeghan said...

Yay for a good 2 month check up!! As far as tummy time, Caroline is only enjoying it now that she can roll from belly to back. Now, she wants to be on her belly, a week ago she would still face plant and scream. At 4 months she can still only go 1.5-2hrs awake before she needs sleep.
Today I was out for a few hours with MIL, but other then that I'm pretty trapped at home still. Caroline is an awesome baby at home but take her out and uuugh, I can't last 10 minutes in Target :(
Goodluck with the dairy and hang in there, slowly things are working their way out for us and they will for you too!

Amy said...

I'm really glad to hear that your pedi said it is ok to sleep in the swing and not to worry about transitioning to the crib until several months later. That makes me feel much better about my little guy sleeping in his bouncy seat all the time! I hope that Lillian's fussiness gets better. Andrew is quite fussy too so I know how upsetting it can be!

Lindsay said...

Hang in there! I'm sure you'll be able to find her some relief soon.

Emmie said...

Oh Kirsten, this sounds sooooo familiar! Please email me if you want to chat about this more. Tedber is a new baby since being treated properly for reflux and getting all his meds sorted and eliminating milk. I'm sure the CF gene we pass to our babies may have something to do with this as I have found that lots of CF carriers have milk intolerances and tummy troubles. Whilst a full-blown milk allergy is likely to cause blood in the poo, reflux is often linked to an intolerance to milk (rather than a life-threatening allergy) and in Tedber's case was a big key to it. The hiccups, difficulty sleeping lying down, dislike of being on tummy, etc. all sound characteristic of reflux. I'd hate to think of you and Lillian having to struggle on if it is reflux (and I'm not saying it is, just that it could well be). Good luck! xxxx

Emmie said...

Oh and a book I found a lifesaver for understanding how to comfort Teddy's distress whilst we brought the reflux under control was "The Happiest Baby on the Block" (I got it on Amazon). x

 
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