Well, it has been quite a long time, 6 months exactly, since I have written in the blog. Now that Hayes is a little more manageable, I think I can do this. An update on the last 6 months of our lives until this point...in a nutshell of course. I will go into detail about our struggles with Hayes' eating, reflux, eczema and colic in case my experience can help any of you. I reached out to so many of our friends that had gone through a similar experience, and it really helped to hear a different perspective and hear that I was not alone and the only one going through this with my child.
After the last post, when Hayes was 2 weeks old, he started showing signs of reflux and colic. Lets just say that he screamed through every feeding and would pretty much be uncomfortable and upset 24/7 for 12-14 weeks straight . During this time Chris and I tried absolutely everything to soothe him and find ways to help him and ourselves through this time. While it is all kind of a blur now, when you are dealing with a situation like that....you are completely overwhelmed. I felt totally alone and scared everyday. He cried everyday and I cried right along with him. There were times that I would just lay him down and just beg God on my hands and knees to step in and take care of him bc there was nothing left that I could think to do. I felt so bad bc Hayes was hurting and I could not do anything to make him feel better. Hayes did not have the kind of reflux that resulted in projectile vomit, he had the silient kind, severe heartburn and regurgitation. Unlike most reflux babies, he was not bothered in his sleep too much. Most babies do not like to lay down after eating, but for some reason, the relaxed state that he was in was helpful to him and he would eat fine during his night feedings, but from 9am to 8pm he was screaming and we had to force feed him every bottle. Whether that meant pacing the house, driveway, backyard, rocking him, etc- we had to find a way to get the food down or he would be deemed "failure to thrive". He also has eczema all over his body that we still battle with today.
He was not interested in breastfeeding and threw an absolute fit every time we tried, so we switched him to formula. (Similac Early Shield) We first tried breastmilk in a bottle and even mixing it with formula. He would do ok on a formula for a few days and then the cycle (extreme screaming, gas, constipation, arching back, straightening out entire body, thrusting head backward, swatting) would start all over again. (We also tried Similac Sensitive, Elecare, Nestle Good Start) We ended up on Similac Alimentum (hypo-allergenic) at 6 weeks of age. It is very expensive ($270 a month), but after jumping through some hoops, we got our insurance to pay for it. Turns out that Hayes has a suspected milk protein allergy and it was causing his system to have major turmoil. This is something that we hope that he will out grow. At that point we did not even want to try to figure out what in my diet was upsetting him, we just needed him to eat. Hayes would not drink the powder no matter what kind of water we tried (tap water, nursery water, Brita filtered water) I took him to two different pediatrician offices and saw 6 or so different doctors and they then referred us to a pediatric gastro. My mom even took us to visit a holistic chiroprator (Dr Hammer) in Atlanta, but that is another whole storyand a terrible experience all in itself. He was put on Zantac first and then Prevacid. We used Mylicon and Mylanta from time to time on top of that too. The first gastro (Dr Ifidike) did not help at all, it was not until we went to GI Care for Kids (Dr Liu) that we found a solution that would help him. The doctor suggessted that we give him his prevacid at night instead of in the morning, that it might be giving him a headache. Certain side effects can contribute to irritibility and cause the child to become even more upset and uncomfortable. The next morning, he was like a different kid. It was like someone flipped on a switch. It could have been coincidence bc he turned 3 months right around that time, but I don't think so. During that tough time, Hayes would not eat from anyone but me and that was very trying on me. Chris tried to help, but Hayes would fall asleep and he could not get him to wake up or he would scream to the point that the stress of someone else dealing with him was almost as worse. I had this overwhelming feeling of control sweep over me and felt that I had to do it all and was super woman. I quickly learned that my body was feeling the effects of the fact that I had been so emotional and stressed. I had only slept 2 nights in 4 months. I was feeling extreme dizziness and was showing all the signs of being pre-diabetic. The doctor ran a bunch of blood tests, only to find that everything came back normal . At 4 months Hayes started sleeping through the night. He would go from about 7:30-8pm to 6:00-7:00am depending. After I started getting sleep, all my ailments started to fade away. That is how valulble sleep is and how much your body can suffer without it. Through all of this, God showed me that I needed to let my loved ones help me and that what Hayes was going through was out of my control and that there was nothing that I was doing right or wrong that would change it. He still remains on the Prevacid. The doctor does not want to take him off until he is sitting up on his own.
Hayes' getting his first teeth. They are hard to see because they are just barely cutting through. In the pic, you can barely make out a little white tip on the right side. I felt them yesterday and they are definitely there. Not sure how long it takes for them to pop out totally. He does not let me look very well. Every time I try, he sticks out his tongue, He loves for me to rub his gums and he bites me. So cute. Can't believe that he is getting so big. Will be 7 months on Monday, Nov 23rd. (5 days)
