OK, so I've been a terrible blogger, I know! I've been trying to get by with just posting pictures and saying as little as possible. Why, you may ask...it's simple, I'm lazy! I always, well, except for maybe an hour a day when I lay down and Daddy takes her, have Miss Grace in my arms. The task of trying to type with on hand is not appealing by any means. But today I am toughing it out and trying typing..yea!
So we are officially trying it all..and I mean ALL! Grace has become very colicky starting around 3 weeks, I tried to tough it out but I was going crazy. Grace was always crying, never sleeping, so there fore I was always crying and never sleeping. I started off trying a combination of Gripe water and mylicon to help with her gas pains. Grace seemed to get minor relief from this, but trying to get 5mL of Gripe water into a newborn is quite the difficult task, it fact I think I usually wore more of the gripe water than she swallowed!
Last Monday we finally called the pediatrician to get a prescription for Zantac..I could just tell by looking at Grace that she has reflux..she has those typical reflux glassy eyes and you could always hear her wet burps. So, Daddy toke her to see the doctor, while I tried to grab a nap. Since Gracie is breastfeeding and still refuses to be put down and Daddy's body just can't handle staying up at night, I usually sleep in the evening after dinner for maybe an hour, 2 if Grace can go without Mommy that long. That hour plus maybe another hour nap before Daddy goes to work is all the sleep I get..so that's a total of maybe 2-3 hours a day if lucky! Anyways, back to the doctor's...so Daddy and Grace went to see the doctor, she just wanted to make sure Grace didn't have any serious issues going on and happily wrote us a prescription for Zantac.
In the mean time, before going to the doctor's, I spent my days researching and ordering anything and everything that is suppose to help with colic. Before all this we tried everything we knew how to do, the 5S's (swaddling, swaying, shushing, sucking, side), the swing, the bouncy, the car seat, the car seat on the dryer, the car, the stroller, white noise, etc.. Some things worked for a few minutes, but no long term relief.
So, we started Grace on the Zantac and the first time I gave her the medicine she smiled, as to say Thank You, I knew then that we were on the right path. So she has been on the Zantac for a week know and I have noticed some relief, we also stopped using the gripe water, but continue to use the mylicon. We also started using Hyland's Homeopathic Colic Tablets, which are amazing! Yesterday I tried to shower, while Daddy took Grace, I was the target of a poop explosion...yuck! Well, once I got in the shower she started screaming, I knew she wasn't hungry or tired, so I gave her some of the Colic Tablets and within minutes she was our happy baby again, even Daddy was in shock how well the tablets worked.
I began to notice a few days ago that she had some mucous in her poop, which is a sign of a dairy allergy, so I have recently started on a dairy free diet. They say it takes up to 2 weeks for the casein to leave your body, so I'm hoping this will make her feel better. I'm also hoping that going dairy free will help my IBS and help with some weight loss, I've already lost all the baby weight and then some, but really need to lose a lot more. I know giving up ice cream and cheese will be hard, but if it makes her feel better it's so worth it!
We also have begun to receive all of our colic purchases in the mail, most of which seem to help a little bit.
Here she is sound asleep in her front carrier. I had a baby wrap, but she hates being held in the cradle position because it makes her reflux worse. The cradle position is the only position you can use the baby wrap in until they have good neck control, so the wrap is out for now. I popped her into the new carrier and she fell asleep and I had 2 hands again for the first time in a month! I didn't know what to do with myself!Gracie has always hated swaddling, since the day she was born. She would always manage to get her hands loose and then her constant hand jerking always woke her up. So, I finally broke down and spent the $26 for a miracle blanket. I always thought $26 for a blanket was ridiculous. I thought I know how to swaddle, that was my job for a year and a half, this blanket must be a rip off boy was I wrong. Grace was always able to bust out of my swaddle, but not this blanket! I probably would pay double the price for this blanket, it really is a miracle! I wrap her up around 10p, feed her, and then she usually sleeps until 1am (which is usually her longest stretch of sleep). Granted you still can't put her down in the blanket, but at least now she will sleep for hours uninterrupted on me.
On occasion I am actually able to doze off with her as well!
On occasion I am actually able to doze off with her as well!
So, I would say we are getting better. Grace's colic is developing more of a pattern and we have a few different options to help soothe her now. Granted they don't always work and we still have some awful nights, but overall we are getting there, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Eventually we'll have to work on getting her to sleep in her crib, but for now I'm okay with all the cuddling, if it means I get to sleep a little bit longer. I mean no ones ever met a 10 year old who still needs his mom to hold him so he can sleep, right?
As a side note we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new nephew Jacob! My sister was put on hospital bed rest Wednesday due to high bp. Jacob has a c/s scheduled on Wednesday, but we're hoping he'll come before then! We can't wait to see Jackson as a big brother!
Here's a picture of my sister with her 2 pumpkins!
And a cute picture of Gracie with her cousin Jackson!
