Acid Reflux

Logan's voice has become very hoarse. He sounds like he has a really sore throat and he has been spitting up way more than usual. For a couple days he went through 4-5 outfits and I wasn't changing him over just a little dampness, he was really soaked! We went to the Dr. on Monday to see what was going on. Our big boy now weighs 12 lbs 13 oz now. That's up 1 lb and 1 oz in 6 weeks. I'm have to put his diapers on tighter though because he's growing so long and getting skinny. They didn't measure him but I'm sure he's grown a couple inches at least. They are thinking that he may have acid reflux. He showed no signs of any other illness to account for the scratchy throat sound. They prescribed him Zantac to see if that will work, but it may take a week or so to see any results. Wednesday he was a complete terror. I could definitely tell that he wasn't feeling good at all and he cried all day. Nothing soothed him unless he had a boob in his mouth (that soothes all boys, though, right?!). So not only was he extremely fussy on Wednesday but Brent was out of town and I had to work, so needless to say I was about to pull my hair out! I probably should have found someone to work for me but I just got back from having 12 weeks off and I didn't want to burden anyone else more than I already had. Yesterday was a lot better but he still seemed as though he didn't feel well, but at least I got some smiles unlike the day before. He doesn't take the Zantac well at all, I have to mix it with gripe water just to get it down. I don't blame him though, it tastes awful! They should flavor all medication for children if they expect them to take it. Especially something long term like Zantac. I can already tell that the spitting up has improved, so hopefully he will get his voice back soon.

We're coming home this weekend. My sister, Laura, may possibly be moving to Minnesota and we were suppose to have a going away party but her boyfriend hasn't received his contract yet so we didn't want to jump to any sort of party until everything was definite. It's kind of been up in air all week so we decided to go on up even though it seems as though there will be no party. It's a good excuse to get to see the family anyways. Mom is going to babysit for us Saturday evening. We haven't really had the opportunity to go places without the baby so it will be nice to go out with some friends, which I'm really excited about! Mommy needs a break! Sunday we are going up to see Julie and Dave and then we're heading back home in time to catch the Super Bowl. It should be a fun but quick trip.

In other news...Brent's building finished 10th in the nation for the year!! He doesn't act like it's that big of a deal but I think it is. He works so hard and he deserved every bit of praise he can get! Good job baby! I'm so proud of you!

Dear Time, Please STOP!

Dear Time,
Please stop right where you are! You are flying by way too fast! My baby boy was three months old yesterday and it seems like I just brought him home and it's all your fault, Time. I don't want the next three months to go by nearly as quickly, so if you can't stop please sssslllooooowwww down. I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you,
Mommy

HE GIGGLED!!

Logan is now laughing! And it's quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever heard!!! He woke up from his nap and I went up to get him. When I went to pick him up he put on his flirt face (grinning from ear to ear and batting his eyes) and once I started talking to him he must have thought it was the funniest thing in the world! He laughed for about 5 minutes at various things I did and now, of course, I can't get him to do it again!! It was like a light switch went on and all of a sudden he knew how to laugh. It wasn't like it was with the cooing, which gradually came about.

I think he also may be about to start teething. His hands have been in his mouth nonstop and his bottom gum looks a little red. He's also right in the middle of his 12 wk growth spurt (which may explain the hands in the mouth), so it looks like I'm in for some fun....

I'm on my 5th day of working 10 days straight. This weekend is going to be hell. I started this morning at 7a and won't get off til 9p tonight (I do have a 2 hr break). Then Sat. and Sun. I work from 8:30a-9p with only a 30 min. break. It will be interesting to see how it goes, especially with the possible teething and growth spurt! It will be a nice check though, I think there will be a little OT on it too!

Logan's Getting So Big!

Last night Logan ate a ton of cereal, probably about a 1/4 cup. He did really well with it and seemed to really like it. He is going to sleep much easier now. He's not fighting it like he was. No more 2 hour marathon nursing at night either!!! All day yesterday and today he napped without crying and he went to bed last night without crying as well. It's made my life a whole lot less stressful. I was at the point of fighting with myself on whether or not I should give up breastfeeding since the 2 hour sessions led me to believe he wasn't getting satisfied, plus leaving me extremely frustrated and drained at the end of the day. But it turns out he was just fighting sleep and I was afraid to let him cry a little. He is now nursing about every 2.5-3 hours, sometimes a little longer. He still eats for about 45 minutes though. I'm looking forward to the day that he doesn't nurse for so long. I'm guessing that will come when we introduce solids, as well as lengthen the time in between as well. I thought that he would sleep much better with eating so much cereal last night, but no luck there. He got up at 2:30ish and then again at 5:30ish to nurse. It didn't seem to bother his stomach though, so I'm relieved about that!

I started back to work yesterday. Mom came down to help me with Logan while I got back in the swing of things. It turns out that I won't be losing any hours after all. My new schedule will be Wed and Thurs 3p-10p and Fri 7a-3p and 1 weekend a month. I'm happy with that and I think it will work well with Logan here with me.

Well, I guess that's all I have for now....

Wow....

For the second night in a row, it has taken almost nothing to get Logan to fall asleep. It was late last night when we got home and he nursed and went right to sleep. No crying at all! Then tonight he nursed and then I laid him down. He only fussed for a minute or two, he didn't really cry at all! Hopefully this is working and it's not just a fluke! We'll see....

Yay!!

Last night went really well! He's falling asleep quicker and quicker each time!

Update on Ferber

The first nap time today was not successful. He had a really bad blow out diaper on and I didn't realize that's why he was crying. I would have been screaming, too, if I had that mess stuck to my butt.

The second nap went better. He cried the entire first 5 minutes and all of the next 10 minutes after I soothed him, but he didn't cry when I left his room the third time and he slept for a solid hour!

BUT he woke up with this.......

.....his first boo boo :(. And before you say it, I cut his fingernails at least twice a week. They grow extremely fast. I hope tonight goes good. Cross your fingers!

Diet and Ferber

I didn't think my diet was going so well, until I stepped on the scale today. I've lost 7 lbs!!!!! Yayyyyyy!!!!!!

Enough about me, on to Logan.

Last night we tried the "Ferber Method." The gist of it is to lay him down drowsy but not asleep, if he cries wait 5 minutes and go in and soothe him without picking him up, rocking or using the passy. Once he's calmed down, leave the room. If he cries again, wait another 10 minutes before soothing him....you basically add an additional 5 minutes each time. On the second night you wait 10 minutes the first time, adding an additional 5 minutes each time. It's suppose to only take a week and they will fall asleep without a fuss, once you lay them down.

So at 8:30 last night we gave him a bath with the nighttime lavender soap. Then, I nursed him til he was done. Then laid him down....at this point I was just going to let him cry it out, til he fell asleep on his own. He cried and cried and cried. Brent dealt with it worse than I did, but he's not the one with a baby stuck to his boob every night for hours, so it probably seemed worse to him than it did to me. Plus I had to endure the screaming after his first shots and this was nothing compared to that! Brent started researching online about infant bedtime routines. He found this Ferber method so we decided to give that a shot. So I go upstairs to soothe Logan. It had probably been 10 minutes, instead of the recommended 5. He calms down without me picking him up, which was surprising to me. Then I walk out. Before I could even get the door shut, he was screaming again, but I remained strong. I went downstairs and turned the monitor way down. It didn't seem so bad since I could barely hear it. I would have turned it off but I was afraid he would choke. Choking and kidnapping are my biggest fears, by the way. After a few minutes of really screaming, he started to calm down a little...little by little he stopped crying all together. After 7 minutes he was asleep!!!! He did get up 4 times before 7 a.m. I have no idea if it was due to this or not, but I feel good enough about it to try it again.

As of right now, we're trying this for nap time too. I put him down at 12:45, after his noon feeding. He was really awake when I put him down. I even tried rocking him for a minute to get him drowsy but he was more interested in the sun ray on the wall behind me than he was going to sleep. For a while he was awake but not crying at all, not even whining just a little. Then 20 minutes later he started whining. He whined for 3 minutes and now it sounds as though he is asleep. I'm not brave enough just yet to go up and check on him. I'm afraid I might wake him if I do........Damn dog barked, now he's whining again. I guess we start over now.....wish me luck!

Picture Update

Learning to hold things in his hands!

Sorry, this one is sideways....

He loves this book, it crinkles when he touches it.

Laid back in the tub.


First taste of cereal.

Happy baby!

Look what Santa brought! He loves it!

He's a little too small for it right now though.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Why did I open my big fat mouth!!! The cereal didn't work. He was up about 10 minutes after I finished the blog going on and on about how well it worked. He was up until 11 last night, then up again at 1:30. He had a tummy ache and was sleeping but not very good and was up every other hour or so. I ended up putting him in bed with me (Brent was out of town) so I could at least nurse him and sleep at the same time! Oh well, we'll try the cereal again in 3-4 weeks and maybe he'll be able tolerate it better. Until then, I think I'll stick with the routine from last night minus the cereal and starting around 8:30 instead of 7:30. I hope it works! Keep your fingers crossed.

Did this really work?!?!

I sure hope I'm not jinxing myself but I think we may have a bedtime routine both Logan and I can deal with!!! Ahhhh, what a relief!

At 7:30 I gave him some cereal mixed with water, like I did earlier today but a little thicker. Once he got tired of that (he ate about 1 oz total, maybe a little more) and started refusing to open, I took him upstairs and got him in the bath tub. Then nursed/rocked him while listening to the lullaby CD, door shut, lights out and he's out like a light! No crying himself to sleep, no waking up as soon as I put him down....nothing, just SLEEP!!! I came downstairs at 8:30 and he hasn't made a peep yet (that was 20 min. ago)!!! YAY!!! I hope this works! Bedtime usually takes well over an hour and he's not usually down til around 10. It usually leaves me fed up and extremely frustrated, but right now I just feel a sense of relief! Lets hope and pray it stays this way!! Now off to watch my Monday night shows!

Dear Cereal, Please give me back my sanity.

So we're experimenting with cereal. Yesterday I mixed some up with breast milk, very dilute, and fed it to him with a spoon at lunch time. It was really messy but he didn't seem to mind it too much and eagerly opened his mouth for bites. We ended up wasting 2 oz of pumped milk though, which is like liquid gold in our house. He did, however, get a bath afterwards and take a really good nap! I thought I should try an alternative to the breast milk so none goes wasted. I can only pump a bottle a day and then I would have to turn around and use it with cereal so I would never get a stash established for emergencies and for our weekend trip to Vegas this summer. So today I tried it with formula first, which he despises! I guess that goes to say that formula is not the "same thing" as breast milk. Then I mixed some with water. He took that much better, but I still think more ended up on the bib than in the tummy, but he was eager to open up for it like he was yesterday so I'm taking that as a good sign. He is now down for another nap, so apparently a little ended up going in instead of out. Tomorrow I'm going to try it before bed since it seems as though his tummy can handle it pretty well. I didn't want to try it at night at first and then be up all night with him and an upset stomach!

The past two nights he hasn't woke up until 4:15-4:30 and then again at 7:30 or 8:30 so I'm hoping by giving him some cereal he will drop the 4 o'clock feeding and I can get a full nights sleep finally!!! This sleeping in 3-4 hour intervals for the last 11 weeks is about to wear me down. I won't let Brent get up with him, one-because he has no boobs, two-because he works so hard to provide for us, it doesn't seem fair since I'm not working right now and when I do work it's only going to be part time. Brent did (bless his heart) get up with Logan one night while he was on vacation a couple weeks ago. I had pumped and had bottles ready and everything but Logan did not cooperate to well. He took his bottle just fine but apparently it didn't fill him up and Brent didn't realize that he was still hungry. So after 10 minutes or so of Logan crying, I got up to see what was going on and heated up another bottle for Brent to give him. Well, once Logan realized I was there he pinched his lips together and refused to take that bottle so I had to nurse him anyways. So needless to say, mommy needs a full nights sleep!!

Anyways, I hope the cereal works!