Baby's 1st prescription

We saw the pediatrician again this week. Primarily to get Maxim's first immunization shots, but also to follow up with his spit up/grunting problem. First things first, he is still gaining weight well (now a chubby 11lbs 1oz), so the regiment we have him on is working well and we are sticking to it.

Second, Max got his first set of shots. I have to say he was a trooper. He did scream and cry, but not for very long. I think it hurt me more than him.

Third, indigestion. Before Max got his shots he was really fussy and crying a lot. He was hungry. But the pediatrician wanted to know if he was like that a lot and Marty and I described to him how Max reacts after each feeding, which is basically crying for a few minutes and then being extremely fussy, constantly grunting for about an hour, hour and a half. It's the worse over night. Marty actually took a video to show the doctor. Well, surprise surprise, this isn't really normal behavior. So he suggested that we try Max on Zantac for a few weeks and see what happens. So Max has got his first prescription at two months old. Marty and I are a little apprehensive about it, but I was on it while I was pregnant, so we know there is no risk for him. It's just so sad to think that your 2 month old needs to be on meds. But if it helps the indigestion and he is no longer in such discomfort, it will be worth it. He has changed a whole lot now that he isn't hungry all the time. He is actually often a really happy baby and content to sit in his bouncy chair and watch us do whatever (something that was impossible before). The real difference will be seen in the over night feedings. Marty keeps saying that if Olivia was on it (our friends' Josee and Brian's daughter) then everything should be fine because he just thinks Olivia is the cutest and sweetest little thing.

It takes a couple of days to kick in, so keep your fingers crossed for us.

Theory

I forgot to tell you about Tanya's theory yesterday. She thinks that I didn't have a lot of amniotic fluid, and that could have a correlation to the fact that I don't produce enough breast milk.

How did she come to this conclusion? Well, the doctor nicked Maxim's butt when he was cutting into me and the football shape to his head when he was born. Supposedly if there is a lot of amniotic fluid, the uterus isn't pressing up against the baby. So with little fluid, the uterus was probably pushing on his head (hence the extreme shape) and his butt was right up against the uterus (hence the nick).

It's an interesting theory. Something to ponder.

Chubby

We have weight gain!!! Actually, Tanya thought it was a little excessive for a week, but I figure he is just playing catch up. He is now 10lbs 10oz. So he basically gained over a pound in a week. Well, eight days if you want to be very specific. Marty and I are very happy and relieved. Though we could tell that he put on weight. He has big chubby thighs and cheeks now. Tanya said he looked perfect, but we knew that already.

It was our last appointment with Tanya. It was kinda sad. She has been so supportive and helpful and concerned for my and Maxim's welfare. It was such a nice health care experience, which isn't something you can often say. I would definitely encourage anyone to get a midwife if they could, though I know it is so. And another bonus having been with the midwives is the fact that they got us in with a pediatrician that we really like. We see him next Tuesday to get Max's first set of shots. We will also be trying to see if Max does has reflux. His spit up has gotten worse again, which is supposedly very common for formula babies. But this morning he had major projectile spit up. I was sitting in the leather chair and it hit the table in front of the window. I'm hoping that it was a one shot deal.

Something else we have discovered about formula babies, crazy poop! Max now only poops every three days, but when he does... look out!! The first time astonished me. Marty was sleeping. The second time was early morning and shot out the side of his diaper and all over me. Marty was at work. And this afternoon was the third time. I actually considered waiting for Marty to get home from the grocery store but I thought it was a bit cruel to make my child sit in his own filth for too long. But Marty got home in time to see the explosion and was as astonished as I was the first time. And the stench!! We are going to have to buy an extra strength deodorizer for our diaper pail. The smell is starting to make me gag a little.

Marty has been on a six day shift. Tonight is his last night and we are both looking forward to the next six days off. Marty so that he can spend some time with Max (and hopefully some poop clean ups!), and me so that I can do some things for me, like go for breakfast with Mere and get some time in the garden. I love Max to bits, but a little time off will be nice. Though more than a couple of hours away from Max is the the most I've been able to handle.

Weight Update

These boobs are useless!! Max is still not gaining weight. He only gained 50 grams about 1 1/2 ounzes) in the past week. He should have gained closer to 200 grams. His spit up was a little better last week, so it was deduced that I was just not giving him enough. I think it's a combination of Max having a hard time latching, and me just not producing enough, even with the medication. So we are back to supplementing.

Basically we are returning to the schedule that we had to do when we discovered that I wasn't producing enough milk, but the nursing time will be a little less. I will nurse him for about 20 minutes and then top him up with soy formula (oh, did I mention I was off all dairy to see if that helped with his spit up? It's killing me! No ice cream in the summer! It's inhumane.) And when I get the chance I will pump, so that we can add the breast milk to the supplement.

I actually started this entry last week when we had seen the doctor. Five days later and I am still having trouble finding the time to get it up. We have noticed that Max is getting a little chunkier. I am very happy about that. We will get the final verdict on Thursday when we have our last appointment with Tanya and see what sort of weight he has gained. The supplementing regime is going well, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that everything will be settled with this.

Smiles

It took 7 weeks, but we have honest to goodness smiles. Not gas, not accidental muscle twitches, real smiles. How can we tell? He smiles with his eyes. He does them voluntarily as well as with some cajoling. Marty is very good at doing silly things to get him to smile (anyone surprised?). I'm still trying to figure out what I can do to make him smile. You'd think that providing him with nourishment would be enough, but no. Most often he is screaming when I present the food bags. He goes from not hungry to "oh my god, I am dying of starvation!" in a matter of nanoseconds.

We are having more frequent fun times, when Max is sitting on our lap and just being adorable. We are hoping that they become more frequent and that soon he will be able to do this when he is not on our lap. Not a while lot gets done when you have to constantly have a baby in your arms, or deal with a screeching, writhing, frantic baby. This boy has lungs! Must be the Leclair in him.

Off to the pediatrician for the weekly weigh in. Update shortly.

Momma's got a new 'do

So I went to see Michel (my hair dresser) last week and told him I didn't want to be a frumpy mummy and to get creative with my hair. And taddaa! I got some funky hair. The colour is called "cayenne" and is really fiery when the sun hits it. And how cute is Max in his little t-shirt and shorts!!

News on the Maxim front... We had two pediatrician adventures this week. I've been calling around trying to find a pediatrician and we finally found one. When we called we were informed that he is 70. We figured, what the heck, it's the only bite we have had so far. So we went to see him on Tuesday. Geriatric man (he wasn't a spry 70) looked at Max for about all of 3 minutes, asked if we had some concerns. We mentioned the excessive amount of spit up and he said he'll grow out of it, see you in two weeks. Well, I wasn't overly impressed. When we got back we got a call from the midwife clinic saying they got us in to see the pediatrician that they work with on Wednesday morning. I decided that I would really like to try this new doctor out and see if maybe he would be willing to take us on as new patients.

We love this doctor, Dr. Gfeller. It is really nice. We spent a good half hour with him and he asked a bunch of questions about Max's spit up, how fussy he is, how he slept, did he cry a lot, etc... He had all of Max's stats from the midwife, so when weighed him, we realised that Max had only gained 30 grams in a week (he should be gaining about 30 grams a day). so there was some obvious reason for concern and follow-up. At the moment we are going to change one thing per week to see what's going on. This week we are adding BioGaia drops, which are supposed to help with gas. I had to get the pharmasist to order it in and it's supposed be in today. We are hoping that if we can fix his gas problem he won't spit up so much and therefore start putting on weight again. If that doesn't work, then we will try something else.

I really hope that we figure this out soon. Poor Max is always so fussy and it really breaks our hearts that we can't seem to help him out. Once it's all sorted, we will be a much happier household. Stay tuned for the next saga...