the skinny February 8, 2009

Many things have happened due to the strict diet I’ve put myself on (no dairy, soy, wheat, nuts, beans, gassifying veg or high acid foods) for the past month or so. I don’t eat out any more. Ergo, I cook a lot. I eat a lot of meat and oatmeal and rice. Variety in my diet has ebbed alarmingly. And I’m losing weight like a fiend.

Seriously, jeans that I haven’t been able to wear for 2 years (good thing I’m a pack-rat, as one friend pointed out) are LOOSE on me. This is the most dramatic weight loss I’ve ever experienced when not in break-up recovery, and I’m not even exercising! Don’t get me wrong – as soon as I think the tyrant can handle a more expanded diet on my part, I’ll be eating lentils, cheese, edamame, tomatoes and broccoli again (though probably not all at once), but for now I am basking in my slimmer hips and thighs. A belly persists – a kind of mommy medal of honor I suppose.

I’m not running out to buy new clothes yet – I’m enjoying how loose my jeans are right now, thanks – but I’m actually feeling a little guilty for how pleased I am with the weight loss. Seems like I should stoically accept it, as I have stoically taken on the queer dietary restrictions. Mostly I guess it seems inappropriate to exult in a happy side effect of our trying to resolve our daughter’s pain.

(That being said, I will express a teensy-tiny yay. Don’t tell.)

Scared Wheatless February 5, 2009

It’s been 2 weeks of yellow poop with little straining, and this would be the time for me to start re-introducing possible allergens back into my diet.  I even bought some shredded wheat, so I could see if wheat bothers her by eating it in the morning – it takes about 4 hours for what I eat to hit my milk, and then another 1-ish hours for that to bug her, one assumes. By eating the possible offender in the morning, I should be able to see if it’s the offender bothering her if she gets fussy, and not just her normal afternoon fussiness busting out.  Babies are hard to experiment with – no wonder we don’t do a lot of clinical trials with them!

Anyhow, I keep putting off the experiment because I don’t want to handle that fussiness any more than I absolutely have to.  Coward mom.

Did I tell you about my recurring nightmare that I eat dairy without realizing it?  I have this nightmare about every 2 nights – I am eating something, get about halfway through, look down and realize… Oh MY GOD!!! I Just Ate Cheese!  What Do I Do??? I Need To Make Myself Throw Up!  WHere’s the Ipecac?  Then lots of running around happens and I wake up.

It’s kind of fucked up that I now have nightmares about eating cheese.

Well, I don’t know what the hell’s going on. January 23, 2009

Amelia’s spent most of the last three days on the “If I’m Awake, I’m Crying At The Top Of My Lungs” train.

She’s on Zantac to ease the reflux that seems to be causing her recurring ear infections. She takes simethecone drops to control gas in her belly. She had her second shot of antibiotics on Tuesday. There’s gripe water if the simethecone isn’t enough. There are ear drops for pain in the ear and Tylenol for general pain. We elevate her while feeding and do our best to keep her upright for at least 30 minutes afterwards. We burp her during feedings, and after. She sleeps with her head & torso elevated. I’ve cut everything out of my diet except chicken, rice and oatmeal. She’s getting acupressure and craniosacral therapy.

What the hell else could be wrong? What on earth else are we supposed to do? She cries for HOURS, and will not be consoled.

It really sucks to be doing everything you know to do and to still fail utterly.

You know things are getting a little better when you can photograph a baby smile. January 21, 2009

Since seeing the craniosacral therapist last Friday, we’ve had quite a few unassisted poops, some of them straining-free and some of them not.  Upon following up with the pediatrician yesterday (who was running an HOUR late, no exaggeration – argh!), Amelia’s ears were pink again, at the danger-level for infection, so we did another shot of Rocephrin, much as I hated to agree to it.  Another shot seemed preferable to oral antibiotics as we feel like we’re starting to get the “flow” resumed in her GI tract, and the wait-and-see approach felt like it was going to result in a visit to the weekend urgent care.  Doesn’t it always?  Stupid parenting and its tough calls!

We see Behice again this afternoon,and I hope it will result more progress with Amelia’s strain-free autonomous pooping, and also address her constant nasal congestion and suspected GERD.  We’ve started Amelia on baby Zantac, which I am not seeing a lot of results from in the first 12 hours, but we’ll see.  The thought there is that her reflux is pushing milk into her sinuses and ear canal, and causing recurring ear infections.  Thus, if we control the reflux we subsequently control the nasal congestion and ear troubles.  Oy.

That being said, she’s feeling a little better in recent days – those smiles are fuel that Tom and I gobble up so that we can withstand the crying jags.  Everyone assures us that we’ll get past this rough patch and soon have a giggly, snuggly baby who we can watch learn and grow… we can’t wait!  Bring it!

On the work front, I am feeling a little more like I have a better handle on this work-from-home thing on this, my third week.  Tom’s work is still making it difficult for him, though.  Baby steps – not just for babies anymore!

I never thought I’d be so excited about poop. January 17, 2009

So in our ever-widening search for an alternative to the buttstick
“treatment.” I made an appointment with a craniosacral therapist found for us by my friend Jane, who also studied CST.  The remarkably named Behice Kutay agreed to see Amelia the very next day, so she wouldn’t have to suffer all weekend, and gave Amelia an equally remarkable treatment.  My little girl was cheery and alert through about 20 minutes of the 30ish minute treatment, and Behice finished the treatment with Amelia nursing, which was nice.

CST can look a lot like laying-on-of-hands, but Behice also did some lymphatic massage and visceral manipulation on Amelia’s little belly.  She also showed us some ways to massage Amelia’s ears and help them drain on their own, as well as some different holds that Amelia enjoys.  Seeing my daughter so calm and happily being treated by this serene, gentle woman brought tears to my eyes, I’ll tell you.  One thing that this colic nightmare has done is make me into an old softie, for sure.

We had a follow-up with the pediatrician that afternoon, and the doctor said Amelia’s ears had completely cleared up, so no more antibiotic shots would be necessary.  Yay!

Also that afternoon, Amelia was sitting in the buzzy chair while Tom worked on the computer and she had a great big poop with nary a whimper or cry.  That’s the first time that’s happened in weeks, people!  All of a sudden my whole outlook was a lot sunnier and brighter.

Amelia had a pretty good night last night, only slightly restless, and is currently sleeping in the Ergo, worn by Tom. She hasn’t had another unassisted poop, but the possibility is back, and that’s good enough for now. We’re doing our best to wear her more, as Dr. Sears swears that it helps babies be calmer and happier overall.

We see Behice again (her name is pronounced beh-HEE-chay, fyi) again on Tuesday and also have another follow up with the pediatrician.  We’ve also been given a Red Tent, in which people agree to bring you meals for a couple of days a month, by my Austin Mamas Yahoo group, which should take some of the pressure off.

That being said, I just got a shiny new Kitchenaid 12-cup food processor (to celebrate the significant bonuses both Tom and I got this year), and I want to use it!  So I’m making a chicken vegetable soup this afternoon, after I get some of the work done that I didn’t finish because of doctors’ visits.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

It doesn’t rain but it pours… January 15, 2009

Yesterday I asked our midwife if she knew of any alternate treatments that might be kinder than the buttstick, and while she had no magic bullet, she did recommend that we see some one for a Tui Na treatment – which is a kind of acupressure.  So I high-tailed it to AOMA Professional Clinic and saw Dr. Jamie Wu, who specializes in pediatric Tui Na.  He gave me some acupressure routines to perform on Amelia that should help her congestion and her digestion issues.  Dr. Wu and GB have both seen some really miraculous results from this treatment, so cross your fingers for us.

Then today we went to the pediatrician for a follow-up visit and discovered that on top of everything, Amelia has an ear infection.  We think some of the reflux, possibly from when she strains to poop, aspirated up into her ears and mucked up the works.  We had an antibiotic shot at the doctor’s office (which coincidentally is also the treatment for salmonella, if that test comes back positive), and will need to keep a close eye on her over the next couple of days.

Upon talking with Dr Parr, it seems like the buttstick is something that we really have to do, but she did suggest we get a smaller one from the surgeon for now, as this one is so painful for her.  Tom volunteered to do the buttstick insertion (as I’m so completely loathe to do it), saying that he’d rather have her hate him than hate me.  Funny how parenthood re-phrases declarations of true love, isn’t it?

Oh, and also my cell phone died this morning.  Not the battery – the PHONE.