It's been a while...

I seem to have forgotten about my little blog. A lot has happened since the last update. Bella has rolled over from back to stomach, and I have started giving her solid foods. She seems to really enjoy her fruits and veggies. She kicks her little legs every time she sees the little bowl her food goes in. It's entirely too adoreable.

She also tries to sit up on her own. It's so cute to watch. She can do it where she's kind of slumped and then she falls over. But boy does she try. She is also really close to crawling. She has the legs down, but the arm thing has proven to be difficult for her. She gets really frustrated and starts crying when she can't do it. I feel bad for her. If I help support her, she can almost do it and she doesn't get as frustrated. I think (in my mommy opinion) that she just needs to develop some more arm strength.

We recently bought her an exersaucer and LOVES it! Let me say, my friend said that it would change my life. It really has. The exersaucer enables her to check everything out and keeps her entertained while I clean up or vaccum. It is a life saver. Because she is almost 20 pounds (I know!), I had to buy an the evenflo exersaucer that has a 35 pound weight limit. It is really nifty, because it will grow with her and she can use it up to 24 months. After she outgrows this thing, she will be able to use it as an activity center.

Bella has now reached the stage where she likes to be standing up. She's already tried to walk already when we stand her up. I'm amazed that she is already trying to take steps. She can take one, but doesn't realize the other foot needs to move forward.

For some reason she has developed a fear of my Mother's house and my Mother in laws house. She gets really fussy for some reason and won't stop crying until we leave. It's nuts. She also doesn't seem to like Men other than her daddy and my grandpa. My brother, my father in law, my uncles and cousins she's not crazy about. Apparently, my mother said I was a mama's girl when I was little and from the looks of it, she is too. Other than me and her daddy, the only person she likes is Nathan's aunt. She loves her Aunt Pat. She's the only person that she likes to watch her for the time it takes me to run errands.

At one point, my mom wanted her overnight. I met up with mom to hand Bells over and she was cool until halfway home. Then apparently she freaked out. Mom called me after an hour saying she was screaming. I told her I would come and gether. She tells me no that it will get better. Another hour passes and I get a text saying that she is STILL screaming at the top of her little lungs. As soon as I walked in the door and said her name, she immediately stopped crying. I took her home and we put her to bed.

Bells sleeps 11-12 hours a night. We didn't really have a 4 month wakeful period. The only adjustment I've had to make is her naps are so short now. This means less naps for mommy, but all is good as long as she is happy. I am totally loving being her mom and watching her learn and grow. She has changed so much since I brought her home.

9 Glorious Hours!

I'm finally to the point that most new mothers look forward to the most, their baby sleeping through the night. Bells has always been a good sleeper. She would sleep anywhere from 3-4 hours when we brought her home from the hospital. Recently, she sleeps about 6 on average, wakes to eat and sleeps until 7-8:00 am. I'd say I have it pretty good. There are mommies who have to wake up every two hours to feed their babies, or they have super fussy babies. Even for a baby with Colic she does really well. She doesn't cry alot or fuss too much. Thank God Lale showed me the most awesome colic remedy EVER. If you have a colicy baby Humphrey's #36 very cherry pellets are a godsend!

Last night I put Bells to bed at 8:30 and we went to bed of course around maybe 10:30or so. I was exhausted. I woke up because I heard Bella being kind of fussy. It sounded like gas pains. I look at the clock to see what time it is and it's 5:00 am! I put some Mylicon into her mouth, picked her up and held her. She never woke up. I snuggled her until her gas pain stopped and she slept for 30 more minutes. After that, she wanted to get up and play. I fed her and she at almost a full eight ounces in one sitting. Nathan and I changed her clothes, played with her and sat her in her Bumbo seat for a little while.

An hour later we came downstairs. I decided to sit on the couch and watch some TV. Bells decided she needed a nap. Oh the hard life! :)

Everyone asked me if I freaked out when I realized that we slept through the whole night. My answer: No why would I? I knew she was ok. I hear EVERY single little nosie from our baby monitor. I know her waking noises and her sleeping noises now. I guess my having previous experience (with a little cousin) helped me be more relaxed and not so worried all the time. People are surprised by how mellow I am when it comes to Bells. It is pretty amazing considering how nuerotic I am. If you know me in real life, this is probably my worst quality. That and overanalyzing things. All in all, I was just happy that this little lovebug got some good rest.

Now for all you moms who haven't yet experienced this, I'm going to tell you what nobody EVER tells you. I've been feeling like a crazy person because Bells has been sleeping longer, but I'm still tired. I realized I was more tired then when I was up at night with her. This is normal and it's just your body adjusting. At least this is what I am told from my mommy friends (and my one daddy friend) when I asked them about it. It does get better, at least that's what I've been told. :)

What a great night!

What are...Oh hey, there's something at the end of my arms...are those HANDS?

This week Bells has started to get better. Being on breathing treatments really seems to help her. She doesn't fight me as long as she has a pacifier. She does so well with them in fact, that they usually put her to sleep. Her cough is almost gone and all the hackiness behind it gone as well. Her breathing is still a bit labored and she sounds congested when she sleeps. She actually snores, and at night is when her breathng sounds the worst. For the most part, I have my sweet happy little angel back! She sleeps a bit more than normal, but with her getting better and seeming so alert during her waking times, I'm not worried. As much as I hate her being sick, I love all the extra cuddling I get to do with her. :)

A nurse at the hospital told us to keep her in the house for at least two weeks. This is making me go stir crazy. I can't go run normal errands without calling someone to watch her. The weather has been a little crazy. It gets cold at nights and in the mornings, but during the day it's warm. This also makes me think it's a better idea to keep her indoors. I can't wait for her to be better so that we can go for a walk in the evening or get some fresh air!

Also this week, Bells discovered her hands. She has been grabbing my necklace for a few weeks now, but this week she noticed that end of those things called arms are HANDS! It makes feedings a little difficult because she likes to put them in front of her face and stare at them. She clasps her hands together and pulls them apart. I even gave her a rattle and she played with it for a little while.

Her checkup this week went well. She has some eczema on her arms and legs. Remember that rash the ER doc said was viral? Well it's eczema. Thankfully it's mild and it doesn't seem to bother her.

I had also been extremely sick. I am so thankful we have both of our families here to help out. My grandmother came over for two days to let me sleep for a few hours. She also made me homemade chicken noodle soup which was amazing! My mom came over for a day and Nathan's Aunt Pat came over for a day. I was so thankful. I was put on some hardcore decongestants that knock me out. Once I started taking them, I felt so much better. The uninterrupted sleep also helped me immensely. I can't wait to get over this RSV infection. Being sick and trying to take care of a sick baby but not keep getting her sick is rough. I'm so incredibly glad our families are awesome enough to help me out!

Tummy time is something that is not going well. She used to like it, now she HATES it. I am researching ways to make this enjoyable for her. I'm sure it's not comfy because of her reflux, but it must be done. For the most part, she likes being swaddled and held or being in her swing. If you have an suggestions, leave them for me in the form of a comment.

Bella Talks to Mommy during her hospital stay!

Ignore my super annoying high pitched voice.

Hospitalization and RSV

Late Sunday night, Bells started throwing up again. I'm talking about projectile vomiting. I immediately freak out and head to the ER. At this point, she had pretty much been vomiting every day except one, since Tuesday. I'm really worried and decide to take her in. It takes FOREVER to get seen. Let me just state right now, I was not impressed with the hospital which by the way, is a children's hospital.

First they of course, triage Bells. She hasn't lost any weight and has gained back her previous weight lost. No dehydration so far, but she is pretty lethargic. After almost 3 hours we get called back to a room. Thank God no triage room! We see a doctor after an hour. He orders more xrays to compare the previous ones to and make sure she doesn't have a bowel obstruction. We go for xrays and are told again that by the time we get downstairs, they will have the results. We wait for two more hours and the doctor who said he would be back never came back. I went out to the little nurses station and he looked at me and goes "Oh man, what room are you in again?" I point to our room and he comes in about 30-45 minutes later. Apparently he had forgotten about us. Grrr....

He comes in and says all her tests and labs have been normal this week. He insists she has a virus and that he can't admit her until it's been 7 days of vomiting. Are you effin kidding me? No dude! I looked him right in the face and said "So you send me home and if she's still throwing up I come back and tomorrow and will be admitted?" He shakes his head yes and I tell him I don't think so. This dude actually tried to dissuade me from having her admitted. I admittedly got a bit Mama Bear on him. He saw I wasn't backing down so he had her admitted. Two more hours go by. At this point I have been up for over 24 hours straight.

We get into a room and wait for the nurses to come ask us questions. I had called my Mom during the waiting and she showed up. The nurses warned me that a lot of people were going to be asking me the same questions over and over again. I said ok and then it was off to get Bells hooked up to an IV. Nathan had arrived while I was answering questions so he went with us. At first a nurse told me he would be taking her to another room. I was relieved I wouldn't have to watch her get stuck with a needle multiple times AGAIN. Then just to be certain, I asked if we were able to go with her. We were able to and Nathan suggested I stay in her room and he would go. I told him no and that I would go. How could I not? She's my baby. If she's going to be in pain, I may as well be there to try and comfort her. It's my job as Mommy to do what needs doing no matter how unpleasant.

An entire team of nurses (5-6) were in the room. They tried 3 different times to get a good vein, but because her veins are so thin, they were unsuccessful. Finally they called in Linda. Linda was amazing. In one try she found a good vein and did everything very fast. One of the nurses was texting on his phone the whole time and that didn't make me happy. Nathan wasn't happy with him either. The way we see it, is if you have to call someone else in to help you with something, you ought to be observing and learning. Of course I cried the entire time because of the whole "They're hurting my baby" thing. They collect some blood for teting and then it's finally over. Finally after they got the IV in and I picked her up and she calmed right down. Her color also returned. Previously, she had been really pale and clammy.

The doctor comes in to talk to us and tells us he has scheduled a swallow study for today. He has also scheduled for tummy xrays (again) and chest xrays to be done. More nurses come in to ask questions. At this point, I am so exhausted that I fall asleep in the middle of it all. My Mom answered the rest of the questions since she had heard all the answers previously. If she didn't know an answer she would ask me and I would fall back to sleep. My mom was going to let me sleep through the swallow study, but I refused and went with her and Bells. Bells had still been drinking pedialyte. They have a machine that they sit her up in and up on a screen I can see her throat. They prepare several bottles with formula and pedialyte and different nipples. They also tested one of my Dr. Brown bottles with a y cut nipple. This nipple is used for the rice cereal. I tried to tell the tech that that was the wrong nipple and she continued on with the test. When she tested my bottle, pointed at the screen and told me Bells was swallowing a lot of air. NO SHIT! The nipple is too big and she is gulping down the formula (without the cereal) trying not to choke. Of course she is going to swallow air! *head desk* The swallow study showed that she swallows a lot of air. All xrays are normal.

Through all this we are feeding her one ounce of pedialyte at a time. We wait 15 minutes and try to give her another ounce. We are told not to give her any more than that since she is getting one ounce per hour through her IV. She continued to throw up about half an ounce out of two ounces. I slept most of the day waking only for tests. Mom took care of Bells and everything else while I rested.



Tuesday her pedi scheduled a pneumogram and an upper GI study. The respiratory people came in a little before 10 to get her set up. They put a tube through her nose that went into her tummy. She sneezed a lot and didn't cry at all. My grandmother came up and saw us. She took one look at Bells and started crying. I hugged her and assured her that she was fine. Hell, I even managed not to cry. They also had leads attatched to three different points on her body and something that measured activity on her leg. The test was explained and it was to be a 12 hour test. We were to feed her as normal. I asked a nurse if we should be feeding her pedialyte or formula for the test. No one could give me an answer so I stuck with the pedialyte. After a while on that, I switched to her formula. After throwing that up, back to pedialyte.

After she got hooked up, Nathan showed up. It was his day off and he had been running errands for me and picking up things I needed. My grandmother and mother convinced me to leave for a just a bit and get some lunch. My grandmother took me out to lunch and we ran into one of my aunts. We talked for a bit and I realized I needed clothes and a few other things. We swung by the house and I got everything I needed. We got back to the hospital in about an hour and a half. I was anxious so I didn't want to be away longer than 2 hours total. While I was gone a GI specialist came in and talked to Nathan. He told him that since Bells had had her Prevacid he couldn't conduct his study today. We would have to wait until Wednesday since no other tests/studies could be done while the pneumogram was being conducted and she had taken her Prevacid. At about 10pm the respiratory people came back and removed all wires, tubes, and leads. The only thing she was hooked up to was the IV. She slept very comfortably only waking to eat. I told the night nurse about her cough that she had developed and he told me it was just irritation from the pneumogram but checked her breathing and said everything was fine.

Wednesday we had orders not to feed her (npo) after 5:00am. They told us the upper GI study would be conducted anywhere from 6-8 am. At 9:30 they finally came and got us. Since she had last eaten at 3:30, I wanted her to get the study done so she could get on with the eating. She was plenty hungry by the time we got to the xray room. They had her lay down and they had a machine that went over her and displayed her tummy on a screen. They gave her formula mixed with Barium contrast again so that they could see what is going on with her. They fed her and then they would turn her on her side, then on her back. We watched her tummy and the food just stayed there for a quite a while. Some of it started to move towards her intestines and then all of a sudden it all refluxed! The radiologist was shocked at how much and how suddenly it happened. After the test was done, he informd me that he didn't see anything wrong other than her reflux which appeared to be severe. He told us the test results shouldn't be long.

We returned to the room and waited...and waited and waited. Finally about 2:30 pm a nurse that I didn't recognize came in. I asked him if he knew about the results. He said he didn't but would get on finding everyting out. He informed me he was filling in while our day nurse Sandra (the greatest nurse EVER) was at lunch. Sandra came in a little while later with our discharge papers. Before we left, I had her listen to the cough that Bella had. She said she heard a faint crackling and explained all my discharge instructions. I was to see her regular pedi on Friday and her GI doctor a week later. The Dx was the same as the Friday ER visit: Severe reflux. At least now I know there is nothing else wrong. I thanked Sandra and explained what a Godsend she was. We loaded up all of our stuff and left.

Friday I took Bella to her Pedi appointment. I explained everything and mentioned her nasty little cough. They tested her for RSV and it came back positive. Apparently, Nathan had a sore throat for the last 5 days and thought it was allergies because it didn't hurt and was just scratchy. She was given perscriptions for a steroid (millipred), a nebulizer (albuterol) and saline drops for her nose. I also got sick with a sore throat, cough and congestion. I figured I had a cold. I went and got checked out as well to get started with whatever needed doing ASAP.I went into urgent care and the doctor that I had seen previously on several occasions decided to put me on antibiotics. I told him the situation and he gave me a cough medicine and a congestion medicine. I asked him why antibiotics with a viral issue and he told me that this thing could go viral or bacterial. He told me with my history of bacterial infections, it's best not to take chances. Pneumonia and Bronchitis aren't my idea of fun.

Bella goes back to get checked again on Monday. The nebulizer is wonderful and she actually likes it. She gets really calm and falls alseep. Nathan will be going to the doctor on Tuesday since it's his day off. Hopefully we will all be better soon. Poor Bells, she just can't seem to catch a break. I won't be leaving the house for a couple of weeks other than for Dr. Appts. Sandra suggested we keep her in so she doesn't catch pneumonia. Thankfully Nathan's aunt is able to come over and watch her while I run errands.

Today I felt so crappy, I called my Mom over to watch her so I could rest. Mom spent the day here and I got to rest. After she left, I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my back. Not fun at all. I can't wait until this is all over and behind us. Looking forward to better days! :)

Another Scary ER Trip

Thursday night Bella started throwing up her formula again. So I automatically switched back to pedialyte and continued to give her only pedialyte through the night. This worked last time and she was able to keep it down. Well she started vomitting that back up to. I start FREAKING out in the middle of the night and Nathan tells me he will follow my lead. He says my mommy instincts have never been wrong. I tell him I will see how she does with her other nightly feedings. Well she managed to throw them up. I decided that if her last feeding went badly, I was taking her to the pedi. They only had an appointment with a nurse practioner. Now I have nothing agains NPs per se, but after just being in the ER I wanted to speak with a doctor.

I decide to go to the ER just to make sure she isn't deyhdrated again, because she hadn't had too many pee diapers again. Of course she wasn't because she wasn't keeping ANYTHING down. My grandmother and aunt went with me to the hospital. We got put into our own room. I was completely grateful for this since the triage room is a nightmare from hell. In walks in a nurse practioner. Fucking Great! Just what I was wanting to avoid. She looks Bella over and tells me that the diagnosis of a stomach bug for Tuesday's visit is wrong. She pushes on Bella's tummy and out comes all the pedialyte she just drank.

She thinks Bella may have an underdeveloped pyloris. This is fixed with a lacrospcopic surgery. Immediately I start to panic. My heart starts racing and I'm trying to remain calm so that Bells doesn't pick up on my anxiety. They schedule a sono. We go up and of course I have no idea what I'm looking at so I focus on trying to keep Bella calm. We go back down to our room and wait. The NP finally comes in and tells us everything looks fine. No surgery! PHEW! That was a bullet dodged. With that ruled out, she tells me what is wrong. She tells me she has GERD. Well duh, I already knew that. She tells me that Bells has sever reflux and we are going to make some changes.

Apparently Bella's refulx is so bad that now I have to put rice cereal in all her bottles. I had been doing this at night and noticed she NEVER spit up her night time bottles. She took her off of Zantac and put her on Prevacid. I got the lecture on how to hold her while feeding and to keep her upright after every feeding for 30-45 minutes. Of course, this is all stuff I already knew and am already doing. She tells me her kids had both problems. One had an underdevolped pyloris and the other severe GERD just like Bells. She told me that by 6 months, her GERD should be better. Once she can sit up by herself, she will be much better.

That ER visit left me feeling so much better. I knew it couldn't have been just a little tummy bug. I knew it had to be something else for her to keep vomitting after she had done so well for an entire day. I am so happy to have an answer. We shall see how the new routine goes. I hope it goes well.

Worst night EVER

Last night was seriously THE worst night of my entire life! Arabella had been vomitting all day. For a baby with GERD this is not abnormal. However, with GERD usually they will spit up right after they eat. Arabella was spitting up ALL of her food after about 30-45 minutes. She wasn't eating as much but sometimes she does that and then clusterfeeds in the evenings. This didn't make me worry too much. She had VERY watery stools and we only changed her diaper 3 times from the hours of 8:30am-8:30pm. Since I kiss the top of her head a milion times a day, I had noticed her soft spot was super soft. I found out later that, that was a sign of dehydration.

After all that, I sent Nathan to the store for some pedialyte to see if she could keep it down. What really freaked me out was her inablility to keep down the two ounces of pedialyte. Once she threw that up, I freaked out. At the urging of some of my mommy friends, I decided to call the pedi and figure out where to go from there. I called the pedi and waited 30 minutes for him to call me back. The entire time I was on pins and needles. He asked what was going on and I told him. He told me to take her immediately to the ER.

We drove across town to the children's hospital and the drive took FOREVER. It only took about an hour and half for them to call her back. Being in a triage room of a children's hospital is nightmarish. All these other kiddos are screaming at the top of their lungs because they are being poked and prodded. I heard several screams followed by wailing for Mommy. Needless to say, it was very unpleasant.

It got much more unpleasant from there. They came and looked Bella. They asked what her weight was at her last appointment. I told them 12 pounds and 12 ounces. She then told me that Bells had last 10 percent of her body weight. This immediately sent me into panic mode. They told me they were going to run tests on blood, stool, and urine. Since Bella had been screaming at the top of her lungs during the day, I mentioned that. Bells is a pretty laid back baby. Even with Colic she doesn't scream or cry. She cries only when she needs changing, is hungry or cold. Since it was out of the ordinary for her to be crying the way she was (inconsolably), xrays were also going to be done. I was also informed that she needed fluids.

They tried to stick and IV in her hand, but because she was so dehydrated,they couldn't get it to work. They put an IV in her foot and made this little shoe thing to keep her foot straight. They then gave her a medicine through her IV to stop the vomitting. Then it was time for the tests. They put a catheter in to get some urine and removed it right away. They took a stool sample, and did a heel stick to get TWO vials of blood. Nothing sucks more than having to help some nurses hold your baby down while she cries from pain. I managed to stay calm during all this, but once it was over, I just started bawling. I was holding my baby who I just held down and was crying from pain. After some snuggling she was perfect. She even smiled and laughed at me.

Time came for the Xray. We went up and the lady looks at me and immediately tells me I have to wait outside. She instructs Nathan to put on the lead apron and hold Bella down. So while I am waiting outside, I hear her screaming. Now I know xrays don't hurt at all, but I felt so horrible for her. I was really pissed that I didn't get to be there with her to comfort her. Luckily, all this was quick and we were back in triage in no time. Once we got back the nurse came back and said she wanted us to see if we could get her to keep pedialyte back. I had to give her 5 mls every 5 minutes. After she was able to keep down an ounce they told me to stop. We waited for another hour and they came back and told us all her tests were normal and so were her xrays. Then they told us they wanted her to take another ounce of the pedialyte. We repeated the routine and she was good. Finally we got discharged. The diagnosis was a stomach bug.

We were at the ER from 9:30pm to 3:30am. It was a compltely nightmarish experience that I hope to never repeat again. When we got home she was wide awake. I swaddled her, put her in her crib and didn't hear a peep until 11is this morning. She slept a full 8 hours. I gave her pedialyte all day long and finally this evening I gave her her night time bottle. She kept her pedialyte down and so far her night time bottle too.

I knew she would get sick, but I really thought it would be a cold. Never in a million years did I think the first time she got sick we would be at a hospital. I don't know where she got the bug from because I'm neurtoic about people coming over if they are sick. She is doing better now and for that I am thankful. I just hope this doesn't happen again.