Soy Joy - Again

I think I have discovered the problem in my sweet little Maggie Claire for the past two days... she was constipated! She hadn't pooped Wednesday or Thursday and then this morning she had a hard little pellet in her pants! (Ok, on a side note, I do appologize for the topic of this blog. I suppose when you are a mommy you have nothing more entertaining to discuss than your child's bowel movements...) MC's surprises have always been a good consistency so I think the new soy formula just threw her off. I talked to the ped and put some Karo syrup in her bottle upon his suggestion - worked like a charm. I'm not sure if I'll have to keep doing it to keep her going or if this was just a one time thing. We'll see how things go the next few days. Regardless, she wasn't fussy at all today :) yay!

Question - have any of you ever contemplated what celebrity you look like? This has been the topic of conversation between Adam and I lately. He swears I am Shannon Elizabeth, I swear he is Jimmy Johnson. Thoughts?

Soy No Joy

I did it. I jinxed myself. Maggie Claire has apparently been crying all afternoon. Crap it. I got home from work about 6 and walked into a screaming baby. Mom said she had been upset, fussy, and crying ever since she picked her up at my aunts. She had given her food (she even put rice cereal in the bottle), gave her Mylicon, changed her diaper, and she wouldn't stop. I came in and rocked her and she went to sleep after a minute or two. I laid her down and after a minute she was crying again. Ahhh! I feel so helpless! I have no idea what's wrong with her - is it the formula switch? Did it upset her tummy? Was she overtired (my aunt said she barely slept this afternoon)? This always seems to happen on Wednesdays and Thursdays (the days I work), does she get stressed being away from me? Is she sick? Is she just now developing colic? Is she having a growth spurt? Growing pains? Is it just one of those phases? There are so many questions and no answers. She has just cried and cried. She finally went to sleep again and I was just now able to put her in her swing (2 hours later) I don't know whats going on with her. I just pray she doesnt do this all night tonight! 4:15am comes waaaaay to early when mommy doesnt get any sleep!

Soy Joy

Sooo, I don't want to jinx anything, but MC is doing SO well on the new soy formula!! I am so excited!! We go to the doctor next Tuesday for her two month check up and hopefully he won't shun me for taking matters into my own hands! Please pray that she continues to do well on this - I can't take seeing my baby in pain!

I'm Baaaaaaack

So after a super long hiatus due to internet problems, I am back blog readers. I know, I know, try to control your excitement. Wow, I feel like I have so much to catch everyone up on.

First of all - the best news. We found out when Adam is leaving Iraq and its way earlier than we had originally thought!!! He is leaving at the beginning of March!!! Woo hooooooo!!!! I am planning on moving to Madison at the end of February to try and get everything set up and unpacked before he gets home. I haven't had a chance to tell my boss yet... I am really dreading that. I have really enjoyed working there and he has gone out of his way to accomodate my situation. I have to say he is probably one of the best people I have ever worked for. I am sad to go.

Now, on to the second best news. Mommy had a girl's night. Oh yes, it was long overdue. I tell you this because I have to give a special shout out to my friend Lisa. Now, Lisa and I go way back. We were BFF (yes, I just totally used BFF... don't judge) in high school and then sadly lost touch after graduation (Thats her in the middle). Well anyway, we recently started talking again after MC was born and I have to say that I had forgotten how much this girl rocks. Yes, Lisa, I think you rock. Anyway, we met up for dinner and had PLANNED on going to a movie, but we didn't make it that far. After dinner we ended up going to a new bar downtown that neither of us had been to before. A girl I work with at the dentist office also works there so I thought it would be fun to go say hi. I won't go into details, but we had an awesome time. A guy even bought me a drink. (Don't freak out people, I already told Adam this) It was quite surprising considering I hadn't even spoken to or so much as looked at this guy. But it did make me feel nice. I mean, I just had a baby 7 weeks ago at the time! I thought, hot diggity, someone still finds me somewhat attractive after a baby! Anyway, I walked over and politely thanked him but said I was happily married. I hate that Lisa and I only just now started talking - I have been in Florence since June! I could've been having all kinds of fun instead of sitting at home with my parents all this time! I mean, not that sitting at home with my parents isnt fun.... (sorry mom and dad)

Maggie Claire is also doing well - now anyway. For the past few weeks she has been sooooo fussy!!! She never used to cry for any reason but all of a sudden about 3 weeks ago she started fussing all the time, still spitting up, and getting horrible gas. She would pull her little legs to her stomach, arch her back, and scream bloody murder at almost every feeding. I was so stressed because I didnt know what was wrong. I called the pediatrician and told them the Zantac she has been on isnt helping at all and she is still spitting up all the time. I told them we are still on the Similac RS and its not working. I explained her symptoms and asked what we needed to do. I said, "do we need to try soy formula or switch medications or what?". The nurse said we didn't need to do soy and that we would try Prilosec instead of Zantac. Well, I tried that and it didn't help either. I had switched bottles thinking she was getting to much air, I gave her Mylicon at every feeding, and she was still upset and gassy. I finally couldn't take seeing her in so much pain so I went out to Target yesterday and bought some soy formula. Now, this is very unlike me. I NEVER go against professional advice and follow my gut. I am not that confident. However, I just had an overwhelming feeling that something just wasnt right and I should try the soy. Well, let me say this - I gave her the first bottle of soy formula last night at 5:00 and not one single time did she cry. She spit up just a little, nothing major. I thought, hmm, this is nice. I waited for her to start screaming after the feeding, but nothing. I then thought, well, it might just be a coincidence. Then at 9:00 I braced for the worst. Not even so much because I had become used to a cycle of spitting up everywhere and constant crying, but because I thought even changing formulas would upset her tummy. I fed her and, again, nothing. Not a drop of spit up and not a single whimper. Wow. Then, I prepared myself for a long night of her staying up. This new formula doesn't have the rice starch in it like the Similac sensitive RS did, so I thought she wouldn't stay as full and therefore wouldn't sleep through the night. Well - she did! I mean she did her usual waking up three or four times, but I put the passy back in her mouth and she was back in sleepy land. I was feeling quite excited this morning, but still waiting for it to all fall apart. However, when I fed her bottles at 5 am, 9am, and 1pm there was again not a drop of spit up and not a single cry. I feel guilty not consulting with my doctor before doing all this, but it really looks like I might have done the right thing. Thoughts anyone?

So I am noticing how long this post is getting so I better stop there. I don't want to bore you all into never reading again ;) Hope everyone has a happy hump day tomorrow!

PKU

Some people have no brains. Ever heard the Bill Engvall "where's your sign" comedy CD? Yes, totally hilarious, but onto my point... I got a call from my pediatrician's office yesterday and I wanted to crawl through the phone, slap her in the face, and then come back home. Now, granted, my extreme paranoia probably didn't help the situation, but I would still like to blame most of it on her. Let me explain.

I'm not sure if those of you without children are familiar with this, but they do a test on babies called a PKU. They stick the baby's heel and send off the blood samples to test for an inability to break down a certain amino acid (it can cause several severe problems in baby if it goes untreated) Anyway, the do the test at the hospital after the baby is born and then again at the 2 week check up. Well, the nurse calls me and the conversation is as follows:

Nurse - "Mrs. Martin? This is so and so at blah pediatrics"
Me - "Yes, how are you?"
N - "fine. The reason I'm calling is, remember the blood test we did on Maggie Claire last time she was in? The one where we prick her heel?"
Me - "Yes." - growing ever more nervous
N - "Well, there was a problem. The test was sent back to us and..."

At this point I am FREAKING out. The nurse then went on to say they simply didnt get enough blood on the test and would have to redo it. COULDNT YOU HAVE STARTED THE CONVERSATION WITH THAT???!!!! I mean, what kind of idiot starts a conversation with a newborn mother about something being wrong with a very serious test??? Now, you may be thinking "well what did you expect her to say Jessica"? Well, I'll tell you - "Hi Mrs. Martin. I just wanted to let you know that we didn't get enough blood on the PKU test we did and we need you to bring Maggie Claire back in". There ya go. Instead, this woman put me through at least 30 seconds of torture thinking my child had some disease or was mentally retarded. Again, for those of you without children, this may not seem like a long time or a big deal. However, 30 seconds of thinking something is wrong with your precious child feels like an eternity. Even after she clarified the problem, my heart was still racing and it took a while for it to return to normal. Not fair. In the future, please choose your words carefully. I call down there all the time - you know I am slightly psychotic. Do you need to make a note in my chart or something? Go ahead. "Mrs. Martin is highly paranoid and cannot handle the stress of something being wrong with her child. Please choose your words carefully and do not ever let her think something is going on unless we are for sure." Totally fine with me. I don't mind being the crazy mommy. haha. Well, I guess it kinda sucks, but its just my personality! Humor me pediatric people. Thanks.

Melts My Heart

My child has officially stolen my heart. I knew I loved my child, but I had NO IDEA just how deep this affection had gone until today. It was my first day back at work. Granted as I have mentioned, I am leaving MC with my aunt - not some stranger. Also, I am only working 2 1/2 days a week - not every day. However, after I left her this morning for the first time I cried. On the way to work I was able to pull myself together and looked forward to being around adult conversation. Then, I came home. The whole way home I was overcome with excitement and couldn't wait to see Maggie Claire. I walked in and saw her lying in her pack and play and immedidately started bawling hysterically. I scooped her up and just kept repeating "mommy's here!!!" like some insane person. I know she's only 6 1/2 weeks old, but I swear the child smiled when I picked her up and started talking to her. Anyway, I then thought about the fact that I had just missed an entire day of her life. Her short little baby life. I cried more...

After what seemed like an eternity of just holding her and staring, I was finally able to set her down long enough to check facebook and write this post. But, I'm done now. Soooo, I'm gonna go pick her up again.

Spitting Image?

Recently I have been overwhelmed by how many people have told me Maggie Claire looks just like her daddy... I know this pics on the side of my blog are tiny so here are a few pictures of him. Thoughts?

Smiling Baby Girl

Soooo I tried REALLY hard to get a picture of Maggie Claire smiling today. However, I just couldn't seem to snap it at the right time. This is the series of pictures that occurred in my attempts...

Poor Jake...

Anyone else swear they wouldn't get involved with the bachelor again? I wanted so badly to boycot the show, but I'll be darned if they didn't show the season premier again on Saturday night when nothing else was on. Now I am stuck. I watched last night. Whoa. Poor Jake. Reactions? I mean, to think that some woman would "enter into an inapproriate relationship with a staffer" while on the show blows my mind. And yes, I put that in quotes because if you watched the show you know how many times that phrase was used. I should've counted. It was at least 20. My favorite part though - the fake tears shed by all the other contestants. Come on, this girl was gorgeous - don't act like you are sad about the situation.

Well little MC and I are doing just fine. I start back to work tomorrow which is a little scary, but I did go over to my aunts house last night to show her everything. I think I might go totally overboard today and type out notes for her... I'm sick, I know it.

Other than wishing my sweet husband was home there is nothing to report. Looking forward to Biggest Loser tonight! I must say, I am so glad I have such an amzingly well behaved and content baby that allows me to watch all my shows!

Reader Request

Third and last post today... promise. My sweet reader Stephanie has requested pics of Maggie Claire. Being the proud mamma that I am, I couldn't deny a loyal reader the opportunity to take in all the cuteness that is my child. haha.

This first picture totally makes me laugh. When I was in Madison at my in-laws, we went to mass. You know what that means - opportunity for cute outfits. I got MC all dolled up and of course had to do a photo session. She wasn't too happy about it. It totally looks like she is swatting my hand, but she was actually just wiggling around like crazy. Anyway, makes me smile when I see it. This is us getting ready to leave

Looks like a sweet little baby doll, huh? My adorable little girl!

Hope you all enjoy the pics, cause I sure do enjoy showing her off!

To Be This Funny...

Okay so I would love it if I was this funny... I stumbled across this blog and just had to share. Everyone needs a laugh.

Working Woman, Starving Baby?

Well I start back to work next week. I must say that I really have mixed emotions about this. I mean, yes, it was my choice to go back, but I'm still not totally ok with it. My fear? No one can take care of MC like I can. Which makes aboslutely no sense considering I have NO EXPERIENCE raising a child and I would be leaving her with my aunt who has pretty much raised three children. I guess all women deal with the worry of something happening when they go back to work though. And its not like I am leaving her everyday. The office is only open on Wednesday, Thursday, and most Saturdays so we're only talking three days a week I would be leaving her. Another worry? Getting up and going to work all day after a sleepless night. I am not one of those people who functions well on little sleep. I need AT LEAST 7 hours to be even somewhat coherant. Now that I have a wonderful little baby, I don't get nearly that much. I can just see myself putting in a root canal on someone who was supposed to come in for a cleaning or something.

Speaking of sleep, I have a question for any fellow mommies.... when did your child not have to be fed through the night? Here's the deal - while I was in Jackson last weekend MC slept the whole night without eating. I'm talking like 8 1/2 hours. When I woke up the next morning I was so scared. I was like oh my gosh, my baby is going to starve to death... Well since that weekend I have not fed MC once during the night. I give her her bottle at 9:00 and she doesnt get another until 5am. I mean, if she was hungry she would be screaming and stuff right? I have asked around and everyone is like, "oh she'll let you know if she's hungry". So am I just a very blessed mommy to have a baby that can go the whole night without having to have a bottle or am I starving her?? I mean, I am not saying she SLEEPS the whole night. That would be awesome. She does wake up every few hours and wiggle and wimper (she never lets out a full blown cry or antything). I'll put her passy back in her mouth a few hundred times and talk to her and she'll usually go back to sleep. Thoughts? (On another note, why can't babies sleep during the night like they do during the day? I mean she'll sleep like a champ during the day but then at night she feels she needs to wake up every hour... its like "hey mom. I'm here. Did you know that? Ok, just wanted to let you know.")

My friend Kristen is coming tomorrow which is fun. This girl and I have been through SO MUCH together and is definately my dearest friend. She was at the hospital the whole time while we were waiting on MC to arrive. I'm talking from 3:00 in the morning until like 10:00 that night. She was a total trooper; waiting in the hallway and constantly updating my facebook status to let everyone know where we were at in the labor process. Anyway, she adores Maggie Claire so I'm glad she is getting to come see her again. I think I also need some friend time! I mean, I spend everyday either home alone or hanging out with my parents... I think I need some 20-something girl time.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Oh, congrats to all the Alabama fans out there... I can't say that I give two flips about football, but apparently its kinda a big deal to some people. :)

Woo Hoo

So I found a bottle/nipple combo that works for MC! WOOO HOOO! I am too exhausted with the topic to even talk about it anymore than that. Let's just say the bottle fairy came through for me and I'm off to Target to stock up on the winner.

When I talked to Adam yesterday he told me that I sure do complain a lot on here. haha. I said that's the whole reason I started the blog. Instead of complaining privately I would like to do it publicly. No, seriously, without Adam here and a major lack of adult conversation lately, this is my means of venting. I've said it before and I'll say it again (just for you Adam!) I am so thankful for my life and all of my blessings! I just have to get out the sucky stuff so I don't get clogged up...

Speaking of clogged up - well, the opposite actually - babies sure do stink! Man, it is amazing how something so huge and stinky can come from something so small and precious! Yes, I am talking about diapers. Now, I do have to say that I should probably be thankful. MC only has one poopy diaper every other day or every two days (Yes, I did freak out about this fact and call the pediatrician... they said thats perfectly normal. On a side note - I suppose all of my "oh-my-gosh- is-this-normal" calls will now be directed to the pediatrician as opposed to my OB/GYN as they were when I was pregnant; see here for the scoop. Maybe the pediatricians office will start the same poll about how many times a day I will call...) Anyway, despite the fact that the poopies may be few and far between, I really wish my darling Adam was here to experience them as these dads. haha. I seriously couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard when I watched this.

I am off to Target now... I will be posting soon about my mixed emotions starting back to work next week! Stay warm and toasty readers!

From Baby Blues to Bottle Battle

So, ya know that instruction manual we all wish babies came with? I wish it included a chapter on bottles. Maggie Claire is now 5 1/2 weeks old and I have yet to find the right bottle/nipple combination. I want to scream. Here's the deal...

We started with an average formula I had gotten free in the mail - she spit up ALL the time. Spoke to the doctor and he suggested we try Similac Sensitive RS which has an added rice starch which is supposed to help with spitting up. Well, since this formula has that added starch, its thicker than most formulas and therefor doesn't want to come out of most nipple holes. I think I have bought every bottle and nipple flow under the sun and I can't seem to find one that works! I dealt with this headache for what seemed an eternity and then one day my mother accidentally picked up the Similac Sensitive without the RS. Since it is a normal consistency, I was able to go to the store, buy some Platex drop in liner bottles and the regular newborn flow nipple. That was great. Everything was fine, except she was still spitting up and staying gassy. The doctor eventually put her on Zantac which seems to be helping a little. I called to see if we needed to switch to a soy formula since she is still having problems and they asked what formula she was on now - busted. (After mom had accidentally gotten the regular Similac Sensitive and I saw how easy the bottle situation was, I didnt want to go back to the RS!) I told her and she said we needed to go back on the RS. crap. Now I am back to square one and can't find a freaking bottle/nipple. The level one flows on most are too slow and she can't get anything, but when I go up to level two's its too fast and she gets too much. I don't want to deal with using a pin to make the holes bigger in the level ones... that's too irregular. There is no way to make all the holes the same size and I have to have everything "just so". I want to be able to buy a nipple and not have to make any adjustments. I am so frustrated. There HAS to be something out there that works! I mean, what do all of the other mother's of children who use this formula use??? And, yes, I have tried researching on the internet to find an answer. However, I have tried every single suggestion I have read and can't seem to find a solution that works for Maggie Claire. Just to let you know, this is what is encircling my head right now:

Avent - doesnt like nipple, bottles tend to leak

Dr. Brown - doesnt like nipple. level one too slow, level two too fast

Nuk - level one and two too slow, level three too fast

Born Free - level one too slow, level two too fast

Playtex VenAire - level one too slow, level two too fast

Playtex Drop ins - level one too slow on silicone nipple, currently experimenting with level one in the latex nipple (I had one at the house and it seemed to work... which makes no sense since it is the same flow by the same maker as the silicone nipple . Ugh, whatever)

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! Its never going to end! There is no answer! Maggie Claire is going to go the rest of her bottle feeding life having twenty different nipples shoved in her mouth as she sits screaming just wanting some food.

I know I have completely bored every single reader with this post, but I just HAD to vent. I am so frustrated and just want everything organized! This is going under my pillow toinght.

Dear Bottle Fairy,

Hi. Its Jessica. So, I am having some major issues. This formula sucks and there are too many freaking levels. flows, and stages for each type of bottle.... and NONE OF THEM WORK. So, if you could just drop off the perfect bottle and nipple for this formula I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Oh, p.s. - tell the bottle companies I hate them. Thats all. Thanks.