Bumper Carts

Have you ever been in a situation where you do something totally embarrassing and then just laugh it off with some stranger who in turn just looks at you like you're an idiot and makes the situation even more awkward? Well that happened to me today at the grocery store.

I went shopping to pick up a few more jars of baby food for The Chubs to try. The Chubs still fits nicely in her infant car seat since she's so small so I often tote her around in it when I don't want to deal with getting her in and out of it. Especially with her sensitivity to being moved. I don't want to get her all riled up. So I set her car seat in the front of the shopping cart like I usually do and then began to peruse the store. I was floating down the baby isle and all of a sudden hit something pretty hard. It was one of those cardboard display cases that have random things in them that they are selling. I'm not a tall person so shopping cart + car seat ends up being about the same height that I am meaning I have some serious blind spots.

An old lady in the same isle just stared at me like I was a complete moron and was going to kill my child with my reckless shopping cart driving (although she probably nearly killed us in the parking lot), so I looked at her and laughed and said something stupid making fun of my driving capabilities. She continued to just stare blankly back at me with not even a hint of a smile or sympathetic comment. All of a sudden I felt completely stupid so I rushed passed her to the next isle.

I was looking for some Dreft for The Chubs since I found that using regular detergent has been giving her eczema. You would think I would've learned my lesson the first time. Nope. Right as I was looking up at the detergent I plowed into another display. At this point. I realized it was time for me to leave. I didn't even try to brush this one off or joke about it. Apparently a career in stand up comedy is not for me. I ignored the staring customers and made my way to the line and this time I made sure to look where I was going.

Kind of boring but ...

What an amazing writer I am. I know just how to captivate a reader through my thought-provoking and interest-peaking titles.

I know my posts have been few and far between and somewhat boring at times. This one is no exception. Basically I just wanted to update that it has been a full 3 weeks of good eating for the Chubadub. I was able to weigh her at the Feeding Therapy appointment today and she weighed 14 lbs! That means she's gained 1.5 lbs in a month which is amazing for her (she has never gained more than a lb. in a month before).

Today she showed off and ate an entire baby food jar of applesauce and 1.5 oz of rice cereal for the feeding therapist. Again, I know this doesn't sound like much to the average person, but I can't stress what a victory this is for her. She literally would not open her mouth for a spoon 4 weeks ago and is now averaging around 4-5 oz of solids a day. I never thought I would see the day. I had visions (nightmares) of G-Tubes and a long road of tube feeding and oral aversion to just about everything merely a month ago.

Bottle feedings are still a struggle around here. The therapist mentioned that next week she will be working with The Chubs to transition to a sippy cup which will be a huge task. Every time we introduce something new that is expected to go inside her sensitive mouth, it's a major hurdle. However, I'm confident that if anyone can help her, it's our OT. I mean, I owe this lady in a serious way for getting my child to eat from a spoon. As far as I'm concerned she's nothing short of a miracle worker, and if she could convince my child to eat off a spoon, then she can do anything. For realz.

My child is eating

Need I say more? I am still in absolute shock. 4 weeks ago she would have nothing to do with the spoon. She would fuss, close her mouth and shake her head "no" every time it came near her face. Today she ate over 3 oz of solids followed by 3 oz of formula. This may not seem like much to the average person but for my daughter, it is nothing short of a miracle. The Chubs is now eating solids twice a day and anywhere from 1-3 oz each time. She is also surpassing her fluid intake from one month ago by several oz despite her increased solids intake.

That's all.

Good news and a new GI

Yesterday we had our first appointment with our new GI. WE LOVE HIM. He is amazing. There was absolutely NO talk of a feeding tube (enough to give him a standing ovation in my book). He wants to put her on an appetite stimulant because he thinks that will help her weight gain. Also, he was the first doctor to actually ask ME what I thought of her eating and weight gain. I told him that if I didn't have a scale I wouldn't really think a thing about her weight. She seems to be happy and thriving. She's not lethargic or irritable (with the exception of her teething woes) and she's overall a very energetic and happy baby. He mentioned she just may not need as much to grow as other babies do (again, smooches Dr. S!). And the best news of all? She's finally made it to 13 lbs! She was 13 lbs. 2 oz. I never thought I'd see the day.

She also had a feeding therapy appointment at Children's yesterday and our OT is really pleased with her progress. She's started to take bites of rice cereal (granted it's only like 5-7 bites a feeding) and she seems to enjoy feeding time. She was babbling like crazy and smiling. Overall a very good experience. I think it's improved significantly since switching to a rice cereal that doesn't have hidden milk and soy ingredients (read: I hate Gerber products and the hidden crap they stick in their cereal). I also was able to find soy and dairy free teething biscuits (read: I love Healthy Times teething bars). So after all of that she seems to be doing better. Her excema has pretty much disappeared and she doesn't have freak out attacks after taking a bite of cereal. We still struggle to get her to eat enough each day but she's been consistently eating 20 oz or more a day WITHOUT the 1am feeding. A major feat and everyone around here is getting more sleep at night because of it.

The only bummer amidst all this good news is that Lexi is teething again. No rest for the weary. I can see a white bump on her top gums and her drooling and chewing has increased again. Her bottom teeth are probably about half way up. I still am having trouble getting a good picture. Taking a mouth photo of a child with oral aversions is pretty much impossible. Once they are fully in I should easily be able to get a shot when she smiles.

Probe and Scope Recap

This is going to be a quick update, but the endoscope and 24 hour probe went as well as could be expected. The endoscope showed no signs of damage or inflammation to the esophagus (praise the Lord!) and everything else looked normal as well. The probe showed that her reflux is well controlled by her meds. She did have some minor reflux incidents (mostly in the early morning before her first dose) but they didn't dip below a ph of 4 that we saw(which is usually considered acid reflux), so that was great news.

The first hour after she woke up from the scope with the probe down her nose was the worst. She was frantic, crying like crazy and so tired. She ended up throwing up, like she usually does and I felt so bad for her. She finally settled down a little later and took a much needed nap. The night was rough because she couldn't sleep very well with her hands and feet wrapped up and the tube down her throat, but overall she did pretty well. She slept more than I did!

Today we are recovering. She slept really well in her own bed last night and has taken a pretty good nap this morning. Despite everything she's been eating well yesterday and today so far. We'll find out biopsy results on Monday. Thank you for all your prayers!