Thursday, February 3, 2011
Standing at 7 1/2 months
Ben was home tonight so we hung out and played with AP for a couple hours. Check out her newest trick...sweet kiddo.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Hopefully we have an answer
For those of you who see my posts on Facebook or the blog about Allie not sleeping well, continue reading.
What's the deal?
November and December 2010 were like heaven for us around here. Allie was on an actual "schedule" and it was N-I-C-E. She would come home from school, eat, play, take a bath, then bed time by 7:30 pm. We wouldn't hear a peep out of her until 7:30 or 8 the next morning. We went home for Christmas and her great sleep habits went down the hill....FAST.
I have traveled every week since January 1st with the exception of this week. Her lack of sleep has to be due to the fact that she's not taking in as many ounces of formula as she needs at this point. She refuses her bottles at school and barely consumes 10 ounces per day. Her teachers are so sweet and worry about her just as Ben and I do so they make up for the lack of formula by spoon feeding her 3 meals per day. Yes, we have lucked out with Mrs. Crystal and Ms. Annie. :)
Now her sleep habits are terrible BUT I've realized from talking to friends that it's not as bad as I make it out to be. Allie still goes to bed at 7:30 pm, but she wakes up between 12:30 and 4 am to EAT! UGH! I feel like I have a newborn all over again. And not only does the little turkey eat, she DEVOURS a 7-8 ounce oatmeal bottle in like 2 minutes.
Now I'm not a rocket scientist but this all tells me she's starving and not getting enough calories during the day.
So now what?
Yes, don't you love how I've set up titles for my post? I'm in a weird mood!
I called our pediatrician yesterday. She's a total saint, LOVE that woman. She called me back around 5:15 pm and we talked for 10-15 minutes about Allie's eating, sleeping, etc. To be honest, the sleep doesn't bother Ben and me as much as the fact that we KNOW she isn't getting enough food. As a parent it is hard to stomach the fact that your child is hungry and it makes it even worse when you can't figure out why they won't eat when it is presented to them.
Dr. Franz always has the answers...again, I love her. I have been doing this whole "mommy" thing SO wrong. For my friends with new babies, take note:
Rather than feeding Allie oatmeal mixed with formula and fruit to taste, I thought I was being "super mommy" by giving her the pricey Gerber containers with ground up filet mignon and potatoes. (Not really, I'm just using this as an example of why I thought I was being super mom.) At school she would get a Level 2 mixed veggie in the morning followed by a Level 2 oatmeal with blended fruits then a Level 2 vegetables with whole wheat pasta. Sounds good, right?
Well Dr. Franz crushed my "super mommy" tag. Apparently the foods I was giving her are merely "empty calories" so even though it seemed like Allie was getting quite a bit of food, it wasn't enough to really sustain her, especially since she was not taking her bottles.
Dr. Franz suggested we feed Allie three oatmeal/formula/fruit to taste meals per day to coat her little tummy. If she denies a bottle during he day, but has her three spoon feeds in, it's not the end of the world like it was before when she was eating "empty calories." To END the 12:30 to 4 am feeding, she suggested we give her 5 ounces of water and 1 ounce of formula so she didn't get "full" and try to survive on that single bottle during the day. We tried this last night and sure enough, she was a Starvin' Marvin this morning and made a happy bottle before school.
The past month has been very stressful. It is amazing how much you can love "something." I am not a very patient person, but with Allie it's amazing how I have an automatic "patience increase" when dealing with her eating issues.
So what have I learned?
Point blank...she's smarter than me and Ben but Dr. Franz trumps her 110%...I think her theory is working. :)
What's the deal?
November and December 2010 were like heaven for us around here. Allie was on an actual "schedule" and it was N-I-C-E. She would come home from school, eat, play, take a bath, then bed time by 7:30 pm. We wouldn't hear a peep out of her until 7:30 or 8 the next morning. We went home for Christmas and her great sleep habits went down the hill....FAST.
I have traveled every week since January 1st with the exception of this week. Her lack of sleep has to be due to the fact that she's not taking in as many ounces of formula as she needs at this point. She refuses her bottles at school and barely consumes 10 ounces per day. Her teachers are so sweet and worry about her just as Ben and I do so they make up for the lack of formula by spoon feeding her 3 meals per day. Yes, we have lucked out with Mrs. Crystal and Ms. Annie. :)
Now her sleep habits are terrible BUT I've realized from talking to friends that it's not as bad as I make it out to be. Allie still goes to bed at 7:30 pm, but she wakes up between 12:30 and 4 am to EAT! UGH! I feel like I have a newborn all over again. And not only does the little turkey eat, she DEVOURS a 7-8 ounce oatmeal bottle in like 2 minutes.
Now I'm not a rocket scientist but this all tells me she's starving and not getting enough calories during the day.
So now what?
Yes, don't you love how I've set up titles for my post? I'm in a weird mood!
I called our pediatrician yesterday. She's a total saint, LOVE that woman. She called me back around 5:15 pm and we talked for 10-15 minutes about Allie's eating, sleeping, etc. To be honest, the sleep doesn't bother Ben and me as much as the fact that we KNOW she isn't getting enough food. As a parent it is hard to stomach the fact that your child is hungry and it makes it even worse when you can't figure out why they won't eat when it is presented to them.
Dr. Franz always has the answers...again, I love her. I have been doing this whole "mommy" thing SO wrong. For my friends with new babies, take note:
Rather than feeding Allie oatmeal mixed with formula and fruit to taste, I thought I was being "super mommy" by giving her the pricey Gerber containers with ground up filet mignon and potatoes. (Not really, I'm just using this as an example of why I thought I was being super mom.) At school she would get a Level 2 mixed veggie in the morning followed by a Level 2 oatmeal with blended fruits then a Level 2 vegetables with whole wheat pasta. Sounds good, right?
Well Dr. Franz crushed my "super mommy" tag. Apparently the foods I was giving her are merely "empty calories" so even though it seemed like Allie was getting quite a bit of food, it wasn't enough to really sustain her, especially since she was not taking her bottles.
Dr. Franz suggested we feed Allie three oatmeal/formula/fruit to taste meals per day to coat her little tummy. If she denies a bottle during he day, but has her three spoon feeds in, it's not the end of the world like it was before when she was eating "empty calories." To END the 12:30 to 4 am feeding, she suggested we give her 5 ounces of water and 1 ounce of formula so she didn't get "full" and try to survive on that single bottle during the day. We tried this last night and sure enough, she was a Starvin' Marvin this morning and made a happy bottle before school.
The past month has been very stressful. It is amazing how much you can love "something." I am not a very patient person, but with Allie it's amazing how I have an automatic "patience increase" when dealing with her eating issues.
So what have I learned?
Point blank...she's smarter than me and Ben but Dr. Franz trumps her 110%...I think her theory is working. :)
Sweet kid
Ben was gone tonight during Allie's rituals (eat, bath, bottle, bed) so I took a couple pictures of her while playing at her playland. School wears her out so keep in mind - she wasn't in the greatest of moods but we still had fun!
Playing with her Maryland Terrapin, compliments of Randy, Jeanette & Alex
SO close to crawling
My grandparents gave her this doll that has the creepiest laugh but she LOVES the thing
What What?
Laughing at the creepy laughing doll
She will kill me for this picture one day (dear Lord look how nasty she is) but it was quite the turning point of the evening...
This is why her playland is a total disaster
"Hey mom, give me that camera!"
Trying to lunge forward without face-planting
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Family Pictures
My grandfather randomly won a free photography session with Robert Miller at a choir concert for my cousin Molly in November. Mama and Papa have always wanted to get the group together for pictures and similar to my post yesterday, what are the chances he would win something like this after mom dies?
Given we live all over the place, we scheduled family pictures for December 23rd while in Marshall for Christmas. We finally got the proofs last night so I thought I would add a couple to the blog. Yes, these do say "PROOF" across the bottom...I know...
Given we live all over the place, we scheduled family pictures for December 23rd while in Marshall for Christmas. We finally got the proofs last night so I thought I would add a couple to the blog. Yes, these do say "PROOF" across the bottom...I know...
Mama and Papa...I'm not quite sure what I would do without these two!
The fabulous Darden grandkids!
The Lake's...notice who is missing...she was there in spirit, but it's definitely not the same
The whole gang...minus mom...but the dogs did a good job at making us all realize (like I said above) that she was there in spirit
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