Finally an Appointment

Emma finally has an appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist. It's not until December, but at least she has an appointment scheduled. This is where she will be going. In the meantime, we are going to have to figure out some things to try and help her feel better. I inclined her crib today with some books, and am going to start using gripe water again. I need to go ahead and reintroduce some solid foods, so I'm going to have to do some research on that. Green foods are definitely out for now. Other than the reflux and her gas, she's good. We've been working on the "b" sound today, which she thinks is funny. Yesterday she also made an "m" sound. She's getting closer to sitting up on her own. I helped her sit up for a good 5 minutes earlier, and she just looked around at everything with her eyes wide. It's a different perspective for her. She also has finally gotten to where she almost seems to enjoy her tummy time. Now she can scoot around enough to get to toys. We've been having fun hanging out together.

Waiting another day

I was supposed to hear from the doctor's office today about Emma's appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist. When I didn't get a call, I called them. Apparently there is only one person there who can make referrals and she was out today. So it will be "first thing" tomorrow. I bet. I am, needless to say, a little upset. Emma is having terrible gas lately. Seriously, she burps up huge air bubbles. It's causing her to spit up even more, and scream after every feeding. It's also causing her to take up during every nap, so I know she's tired too. I burp her frequently, which in itself makes her spit up, and I'm trying to put her on her tummy more. That seems to help her get the gas out also. I am really ready to see this new doctor and figure out how to help her.

Doctor's Appointment

Today we took Emma to see the Dr. She has been a lot less fussy the last couple of days, and today seemed very happy and talkative. She seems to talk less when her reflux flares up, which worries me. The dr. reassured us that she still looks good (she's somewhat small, but very healthy) and that he believes she just has bad reflux. But he is going to get her in to see a pediatric gastroenterologist in Nashville. I think Nick and I will both be relieved to have her seen by someone who specializes in reflux and other similar issues. We are praying that the dr. will be able to change her meds or formula, so she won't have to undergo any invasive testing. I am still eager to get her on solids, as she is always hungry now and I know she's ready for solids. Unfortunately, her system doesn't seem to handle them too well right now. So until we get in to see the dr, I will be researching pediatric gi's, possible tests and procedures, medications, and creating a document of questions and her history to take with us. This is when my journal of all her activities will pay off (Nick has been asking me for months now when we could stop recording every last poop). Hopefully this new dr. will be able to get Emma all straightened out. Other than the reflux (and the really terrible gas she's been having, which I'm assuming is related), she's an awesome little girl. We've finally managed to drop the swaddle, and she seems to love having both of her hands out. I'm finished with her Christmas shopping, although I keep finding cute things. We bought her the Charlie Monkey book (there's a link on the right side of my blog), and she absolutely loves it. I'm ordering a few more like it from Amazon. I'm really hoping she will take after me and love to read. We read to her every day and she'll grow up seeing me read. We think she might be a little Tom Glavine (a lefty), but obviously it's too young to tell. Overall, we are having a blast with her. Tonight after we got back from the doctor's, we all laid in the floor and played, even the dogs. She babbled on and on. This is such a fun age, and she's so close to sitting up on her own. Today we got some mother-daughter cuddle time, which we don't do enough of. We just stared at each other, and she stuck her hands in my mouth. She's all about sticking everything in her mouth. Please pray for her as she goes to see the specialist. We know how blessed we are that she is more or less a perfectly healthy girl, but we hate to see her suffer in any way. And of course I feel guilty. Could something I did or my genes have contributed to it? Is there something more I could be doing now? Probably not, but apparently as a mother, I'm required to worry and feel guilty...it's a rule.

Baby Dedication

Emma did so great yesterday at church. It was the Family & Baby Dedication, and she looked super cute. And best of all, she only spit up once and didn't cry. We were so proud of her. This is what our pastor posted on the church's blog about the dedication:

Yesterday morning we celebrated our Family Dedication service. On the surface this is a ceremony of wonder, of hope, of delight as we see these young families and adore the precious babies on the platform. However, below the surface lies a greater call.

Our commitment to Family Dedication is founded on the Biblical principles of both Psalm 78 and Deuteronomy 6. Both passages clearly define the utmost responsibility of the parents to remember the words of Scripture and to teach them to their children. God makes parents responsible for passing on the truths of their faith within every afforded opportunity. In addition, the community of faith was held accountable to bring support. This is why we have “raised the bar” so to speak by requiring membership of one parent and attendance at a “parenting class” by both parents prior to our Family dedication Sunday. These prerequisites strengthen the lines of accountability.

Deeper still is our realization of the power and sovereignty of God in the lives of our children. This is why it is always stated that “this ceremony is not one of guarantee, but rather intent”. This serves as a reminder that we are fully dependent on God. We are called to obedience; we are called to treasure God’s Word; we are called to obey the commands of God; we are called to live in the light of His glory and persevere as witnesses for the Gospel. The results of our obedience rest in God alone. Every act of salvation is a miracle of God and if we were going to stake our lives on the “probable” we would all come up short. Instead, we stake our lives on the power of God, His unwavering attributes, and the truth of His Word. God is the one who changes hearts and saves us from sin. This is why the Family Dedication service and the covenant expressed there is so vital to the health of our community of faith. It is because we are coming together and committing ourselves to connection, accountability, fervent prayer, and clear teaching with the hope that our children will come to know Christ as Savior and will continue in the faith as powerful witnesses.

Join me in commitment to guardianship – guarding our hearts and minds so that we treasure God alone and communicate and live that lifestyle in our homes, in our faith community, in our world, and thereby show the next generation the glory of God through our lives.

Sometimes the responsibility I feel is overwhelming. We pray with her every day, read to her from her storybook Bible and I do my Bible reading out loud to her when she's eating. We try to talk to her about Jesus. But ultimately we can't make her love God and live her life for Him. As much as I'd love to control her life (and maybe lock her in her room for the next 18 years), I can't. That's scary. So we'll do the best we can and know that God has equipped us to raise out pretty little girl better than anyone else could.

We made an appointment with her doctor for tomorrow. Something has to happen...not sure what, but we're tired of not being taken seriously. She's acted like she's feeling better, but I'm not willing to wait it out until she hopefully grows out of it, letting her suffer along the way. Hopefully our appt tomorrow will go well and he'll finally listen to our concerns and do something about it.

Spit-Up

Because spit-up is such an important part of my vocabulary now, I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. As a verb, it's two words - spit up - and as a noun, it's hyphenated. I always kind of wondered that when I was recording in Emma's notebook. Now I know. Lately her reflux has been much worse...again. It's not just more spit-up...she screams during and after her feedings, and before she spits up. I can handle spit-up...but I'm not going to let her live in pain every day. She's been eating some solids for a couple of weeks now, but if anything, introducing new foods has made it worse. Green veggies are definitely out. So far, sweet potatoes have been the only thing she can tolerate. I've decided to not really listen to the dr (because honestly, he's been less than helpful) and go a different direction with the order of foods. Next week, I'm going to try avocado. I've heard that it's a good first food, especially for babies with reflux. After that, pears, which are supposed to be the best fruit for reflux babies (not very acidic). And then bananas, which have gotten mixed reviews. I talked to a nurse at our doctor's office again, and she said that there's nothing else we can do. She's on the max amount of Prevacid (I know kids who take more, but I don't really want to just keep upping the meds either) and there's no better formula to try. She did say to give the Prevacid a month to work...lady, she's been on Prevacid almost her entire life. She's been on this particular dosage since August 4th...which makes 2 1/2 months. They keep awesome charts there. Oh, but she did give me some advice...keep her elevated when she eats and for 30 minutes afterward. No way, that's profound. She said it sounds hard to do. Well, she eats in a highchair and we keep her up for longer than 30 minutes. It's very frustrating. I think we are going to have to see a specialist or switch doctors. I'm really fed up with his office right now.

On a happier note, I've started my Christmas shopping. I'm almost finished with Emma. I'm excited for her first Christmas. I'm ready to put the tree up soon, but Nick refuses to until after Thanksgiving. I have presents wrapped and everything. I love Christmas.

Basketball!

So, I'm a terrible mother and kept Emma out way too late last night. We went to Hilltopper Hysteria, which was supposed to be over at 10pm and actually lasted until 10:45. She got to bed at 11:24pm. She did good though. She loved all the people, and especially the video board. Fortunately when we start taking her to games, we'll get home much earlier than that. I'm ready for basketball season to be here. Emma still has yet to meet Big Red...so far, she's been asleep every time he's come around. She loves her little stuffed Big Red, but the real deal might be scary.

She's still doing good. The sweet potatoes have been a big success, so I hope the green veggie (beans or peas, I haven't decided yet) goes over as well next week. Her weight gain has slowed a little bit, but she still eats anything and everything she can. The baby dedication at church is next week; I found a cute hairbow to match her dress, so she'll be cute as long as she doesn't spit up all over herself. I have this vision of her spitting up all over the stage, and some poor dad carrying a baby tripping in it.

Videos

I took a couple of videos on my iPhone of Emma trying sweet potatoes and of her trying to talk like a pirate.

Nick's Birthday

Sunday was Nick's 27th birthday. After church, we left Emma with my mom (the longest we had been away from her, which was so weird...and a little terrifying) and headed to Nashville. We got to eat at Olive Garden, and then went to Babies 'R Us. I'm sure shopping for Emma wasn't Nick's idea of a fun time, but we got tons of awesome stuff. We finally got a pack & play, a gate to keep the dogs out of her room, some baby food (I can't make her homemade carrots until she's at least 7 months old, so we have to buy them for now), and lots of other stuff. She should be set for winter clothes for a while, and I found a cute little dress and sweater for the baby dedication at church. Now I just need a silver hairbow to match. After that, we went downtown to try to park for the game. I got Nick tickets to the Titans/Colts game for this birthday. We've always talked about going to a Titans game, but never done it. We had a great time! It's funny...when we go to cities, we really feel out of place. I never felt like that until I married Nick. I still love big cities, but know now that I could never live in one. It's funny how God knows what you need even when you don't. There was this homeless, drunk man stumbling around the streets. He grabbed a girl's arm, and I practically ran to the other side of the street. I used to love that stuff. Amanda and I went to New York City by ourselves when we were 17. I can't wait to show Nick New York and DC and Chicago and Baltimore...and hopefully go to Boston, and lots of other cities. Anyway, that's all off-topic. The game was fun. We had terrible seats, but the good things was we could see the whole field. The Titans, of course, lost to the Colts, but Vince Young did come in in the 4th quarter, so that was cool. I'm not a big Vince Young fan, but they need to do something. It was nice to have a night by ourselves. Next up is an NBA game...hopefully to see Courtney.

Today I introduced Emma to sweet potatoes. I started baking sweet potatoes in August for her, so we've got a few bag-fulls. We had tried the rice cereal the week before last, and again last week. She hated it. She fussed the whole time, spit up, and it gave her terrible gas. I talked to a nurse at the dr's office, but sometimes they're not so helpful. So I decided to move to sweet potatoes. There's no reason she has to start with cereal. Well, she loved the sweet potatoes. Loved! We had the best time. She opened her mouth for the spoon, reached for the bowl when she wanted more (we're working on signing that word, but that will be a while), and laughed when I put the spoon to her mouth. I'm so happy she liked them so much. It makes me feel good that I can fix at least most of her food myself. Baby food is expensive, and even if they throw an "Organic" label on there, I don't know what's in it. I will have to buy some, like carrots and green veggies. I haven't figured out how to make homemade green vegetables yet. I can buy frozen and use that, but then I can't refreeze it once it's pureed. Jenny, if you read this, do you make your own peas and green beans? The plan is to give her sweet potatoes at one meal this week, and to introduce carrots next week, while still giving sweet potatoes at a second meal. Hopefully that will help to curb her hunger...she's a little pig. Solid foods are exciting to me (shows you how boring my life is, I suppose)! I can't wait to try bananas, applesauce, peaches, pears, and avocado. I also have squash and zucchini ready. The dr. also said to wait for fruits until her 6 month visit, but oh well.

Solids

So we tried the rice cereal...yuck. It made Emma very gassy and fussy. We have decided to bypass cereal and start next week with vegetables, assuming she's back to her normal self by then. I know she's ready for solids, because she's hungry all the time. We feed her as much formula as we can, and she just wants more. She's had so much gas that she's been waking up from all her naps screaming. So now we have to get her back into her routine. Thankfully it hasn't affected her nighttime sleep. Last weekend we had a yard sale and went to Jackson's Orchard. It was a perfect day and she loved being outside. She can now roll over from her tummy to her back both ways, although she's still not too sure if she likes it. She stayed with my parents Friday night (we left their house at 9:30 and were coming back at 5am for the yard sale, so it didn't make sense to wake her up and take her with us), and I couldn't sleep all night. I don't think she'll be spending anymore nights away from us for a while. I worried nonstop.