And a one, a two, a one, two... two.

Two months old and a Two months check-up that is.

It went, er, well? How well can a check-up go when you have to watch your precious baby's thighs be injected with 3 shots/5 vaccines. I was THAT mom who teared up and sniffled while the whole thing went down, and my husband, who luckily is off this week, was there to squeeze my arm back to reality to soothe Gabriel.

The babe is sure gaining well, though-- he is 13 lb. 9 oz. now, up from 10 lb. 15 oz. at one month. This is assuring especially because of his reflux issue.

And the reflux issue is a whole other barrel of monkeys. The doctor we saw for his well check-up was not happy with the doctor who met with us last week and offered Gabe the Baby Zantac as a solution for his 'reflux.' This doctor, who I much prefer, wants Gabe to have a chest x-ray of his upper GI tract to confirm his reflux and to eliminate all other possible stomachish problems. I really am happy this whole investigation is thorough, but I have to give my baby barium in a bottle.

Barium in a bottle. Now, if you have been following this blog at all, you know my baby HATES bottles. Tell me how I am supposed to get my baby to drink liquid chalk out of his most-hated thing in the world.

Well, we'll get through it, right? Of course, right.

Other good things? Gabe is meeting his milestones like a champ. Lots of cooing and smiling and attempting to move forward/roll over. (Yeah, he rolled over at 6 weeks-2 days, but we are yet to see this happen again!)
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In other news....
Gabe LOVES his rainforest playmat (part 1 of the Evenflo triple fun jungle), and he talks to the koala, butterfly, and whatever else he can attempt to whack with his little arms like a crazy fool. He squirms and wriggles his little butt as he kicks his legs and squeaks out lots of random syllable combos and sounds. It is truly awesome watching him learn and blossom and all that. It's just plain fab.
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Stay tuned for my first entry of "Erin's Edibles." It'll be a fun one, too... an interesting and strange little sweet treat I made to kick it off.

Reflux in HD

So Goober has had a few rough days. He spent his time over Saturday, Sunday, and Monday crying bloody murder, spitting up copious amounts of congealed disgustingness, waking from sleep with shrieks, not sleeping, looking ashen, and simply seeming way off his usual swagger.

Concerned Mommy? YES. So I called the doc, and fastforward- nothing was found to be wrong with the little fella. Other than the reflux we already knew he had and we were avoiding treating it with meds.

But Goober was too far miserable and off his game to ignore meds anymore, so he is now on 1 ml 2x/day of zantac (ranitidine)... alla baby zantac.

And if he looks ashen again, he will need to be monitored for other issues.

He is still Grouchy McGrouchsterson today, but hopefully he will be feeling better asap.

The Battle of the Bottle

In middle school, it was Battle of the Books. In high school, it was Battle of the Bands. Now, in mommy-land, it is the Battle of the Bottle.

"What does that mean?" you may ask, thinking I am simply blogging dreary-eyed and delirious. "Why would there be a battle over a bottle? Baby hungry - baby eat."

Not so simple with Gabriel, my (not so) little breastfed baby. Every single evening when he gets his single bottle feeding (of pumped breast milk), he is a fussy, crying mess. He whimpers as he sucks, milk drips FLOODS all over his chin and neck, and he seems to be losing more milk than he eats.

I hate it. It breaks my heart to hear or see his feeding time as a battle of burps, air bubbles, spit up, and tears. It makes me feel like I'm evil for scampering off to another room for a shower or even *gasp* out into the world at Target while he is having a hissy fit during a meal.

I suppose it is the curse of the breastfed baby. Well-nourished, well-protected, well-almost-everything, but not well-adjusted to bottle feeding. Part of me wants to skip it altogether (Who would not like to avoid pumping one's breast as if it were a cow's utter on a dairy farm?), but it seems to be a necessary evil for the following reasons:
A. If I get sick, etc.
B. If, in some crazy world, I actually leave Gabe for longer than 4 hours, like on a date with my husband
C. If I get a job
(I am currently interviewing for a make-your-own-hours part-time position with a nonprofit-- I would love this sort of job situation, and the money would be excellent to have) i

I do think part of the issue is the nipple/bottle itself. I've tried Avent, and we regularly use Medela, but the nipples are just too easy for Gabe.I have read great things about MAM bottles, and in tandem with the fact that Gabe exclusively uses MAM pacifiers, it makes sense to purchase some of them to try. I am probably going to get them tomorrow. (will update how they work for him.)

And I hope my concerns over the battle of the bottle do not give you an all too rosy idea of nursing. Gabe and I have had many battles at the breast, too, but they do not happen often, especially these days. Some days I have to battle myself to keep breastfeeding because it is simply exhausting, and on growth spurt days, it can be beyond demanding.

Still, we're going strong- I pump in the morning after his 6-7ish feeding and get 4-5 oz. for a daily bottle, and I pump circa the time he eats his bottle to get 3-5 oz. for freezing.



I will leave you with this:

We're still staying at my parents' right now, and my sisters and Dad had thought my Mom bought a new type of lemon water ice when I started putting my stash in the garage freezer. Teehee.