First Days at Home

So the first few days at home with both our little boys were a little crazy, but we were figuring it out a day at a time...really an hour at a time would be a better description. Brant was absolutely in love with his baby (as were Kyle and I) and he handled the transition exceptionally well. He even told everyone that came in to meet and hold Beckett that they could not have HIS baby...very sweet. He has such a kind heart, and I am so proud of him.

Nursing Beckett was going well, and we were supplementing with Newborn formula (which I might add contains both milk and soy) due to his jaundice. We quickly learned we had another reflux baby. I remember looking over at him in his pack n' play and his head would be in a pile of brown--yes, brown--spit up. At this point, I starting thinking, "uh-oh." We had been down this road before. Brant was a refluxy baby, intolerant of both milk and soy. He was on an over-the-counter hypoallergenic formula as a baby. I had a feeling that we were dealing with a dairy allergy. Determined to nurse this baby, I quickly cut all the dairy out of my diet, and switched Beckett's supplemental formula to Alimentum.

But things did not get better, my sweet baby cried and cried, arching his back, then tucking in his legs. It broke my heart to see him hurting and to feel so helpless. Vomit spewed out of his mouth with force, and it just kept coming. I won't describe his diapers here, but something was not right. We tried switching to the other brand of hypoallergenic formula to see ifhe was just brand sensitive. At our 2 week check up, still below birth weight, our doctor started mentioning GI specialists for this little one. All I thought was that surely it wasn't that bad, and he was just like his big brother...a happy little boy who grew big despite reflux.

After two more weeks of supplemental formula tobeef him up, we returned to the doctor's office to discover he had lost more weight rather than gained. I must sayI was completely shocked to see the numbers on the scale...I don't know why I was so surprised when all the child did was vomit, but somehow, I was. Sweet Beckett didn't sleep andhad a hard time eating. His eyes were always wide open, even in the middle of the night. He would go through the whole day with only 2 30minute naps, clearly too uncomfortable to sleep. At this time, we knew we needed to get in to see a GI doctor. The next morning, Tx Children's Hospital called and said they had an opening. We loaded Beckett up for our "day-trip" to Houston.

The pictures actually progress from bottom up...He is the youngest at the bottom, and a month old at the top. I really need to figure this picture posting thing out.