Wordless Wednesday

Swallow Study

We had to get up very early last Tuesday for Calvin's upper GI swallow study. Since he was not allowed to eat anything after midnight we tried not to wake him up. He woke up anyway. To our surprise he just cried a little bit and after we changed his diaper we played a little bit with him and he was happy again. After a short 25 minutes drive we arrived at the university medical center. They had construction going on, so finding the entrance to the radiology department took us longer than expected. Following the usual arbitration and notice of privacy signing we had a seat in the waiting area, actually Alex had a seat and I bounced with Calvin in his Boba Babycarrier. We got called into the exam room. It was very cold. Calvin got strapped down onto a bench with his arms up beside his head. He was crying the whole time. Then the technician tried to give him the contrast liquid mixed in with sugar water. Calvin did not cooperate, which was to be expected, but luckily the tech still managed to get some of it into his mouth with a syringe. They took some x-ray pictures and determined that Calvin indeed does have reflux. He also spit up everything during the exam... On the way home Calvin fell asleep. I am glad that we know what is wrong with him now and I hope he will eventually grow out of it. Until then we just have to give him his medicine and encourage him to drink more.

look at Vinnie's tongue :P

Videos

Vinnie learning to clapp:

laughing

mandarin oranges

yogurt

How old is your baby?

We went to see a gastrointestinal specialist on Thursday. It appears as if Calvin has had reflux all his life. I remember going to his pediatrician when he was 1 month old to talk about his spitting up. After they learned that I was a first time mom, they said it was normal for a baby to spit up so much... so we went home and dealt with it. It upsets me to know that we could have done something earlier if I would have been more persistent. The gi doctor prescribed prilosec. This Tuesday Calvin will have an upper GI swallow study. He is not allowed to eat or drink anything before the procedure. So we will have a very cranky baby. My husband will come with us to hold my hand.

And now to the title of this post...
"How old is your baby?"
"11.5 month!"
"I think he looks more like 3 month old. Is something wrong with him? Is he a preemie?"
"No, he is just very small"
"Is he crawling yet?"
"No not yet, we think he will skip the crawling stage..."
"Oh ok. Maybe you should have him checked out or something..."
at this point I usually just excuse myself and leave...

Why do some people have to be so insensitive? Maybe it is me, but I really have a hard time with people commenting on his weight in such a way. Next time I might just say that he is 3 month old!

Calvin 2.5 month old

Failure to thrive

Yesterday was a hard day for me and it was even worse for Calvin. We had a follow up appointment with his pediatrician Dr. S to discuss what we should do next. I still can not get him to drink any liquids during the day.

As usual we were a bit late for Calvin's appointment, so we did not have to wait very long. The medical assistant took his vital signs and then we checked his weight. He was 15 lb 6 oz, that means he gained about 3 oz since his last appointment 1 week ago. Poor Vinnie had to sit naked on the little babyscale they have; last week he 'lost' about 1 oz in pee while sitting on it...
It is hard to tell if the reflux medicine he has been taking for 1 week now is really working. He does not arch his back as much anymore, which might be an indication that it is working, but he still does not take any liquids during the day. Maybe he associates drinking with pain? I wish he could just tell me...
Dr. S ordered a chest and an abdominal x-ray to see if there were any obstructions. It was heartbreaking to hold him down so that he would not move too much. Vinnie took the chance and peed while lying on the x-ray table :) Poor Vinnie also had some blood drawn. I had to hold him down again. They had to use both of his arms to get enough blood. He did not cry as much as I thought he would.

looking good

Tomorrow we have an appointment with a GI (gastrointestinal) doctor. I really love that Dr. S is so thorough, but I really wish we would not have to do all this. Calvin is a very happy and alert baby, he 'talks' a lot, he is very curios and eager to learn new things. However he does not pull himself up to standing, he is not cruising along furniture and he is not crawling. Apparently that is still considered normal, but when I see 6 month old Eula at the playgroup crawling towards him, while he is lying motionless on his tummy, it just makes me wonder if I am doing something wrong.
I hope today will be a better day!

teeth

Calvin vs. Food

If it was up to Calvin he would have oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner...

About 5 weeks ago Calvin started to refuse his bottles. We've tried everything we could think of (sippycup, strawcup, normal cup, you name it ) I was really worried and so we went to the doctor, who sent us to a nutritionist. The next day Calvin and I saw said nutritionist. She basically told me that Vinnie is trying to control me into giving him his favorite food (oatmeal) and that I should put him on a strict feeding schedule. If he does not want to eat what I have to give to him, he won't get anything else and that I should let him cry it out. The best thing was that she told me, in case the police stops by, to tell them that I am trying to get my child under control.
She did not give me any advice on how to get him to take a bottle; she just pointed at a foodchart from 1983, which says how much a baby has to eat, and said things like "mommy should have introduced you to eggs at 8 month". I felt so disrespected. She wanted to see me again after 3 weeks. We are not going there again. It was a complete waste of time. I was so mad at myself for not speaking up. But how do you tell a sixty-something year old lady that you are not agreeing with her parenting advice?

Last week we went to our pediatrician and discussed what we should do next. We decided to put Vinnie on anti reflux medicine and change him over to soy formula. So far I can't tell if it is really working. He has gained 4 oz in 3 weeks, which is pretty good for him. But he still only has that one bottle in the morning and yogurt, oatmeal, tablefoods and Ella's Kitchen pouches throughout the day. Our next appointment is on Tuesday. I just hope we can figure this out.

the result of 1 EK pouch :)

Likes and Dislikes

here are some of Calvin's likes in no particular order:

his new BabyBjörn bouncer

Oatmeal

this fuzzy ball he got from Oma Mary

taking the stroller and stopping by Starbucks for a freshly brewed hot and delicious beverage

swinging

sitting in a shopping cart like a big boy

bathtime

seeing Papa when he comes home from work

car rides

rice puffs

and here are some things Calvin does not like:

• drinking his bottle
• getting his nails trimmed
• his reflux medicine
• when we wipe off his face and hands after he had something to eat
• sippycups and strawcups
• bedtime

Calvin's Birth Story

After an uneventful 40 weeks and 3 days I woke up due to a lot of pain at 5 in the morning of November 29, 2010. By 10 am my contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasted for about 1.5 minutes, so we called the hospital and were told to go to labor and delivery. I was brought into triage and they put me on monitors and checked my cervix. I was at only 1 cm so they had me walk around to get my labor going. An hour later they checked me again and nothing had changed, so they sent us home to relax. We went to Panera Bread on our way back home. I had a nice salad and Alex got a tuna sandwich. The contractions were still pretty painful, but irregular.
Later that afternoon we went to a huge shopping mall. I was hoping that walking around would help with the labor process. To catch my breath I had to stop walking every few minutes. I wonder what all the people around me were thinking :) We ended up buying something from H&M. On our way home we got something spicy to eat from Pei Wei.
By about 9 pm I was in so much pain that I could not handle it anymore, but my contractions were still not regular. I called the hospital anyway and off we went again. When they checked me I was at 3 cm. They finally let me stay and I got my epidural. I was a little bit afraid to get it, but it was really awesome and helped a lot. I might have slept through the night, had it not been for the blood pressure cuff that woke me up every 30 minutes or so...
At around 8 am the next day they checked me again and I was at 8 cm. Two hours later I started to push. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. After 3.5 hours I was about to ask for an assisted birth when Dr. K told me she would vacuum Calvin out. Calvin Jörn was born weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches tall at 1:50 pm on November 30, 2010. He was perfect and we could not be happier.

New at this

I should probably start by introducing myself. My name is Stephanie. I am from Germany so bear with my English. I have a wonderful husband (we have been married for almost 4.5 years). Our son, Calvin Jörn, is almost 1 year old. We named him after the comic strip "Calvin & Hobbes". I know that may seem strange, but it suits him really well. Judge for yourself :)

Calvin 'Vinnie' Jörn