Adjusting

Owen is two weeks old today. In a way, it seems like those 2 weeks have gone by in a flash, and yet it seems like it's taken 2 years. It's hard to remember what our family was like before he was a part of it. He fits in so well here with all of us. It's amazing the amount of love we've all developed for this sweet little boy in the last 2 weeks.

And even though we love him incredibly, his birth hasn't come without a lot of adjusting for all of us. We've seen a lot of this:

Nate is feeling very displaced and cries a lot. And, he and Aaron have decided to get my attention in less than ideal ways. On Sunday night, the two of them snuck into our guest bathroom, and Nate let Aaron squeeze a whole bottle of shampoo on top of his head (and down his church clothes, and on his church shoes, and all over the bathroom floor). And then yesterday, the two of them squoze green minty toothpaste all over the upstairs carpet (and then walked around in it, spreading it and grinding it into the carpet). It took me two hours of shampooing the carpet before the green finally came out of the carpet. They also have taken to making piles of toys. They don't play with the toys, they just tear them all off the shelves and make piles with them. After the toothpaste incident, and numerous piles, I'd had it. So, I took all my empty totes that used to have baby girl clothes stored in them, and I boxed up all of their toys and put them in the top of the girls' closet. I decided that if they couldn't take care of their toys, they didn't deserve to have them. We'll see how long it takes before I cave and let them have the toys back. In the meantime, it will make it easier to keep the house clean--I'll just have bored kids.

The other kids seem to be adjusting a bit better. They love to sit and hold Owen anytime I let them (and fight over whose turn it is to hold him). They are loving that they are out of school this week, so they get extra time with him.

And I'm trying to adjust the best I can. My body seems to have adjusted perfectly. I only gained 21 pounds during the pregnancy, and have lost 23 pounds over the last 2 weeks (thanks to an almost 10 pound baby, and then the stomach flu). I feel like I'm fully recovered from childbirth. My mind is taking a bit longer to adjust. I love having a new baby, but find myself wondering if life will ever be "normal" again.

Doctor's Appointment

On Friday Owen had his first doctor's appointment (10 day check-up). I discussed with the doctor my theory that Owen had a milk allergy. He agreed that I needed to cut dairy out of my diet. He explained it really well to me. He said it takes about a year for a baby's digestive system to fully develop. He said that the protein in dairy is harder for some babies to break down. The protein is then absorbed into the lining of the stomach, and if it hasn't been broken down properly, then the stomach is trying to absorb larger pieces of protein, which can be painful and tear up the lining of the stomach.

Owen's weight had dropped to 8 pounds 12 ounces. He should have regained his birth weight (9 lbs 2 oz). So, I was told to start supplementing more. The doctor said he looks great, looks healthy, but we just need to fatten him up a bit more. He gave me the lecture about the things that decrease breast milk--stress, fatigue, and sickness. And unfortunately, I'm failing in all three. First it was the flu, now I've come down with a horrible cold. Owen's not a great sleeper at night. He has to sleep right next to me, and I spend the whole night putting the pacifier back in, and holding his hands when he fusses (he likes having my hand on him to help him feel secure). And there are the middle of the night feedings, which take up to an hour at a time. And there is no chance of me getting a nap in the daytime--too many kids to take care of. And, the whole milk issue doesn't help in the stress department. So he gave me a prescription for Reglan, which is supposed to help boost my milk supply (which I still need to take to the pharmacy to get filled). And in the meantime, we are just doing more bottles. And we get to go back next Monday to check his weight again.

Feeding Problems

For those of you who aren't familiar with our history, let me backtrack and fill you in on our struggle with milk allergies.

Josh was a darling little baby, but he was not what you'd call a "good" baby. He cried all the time. Seriously, all the time. I did a lot of research, and as far as I could tell, it was just colic. And everything I read said there was nothing you could do about colic, and that babies just eventually outgrow it. But when he was six weeks old, he spit up blood, and we knew there was something seriously wrong. We took him to the ER and were referred to a specialist. We ended up having to do a scope to determine what was wrong. The diagnosis--severe milk protein intolerance. So severe that his stomach was bleeding. The solution--no dairy whatsoever. And since I was breastfeeding, and babies get everything that mom eats, it meant no dairy for me. It was horrible. No milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, ice cream, chocolate, pizza--well, you get the picture. Thankfully, he outgrew the allergy by a year, and has had no problem since.

Next came Sara. We didn't want to take the chance that she might be allergic to milk also, so we just automatically went to a soy formula for her (I had major milk supply issues with her, so I wasn't able to nurse her). And she did fine.

Next was Aaron. It had been long enough, that we had kind of forgotten about the whole milk issue, so when he needed an occasional bottle, we just did regular milk based formula and didn't think anything of it. And he was a really good, really happy baby. But at Aaron's 9 month check, he was iron deficient. So the pediatrician told me to start giving Aaron infant vitamin drops daily. I did, but at his 12 month check, his iron had dropped even further. I did some research and found that the most common cause of iron deficiency in babies is blood loss, most commonly from internal bleeding. Back to the specialist. Back to stool sample cards to test for blood (we had done countless numbers of those tests with Josh). And it was confirmed that Aaron had blood in his stool. His poop had always been dark, but I had just never thought anything of it. So, Aaron had to go off all dairy till he was 18 months old, giving his system time to heal and develop.

Nathan. Nate had failure to thrive, and I was ordered to start supplementing with formula. It didn't take more than a few days of milk based formula before his poop started to turn dark. So we switched to a soy, and then he was fine. He didn't seem to be as sensitive as his brothers had been, and I didn't have to alter my diet.

Which brings us to Owen. In the hospital, because of his low blood sugar, we had to do a lot of bottles. I told them it had to be soy--I didn't want to take the chance of him having an allergy also. So, we did soy. And once my milk came in, we continued to do a small bottle of soy here and there (about 2 ounces every other day or so) when I was too tired or he was too hungry. But on day 5, his poop started to turn green, and over the next day or so it got darker and darker. I knew what it was, but wasn't ready to admit it quite yet. Then came a few spit-ups with a tinge of brown mixed in. And then, the fussyness started. By day 8, he was quite fussy. So, the morning of day 9, I confessed to Scott what I suspected--that Owen had the same severe milk intolerance that Josh had. Scott agreed, and I immediately stopped eating dairy. And after three days, Owen's poop was back to a nice yellow color.

I can't tell you the frustration that I'm feeling over all of this. It is so hard to not eat dairy. I crave it like crazy. But, it's the ultimate test of will power. On a diet, you tell yourself that if you cheat just a little, it's ok. But with this, Owen's well being and happiness is dependent on my will power. I can't cheat, ever. Our ward brought in meals all last week and last night--a bunch of things that I couldn't eat. The ultimate temptation was last night--funeral potatoes. Creamy, cheesy funeral potatoes--and I couldn't eat them. I couldn't even eat the pumpkin cake they brought, because it had a thick layer of cream cheese frosting on top. It's killing me! It's going to be a very long year.

And in case you made it to the end of this, and are wondering how Savannah escaped with no problems--she didn't, we just didn't know what to look for in her. She was only breastfed, no bottles. We gave her formula once, and it burned her little bum when it came through. The gastroenterologist said that was probably because of a milk intolerance. But, because she was breastfed and wasn't "ultra" sensitive, we didn't ever see any other symptoms. So, there you have it--6 for 6. What luck! Thankfully, we knew what we were looking for this time, and were able to recognize and correct it before it became really bad. And, thankfully, this is something that they all outgrow. And, on the bright side, no dairy will make it a lot easier for me to lose weight!

Outings

After being trapped in the house for a week, I was ready to get out and be around people. On Thursday morning, my friend Melanie (the one I used to go running with) came over and stayed with my three little boys while I went to Josh's choir concert at school. I was gone just under an hour. It was so nice to have a little break. That afternoon, Scott's mom came over to help out. She got my house pulled back together (have I mentioned how messy my house had become?) and did all the after school gymnastics runs for me. I was running on virtually no sleep that day, so it was so nice to have some help.

On Friday Owen had his 10 day doctor's appointment. The kids were out of school, and I didn't want to even try having all 6 of them at the doctor, so I asked my neighbor to watch them. Owen and I had some nice quiet time at the doctor's office. I'll update on what the doctor said about him in my next post.

Friday night Scott took Josh to a Boise State football game. Josh loves BSU, and Scott promised him a long time ago that he would take Josh to a game this year. Blue Cross gave Scott two tickets to Friday's game, and since I couldn't go, Josh got to be his dad's date to the game. It was a cold rainy evening, so they bundled up and braved the elements. They left for the game around 5:30 so they could hit some tailgates that they'd been invited to. The game started at 7, and they arrived home just before midnight. And Josh loved every minute of it.

Sunday we ventured out as the entire family for the first time--for church. It was fun to show off Owen to all of our ward friends.

Monday evening I took Owen to get his hand and foot mold done. I've done it with all of my kids, and have all the molds of their hands and feet in a line on top of my piano. Savannah got to come along to help keep Owen happy on the drive.

And today was the first time that I got to venture out with all 6 kids by myself--for Aaron's gymnastics. Normally it would only be the three little boys and me, but the other three kids are out of school for Thanksgiving break, so I had all 6. It proved to be quite an adventure--nothing major went wrong, just the chaos of trying to navigate 6 kids where I need them to go. The kids were all excited to show their little brother off to their gymnastics instructors. And Nathan got some good snuggle time with his favorite instructor Miss Christina. She was working the front desk during Aaron's class, and let Nate be her little helper on her lap the whole time. He loved the extra attention.

I find myself wondering how I'll survive each day (lack of sleep, lack of time, lack of energy, etc.). But survive I do, and I find that if I just take it one day at a time, it helps. I feel like I will never again be caught up on laundry and cleaning, but realize I have to be patient and just do my best. I mean, it's only been two weeks. I keep telling myself that things will get easier, and in the meantime, I need to enjoy this newborn stage because it will go by way too quickly.

First Real Bath

On Wednesday, Owen's cord fell off. He was only 8 days old--that's the fastest of any of our kids. So, we dug out the baby bathtub and gave him a bath. He wasn't much of a fan of the bath.





He was much happier once he was dried off and dressed.

November 12th and Beyond

Friday I spent the entire day in bed. I couldn't keep anything in me. I couldn't eat and I couldn't drink--the entire day. It was horrible. I slept the entire day, except when I got up to feed this little guy.



Saturday was better, but I felt like I was completely starting over on my healing process. The flu completely wiped me out, and I had to start all over on rebuilding my energy back up. Saturday afternoon my parents left to go back to Aberdeen. Luckily, I have a really great husband who helps out around the house and with the kids. I don't know how I would survive without him. The kids have been great, too. They fight over who gets to hold Owen. As soon as he makes the tiniest little noise, one of them is at his side to give him a pacifier or hold his hand or talk to him. Nate is the one who is having a hard time. He wants to be the baby still. I've caught him so many times in Owen's swing with a pacifier in his mouth (Nate's a thumb sucker, but has been trying out the pacifier so he can be like Owen). I even caught him in Owen's crib, trying to be like Owen. Nate cries a lot and I can tell he feels really displaced. And yet he seems to really love Owen, even if he is jealous of him. The other day while I took a shower, Nate talked to Owen in his swing the entire time. This morning while I showered, Nate laid next to Owen on the bed and sang him songs the whole time.



Sara has been great, too. She loves that she's the oldest one home in the afternoons. Yesterday I was trying to get some cleaning done upstairs. I started in the girls' room, so I put Owen on Sara's bed while I cleaned. He started to fuss, so I sent Sara downstairs to get his pacifier. She came back and laid down next to Owen and put his pacifier in his mouth, held his hand, and started talking to him. He instantly was happy. She stayed there for 45 minutes, just lying next to him and taking care of him. I told her several times that she could go do something else if she wanted, but she wanted to stay with her little brother. It was so sweet.

We are all trying to adjust to having a new baby in our home. Scott went back to work on Monday, and although the house is a mess, I find that I am surviving on my own. I spend most of my time sitting and nursing Owen. I had forgotten just how time consuming a nursing baby is. But, the kids are very patient about it and have become rather resourceful at getting themselves food when they are hungry. I'm trying to cherish this time with Owen. It breaks my heart that this is my last baby. I'm having a really hard time accepting that this is it. I know I have to be done at some point, but a part of me wishes I could just keep on having babies forever. I assured Scott I wouldn't try and talk him into another baby, but that he had to be understanding about the fact that I'm really struggling with this being it. I just know that this time is going to pass all too quickly, so I'm trying to savor every minute.

November 11th--Going Home Day

With all my other kids, I was very eager to check out of the hospital as soon as I could. I would stay my required 24 hours, and then I'd check out. This time around, I decided that I was going to stay for 2 days. I knew that if I went home to 6 kids, I'd over do it and end up with problems. So, for two days I enjoyed the quiet time with Owen, enjoyed the yummy hospital food, enjoyed the hospital's cable TV, and got plenty of REST. It also turned out to be a good thing for Owen, since he had so much trouble with his blood sugar.

So, after two days of lying in bed, it was time to return to real life. Thursday morning, my doctor came to sign my discharge papers and gave me the ok to leave (but told us "you've bought the day till midnight, so stay as long as you like"). The pediatrician came and did Owen's circumcision. We got all of Owen's tests finished up (hearing screen and lab work). And then we waited around till evening so the kids could come and help us bring him home. We talked about trying to just sneak out quietly during the day, but knew the kids would be really sad if they didn't get to come bring us home. It's a tradition we've done with all the kids, the older brothers and sisters get to come to the hospital, we take pictures, and then we all leave as a family. So, we waited till after school time.

But, my dad decided he was tired of dealing with uncooperative little kids (aka Nate and Aaron), and left them home with my mom and only brought the three older kids. I was really sad that I only had half my kids there. We took a family picture, but it wasn't the same without having all the kids there.


Then we signed the last of the discharge papers and loaded him into his car seat.




When we got home, we got all the kids for a family picture. Unfortunately, the lighting was too dark, and they didn't turn out very good.


By the time we went to bed that night, I wasn't feeling very well. Nursing is always very painful in the beginning, and I was hurting because of that. On top of that, I was cramping a lot. At 3 am when Owen needed to eat, I asked Scott to do a bottle for him, because I was really nauseous. At 6 am, I realized that the nausea wasn't because of my pain, but it was the flu.

November 10--One Day Old

Things were pretty lonely at the hospital without Scott, but I was glad he was able to get some rest. My day started at 7:30 with a feeding, then a check by my doctor, then a visit from the pediatrician who checked Owen. Because of his blood sugar issues, we'd have to wait another day to get his circumcision done. Finally around noon, he passed his last blood sugar test (barely), and we were given the ok to finally do his bath. But, I had to wait a few more hours till Scott came back. But, then finally Owen got his bath!









After Owen's bath, they dressed him up for us in his little outfit we'd brought from home. He looked so handsome! And look at all that shiny blond hair!





We had some more visitors this day--Marc and Kenna, Scott's parents, and our kids (again). And we just enjoyed another day with our baby boy in the quiet of the hospital (without all the chaos we knew would await us at home).


We let Owen sleep in the nursery again, and let the nurse bring him in for feedings. This was one feeding, where I let Scott do the burping.



And that brings us to a new day (and a new post). Sorry to drag this out for so long, but this is our family journal, and I don't want to forget anything (and I'm finding that free time is a rarity now, so I have to do this piece by piece when I find the time).

November 9, 2010--Part 2

After the kids left, we waited in our delivery room for a couple hours before a room opened up on the 8th floor. Finally we got moved upstairs to our recovery room. There were two things that really surprised me about our new baby. His size--I was not expecting him to be that big.

...and his hair! Our kids are usually so bald when they are born.

I already mentioned that because he was so big, his blood sugar was low. The number has to be above 50, and his wasn't. We had to give him a bottle shortly after he was born to try and get his number up, and we started in on a long series of blood sugar tests. He had to pass three hourly tests, then 3 more tests every three hours. If he didn't pass any of them, he had to start the process over. Each test required a new heel poke and a reading with an instant test. If the number was low, they collected enough blood to send to the lab for a more accurate reading. His poor heels were a complete mess of cuts and blood before the whole process was done. He had to start the process over once in the middle of it. We finally finished up the next day around noon. He was on his final three hour test, and his number came back 49--which meant we'd have to start all over. But luckily, the lab came back as 56, so he passed and didn't have to have any more heel pokes. Through the whole process, though, we had to give him countless bottles trying to make sure his blood sugar stayed up high enough. And, until he passed all his blood sugar tests, we couldn't give him a bath. Babies cry so much during their first bath, which expends a lot of energy (sugar), and since he didn't have any to spare, we had to wait. I was so in love with his hair, and couldn't wait to see it washed, but we had to wait clear till the next day to see it all clean.

So, that first day we just hung out with our baby, did lots of bottles, and lots of blood sugar tests, and tried to decide what his name should be.



We had a few visitors that evening. Scott's parents came to see us, and the Relief Society presidency came to visit. The kids also came to visit again that evening. By this time we were pretty sure his name should be Owen, and we asked the kids what they thought. They all loved the name and started calling him that.


After the kids left to go home, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was great to have them all there, but it was very exhausting. 6 kids! What have I gotten myself into?

After the kids left, we had some quiet time before we settled down for the night. We let Owen go to the nursery so we could get some sleep, and they brought him in every 2 hours for feedings (nursing, then topping off with a bottle). The nurse that took care of him was so nice, and every time she'd bring him in, she'd tell me how she and Owen had been spending their time together.

And then....the stomach flu hit. Not me (thankfully), but Scott. He was up in the bathroom most of the night. I felt so sorry for him. He got up the next morning, still feeling sick, and headed home at 7:45 so he could take the kids to "Donuts with Dad" at their school. After the event, he walked the kids to their classrooms and let them show their teachers and friends a picture of Owen on his cell phone. Then he headed home and crashed. I didn't see him back at the hospital till 2 that afternoon. But, now we are on to a new day....so time for a new post.