month 1

what a month this little girl has had!

from the minute i saw hadley choke the first time in the hospital when she was only 2 days old i knew we had another reflux daughter on our hands. the choking is scary because when she is doing it, not a sound comes from her. her only movement is flailing arms. so unless you are staring at her and happen to see it, something serious could easily happen.

so when she was two weeks old i got hadley in for her first appt with the gi doctor. i knew the protocol and it was prevacid, mylanta, and keeping her up right 99% of the time. it is tough when you are getting used to it again but once into the routine of it again, it is obvious why you do it. she also only sleeps in a nappy nanny. that thing really makes sleeping at night possible for her and us.

two weeks ago when hadley was only 5 weeks old she had a reflux episode like we have never seen before. it was scary enough to warrant a call to 911. come to find out once we got to the er that she also had a fever of 101, pretty serious in a newborn. so now not only is she getting treatment for the reflux, but for the fever we didn't even know she had. any time a newborn has a fever it is automatic blood work, iv, and spinal tap. those two words freaked us out... spinal tap! thank god it all turned up ok. however our one night in the er turned into 4 days in the hospital. hadley also had a upper gi and was seen by a speech therapist.

we were so fortunate that my parents were able to come down and stay with caroline the entire time we were in the hospital.

in the end hadley had a viral infection that has gone away on it's own. we learned that anytime hadley gets a virus, to expect her reflux to get worse. as a result of her hospital visit and testing, her prevacid was increased from 1.5 ml to 2.5ml and her diet was changed from soy to alimentum formula. here we are now at 7 weeks old and she is really doing wonderfully. so much better than she had been. of course she still has a bad day here and there, like yesterday when her food was coming back up through her mouth and nose. overall she has improved so much.

then we have this past saturday night when hadley had her 2nd er visit. she had a yeast infection of sorts under her chin, an area where it tends to stay moist under her rolls from spit up and food.never even knew such a thing was possible. i unfortunately agitated this rash when i put aveeno lotion on it. aveeno! of all lotions. suddenly within about 2 hours it had swelled up, blistered, and she was crying in so much pain. it was a hard cry to hear knowing she was in a lot of pain. we were in and out of the er within 2 hours. our childrens hospital is so amazing! her treatment is a paste of cortisone, nystatin, and butt paste. it is working wonders too!

the amazing thing is that this week alone you can catch hadley smiling on purpose... sucking on her fingers on purpose.... and talking to her sister on purpose. she is definitely one happy baby. it is a beautiful thing!