WOW... we have been super busy lately. Lots going on and lots to write about. First I left off last time about Elijah's teeth... the bottom two are completely through now and our great sleeper is back! So thankful for this blessing (you should be too, because I'm a little cranky when I don't get sleep)
Elijah has had acid reflux since birth. He started on Zantac at 2 weeks old and has been on it ever since. The past two weeks, he started excessively spitting/throwing up. We are talking sometimes up to 50 times/day. He doesn't seem to be bothered by this- he is still his normal happy go lucky self-- but it is driving Matt and I crazy. We do multiple loads of his laundry per week just to have enough burp clothes, the carpet looks horrible, and not to mention the constant need to change our clothes because we have it all over us too.
Last Friday, we took him to our pediatrician- she was actually out, so we saw the nurse practitioner. Elijah spit up about 6-8 times in the 30 min we were there (keep in mind he hadn't eaten in 2- 2.5 hours), which was actually a good thing, because the nurse was able to see that something wasn't right. She called a gastroenterologist to get her opinion and the specialist referred us to go get an Upper GI done on Elijah. Being a first time mom, this was a little unnerving. Matt and I headed to Plano to the Pediatric Imaging Center to get the test done. They were waiting on him and we were in and out in no time! The test was fairly simple, we stripped Elijah down to a diaper, placed him on this board, where the tech strapped him in with his arms up by his head. The Dr. then came in to perform the test. The tech gave him a bottle of Barium and then the Dr looked at an x-ray to see the fluid going down his esophogus and into his stomach and then as it released from his stomach. He said that everything looked perfect! Elijah did great until the tech quit feeding him the bottle-- he is a hungry growing boy that hadn't eaten in 4 hours-- he wanted to EAT!!!
We then got him dressed and gave him a bottle and left. The nurse at our pediatrician office called to tell us everything was good but to go to an appointment with the specialist on Monday.
That night Matt and I were able to go on a date to Studio Movie Grill to see Mirror Mirror. It was so nice to be able to have a few hours to ourself-- couples/ new parents need this time! It's crucial to marriages! Huge thanks to Virgil and Janet for allowing us to have that time together!
Saturday was Elijah's first Easter Egg Hunt at the church-- he was in the stroller, so he didn't do much- but he sure loved chewing on the eggs.
Elijah playing with his eggs
He also got his first balloon animal hat!
So we went to the specialist on Monday and were presented with our options... she basically was a little confused by what was going on too. She started him on Prevacid and we are to use that for a week and see if it helps. If it does-- YAY! Although I hate for Elijah to be on medicine, it would at least give us the answer. If it doesn't-- we will take the allergy approach. He will come off of ALL solids (did I say we have a hungry growing boy!?!) and he will go to a hypoallergenic amino acid based formula ($$$$$$$$) and it will hopefully be covered by insurance. Then we would slowly start adding things back to his diet to see what he might be allergic to. So just be in prayer for us during this time as we figure out what's going on.
Other than all that-- all is well! Elijah is SO fun... he such a ham, flirts with everyone, smiles all the time. He trying REALLY REALLY hard to crawl-- last night he was starting to do a little scooting action, I tried to get a pic but that just didn't work. He had his little booty straight in the air and his head in the floor and then he would scoot- HILARIOUS!
We set up his pony he got from his Aunt Gi for Christmas. It says for 9 month+, but he seems to really enjoy it!
A little Sunday afternoon play time. He was rolling around everywhere
We have been trying really hard to get Elijah used to a sippy cup... well he would make faces like he didn't like anything that was in the cup (water, juice, whatever) Well one night I was drinking a frappucino from starbucks and just put the straw up to his mouth and he took a big suck- I quickly took that away and decided we would try straw sippy cups-- SUCCESS... he gulped down water last night!
One last pic... Happy 8 months to Elijah on March 23.
He is now 20 lb 12.5 ounces and 28 inches long
And a little bundle of joy!
