Saturday, May 31, 2014

Witching hour

Yesterday I said Diego was 1 month old.. Really he's 4 weeks and not 1 month yet. Technicality...
Last night Diego was so fussy and barely slept. Luckily we got a 2 hour nap in the afternoon to catch up on our sleep. After I woke up Diego was still sleeping in my bed, but not for long as Callie climbed in with him. I swear the poor kid will be tough because she tortures him already. She tries to love him but she's just so over bearing and rough. Probably not the best way to wake from a nap.
Typically every night Diego cries from 7-8:30 or 9. It's his witching hour(s). No matter what you do he just can't settle down and he cries or is fussy even if held, rocked, given a pacifier. Usually after that he is tired enough to go to bed and I am too. Tonight he has been extra fussy, crying and crying despite my attempts to soothe him. I'm hoping bedtime is just around the corner and we get some more sleep than last night. I think I forgot how exhausting it is to be up every 2 hours or more often with a infant. With Callie it was like walking zombies since she cried for hours and hours on end. Guess it could be worse... I can't wait for the first block of sleep that's even 3 hours!




Friday, May 30, 2014

Missing GiJu

GiJu left today after her three week stay with us and Diego turns 1 month today. I don't know how I could have survived this first month without my mom here. She has been such an amazing help. With several trips to the ER and doctor she has been there to watch one or both the kids. She's been taking Callie to and from school, keeping her occupied and getting up early with her to give me a little extra sleep. She's done countless loads of laundry and cleaned my house. I can't thank her enough for all she did for us this month and I sure will be missing her. Callie misses her too and was asking at bedtime where GuJu was sleeping tonight. She luckily finally understands the concept of later and is talking about visiting GiJu and PaPa in the summer :) and therefore didn't cry when she had to leave this time. She did ask to call her a few times, so we will see her on FaceTime tomorrow.
So a big thank you to my mom for all your love, support, and help this last month. I love you! And I love this photo of us and the kids.
I spent my first time with my two kids by myself today too. Seems kinda crazy that I haven't had my two kids by myself in a month but I have had help at all times. After I dropped my mom at the airport Diego was crying because he was hungry. I told Callie we were stopping at the park to feed him and she thought I meant a fun park when I really meant a parking lot.... Oops. So I took her to the downtown waterfront park so she could play in the fountain while I fed Diego. I managed two kids, feeding and watching for about 30 min at the park. What I did learn is that I really do need a double stroller. I had to lay Diego down at the park to change Callie and had no where to put him. Then I needed to get a crying toddler who didn't want to leave and a sleeping infant back to the car. Phew it was a handful but I did it. Juan came home early from work so once I got home I had help again. I got to take a nap and rest a bit. This was a big change from what I was expecting today to be like and boy was I happy. And thank goodness for the weekend. Only two more weeks til I go back to work. Oh boy...


Swaddled and swing

Diego has benn sleeping a little better and less fussy when we use the swaddle. He is sleeping in his bed next to mine most if the night too. The only problem is that when he isn't sleeping with me I'm up more to take care of him. When he sleeps with me I can sleep through some feedings just laying with him but in his bed I have to take the swaddle off, hold him, burp him, put it vsck on. Do for a kid who eats every 2 hrs, I'm up 30 min of every two hours. Makes for one tired mama. Hence why I'm posting this at 2:30 am...
Here he is all swaddled and sleeping peacefully. In the day he enjoys the movement of the swing. It's gotten more use already then it ever did with Callie.


Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Diego's first trip to the zoo

Tomorrow is GiJu's last day with us and I had been hopeful we would be doing fun things for 3 weeks but in reality it's been just getting by and hanging at home. So today we went to do something fun! Go to the zoo!! This was Diego's first trip to the zoo and my first outing with 2 kids and one stroller. Thank goodness we had two adults or I never would have made it. Callie has a new scooter board on the back of the stroller to ride on that I was hopeful would work for her and Diego could take the seat since she need really wants to sit in the stroller anyways. Of course I was wrong. If Diego gets to sit in there then she wants to as has a meltdown. So I carried Diego in my baby wrap through most of the zoo. At the very end I tried letting them sit together with Diego in the seat lying down and Callie sitting in the foot rest area and that surprisingly worked.
We had fun at the zoo but sure were tired by the time we got home.
Callie is starting to learn to share with Diego. Today she gave him one of her babies to play with and was much gentler and nice to him. Don't get me wrong she can still be quite jealous at times but maybe she's slowly learning ;)









Tuesday, May 27, 2014

No allergies for Diego

Today was Diego's appointment at the allergist. He had skin prick testing for the 8 most common allergens and showed no sign of an actual allergy to any of these food allergens. This is technically good news although then it gives me no cause for the reflux and miserable behavior. The dr says he could still have a sensitivity to one of these foods, it's just not an actual allergy considering we have seen improvement since eliminating foods from my diet. The plan is to add foods back in one at a time, one per week and see how he tolerates each. She suspects that dairy or wheat would most likely be the culprits for food sensitivity and so those two go last. First she wants me to add back nuts to ensure I am getting enough healthy fats and proteins to ensure good healthy milk for him. Also breat fed babies are less likely to have a food allergy since they receive small doses of proteins in mothers milk. These small exposures help babies build up tolerance and therefore decrease allergies. So if he doesn't have allergies it's important that I don't cut out all these allergic foods or he wont build up an immunity or tolerance.
Also it's important to note that any of these foods could still become an allergy for him as he is at higher risk but for now he is not allergic. He will be retested around 4 months before we introduce solid foods.
So all in all.... I am glad he was tested and he doesn't have an actual allergy. While I still can't resolve his issues easily it's definitely better to not have two kids with food allergies. Hopefully we can add some foods back successfully and work on his fussiness and reflux in other ways. This afternoon I was reading happiest baby on the block sleeping book and I am trying swaddling in a tighter swaddle and white noise for a better nights sleep, for both of us!!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Time for a BBQ

Happy Memorial Day weekend! What a beautiful day it was for a BBQ. I couldn't eat most of the delicious food that was prepared thanks to my special Diego diet but Diego was very calm and sleepy most of the day. He has been doing much better since the start of the diet. Still fussy but no where near as miserable as he was.
Callie had fun with all her family and friends today and she came home exhausted. I'm hoping she sleeps tonight too as it's a lot to have a crying baby to feed and Callie yelling mommy mommy all night.









Saturday, May 24, 2014

Callie and Cole

Last night was the first night with no screaming episode in a long time. I hesitate to say it but Diego seems a bit better with each passing day. It's been 4 days on the allergy free diet thus far...
Callie spent most of her day visiting at Grandmas house and playing with Cole. I stayed home in the morning but went in the evening with her. She just loves playing with Cole! She can't wait for tomorrow so she can play with him again!

Friday, May 23, 2014

Glimmer of hope

I think I saw a inner of hope today for some improvement. Day 3 into the diet and Diego had less spit up, less diahrrea and less screaming today. I'm hoping it's a sign of more good to come with time. Here he is awake and not crying today :)
And Callie asked me to take her photo in her underpants. Funny kid!


Thursday, May 22, 2014

Finding a new allergist

Another day and night have passed and I'm more convinced Diego has allergies. His reflux is worse as he puked in my bed and all over me and him several times last night and today. He screamed and cried half of the night and every time I fed him today. It's a really terrible feeling as a mom to breastfeed your child and then watch him scream in pain, when you are givin him the milk. It can take 5 or more days for allergens to get out of your breastmilk. With each passing day on my new diet I'm hoping he gets better but today that was not the case. I didn't do much besides laundry, nap. and call doctors but that's ok.
 spent a few hours of my day on the phone trying to get Diego a doctors appt in allergy. Children's hospital (Callie's doctor) couldn't get him an appt until August 23rd! I think that's pretty outrageous. I called the pediatrician to see if they could put in an urgent request to see if they will move it up at all. But before I heard back from the pediatrician I decided to see if I could find another allergist to see Diego. I found one in Mission Valley that could see him the end of June which was an improvement. But they recommended another part of their practice in north county that may be able to see him sooner. The receptionist was so nice and after I explained the situation got me squeezed in for an urgent appt on Tuesday! Go Scripps! I'm hopeful the allergist will be good. It's a drive and it's not part of any health system we have been too but considering the customer service I got in getting an appt right away I feel they will be good.
The pediatrician wants to do a stool sample test to look for blood in the poop but we will wait to see wha te allergist has to say first. I don't even know if we can have any allergy tests at this young age but even someone guiding me through elimination diets and figuring out how to help him will be great. Hopefully by Tuesday we are seeing some improvements and can go from there.
Here's a photo of one complaining face and one sweet sleeping face. I much prefer the angel asleep face :)


Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Allergies for two?

Ive been having too much déjà vu this week. I was hopeful that Diego wouldn't have any food allergies like Callie and just be a happy baby but I'm starting to think that's not the case. He's been fussier and fussier with more reflux, spitting up then screaming in pain. He wakes from dead sleep to crying and writhing in what appears to be stomach pain. He can't lay down flat without spitting up and crying. He wakes up every morning sounding congested and we've seen milk come out his nose, more than once. He seems extremely uncomfortable when he poops which is very frequent, sometimes green and burning his little bottom. He has had diaper rash for several consecutive days and is sleeping less and less. As much as I told myself it can't be allergies for several days I have finally come to a place where I need to figure it out. With Callie it took us 9 months despite my hunches and we both suffered through the days and nights. This time I am willing to try so much more now even if it's a big commitment for myself. And so as of this morning I have decided to start an allergy elimination diet. I am choosing to do the more drastic method in which you exclude all possibly allergic foods first then add them back one at a time to see if it is an offending food. The reason I do it this way is because I don't know which food is the problem and it could be more than one. With Callie I excluded the wrong foods and so she was still miserable. This time I'm excluding the top 8 foods that cause 90% of food allergies: wheat, soy, milk/dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, and eggs. This will be for 2 weeks although there should be an improvement in his symptoms sooner. After 2 weeks we can try adding one food at a time, at least 5 days apart and see if any issues arise.  While I don't want him to have any allergies I am hopeful that this will help him feel better, sleep better and just all around be comforted. I truly feel that he will because this is just too reminiscent of Callie, although to a lesser degree. I'll be surviving on such a limited diet that I'm sure ill lose the rest of my pregnancy weight quickly. I'm trying to did a positive in here for me ;) and since I've been through this before I am much more experienced in creating alternatives. Hopefully in just a few days I will know if this is working for him. I'm also planning to call and schedule to see the allergist, although to my knowledge they don't test kids this young an what I am already doing is best for diagnosing.
Wish us luck!

We went to get Diego's birth certificate today and let Callie play in the new waterfront park and fountain the County put in downtown. We had a picnic snack and played on the fountains. It was really fun and it's a great park, I'm sure we will be back soon!





Tuesday, May 20, 2014

A momma and her ducklings

My nights and days don't seem to be improving. I went out and bought a wedge for Diego's crib to elevate the head of his bed to see if he sleeps better; less fussing, less spit up, more sleep. But for today I'm not going to get into that. I'll save that for tomorrow.
Today we went to feed the ducks and there was a family of mallard ducks. A mommy and daddy duck with 5 itty bitty baby ducks following close behind. They were so cute. Callie enjoyed them and said she followed her momma too :)
Here's my two ducklings and the family of mallards today.



Monday, May 19, 2014

Fussy nights

Diego has had two nights in a row of extreme fussiness. Last night he cried half of the night and was still writhing and wiggling in discomfort most the rest of the time. He had diarrhea all morning and terrible diaper rash. I spent the morning airing out his behind through bloodshot and exhausted eyes. This required two full loads of laundry, 2 outfit changes for me and a complete floor washing for one particular blow out that sprayed 5 feet across the living room. Oops guess I didn't have the cloth covering his bottom on that one. By the afternoon his bottom was looking a bit better and he slept a bit. I took a nap too . Here is one adorable sleeping baby and this is what I'm hoping to see all night tonight or not see because I'll be sleeping too.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Callie and Kaitlin

Our friends Tammy and Jason came over today with their daughter Kaitlin to see baby Diego and visit. Callie was excited all day that her friend was coming over to play. She wasn't the best at sharing her toys but Kaitlin was a good sport about it all. They made such a mess at dinner we gave then both a bath and dressed them in pajamas. Her party turned into a pajama party. Kaitlin didn't want to leave and Callie didn't want to go to sleep. We will have to have another play date soon.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Ring around the Rosie

Today we celebrated Eliana's college graduation. Callie loves any party! We were excited to have Carmen in town to take some photos for us of the baby and the family. I am not ready to share most of them as you'll be getting snail mail pretty soon ;) but these candids of Callie and I doing ring around the rosie  were too cute not to share. Also a quick one of the cousins together and GiJu with her new grandson. I also snapped the ones of daddy and his two little ones. Callie has to be right in the mix all the time. Congrats to Tia NaNa, we are so proud of you!