chip+erin+madeline

Madeline at three months old

Madeline turned three months old on Sunday, which just doesn’t seem possible. She is now a whopping 24 inches long, weighing about 12 lbs. The good news is that, despite all of her digestive issues, she is most definitely thriving.

The latest on her medical conditions is pretty much this: GERD and dairy protein sensitivities. We have been seeing a pediatric GI specialist, who has Madeline on a prescription formula called Elecare. He also switched her over to an antacid called Prevacid. His hopes was that these two steps would help get her acid reflux under control, as well as eliminate all sources of dairy from her diet to help get her bloody diapers to stop. Well, this sort of worked.

Although her fits and fussiness began to wind down, we kept seeing blood in her poops even after the switch. In fact, we ended up in the emergency room at Dell Childrens’ Hospital on July 3 after she spit up what looked life coffee grounds, which was blood. They had to draw lots of blood for tests, placed a tube through her nose down to her stomach to get samples of fluid, and put her on an IV. In the end, they didn’t find a source of the bleeding and we were sent home.

Our GI specialist decided that the Prevacid might have a tiny bit of dairy in the “fillers” of the dissolvable tablets, which would be the final source of irritation, and put her back on Prilosec.  With this change, the blood in her poops and spitup began to go away, but her fussiness returned. One step forward, one step back. As of today, he increased her dosage of Prilosec, so fingers crossed that THIS does the trick. Having a happy, healthy daughter would be simply amazing.

Madeline at two months old

Madeline’s first few months of life have been pretty intense, mixed with plenty of good and not so good. Our little girl has been experiencing pain since she was just days old, and we’re still in the process of getting to the root of the problem. At first we thought that she was simply a fussy baby, but as things started to escalate, when knew that something was wrong.

After a trip to the pediatrician, Madeline was diagnosed with acid reflux and a dairy protein sensitivity. She got some samples of a formula from Enfamil called Nutramigen, which is pre-digested and therefore easier for her to process, as well as a prescription for the antacid Zantac. Her fussiness, gassiness, spitups, etc… continued, so back to the pediatrician we went.

This time round we kept her on the Nutramigen, and switched up her antacids to Prilosec. We did see a slight improvement, but still nothing to write home about. Of course, the Prilosec doesn’t come in baby-friendly strengths, so it has to be compounded, and only a handful of pharmacies in the area do such a thing. On top of that, insurance companies give compounded prescriptions a thumbs down, and mine does not cover it. Lovely.

Our spitups then started to increase in both frequency and volume, and we then noticed something that sounded our alarms – blood in her poop. Our pediatrician sent us directly to an imaging facility near our home so they could x-ray her abdomen, just to make sure her intestines were in the correct place. The results were normal, so that wasn’t the case. We were to keep an eye on her poops, and to let the doc know if they returned.

Not too long afterwards, we find blood again in her diaper. We are quickly given an appointment at Dell Children’s Hospital for an upper GI. It is heartbreaking not only to see your eight week old child in this much pain, but having to undergo scans such as this. Of course, the results turned out just fine.

OK. So, two days later we have Madeline’s 2 month appointment, where she received a round of vaccinations. She had the typical fever that kiddos get with shots, but her reflux and tummy in general started acting worse. The rotavirus vaccine seemed to agitate her stomach, giving her some tantrum freakouts and increased spitup. A few days later, she has two bloody poops (one per day / two days in a row). Our doc schedules us for a sonogram so they can make sure that she doesn’t have telescoping intestines. Of course, the results come back a-ok.

So, we change her antacids one more time, as she is now on Prevacid, which is insanely expensive for kiddos. We also know have an appointment with a GI specialist next week, so fingers crossed he will get to the root of this problem. I’m ready to see a happy baby. I need to see a happy baby.

Madeline at one month old

Somehow our first month of having Madeline in our lives has already zoomed by. She turned one month old on Tuesday, which simply doesn’t seem possible. Perhaps it is due to walking around in a sleep deprived haze for a good portion of each day, but it does feel like it was just days ago when we were still at the hospital, watching Madeline receive her first bath.

Things here at the Adams household are still pretty bananas, but that is to be expected with a four week old baby. We’ve gotten the hang of all the basics, but we’re still learning her cues. Although apparently some babies have different cries for specific things, our little Madeline has yet to clarify which ones mean hungry, diaper change, sleepy or bored. Her acid reflux may have something to do with that. We’ve been very fortunate to have a great pediatrician who listens to our concerns, and has helped get Madeline on the right track. Fussy babies around the clock can be quite a handful.

Erin only has a a week or so left of her maternity leave, so things are about to get very interesting around here. We both work from home, so we’re going to attempt to manage both work and baby duties without any daycare, at least for now. Hopefully our little girl will cooperate! Even through all of the sleepless night and full-on tantrums, it has been an amazing gift to have Madeline in our lives. It is such a treat to see her react to different things, such as various kinds of music. We’ll have the most musically educated kiddo on the block!

Also, we have found a few rattlesnakes in our backyard, but I’ll save that story for my next post. Stay tuned…

Although most of you already know, our daughter was born on Sunday, April 11. Madeline Josephine Adams was born at 4:27pm, weighing 7lbs 5oz and 20″ long. She has a full head of hair, is VERY alert and has two very proud parents. Erin is doing well, so the Adams crew is happy and healthy. I’ve posted a TON of pictures, which you can view at the following two galleries.

Madeline Josephine Adams

All Things Madeline