Elizabeth Rose is six months old! Wow... her time out of my belly has sure gone faster than the time in my belly! She continues to make progress every week. She is still growing at a slow rate, however, she is growing! She weighed 11 lbs. and 10 oz. at our last visit to UNC's Children's Hospital almost two weeks ago and was 24 1/2" long. Our GI Specialist "graduated" us from the program at UNC as long as we keep regular two-four week visits with our pediatrician to measure her growth. What a relief! She is on medication twice a day to reduce the pain associated with the reflux and we are finally noticing a HUGE difference! She has stopped arching her back and stiffening her arms and legs completely which is amazing since that happened about every two hours before. She will sit in my lap now without fussing and I can hold her and snuggle her now. I am just soaking up every calm and quiet moment I get with such gratitude! She still has good days and bad days with the vomiting and we were told to expect this until she outgrows the reflux a bit, but that is ok. I always have a fresh cloth handy! Her lower GI problems seem to have disappeared as well. What a pleasant diaper change... literally!
Ella (or "peanut" or "baby" as we most often refer to her) has started eating 1-2 Tbsp. of rice cereal everyday.
We also introduced avocado as her first solid food and she really likes it (thanks for the suggestion Francie)! Our Pediatric Nutritionist also recommended an avocado because it has a high fat content which will help Ella gain weight faster! Avocados have the highest fiber content of any fruit which will be beneficial for her intestinal health as well (not to mention they taste great as guacamole dip which her mama loves). Hooray for my new favorite fruit!
Here is a look at Ella's current daily schedule from her point of view:
around 7:00 am
- wake up with the sunrise
- smile at mama
- frantically move my arms up and down with excitement as she picks me up
- get my diaper changed and my clothes if I have puked on myself
- take my medicine
- snuggle with mama, grab her face, give her loves and big, sloppy kisses
around 7:30 am
- have mama's milks
- do my burps, laugh at myself
- spit up
around 8:00 am
- play time
- say good morning to big sis
around 9:00 am
- eat my cereal
- hang out with mama and big sis while they eat
- cry a little
- cry a little louder until mama picks me up
- bath time on bath days
around 10:00 am
- get my diaper changed and maybe my outfit...again
- have more of mama's milks
- rub my eyes
10:30 am-12:30 pm
- take a nap in my sweet peace swing
around 12:30 pm
- wake up
- fuss for mama until I see her and then I smile :)
- get my diaper changed
around 1:00 pm
- more of mama's yummy milkies
- spit up
- hang out with mama and big sis while they eat
around 2:00 pm
- play with my toys, my toes, and my big sis Sophie
- do some giggles and make some cute noises
- exercise, practice sitting up, tummy time
- I usually spit up some more on mama
around 3:00 pm
- another diaper and wardrobe change
- more milkies
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm or 5:00 pm
- more sleep
around 5:00 pm
- wake up
- diaper change
- more of that medicine that makes me gag
- hang out with mama while she runs around cleaning the house
around 6:00 pm
- finally more milkies!
around 6:30 pm
- eat more rice cereal or avocado
- get ready for night-nights
7:00 pm
- bedtime
sometime between 2:00 am - 3:00 am
- wake up because I miss my mama so much :)
- get my diaper changed
- enjoy my mama's milks
sometimes 5:00 am
- wake up again and repeat
around 7:00 am
- start it all over again!!
Everyday is different yet the same; predictable, but also surprising. All I know is that at the end of each day... even the challenging ones... I love being a mom!
