Focusing on the present

Okay, I know I promised an update on the recovery process but I've decided that it needs to stay in the past. Long story short, I leaked spinal fluid and had to get a blood patch (google that one!). It took me three weeks to get back to the point where I felt human again, and I think that for my own sanity and mental health I need to leave that whole experience in the past and focus on the present with my gorgeous, whole, healthy miracle.

We're entering week four of his life today and getting back to regular life. The kids are having a great time with their new homeschooling schedule, and Daddy packs up their assignments and lunches every night. When they wake up, they have all their work in folders, inside their backpacks, and their lunches and snacks are assembled and ready to go. This makes my life so much easier, since I'm pretty much constantly attending to feeding or changing the baby. If they have questions or need help, I am right here, but they're learning self-motivation and independence at the same time. It works out nicely for everyone.

Last night Jack decided that from 2:30 to 4, he was going to fall asleep and then wake up about every ten minutes (or so it seemed). We've been dealing with some milk sensitivities in him. He started projectile vomiting, which scared the heck out of all of us (including him!) It may just be overactive letdown (another one you can google - but it basically means when he latches on and my milk comes down into the ducts, it comes down FAST - so he gulps and eats very quickly and overfills his tummy) or it could be a milk sensitivity. Since 75% of the population is lactose intolerant, including over half of our family, it's not unlikely that Jackson is, too. I've elminated dairy from my diet for five days now and so far, no major puking from the peanut. He's also got reflux, and was prescribed a homeopathic remedy called silica for that. Our doctor says 1 in 4 kids are prescribed Zantac at birth now, and once you get them on it, it's very hard to get them off it. So, he wanted to try something else first. Once we can pinpoint the cause of the vomiting, we'll work on controlling the reflux. Right now he sleeps semi-upright (in a bouncy seat or his carseat) and that helps a little. He chokes a lot, though. I hate that sound - hearing him gasp for air, the gurgling deep in his throat. It's miserable.

Jack, however, is growing like a champ and doing very well - despite the vomiting and reflux. He weighed 10lbs, 8ozs at his last checkup, so he's gaining perfectly. He's just at the end of the toes on his newborn sized sleepers, but the 0-3s seem huge on him. Oddly enough, the newborn ones say 5-8lbs. Ha! Who works for Carter's design department, anyway? They're cuckoo-nuts, as my daughter would say.

So, that's our "Life, In A Nutshell" this Monday morning! :)