Stolen time

Tonight we went over to Tracey's house for scrapbooking, well at least that was the plan. For the first time, I felt like Cooper was typical, an ordinary baby. He played on the floor with Andrew. He laughed and even squealed at times. He fussed when he wanted to nurse. It was wonderful. I wasn't fighting an arching, screaming baby; I was enjoying myself, and he was having a good time too. I sat there in awe of him. Who is this child? Is this the boy he always was? Have reflux and food allergies been masking this precious personality? I was amazed that I too have a healthy, happy baby now! Now I sit here mourning the time I lost. The time that reflux stole! This disease should not take his joy, his light, his soul. It makes me so angry at myself for not doing the diet sooner. I know I could have never known, but I can't help but blame myself. It is unfair that I will never have those first four months with him again. Those months were nightmares I wouldn't want to relive, but if I could go back and change things I would. I think part of me is realizing he's getting bigger and he's becoming less and less of a baby. I also think that I have a huge fear that he will be my one and only. I am so grateful for every moment I have with this child, but I can't help but wonder what could have been. I feel so blessed he is thriving now and doing all he should, but there are times when I feel like we missed so much. We spent so many hours in doctors' offices and waiting rooms. I have only one video of him since he was born because who wants to watch a screaming baby. I know that one day I will look back and see all he had to overcome, but for now I look back and see time that was lost. I never wanted this for my baby. People really don't understand what GERD means. They think, "oh, he spits up," but that is not it. He suffered every day and still does at times. Please pray for all the little ones out there who struggle with this disease. May they soon be blessed with health.

Happy Birthday Baby Ellie!

Our dear friends, Jason and Sarah, welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world today. Elina Faith was born at 4:59pm, weighing 7lbs 5oz and 20.5 inches long. Her mom was AMAZING and brought her into this world drug free! Mom, baby and Daddy are all doing great. We hope that God continues to bless this wonderful family and bring them great joy.

One week down...

I am now on my second week of the elimination diet. Only one more week until I get to start adding foods back. I will probably start with oats. Our life has changed dramatically over the past week. We have a new, much healthier baby. He is teething which is generally a nightmare for every baby, but even worse for refluxers, but he is doing surprisingly well. I mean, he defiantly still refluxes and needs meds for now, but nothing like one month ago. I am getting used to the diet as well, and what it has done for Cooper makes it well worth it. I just wish someone would have told me to do this 4 months ago. I considered it, but never had great encouragement from his docs, so I just figured that it wouldn't make that much of a difference. I now know we are clearly dealing with some food allergies here. He has also gone from 6-10 stools a day to 1-2 a day, often skipping a day as a breastfed baby should. We also know Cooper can't eat butternut squash or rice yet as they lead to a really hard night. We tried green beans yesterday, and our night was awful, but I think it may have been the teeth. We will lay of them for now anyhow. As you see, I have a much more positive attitude now that I am seeing the fruits of my labor. It is so nice to know I can finally do something to help my baby!

Testing out the waters

So, Luke and Lydia got a little swimming pool for the backyard and today we went over for a swim. It was Cooper's first time to "swim". They just filled it up today with well water, so it was very cold. I pretty much expected him to scream and not be interested. Boy was I wrong. He loved it. We just let him float around in the little baby float. He was happy until Luke put him under the little waterfall. The funny thing was, he had been under it once and gotten pretty wet, but then Luke just put his hand under it and it broke his heart. He is quite the little drama king already. Don't know where he gets that from!?! Enjoy!

WARNING: Total Pity Party

Excuse me already, because this post is a complete and total pity party. So, I started the elimination diet yesterday. I have been trying to watch my diet, but I still have traces of milk and soy and probably other things that bother Cooper's tummy in my diet. I have been planning on trying the elimination diet for a while now, but finally the motivation to do it after a horrible night on Friday. We have started feeding Cooper solids and he really enjoys them, but it is hard to know if they agree with him or not. I am never sure if it is what he ate or what I ate. So, the way the diet works is for the first two weeks I only eat turkey or lamb (I'm adding chicken and taking away the lamb), squash, potatoes, rice, pears and other gentle fruits like apples, apricots, peaches. These foods are very hypoallergenic. Since my diet will be so controlled, we will be able to tell if what we are feeding Cooper works for him or not. I'm really happy to do it if it will make a difference. But it is so hard! I know it will get easier, but it is a huge adjustment. Yesterday I roasted a whole turkey and plan to freeze portions so I always have something. This was my first attempt at cooking a turkey and it really turned out pretty good, but man is that one nasty bird. Curtis thought it was so disgusting I doubt he will eat much if any of it. Today was hard because I really look forward to eating out after church on Sundays and it wasn't an option today. There is no where in town I can eat. So, we went home and I heated up some turkey and cooked some spaghetti squash and had that and pears. It wasn't bad, but of course Curtis didn't want it. I can't really blame him. He went and got a burrito and taco. It smelled really good and I really wanted it. I'm doing this for Cooper, so I just wish Curtis would be a little more supportive. Who am I kidding, why on earth would he want to eat the crap I'm eating. I really don't mean to complain, but it's just hard right now. Sorry for the pity party, just needed to get it out.

Lil' Buckaroo

Here are some more pictures of Cooper in his rodeo gear. He was quite a sight!

Rodeo Night

Well we went to the Santa Rosa Roundup last night. It was a lot of fun. I have not been in several years. We saw lots of old friends and got to show off Cooper. He did really well, especially considering it was such a late and long night. Some of the noise scared him and I could tell he was a little overwhelmed by the crowd at times, but for the most part, I think he enjoyed it. We went with my mom and dad. Jill also came; it was her first rodeo. She was so funny; she asked what they gave the horses to make them buck. We had a really great night.

Santa Rosa Rodeo Parade

So, my birthday was yesterday, which means it's rodeo week in Vernon. It has been that way for as long as I can remember. I always loved to go up to my dad's office and watch the parade, except for the few special years when I was actually in it. This is one of those events that is a big deal in this small town and the kind of thing we came back to Vernon for Cooper to experience. While he is much too little to understand it, it was still fun to take him to his first parade. These are several pictures I took this afternoon. He was slept for part of it, cried for part of it, and laughed when it finally ended. He sat in GiGi's lap most of the time and he watched the floats and fire trucks pass by with her and Pop, just like I used to do. I just had to add the picture of the world's littlest cowboy. He was just so cute in that big ol' hat riding with all the adults. And please notice the MAJOR double chin Cooper has developed. He's not so tiny anymore! We are going to the rodeo tomorrow night and I have a whole outfit waiting for Cooper, so plan on seeing some really cute pictures soon.

Randomness

So this is a collection of random pictures I have taken over the past week or so. Cooper is so much fun these days. He laughs and plays. He is doing really well since we started working with him so much. I am amazed at all he has learned to do just in the past few weeks. Plan on seeing lots of "exercise" pictures as we are very proud of him. The picture where he has the ring on his face needs a little explanation. I had laid Cooper down on his play mat while bringing things in from the car. When I came back inside, he was laying there, happy as can be, with this ring on his face. It was so funny. I know, it seems cruel that I let him lay there like that while I took pictures. What can I say, it was a scrapbook moment.

Our gardening experience

So I decided a few weeks ago that I really wanted to pull up our flower beds and plant some new flowers. Last Saturday, my wonderful husband lent a major helping hand and we go it done. Mind you, neither of us have ever attempted something like this before. It turned out so pretty, and after our area was blessed with some much needed rain this week, they are growing like crazy. Since we are both still very much kids at heart, it ended in a water fight. Curtis started it!

Catching up

Wow, am I behind on posts! I will be attempting to catch up throughout the day. Cooper is having a major reflux flare up. I feel like were back to 2 months ago when we were considering the fundo. His weight is still good though, which is of up most importance. It has just been really hard. I thought we were past this. I'm really not sure what is going on. Maybe it's the teething, maybe he has a bug that is making it worse. Whatever it is, I hope it is over soon. His poop is also very concerning. We have between 6 to 10 dirty diapers a day. I very rarely change a simply wet diaper. I took him to the pedi yesterday and they took a stool sample. We shall see if that sheds any light on the issue. I am really considering drastically changing my diet and seeing what affect, if any, that has. Anyway, on a happier note, Cooper has been apnea monitor free for a week now! We had a really good pulmo appointment last Friday and he said we could stop the monitor. I have done surprisingly well with this, only waking a few times to check his breathing. He doesn't have to go back until the end of June either. He really is doing so much better; we're just having a rough time for now.