Very late update

First off, so sorry that I haven't updated since my last very distraught rant. Things have been very busy, which is a good thing. Our appointment last Thursday went very well. Cooper had his typical strip down weigh in, and that was not good. This did not come as a surprise considering he had been having diarrhea for two weeks straight. He weighed the same as he did at his October appointment, well actually a tenth of a pound less. He only weighed 18.2, which dropped him off the chart again. That was upsetting, but I know it is from the diarrhea, and he will put it back on quickly. The GI explained that my breastmilk is no longer sufficient for his sole source of nutrition. Since he is still only eating a few foods, and cows milk is out of the question, he put Cooper on Elecare vanilla for 1 and up. He wants it diluted to 30 calories per once versus 20 cals/oz of breastmilk or infant formula. He said I could continue breastfeeding for comfort, ect as long as the diarrhea cleared up. He feels it is likely that Cooper developed a allergy to corn. It was the only food I was eating that is high on the allergy list. The dr put him on probiotics as well in hopes of straighting his digestive system out. They also ran an allergy profile. We haven't gotten the results back yet, but we know that they are not very reliable anyhow. But, it is a starting place. If we get negatives, he could still be allergic, but it is not as scary to try those things. If we get positives, he might not be allergic, but we will steer clear for know anyway. Cooper has been taking the Elecare for a full week now. He really likes it. He is the happiest he has ever been. His stools are back to normal. This is bittersweet. I am so glad he's doing well, but I hate that even with all the hard work, my milk was still causing some issues. I am off corn again, because he is still nursing some. Things seem ok. He is nursing very little, only a couple or few times a day for 5 minutes or so. That is an issue for another post. I'm still struggling with weaning. He had his birthday party on Saturday, and it was a total success. Pictures coming soon. Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers during our tough times. It means so much.

Bring on the pancakes!

I made some very tasty, okay sort of tasty, well Cooper loved them, pancakes this morning. They were gluten, egg, dairy, soy, sugar, ect, ect free. I made them with a gluten free mix, used a little canola oil, no sugar added applesauce, flax egg replacer, and a sprinkle of enerG egg replacer. In the very last bit, I added some sugar for my self, but I'm not sure it really helped. Cooper ate almost the entire pancake. He clapped and squealed. It is so fun to watch him enjoy food, especially food that 'seems' normal, even if it's not. I got some really cute pics of this great new experience!


Can you count them all. That is FOUR very sharp teeth!

Contrary to popular belief...

...I have not fallen off the face of the earth; I have just become increasingly busy with my 9 month old boy! Oh, all the happening I need to share. I'm not even sure where to begin. I guess we will start with Cooper's ever growing vocabulary. He now says mama, dada, gigi, has a sound for Nicko(our dog, this is usually a loud, almost yelling sound. Can't imagine where he got that from!?!), bye bye, and I'm sure there is more that I'm missing. As far as motor skills go, he is doing great. He is bear crawling EVERYWHERE and pulling up and cruising too. This week he has started standing for a few seconds on his own, but as soon as he realizes what he is doing, he bends his knees and eases to the ground. His fine motor skills have developed really well also. He has the pincer grasp down and can self feed finger food quite well; he also claps and waves. We are working on the baby signs for "more" and "please," but he has yet to do them on his own. There is nothing cuter than a baby signing "more please," so hopefully he will pick it up soon.

Now for the health update: Cooper is doing really well, but we are still really struggling with food. He had his pulmonology appointment 2 weeks ago, and it went great. He was released from their care! We are welcome to come back if any issue arises, but we do not have to come back. I was very excited about that. Dr. Hadeed agreed that seeing a pedi GI about Cooper's food intolerances would be a good next step. We have had quite a heavy reflux flare up, curdled spit up, very sour breath, and I'm just not sure what else to do for him. This is why I think the GI might be good. I am so fearful to try new foods with him, because it seems like when I do, it usually fails. And he suffers. I had not added a new food for him in quite some time, and decided I needed to. So, I thought peaches would be good. They are a mild nectar fruit, and I have been eating them for months now without any problem for him. The first time he had them, it seemed to go ok. The next time I offered them, he only ate a few bites and the refused the rest. I think he knew they were going to make him sick. About 20 minutes later, he was on his back having his diaper changed, and peached started coming out his nose. Then, later that day in the car, he choked very bad and was gasping for air. He quickly caught his breath, but not before scary me half to death. His chest sounds very junky on the days when the reflux is bothering him too. I'm just kind of at a loss on how to help him. He has been teething and has recently cut the top 2 teeth, and due to the extra saliva, reflux is often worse during teething.

He had his 9 month well check on Tuesday, and I left feeling incredibly frustrated. I had decided to delay some of Cooper's vaccination and split them up. Since we know he has allergies, I wanted to make sure we could tell what he is reacting to, if he were to have a reaction. I basically got treated as if I were a neglectful parent, wanting my child to be infected with some terrible rare disease. Honestly, since when does the parent who takes the extra time to do the research and make the tough decisions about her child's health, become the bad guy. I never said I wasn't going to vaccinate Cooper, I just don't want to give him 5 shots at a time. The nurse even told me, "it is only 3 sticks" as if that were the reason I was declining some of the vaccines. Seriously, that was the least of my concerns. So, since I wanted to make sure he had the DTaP, I had to give him DTap, HIB, and polio because they only have a combination injection at that office. I was not happy about this at all, and now I regret him having it at all. I should not be bullied into giving my baby vaccinations! Then the doctor came in. He was very pleased with Cooper's growth. He was 17lbs9oz which keeps him right at the 5th percentile, which I am completely satisfied with. Rising above that dreaded line was a huge feat for us, and it's fine by me if he's sitting on it, as long as he doesn't drop below it again. I can't recall his height, but he stayed in the 75th percentile for that. He's going to be tall and thin like his daddy! I discussed with the doctor my concern with Cooper's food issues, and expressed my interest in seeing a pedi GI. He told me he believed Cooper had food induce antephialtics that presents with digestive issues. He said most kids out grow it. I told him I was concerned with what to feed him, and that I am unsure how he will be able to rely on food for his main source of nutrition versus breasmilk. He said if I was concerned about how to feed him, I should see a nutritionist, not a GI. It is not that I don't know how to feed him, it is that I am unsure of what to feed him, that is why I want him to see a GI. The main thing he eats right now is peas! There are a few other things he can tolerate, but it seems that peas are his favorite, and I just don't know where to go from here. I told him of the recent increase in reflux, and he said we could add back axid, but I haven't filled the rx yet. I just don't really want to give him med, at least not until we see another doctor. I think for now, I am going to have a consult with another pedi, and see what he would recommend and then go from there. Oh the decisions!

All around updates

Sorry for the lack of postings this month, but it is actually a good thing. It means my little man is doing so well that I just don't have time to post. I can't believe how good things have been. It is amazing how far Cooper has come since I started this blog. The ups and downs of dealing with all of his issues have been overwhelming, but we are certainly on the up and up now! He is into everything now. He will be walking before we know it I'm sure. He has stood on his own for a few seconds and has learned how to ease to his bottom versus falling down. His speech has really taken off too. He started really jabbering about 2 weeks ago, and he now say MAMA and DADA. We love it! He is really chunking up now. We go to his doctors in a couple of weeks, and I am really excited to see what he is weighing. He is doing much better with foods as of late. I decided to be brave and let him try some broth from my reflux friendly soup, and he loved it. So, I decided to make him some of his own and blend it up, and it is his new favorite thing. It is just rice, carrots, squash, and chicken. He did so well with it, I decided he could probably have some rice snacks, so now he has lots of finger foods which he loves. This is a huge feat, and I couldn't be happier about it. I must say it feels amazing to make his food, and the fact that he loves it is a nice stroke for the ego as well. I am so glad to be feeding him such healthy foods. He has also been sleeping really well for about 3 weeks now; man has that been nice. I think we have really made it over the mountain. I say this very quietly as not to jinx it! Things are going good with Curtis and me too. He has started school; His last year of school! He is doing his internship over the next two semesters, so we don't get to see him very much, and we really miss him, but the end is so very near. I am finally getting to enjoy being a stay at home mom and truly embrace it. I no longer am constantly fretting over my baby, so now I am able to really enjoy my job.

We have been sick!

So, I know it has been for ever since I updated. We have all been through the ringer lately. Cooper cut both of his bottom teeth in five days. This caused a major reflux flare up, so that made for a really rough week. We have since increased his prevacid dose and that really seems to have helped. Then, the next week, I came down with bronchitis followed by a nasty bladder infection which landed me in the ER Saturday. Now, Cooper's git the upper respiratory junk. All that and Curtis worked an extra night shift all week last week and started class this week. Needless to say, we have been busy. This makes for a lot of updating to , so please bare with me. Cooper is officially a "mover and a shaker!" It has been fun and exhausting. I took him to the doctor today and he weighed 16lbs 1oz! This was fully clothed, but I'd say he's probably 15.5 naked. I'll take it! We are slowly working on foods. He does great with pears, apples, and peas, but everything else we've tried has been a no-go. We added carrots this week, but the jury is still out on that one. We are going to the chiropractor quite frequent and have a new found love of whole body healing. I plan to post a full chiro post later to encourage any non-believers.