Too Much to Do

I have a lot to do today. My living room looks like the rest of my house exploded in it. The problem is, so does every other room in my house. I desperately need to clean. So I'm blogging instead. Today's topic: My new baby.

Many of you who read this are friends who have been following the details of my baby's growth (or lack thereof) so you probably don't need to read this. The rest of you, well, you probably don't need to read it either. I'm mostly blogging now before I forget the details so it is preserved for later, when I need to recall it, for scrapbooking and such.

I gave birth in March to a beautiful baby boy. 8 lbs 13 oz (and no, he's not even close to my biggest). He was 23 inches long with big chubby cheeks. Admittedly, they did give me IV fluids which increased his birthweight, so he would have been closer to an 8 pounder.

At birth this baby was gassy and refused to eat. He didn't eat much at all in the hospital. My milk came in while we were still in the hospital, but ornery little squirt wasn't interested. Finally the lactation consultant showed me how to express in a little medicine cup and cup feed my newborn. This helped and after a cup feeding he would nurse a little better. This went on for a couple weeks. At each weekly check in he lost more weight. My doctor was great. She just kept having him brought in, encouraged nursing, but still no dice. Finally at 3 weeks little man was still losing weight. He was down to 7lb 4oz. The doctor said I needed to start adding formula, 2 oz each feeding. I nearly cried.

Sounds silly to be so upset by this, but I couldn't figure out why he wouldn't gain. He was finally eating well. He should have been gaining. After 4 days on formula we were up 3 oz. The doctor sighed contentedly at his one month, sure we had it all going up. At his 2 month recheck, we all were in for a shock as he was now down, again. Poor baby was a whopping 7 lbs even.

Time to restart the formula (we had weened off feeling sure he was doing better). after a week on extra formula, down another ounce. He was down to a low of 6 lbs 15 oz. Panic starts to set in as we move to premie - calorie formula. After 4 days we were up 5 ounces. RELIEF. Ten days after that, up another 4 ounces. Now we are back to 10-14 day rechecks. My over 8 pound baby at birth is now 2 1/2 months and is all of 7 lbs 8oz.

Oh, yeah, and my little guy has one big hernia. Yup, nice big fat bulge in the diaper area, discovered at his 1 month check. The surgeon and the pediatrician are uncomfortable doing surgery on, what we term as "the incredible shrinking baby" (yes, it sounds mean, but it helps deal with the stress a little). So we are now waiting for 4 months in hopes that he will gain and be at least 9 pounds by then.

Until then, we are nursing, pumping, giving formula and as often as possible mixing formula with breast milk. And praying. We are praying a lot. We have a lot of friends praying. But I have faith. He will grow. God gave my husband this little boy's name, and the verse for him.
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”