Right now I literally have NO time to update. I never ever (ever) have time to update, because life is stretched to the max. So I'll bullet point again, so that at least I have made note of everything here, and mayyybe I might get chance to go into more detail on some of them another time.
* I have Gastro-Esophegeal Reflux Disease (GERD). A week ago my oesophagus decided not to work properly, and swallowing anything was painful and difficult. SO SCARY!!!! Anyway, long story short - no more big multi-vitamins for me, and I am now on omeprazole for 3 months. I still have discomfort in my oesophagus but it's easing up in general.
* Elijah has become a really distressed baby at all times. Last Thursday and Friday were absolutely unmanageable with Neil at work. Both days I phoned him in tears, unable to get food for the boys or give any of the boys any of my time at all, including Samuel and his need for a nap! Elijah screamed and screamed all day, no matter whether he was held, rocked, walked, bounced, wrapped, upright, reclined, and finally on those two days he started to pull of the breast to scream as well, and had a block of a couple of hours doing the same in the middle of the night. I had made him an appointment (after much encouragement to do so from Heather) at the osteopath that I took Benjamin and Samuel to, in London, but the earliest appointment was July 10th. I made that on Thursday.
* On Friday it was just so bad. Soooo bad. It wasn't even much past lunch time (not that I was anywhere near being able to imagine managing to get lunch ready), and I was breastfeeding Elijah in bed again, trying to find a way to settle him (nothing did). The boys were doing a mixture of crying, fighting, yelling and playing downstairs, and I was crying on the phone to Neil as I nursed Elijah. I did not know how to manage. Neil was coming home early that day because his company lets them out at 2pm on the last Friday of the month if they work through their lunch break! :)
* After the phone call I suddenly decided to be proactive - something had to be done NOW. I called the osteopath and asked if they might on the off-chance possibly have a cancellation for today, and what do you know?! Someone had JUST cancelled their 3.30 appt! Thank you Lord (because it was totally His doing). So I took Elijah to the osteopath that very day!
* Elijah has some issues. He apparently presented at birth with his head straight, instead of with his chin to his chest, as babies ought to be. Heather says this totally explains why I did not go into labour when my waters broke, and also why he was bobbing in and out, not engaging properly. Elijah has compression in the front part of his skull, which is why he always looks like he's frowning so deeply. He does have some good brows on him, lol! But as well as that, his head was really pressed down at the front as he was born. At the same time as that, the back of his head was being pressed backwards, which has caused compression in his neck at the back, and also some "pinching" in some vertebrae lower down in his back (think concertina). The pain in his back/neck has caused him to hold his diaphragm very tight, and this has resulted in severe "silent" reflux. Can't believe we were both diagnosed with GERD in the same week! :( He isn't a "sicky" baby at all, but his poor oesophagus is burning up all the same. They also felt that his "guts" are sensitive, and advised me to cut out dairy from my diet in case it's affecting him through my milk. Poor poor baby boy!
* They said not to wait in getting him to a doctor for a prescription for his reflux, and it was after hours when we got home. After the boys were in bed, I got him an urgent care appointment at the out of hours clinic at 9.30pm. They sent us to children's A&E!!!! They said he was so tiny and in so much obvious pain and distress that he needed to be seen by a paediatrician to rule out sepsis!!!! Yikes! So we went. We were there two hours, and I was beyond exhausted - Elijah too. He cried so much the whole time, and I had to walk him and rock him (Neil was obviously at home with the boys, who were sleeping). He was too distressed for them to take observations even, but they did get a normal temp reading, which was good. Finally they gave us a prescription for ranitidine (similar to my prescription), but I had to go back the next morning to collect it from the pharmacy. He was so exhausted when we got home (midnight!) and slept pretty well considering - a couple of 3 hour blocks in a row.
* Good old A&E gave him his first cold! I'm kind of annoyed about it! Poor baby, as if he needed anything else added to it all!! *sigh* Anyway. He is getting over that a bit today, and has been on his meds for 4 days now. He is doing better today than he has in ages, but still cries and screams a lot of the time. He has even smiled and cooed at us today, which is sooooo wonderful! He really hasn't done any of that before now - though he did smile for the first time at 3 weeks, 4 days old. And maybe twice over the two weeks after that, until now. He didn't really make eye contact either, he was just too busy hurting or being exhausted from hurting.
It has been really hard, but I'm hoping things are going to improve soon. I have cut out dairy and that's not easy either, but I'll do ANYTHING for my manny. I love him so much.
These three photos were taken at 4 and a half weeks old, at the end of last week before getting him sorted out. They were taken sort of to document how he has been, for my own reference really. They show the three expressions that he has had up until then. The first is his "exhausted/blank" expression, which he does when he's not crying or sleeping, just for a very short while; the second is his "fretting/anxious/pained" expression - he whimpers with this one, and the look in his eyes makes me want to cry. He looks actually scared and like he is desperate for reassurance :( The third is the most common - crying or screaming in a pained/distressed way.
Then see these four photos that I took this morning!! He IS still spending much of the time crying and distressed, but there is a definite light at the end of the tunnel if I can get photos like these - I have not been able to before now. His face was actually relaxed for a while and he looked... happy! :) And he smiled! And even got a bit animated and tried cooing! So happy to have caught it on camera! :)
Elijah is otherwise doing great - he weighed 8lbs 11oz at exactly one month old (last Wednesday), which is funny to me because it's exactly Benjamin's birth weight! :) He is at the 25th percentile for weight now, having started at the 9th, so he's growing well! He is feeding great, and weeing and pooing for England.
Okay, got to go. Elijah's cold has passed to Samuel, Benjamin and Nathan today and all three are awake and crying right now (some SCREAMING) at half past midnight. Urrrghh! Long night ahead. I have so much more to write and pics to post, but I will have to do it another time.
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