Charlotte's Tummy - and Two Tangents

So I feel awful, I have hardly had a chance to update my blog and the last update I posted about Charlotte's Tummy wasn't a good one.

We don't have the ability to connect internet to our new home so I can only post updates when I have a few extra minutes (sans kids) at the Library or when we are just hanging out at my in-laws.

So here I am, in the middle of my In-Law's Living Room, on the floor with two kids laughing and playing, my husband on the couch watching Football, and a computer in my lap.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you all how Charlotte is doing now...

We had to switch her to Formula full time back in November. It was an emotional process for me to give up nursing my baby for the 2nd time, but knowing there was nothing else I could do left me with no other choice.

We noticed an immediate improvement within the first few days of her no longer drinking "Mommy Milk" but after a couple weeks she seemed to start hurting again. We had a few pretty rough days and started to notice she was really struggling with Acid Reflux. I'm not sure if that was the entire problem but we are doing every trick we can to keep it under control and it seems to be helping.

In an attempt to settle her stomach we made the decision to do our first food trial two weeks before Christmas.... we tried Oatmeal. She had two small servings of Oatmeal the first week and didn't show a single sign of discomfort. I can't say that it helped her reflux any, but she definitely seemed to be tolerating Oatmeal well. We praise God for this VERY large success in her journey.




We were cautiously excited about how easy her first trial was. We know that any day, any food, any bite could change everything. But that day was a good day. This is a good trial. Oatmeal is a good start.

So after a week on a steady intake of Oatmeal we introduced Green Beans. She actually REALLY enjoyed green beans which was a lot of fun to see and after a week of Green Beans we ruled those "Okay".

With some good momentum to start off our trials we were gaining confidence. The oatmeal she was eating was just some ground up Old Fashioned Oats that I cooked at home. I couldn't get the texture quite as smooth as I wanted so I switched to Beach Nut brand baby oatmeal which is super smooth but had an extra ingredient... Safflower Lechitin. What even is that!?! Is it GMO? Is it a preservative? Is it a vitamin? Anyway, I figured we'd start a new trial with this Beach Nut Oatmeal. Unfortunately, at the same time, we went in for her 6 month check up where she received 4 shots. That resulted in some really rough days and even worse nights. We couldn't tell if it was the new Oatmeal or an upset tummy from a total of 6 vaccinations or a combination of both. So this week we are taking a break. We'll go back to my homemade oats and go slow. We never imagined we'd get to start trials at 6 months, let alone find 2 foods Charlotte's tummy could tolerate. 

We are thrilled for our progress. 

So besides food stuff - Charlotte's life is pretty great right now!

For Zachary's first Christmas my in-laws had this blanket made for Zachary:



It's kind of hard to see from the picture but it's a Dr. Seuss quilt sewn onto a huge fleece blanket. It's so cuddly and cute and perfect. So for Charlotte's first Christmas my MIL (Mother-In-Law) asked me what I would like for Charlotte's blanket. We met with her "Blanket Lady" to brainstorm and I spent hours researching fabrics and prints. I narrowed it down to elephants or whales and found a couple different options for fleece fabric. But I also had another idea..... I still had my baby blanket just sitting in a box in our garage, saving it for who knows what. I just never could bring myself to throw it away. So I wanted to see if I could incorporate it into Charlotte's blanket somehow. I was thinking of simply using a corner or a square from it but I left my blanket with said "Blanket Lady" and let her make the final decision.... what we got back was far more than I could have EVER created on my own:


That light pink heart in the middle is part of MY blanket. How sweet right!?! I'm seriously in love!

And on a final note.... what 6 month old smiles for Santa??? REALLY CHARLOTTE??? You are so amazing!




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