Well, crap. Madelynn has officially had her first preemie hiccup. We've gone to several doctor appointments and have been cleared of several scary things which is awesome. But Madi started acting "not herself" this past Monday. We haven't done much in public, have limited visitors and visitation, and still she seemed to get sick. She started screaming in pain when I fed her on Tuesday. I called the pediatrician (who seems to be on speed dial these days) and he called in a prescription for reflux. After giving her the medication, she seemed pretty good but then things got worse.
Wednesday and Thursday she was eating much less (about 2/3 of what she normally does). Thursday evening she began only eating an ounce per feeding (less than half of what she is required for her very minimum). I started to get scared. I made an appointment for Friday and our pediatrician got us in pretty quickly. Instead of taking a minimal let's change one thing approach, he decided it was best for Madi to "throw us the book" and change all of the things. He noticed she had red skin which was indicative of a dairy sensitivity, so he suggested we eliminate dairy from my diet and switch her to a hypoallergenic, dairy free formula for fortification (extra calories). He also diagnosed her with colic, recommended colic drops, a probiotic, and gas drops in every bottle. He also increased her dosage of her acid reflux meds he had called in Tuesday. So then the waiting game began for her to feel better.
When we got home, I realized quickly the change to non-dairy everything helped her skin, but my stash of milk that I have worked so hard to get these past few months is all no good now. Sad face, but I can now bless the NICU babies with some milk and pay it forward to those mommies who helped me (but still, hard to let all of this go).
Saturday Madelynn seemed to be doing worse and worse. I hate not spending as much time with Brady and focusing all of my attention on her, so thankfully my mom let him stay the night with her so we could focus on Madi feeling a little less guilty. We ended up switching back to preemie nipples for her feedings to see if that helped, and it seemed to help significantly. Finally Madi was eating. Today, she can still use prayers, she is sometimes up to 60 ml (her absolute minimum required per feed) but others she gets barely 30 ml. I have a feeling that tomorrow we will be giving our good friend Dr. Straughn another visit...this girl doesn't have too much weight to lose without putting her health in jeopardy. We have a weekend trip planned for this coming weekend...if Madi isn't back to her normal self by tomorrow or Tuesday it looks like that trip may be postponed...keep her in your thoughts.
The health hiccup aside, I have really enjoyed spending some time with Madi and Brady at home. He loves helping his sister play, singing to her, showing her lots of cool things and teaching her magic tricks.
We've enjoyed playing legos, walks in the neighborhood to the park, feeding ducks, football Sundays, and family naps when we are lucky. I love this little family of mine, and am super thankful for each day I have with them.
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