~Meh..~

Well, it's not like things haven't been happening here..I just haven't had the drive to post it and I will get to that in a second. First I want to share that Madelyn is a full fledged speed crawler and loves the "I'm going to get you" game. She crawls away as fast as possible and laughs her head off. It's terribly cute.

She can also take some steps but she has to be held up by her torso (not her arms) and guided to do so..she actually isn't too keen on it and reaches to be back on all fours asap.

No teeth..just drool and chewing.

Ok..here goes. I am battling PPD. I started taking 50mg of Zoloft last week. It is supposed to take 3-4 weeks to take effect but I think some of it kicked in a bit already (either that or it's the placebo effect) and Scott has commented on how much less pissed off I am.

~Food, weight, and docs~

So Birth 2 3 came and did their assessment. As suspected, they did not find Madelyn eligible for their program. Woot.

We paid a visit to GI and was given the green light to not only take her off Pepcid but to introduce her to yogurt. She ate some of that yesterday and loved it and so far no adverse reaction. I also gorged myself on some Pineapple Greek yogurt as well, and man oh man..after not eating that for about 9 months or so, was it ever good.

GI is till concerned about her weight gain, or lack thereof, even though she has gained in the past few weeks...back to 17lbs. I am to give her more and more food, concentrating on fatty higher calorie foods. He wants me to cook her food when I cook them in butter (no..I give her olive oil thanks). Butter has added salt, ok I can go salt free fine, but it also is loaded with saturated fats..something I d o not think she really needs..maybe I am wrong?

I know she has to eat a ton, and frankly she already was eating a ton before GI saw her, but I am also concerned he is trying to make her a "fat" baby..not what I want for her. Rolls on a baby are good yes, but a fat baby is not. Gotta find a happy medium here.

~Blood test results~

I have gotten an overwhelming response both on the web and in person of people's concern for Madelyn. Thank you for all your good wishes! So seeing I was going to post the findings here anyways, I will do that instead of emailing the lot of you that have been asking as I will be here all day if I do that!

First off there was a miscommunication between the lab, myself and the Pediatrician; The Pediatrician told me Endocrinology would call me when lab results came in, however, what really happened was she blindly referred us to Endocrinology, then Endocrinology called me prior to lab results to ensure I was able to get an appointment within a reasonable time JUST IN CASE things were urgent. In hindsight, the Pediatrician was just being super proactive, all the while making me feel the need to visit the cardiologist!!

In a nutshell almost everything was stellar..which is great news..but still leaves the questions unanswered.

However, there is some concern with Madelyn's liver functions. She is showing she has 1 of the 2 enzymes elevated, the AST. The other enzyme level that came back normal is the ALT. The Pediatrician did not seem all that alarmed about it as she stated this could simply be due to her age and will eventually even itself out. She also said it could be the reaction of her body fighting off an infection of some sort which is completely normal for the liver to do such business and when the liver is doing that the AST will be elevated.

However, maybe Endocrinology will be able to shed some light as to why she eats as much as she does..(I think I'm going to take pictures of each of her meals today so you all can see what she polishes off..it's really pretty insane) and yet does not gain any weight. In fact her Huggies size 3s even seemed baggy on her over the weekend! My theory is she is going to have a runner's body..long, tall and lean..just like her two uncles..who top the charts respectively at 6 foot 5 and 6 foot 7. And no they don't play basketball; they are both avid golfers.

Only time will tell. In the meantime, we do have a standing appointment for Birth2-3 June 3rd, GI on June 7th, and Endocrinology on June 18th.

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ast/test.html

~9 month check-up and band-aids~

Craptastic. That is how I can describe our 9 month check. On Friday we went from "you officially have what we refer to as a 'big baby'" to bugged out eyes, rechecking her weight and a referral to Birth 2-3.

Stats as follows:
Height: 27.25 (gained 1.25 inches)
HC: 45.5 cm (gained 1.5 cm)
Weight: 16.6 (LOST 3 oz)

She eats all her required food, and then some, like a horse, so I have no idea how on earth she lost weight. She does not crawl, creep, pull up, or cruise either. Lost.

So Monday we packed up and went to the CT Children's Medical Center to get some blood drawn to check on a few things, thyroid issues being the one that stands out in my head. She got her very first band aid, Garfield to be exact. Ya..big fat hairy deal. We should know the results by the end of this week so I'm pretty much on pins and needles for the time being.

Madelyn also has not rolled over since Lord knows when, so Birth 2-3 will be coming over to the house to check her motor skill development during the first week in June.

Waiting game. Gotta love it.


http://www.birth23.org/

~Huggies Pure & Natural~

"So this is love..mmm..mmm...so this is love..." (insert Sleeping Beauty singing here)

Wow. Where have you been all my life?

This is a great diaper. First off it is the softest diaper I have ever felt..way softer than Pampers "Blankie Soft" Swaddlers ever were, even when they were manufactured correctly. They fit around Madelyn's slim baby body like a glove and when they get wet the get squishy, not hard like the previous contenders did. This diaper also performs exceptionally well overnight. No leaks. They have a pleasant smell out of the wrapper as well. If I had to pick at one things I'd improve it would be the side tabs..they could stand to be slightly longer just for ease of parental use.

I highly recommend this diaper.

If you are going to consider this diaper, call Huggies, aka, Kimberly-Clark, and ask them for coupons. They sent me $8 worth. One of the coupons was worth $6 so as a result my first pack of these diapers, that I bought from Wal-Mart, ended up costing me $2.97. If you are not, call them anyways and get coupons..then send them to me, because I surely could use them!

I am so glad to be done with this diaper fiasco.

http://www.huggiespureandnatural.com/

~Hit a milestone..well at least to me it's a milestone.~

I'm in the kitchen, big surprise, on Sunday and I hear Scott yell from the living room, "Mommy..come look! Hurry!" I sigh, as I'm thinking, "Yes she is prolly doing something I have seen a million times, but I'll come anyways to humor you.."

I walk in and was pleasantly surprised to see her on her hands and knees. Wow! One step closer to crawling and the end of life as I know it.

~7th Generation~

First off, I'd like to give a big "THANK YOU" to Tara at 7th Generation for generously providing me with 1 size 3 and 1 size 4 to try on Madelyn's bum. She also sent me some coupons for diapers and other products as well.

Well, my initial impression when looking at this diaper was it seemed like a cross between a Pamper and a Huggie. Tabs and back elastic like Huggies and then the rest of it, like over all construction and feel was like a Pamper. This is where the comparisons ended. Tara did warn me that they ran small, so with that, I first put Madelyn in the size 3. It fit, but not very well, as it seemed to be a little too snug, as I expected thanks to Tara. No worries, I'll just let her use it and then see how it holds up to 2 hours of being a baby. The next day I decided to put her in the size 4. It fit her very very well, except it just seemed a little tall and the diaper looked as if it went halfway up her torso. Overall, I was pleased with the 4, so I went out and bought a pack with my coupon. We used them all this week and at night with no leaks. Fabulous. I did however notice that after they became wet, they became hard; a lot like the gDiapers did. Not a fan of a hard wet diaper.

Then yesterday I noticed Madelyn had 2 quarter sized red marks on her bum, what on earth...diaper rash in a 'natural' diaper? Really? I put some Desitin on it and it went away. Fine..I tried again without diaper cream. Nope..red marks came back. Wow. Not pleased.

Verdict is sadly a, "No". I do have some left, ok I have a lot left, so since they performed so well at night I will just use them on her at night until they are gone as we always slather her with Desitin at night anyways.

Next contestant; Huggies Pure & Natural.

http://www.seventhgeneration.com/