Ellie 2 Month Check Up

13 lbs 1 oz

23 inches

Our little princess is a growing girl! 

Ellie had to get her shots and she was less than thrilled. I held her in my arms and had the passy in her mouth. She screamed so loud as her face turned bright red when the nurse gave her the two injections. It didn't take too long to calm her down and she was asleep in my arms. 

We did have to up the dosage on Ellie's acid reflux medication. She's still having issues and is battling what they call silent reflux at night. I'm hoping that this adjustment will help us all get sounder sleep at night! 

Each day this is all getting easier. I'm thankful for such a supportive and loving husband. This would all be impossible without him. Ellie is playing more, smiling more, and even laughing each day. I am forever blessed with my little family.

Video of Ellie and Sneakers!

Since I've been syncing my iPhone I have many videos of Miss Ellie!

Please excuse us sounding so silly.  The things you do to make the baby happy! :)

An Update in Pictures

So I synced my iPhone up to the computer and removed about 1500 pictures!  Let's just say that I'm a bit obsessed with my little princess.  She's growing up so fast and we celebrated her turning 2 months old on Sunday.  Where is the time going?!?

We have her pediatrician appointment on Thursday morning for her 2 month shots!  I'm not really looking forward to this appointment because of the shots, but I'm very interested to see how much she weighs.  I'm guessing around 13 lbs by now.  She's my healthy little eater!

Breastfeeding is still going GREAT!  We were supplementing with some non-dairy formula but stopped that over a week ago.  Ellie is a boob girl and would rather have Mommy's Milk any day!  She gets 2 bottles at her bedtime feedings and we add some rice cereal to help with her reflux.  Other than that I breastfeed all day unless we're out and about and it's easier to use the bottle.  I've learned that if I drink a Gatorade I end up with a crazy amount of milk, so I definitely recommend my other breastfeeding moms try it if they need some extra milk.

We still have some spit up every couple of days but it's nothing terrible.  I can tell when her reflux is bothering her, but it's nothing like it was before.  

Ellie still has a gassy tummy, but I've come to realize that she's just a gassy girl.  I'm watching everything that I eat and she still has an upset tummy.  =(  

Ellie is still a high needs baby and is very particular.  (She's so my child!)  Mommy is very high maintenance and I guess it makes sense that my baby is like me as well.  HeeHee!  She is still super happy in the mornings and lets me eat breakfast and then we play.  We follow a routine each day, but no times are set in stone yet.  Well, we try to bath time at 6:30 each evening.  I thrive on structure, but we're still learning each other.  I'm in no rush, and I let Ellie lead each day.

Each day brings it's own struggles, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I am so in love with Elliana.  She has given me so much Joy and I love waking up to her each morning.  She's my precious angel from Heaven and I swear that I love her so much it hurts!

And the pictures..........
I promise to start updating with pictures more often!

(Follow me on Instagram for more Ellie updates:  ellies__mom)

Sunday July 21

Sunday July 21 at Zia's (Aunt Feenie)

Sunday July 21 with Grandaddy/PaPa Joe in celebration of his 84th birthday

Saturday July 20 at Vick Birthday Party

Saturday July 20 at Vick Birthday Party with my bestie Tiff

She adores her Daddy

Saturday July 20 getting ready to visit Granny

Isn't she just adorable?

Smiling at Pops (my Daddy)

HD Supply Baby

It was a long day at the office!

Friday July 19 in her Bumbo seat.  She holds her head up great these days!

Worn out!  She does like getting in some sleep on her tummy.

I'm so in love with her.

I couldn't help myself.  Cuteness overload!

Saturday July 20 with Granny, her great-grandmother.
Ellie is lucky to have 3 great-grandmothers and 3 great-grandfathers all living and in good health!!

With Daddy at the Vick Birthday party.
(It was Ellie's first birthday party to attend!)

I miss blogging

The title says it all. To be honest I'm still struggling with being a new mother. I seriously have no idea what I'm doing most days. 

Since I last wrote we have continued to have a fussy baby. The new medicine is helping Ellie's acid reflux, but she has such a gassy belly. We are sick of the mylicon drops! They do NOT help Ellie. A neighbor had suggested gripe water and we've seen little to no difference from them either. We purchased the Windi and it did not help as much as we expected either. :( 

I've cut out all forms of dairy from my diet.  I have maybe one 8 oz Sprite daily just for something different to drink. I've drastically changed the amount of carbonated drinks that I consume to help with Ellie. I second guess each meal before I eat thinking about how it will affect miss priss. 

We've been supplementing my breast milk with Enfamil Nutramigin that has NO cow milk. Ellie will only drink the formula if  it's mixed with my milk. It does make me happy that she prefers Mommy's Milk! We've also been adding a little rice cereal to her bottles to help with the reflux. I was worried about over feeding her, but I read where lots of other moms were adding the cereal to their reflux babies bottles as well. 

There's no denying that I'm an attachment style parent. I read about it before Ellie was born and knew that was going to be me. I knew that we would co-sleep in the same room but that wasn't enough for our Ellie. People don't often share this but I'm going to........ We bedshare. There- I said it. That is the ONLY way that our daughter will sleep. We've swaddled her, and she cries when she's put down away from us. I'm sure I will get some nasty comments about letting Ellie sleep in the bed with us but were just trying to survive. I wake up so often to make sure Ellie is comfortable and I no longer need my pillow to sleep. I so hope that one day Ellie will sleep on her own, but I do like having her close to me. 

Colic....... There's no denying that Ellie is a colicky baby. She starts crying each afternoon anywhere from 1:30 pm onward until bedtime. Thank goodness she is comforted by the sound of the vacuum cleaner! I have an app on my phone that mimics the sound and it is great at helping soothe our sweet girl. The world's just too big for her. 

Let me say that PPD and colicky babies don't go we'll together. But I am proud that I opened up to my husband and family and got the help I needed. I've been on the lowest dose of Prozac for about 5 weeks now and I know that it's the only reason I have not pulled my hair out so far. I prayed and prayed for a child, but was not prepared at all for her to cry for no reason for hours on end. I am just getting a handle on it, and she is beginning to find comfort in just hearing my voice. It's been a rough 7 weeks here at the Boyington house but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am in love with Ellie and can't imagine life without her. God is good.

(Please excuse any typos because I'm writing from my phone while Miss Ellie is asleep in my arms.) 

Catch Up

Being a Mommy is a tough job.  Well, being a Mommy to a little girl with acid reflux and gas problems is tough.  I'm exhausted!

I took Ellie back to the pediatrician last Thursday.  At her appointment she weighed 10 lbs 10 oz!  She's my chunky monkey.

Ellie had been crying all day long for a few days and she just seemed miserable.   I took her back to the doctor because her acid reflux medicine just wasn't working.  The Zantac three times a day wasn't enough, so they have switched us to Omeprazole twice a day.  They did a rectal exam and took a urine sample from a catheter.  My poor baby was poked and prodded so much.  They took her temperature and she was running a low grade fever.  It was awful. On top of everything, Brandon was out of town traveling so it was just Ellie and me at the appointment.

So far we've seen a little bit of improvement.  BUT lately Ellie has been having tummy problems.  She has so much gas, and she cries because of it.  The pediatrician told me to eliminate dairy from my diet, but I already consumed so little because of my own lactose intolerance.

My 6 week PP appointment with Dr. McKenzie is tomorrow.  I'd write more but Ellie is about to wake up from her nap.  I promise to start writing again as Ellie starts feeling better.