Oh, to (somewhat) sleep again…

Greetings from Newborn Land!  We have made it to 11 weeks and I am happy to say I am actually feeling human again!   She has now started sleeping for those longer stretches at night (HOORAY!)   Somehow getting more sleep makes everything feel SO much more manageable.   

For those of you that missed my last post, Morgan has severe reflux, and the first two months were spent trying to help my miserable sleepless baby.   But we have turned a corner!!!

First off, THANK YOU to all the moms who wrote to me to share their experiences with reflux.   It was really heartwarming to see how many people cared enough to take the time to write me and share tips on things to try to help.  I am really grateful and it was such a reminder to me of the bond we all share as mothers.       

So we had our breakthrough about three weeks ago.  Let me just say I do not like having my baby on medication, but with her night-time choking episodes, we have no choice.   She was on Zantac for 5 weeks, with no big improvement in her symptoms.   She was still  miserable, crying all the time, spitting up a lot and not sleeping. 

Thanks to a lot of moms I talked to that have been through this, I pushed to stop the Zantac and try Prevacid.   After one week,  she made dramatic improvement.  It  has been life changing for us.    Before the Prevacid she would wake at 2am and be so miserable after feeding, she would pretty much be up grunting and fussing the rest of the night until she would konk out again around 5 or 6am.  Which meant I was pretty much up every night from 2am on.  In the early AM I would  then be greeted by a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed 3 year old ready to start the day!   No such thing as “sleep when the baby sleeps” when you have other kids!   

She is just doing so much better overall, it is absolutely thrilling. Since she is feeling better, I am finally getting to know her sweet little personality.  She will sit and look at me and smile and coo and try to “talk” and kick her legs.   It is just the cutest, I am enjoying every second.     

It was a really helpless feeling to see my baby so miserable and uncomfortable.  If anyone else has a baby with reflux, or a doctor that is labeling your baby “colicky,” I highly recommend the book “Colic Solved.”   It is a really straight-forward, informational book all about reflux and has been really helpful in this journey.

So now that baby Morgan is getting “easier,”  my strong-willed, test my every last ounce of patience 3-year-old is another story!  Just kidding (but not really…)   No one said this parenting gig was easy!!! 

Thanks for listening!  More to come from our Adventures in Newborn Land!

xo Jen