Good News!

Sorry I am still figuring out how to do this. These pictures are supposed to be on the bottom of the page but oh well. This is my happy baby on Valentine's Day. My Mom (her Marmee) bought this outfit for her.

She is doing really well on her tummy.

Emily, doesn't this picture look a little like Addie?

Well we have great news. Elle is SO much better. We did what the doctors said and stopped nursing and gave her purely formula. She became a different baby. I thought she hated bottles she has never really taken one very well. Well I came home from the doctor and gave her a bottle and she literally scarfed it down. I couldn't believe it. I noticed a difference almost immediately. She began sleeping better, and eating a lot more. The part that makes me most excited is that she is a happy baby. She eats (cries a little while being burped) and then is HAPPY! She will just hang out happy as can be. So just two days later we went to the doctor to check her weight and (drum roll please...............) she gained 7.9 ounces!!!! Can you believe that! I don't think I realized the severity of the situation til I saw the relief on the Doctor's face. She said she had been praying for Elle. She also said that Elle gained one of the most significant amounts she has ever seen in just 2 days. I could tell Elle had been weighing on her mind because when she walked out of the room she began to tell all the nurses how happy she was and how relieved she was. I can't tell you how nice life has been.

Now here is a little honesty. I am so glad we have found something that is working, please do not dis-count that, but I am a little sad at the thought of never nursing Elle again. We aren't sure what went wrong. We think maybe Elle did have reflux and that it started a downward spiral. She began having difficulty eating, then my supply went down, when the medication started working I didn't have enough milk to satisfy Elle. Also she never really got a hold on how to properly suck, so she would start nursing and would never get to the hind milk because it was too hard, and that would cause her to cry. So basically, Elle has been starving for 3 months and I didn't know. So I have been pumping (which is one of my least favorite things EVER) until tomorrow. Elle has another weight check tomorrow and if she is doing well we can try giving her breast milk from a bottle while supplementing with formula. Then later we can try nursing again. Here is my concern, the fact is she may never be able to nurse properly. We may go through this whole process then realize that she is losing weight again. I just don't know if I can emotionally handle going through all of that for nothing. I must admit bottle feeding Elle is very convenient. I went and finally saw Twilight and was able to leave her at home with Ryan. I just feel like I have missed out on this amazing nursing experience, because trust me nursing has not been a very good experience. I just kept waiting for everything to finally click. I guess I will just make a decision after we find out how she is doing tomorrow.

This is Elle before :( And this is after she ate!



This is Elle after. She's not crying :)