Trust your instincts.....

The past two and half weeks have been quite tough going for both Charlie and myself. She is now 5 weeks old and we have had lots of "unsettled" periods and lots of trouble sleeping. At first I was unsure about what was nornal for a 3 week old and what to expect. The nurses had told me it was just normal new born stuff and to ride it out. So I kept telling myself to just tough it out, that she would settle eventually. I kept saying to Ray that I thought something was not quite right, that it seemed more than just being unsttled. Everytime I would feed Charlie, she would spend the next few hours arching her back, grizzling, crying, coughing, sneezing, reguguating milk and looking generally unhappy. These signs were what the nurse had said was being overtired. The past week we have had days where I could not get her to sleep at all. Every time I would put her in the cot she would throw up and get hiccoughs and cry. I started to feel really frustrated with myself....how come I can not do this??? I was also getting very teary ans stressed because I thought Chralie looked in pain....and I was worried something was wrong. Charlie had her paediatrician appointment next week and I was hanging out for it so I could ask him if something was wrong. We had another bad day yesterday and my sister suggested call the doctor and see if there was an earlier appointment. Woo Hoo he had a cancellation for this morning. My sister and mum who are both nurses suggested she might have reflux.

We saw Dr Dunlop today and I had written down all the things I had noticed she has been doing and what my worries were. Well it turns out I am not imagining things, she has quite bad reflux. Dr Dunlop was suprised she has been putting on as much weight given the situation but I explained that that is because I have spent most days almost constantly feeding her. I explained that most days it would be about every 90mins she would cry her hungry cry and my theory was a 4 week old baby was not being piggy she was obviously hungry and even though the nurses told me to make her wait 3 hours, I felt if she was hungry she should eat.

Any way he said that it should be resolved with some medication, some mylanta pre feed and trying to keep her upright as much as possible. So we have raised the mattress at one end in the cot and she will start the medication tonight. fingers crossed that it helps her to feel better. It is the wost feeling in the world watching this precious little person cry and become incredibly distressed and in pain and not be able to help! There have been many tears shed by mum thats for sure. I am so releived that there is something we can do- hopefully it makes a difference quickly! At the moment she is happiest when I let her sleep on her tummy on my chest at an inclined position....this usually means I am stuck at a funny angle on the lounge! Hahaha not really a tennable situation! So my lesson learnt is trust your insticts!!!

I did manage to hand over to Papa Bear yesterday evening and get out for a run. Running has taken on a whole new enjoyment! It feels fantastic to get out and run when you have been up since 3am with a distressed baby who just wants to be on you. I felt like I had not been out of the unit in days...which was true :-) She had been so upset I had not managed to even get out for a walk on Monday or Tuesday. I ran 4 km and averaged about 5:45 pace. I felt great. Then I arrived home and showered and felt like I was ready to start again....batteries recharged!

So I am crossing my fingers that our little munchkin will feel better soon!