Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

Just after I was boasting how Mason was a brand new baby and that we figured out the acid reflux, we had a slight setback. Over the weekend, he completely regressed and began showing all of the same signs he did before he was on medicine! He was constantly crying in pain and arching his back during feedings. What happened to my happy baby?! At first I thought he might just be having a bad day, but it continued for the next 2 days. (Luckily, he was still sleeping pretty well). I scoured different mom boards on the Internet trying to learn more about acid reflux and Zantac (the prescription he is on). I read that lots of Mom's said Zantac only worked for a short time for their babies before having to move to something stronger.

I called Mason's doctor on Tuesday morning to talk about what was going on with him. I wasn't sure if she would want me to bring him back in or not. We had just been there the week before. After explaining what was going on, she decided it would be best to change his prescription. She switched him over to Prevacid. She said to give it a try and if he gets worse or it doesn't work, I should call her back in a week. This new medicine needs to be refrigerated and it is only good for 14 days. We started him on it yesterday and he had a great day today! The evening was a different story. He was VERY fussy. Nothing was making him happy. I pulled out our infant sling thing and put him in it. Finally - something made him content! I am hoping the medicine just needs a little time to 'kick in.' Hopefully we will be back on track soon!!

As a side note, Mason has started smiling! Yay! The doctor had me freaked out because she was concerned he wasn't smiling. My little man pulled through!

Happy Two Months Mason

Today Mason is two months old! Earlier this week when we were at the doctor for the acid reflux, she also did his two month well-baby check-up too (since it was so close to when he should have been scheduled to come in). Mr. Mason weighed in at 10 lbs. 14 oz (35th percentile) and was 23 inches long (89th percentile). He's tall and skinny! Since we have resolved the acid reflux situation, Mason has become a much better sleeper. At two months old, he is sleeping about 11 hours every night, only waking up once. (This is much better than what he was doing two weeks ago, where he would wake up at least 3 times). Now, we are working hard to try and skip the 3:00 am feeding and sleep the whole night through! He takes 2 catnaps during the day that last anywhere from 1-3 hours (sometimes longer). Mason loves his bottles and can be a little piggy. He drinks anywhere from 5-6 ounces at every feeding. He is still in a size 1 diaper and mostly wears newborn size clothes. I think we will be moving to the next size very soon.

During his well-baby appointment the doctor asked me if Mason has started smiling yet. He has not. She seemed a bit concerned. She asked if he makes eye contact or follows movement. He does. He always looks at his mommy and daddy when we talk to him. He will watch his mobile go round and round and also play under his activity gym grabbing for the hanging animals. The doctor said if he does not start smiling in the next 2-3 weeks I need to let her know. This kind of made me nervous. She said not to worry, but she wants to make sure he doesn't have any spectrum issues or vision problems. She said infants usually smile by the time they are two months old. I checked Leah's baby book and she didn't smile until 2 1/2 months old. Maybe my kids are just 'late' smilers??

I have 3 more weeks left with Mason (and Leah) before I go back to work. I am going to soak up as much time with them as I can. It has been wonderfull being home with my babies and wish I could always be home with them. The past two months have flown by! Happy 2 months Mason!

Acid Reflux Sux

Around the time that Mason was 3 weeks old, I noticed he was becoming MUCH more fussy than he had been since he was born. The kid would cry (ear piercing cries) almost all day long. He was irritable when I would feed him and he would arch his back as if he was in pain. He was spitting up quite a bit and was always congested. He wanted to be held all of the time. His sleeping habits were extremely poor too. He was up almost every 2 1/2 to 3 hours at night. I felt bad for him, but he was making me crazy. Something had to be wrong. This couldn't be his 'normal,' could it? He was the complete opposite of how Leah was when she was a baby.

We decided it was time to call the doctor. We had tried a few things at home (i.e. using gripe water, putting a humidifier in his room, changing formula, etc.) but nothing was really working. I brought him into the doctor last week and explained to her what was going on. After listening to what I had to say and examining Mason she could tell he had a pretty bad case of acid reflux and heart burn. He most likely was crying and not sleeping well because he was in pain. She prescribed him 'Zantac' and recommended having him sleep in his car seat (so he would be elevated). I was so relieved to learn there was something we could do to help him! The doctor said she wanted to see him back in a week to see how he was doing. If there was no improvement, she would look into changing his prescription to 'Prevacid' which is a bit stronger.

We went and picked up his prescription and I gave it to him right away. After the first couple of days, I didn't really notice much of a difference and I was pretty disappointed. However by day 4, Mason was a brand NEW baby. The medicine was starting to work. He was content and was no longer crying. Of course, he would still cry on occasion, but it was NOTHING like it was before. Mason's sleep also improved drastically. He started giving me 6 - 7 1/2 hour stretches at night. (He's getting better every night). He'll take a bottle and go right back to bed until 7:30 am or so. This momma certainly appreciates not being woken up every 2 1/2 hours like before. Now if I can get him to sleep all the way through the night by the time I go back to work (in 3 weeks - yikes), I will be extremely happy!

We went back to the doctor for a follow-up appointment earlier this week. He is doing better (but still has his moments) so the doctor recommended increasing his dosage (slightly) of the medicine. I swear, Mason is just such a little angel now and much happier. I am so glad we took him into the doctor and got this figured out. It was stressing me out and I can't imagine how poor Mason was feeling.

Motley Crue and KISS Concert

Months ago Rob told me he was going to get us tickets to go see Motley Crue and KISS. I thought he was joking, but when the tickets showed up in the mail a few weeks later, I knew he was serious. Does my husband know me at all? Does this sound like something I would want to do? It's not often that we get out and is this how I would want to spend my time? A nice dinner would have been more up my alley. Motley Crue is 'ok' but I can't say I like them enough to go see them in concert. I am not a fan of KISS at all....the only song I know is 'I Wanna Rock and Roll.'  I was not exactly thrilled but agreed to go.

The day of the concert, it was rainy and yucky outside. I was secretly hoping that it would get canceled! My luck, the weather cleared up so I knew we would be going to the concert. What does one wear to see Motley Crue and KISS? I am definitely not feeling it in my post-baby body and am not happy with the way anything fits. I had a feeling I'd see lots of girls in skimpy clothing (and I did). We also saw lots of people with their faces painted and other questionable clothing choices. I opted for jeans (which I was surprised that I was able to fit into) and a cute black tank. It was pretty cold outside that I needed a sweater. As soon as Rob got home from work, we hit the road. The concert was at the First Midwest Ampitheater. Rob also had passes to the VIP club (which sounds cooler than it actually was). It was a large outdoor bar area that served food and drinks. It was nice to sit down and enjoy a cocktail before the concert (even if beers were $11 each).

We had seats in the pavillion (thank god). I've sat in the lawn for many concerts but this is one I was thankful we had actual seats for. Motley Crue came on first. I will admit, they put on a pretty good damn show. I was pleasantly surprised. They were very entertaining and I knew at least 5 or 6 of the songs they played. I actually had a lot of fun! I was happy that Motley Crue came on first so we didn't have to sit all through KISS to see them. After Motley Crue finished up, KISS took the stage. We only stayed for their opening and the first two songs. By leaving early, we avoided the congestion of the parking lot and missed all of the traffic getting out. Overall, it was fun getting out with my husband and it was something a little out of the norm of what we would typically do!

First Day of Dance Class

For weeks Leah has been telling us how bad she wanted to go to dance class. Now that I am home on maternity leave, I figured it would be the perfect time to sign her up for a daytime dance class. (I never get to bring her to any daytime activities so I was excited to do so). We went and bought her some new leotards, dance skirts and ballet shoes. She loved he new 'costumes' as she called them and would often ask to wear them around the house.

The class we signed her up for is called "Express Start 2" and is geared towards 2 and 3 year olds. It teaches beginning tap, jazz and ballet and helps improve basic motor skills, agility and rhythm. In the days leading up to the class, it was all Leah could talk about. She couldn't wait to go to dance class. We told her that I would be dropping her off and she would have to listen to her teacher. She seemed to get it. (This is a class that the parents don't stay with the child. There is a back waiting room the parents can sit and watch through a small window). I was a little nervous how Leah would do without me there and just dropping her off.

On the day of her class, she was so happy and wanted to put on her dance clothes. She even let me put her hair in a ponytail (which she NEVER lets me do). We hopped in the car and were on our way. Once we got to dance class, she seemed excited and was dancing around. She asked where her teacher was (we were 15 minutes early).

Shortly after, other little girls started showing up for the class and then the teacher, Miss Amber arrived. She gathered the girls in the dance studio. I walked Leah in there and as soon as I started walking away, everything went downhill from there. She immediately followed me. I walked her back to the girls and she started getting upset and said she didn't want to be at dance class. Miss Amber tried to get her to come back and was really good with her. Each time I tried to leave to go back to the waiting room, she was freaking out. (I also had Mason with me which made it a bit more difficult - luckily he slept the whole time, otherwise it would have been a bigger disaster). The teacher recommended we stand in the back and let Leah watch for a bit and maybe she would eventually want to join the girls. Leah made me hold her and she was clinging to me like no tomorrow. It was not good.

At one point during the class, the teacher brought out these cute butterfly wings and magic wands for all of the girls to wear. When Leah saw this, she was definitely interested. She did leave my side to go get some wings and a wand. I thought maybe we were making progress. Nope. As soon as she got it, she ran right back over to me and just wouldn't participate. Two of the other little girls in the class even tried to get her to come over by them. Leah just kept telling me how much she wanted to go home. Some of the girls in the class were way younger than Leah and they all had their acts together. They were having fun and listening to Miss Amber. I kept telling Leah to watch how much fun they were having and asked her if she wanted to join them. She didn't budge. After 45 minutes, the class was over. I was a bit disappointed at how Leah reacted. I thought for sure she was going to have a great time. All I can do is take her back next week and try again. I don't want to give up just yet. This is Leah's very first dance class, so maybe she just needs to get used to how things work. I'll give it a few more classes to see if we can make progress. If not, we are signed up for a parent/tot gymnastics class in November that hopefully she will enjoy better with us there.

Date Night

It has been forever since Rob and I have had a date night! When I say forever, it literally has been forever. It has been well over a year since it has been just the two of us for a night out together! Anytime we go out, Leah (and now Mason too) is always with us. So, I was thrilled when we had the opportunity to get out! Rob's sister Amy came over on Saturday night to watch the kids for us. This is the first time we were leaving Mason. It was tough, but I was so excited to get out. She brought her son Carter with her so I knew Leah would have a blast playing with him.

We left the house around 6:00 pm and headed downtown. We had 8:00 pm dinner reservations at Carmichael's. By the time we got downtown we had well over an hour to spare before dinner. We stopped at a bar close to the restaurant and had some drinks. This was the first time in a long time that we got to sit at the bar (let alone in the bar area)! It was so nice to have an adult conversation and not constantly get interrupted by our kids! I can't deny that we didn't talk about our kids though during our night out! Ha. After a few drinks, we walked over to the restaurant. It was nice to be at a nice restaurant versus our typical Chili's or somewhere in our area. I had filet mignon and it was pretty good! After dinner we went and had one more drink before heading home. We were home before 11:00. It was definitely nice to have a night out with my husband!!