2 Pounds, 2 Inches!

Hey Everyone!

We are still alive over here! Sorry I haven't posted an update in weeks!  We are in the middle of moving and remodeling some of our new home so things have been hectic to say the least!  But I made it a point to post today as Abby is officially 14 months old today and are you ready for her stats!? She is 17 lbs 13 ounces, 28 inches... which means, she has GAINED over 2 pounds in 2 months and has grown 2 inches!!!  Isn't it amazing how food really affects the body so much and so quickly!

Abby overall is doing great, she's growing into a feisty little one and definitely knows what she wants!  We love her laughs, giggles, kisses and yes chubby squishy legs and arms and cheeks are coming in!!!! :D

Allyne came to work with us again August 6-8 and we were able to up Abby's daily purees to 1 and 3/4 oz which is a 1/4 oz increase.  It's not much but with Abby's volume intolerance we have to go extremely slow or that food will just be thrown right back out, and I HATE when that happens, I feel so helpless :(.  Allyne would also like Abby to begin to have more savory "tastes" during the day, so we are to give her 3 savory bites before each meal (like chicken noodle soup broth, or refried  beans, etc etc) - to be honest (Allyne I hope you don't read this! haha jk) this has been a bit touch and go on consistency because we have barely been home and it's been really difficult to implement this into each meal, I need to do better!

With the current types of foods Abby is eating (fruit purees), she is at about a 6 month old's level eating wise, so our goal is to get more savory foods/veggies in, and then slowly add in meats!  Meats will be a tough one as they are harder and longer to digest so that may be a factor in that small tummy of hers.  We'll see!

Pretty much a few days after Allyne left this month, Abby started to regress in some of her eating behaviors - she has been twisting her tongue so that the spoon and food ends up under her tongue, or expelling (spitting it out), gagging a lot and just being a lot more difficult to feed/distract!  So Allyne is having us make sure her purees are nice and thin and that we make sure to not offer her the bite until her tongue is in a frontal flat position to accept it.  She is getting better but she still is gagging once or twice per meal, I don't know why??? But besides that, we are really happy and thankful for all the progress Abby has made!!

Hopefully I can post another update within a month, but don't be mad if I don't, theres so much to do with the new house, and work, and oh take care of a little bambina who likes to pull on mommys leg all day, then when mommy gives her attention she runs away and plays! hahaha love her to pieces!

Her new swing at the new house!

Mama Bear

1 Year Check Up - Weight Update

Today Abby was seen by her pediatrician (Dr. De Villiers, highly recommend!!) for her 1 year check up - she is now 15 lbs 8.5 ozs, and 26 1/4 inches long.  She has gained 1.5 ounces in the last 2 weeks, ugh that's it?! She has definitely been eating better than she was before but I think that now that she is walking all over the place she is burning up way more calories!

I wish I would have taken a picture of her growth chart, but I plotted the last few months myself on the chart below, so here is a peek at her weight and height growth.  The top of the chart is height and the bottom is weight.

Developmentally Abby is doing great, she is walking, understanding simple commands we say to her, can say agua and oussside (outside), etc etc so that is a good sign! We just really need to continue to work on her weight and her sleep.  I know I haven't mentioned too much about Abby's sleep, but I know that her eating and sleeping are correlated, so let me tell you more about her sleep patterns.

When Abby was first born she slept great for the first 4-6 weeks, she was sleeping 6-9 hours straight a night and it was GLORIOUS! haha!  But as she began to struggle with her eating, her sleep went down hill.  

Currently, she is awake anywhere from 3-10 times per night.  It's a miracle that I am even able to function as every time she wakes up I need to go tend to her, usually nurse her, then she goes back to sleep, this can take 10-30 minutes every time she wakes up! :(  We've made multiple attempts at "sleep training" and she has not respond well to anything so far.  The best option for us and her at this point is for her to be in our room in her crib.  I've had people make comments to me saying that I need to get her out of my room, that she wakes up because she seems me (shes up even when we are not in the room!) etc etc, but until they have lived with her and know how she responds to things, I wish people would support the fact that we are doing what is best for HER and for me... hey I need sleep too!!  

I actually brought this up to her pediatrician today and she agreed and urged me to keep her in our room as no big changes should be made until Abby's feeding is significantly improved, and though it sucks, the calories that she gets at night are still so important. So in our room she stays for now.  We are hoping that she makes quick progress with the feeding treatment and then we will work on sleep, and the cool thing is that Dr. Patel says she will work with us on the sleep issue as well! Whoo hoo!!

They checked her hemoglobin today as well to see where she is at on her anemia, and she's still on the lower end at 10.4, so we are going to try and increase iron rich foods (going to try kale/spinach shakes again!) and her iron supplement as well.  Here's a picture of her after they pricked her finger, she didn't even cry or wince - she was more bothered by having two of her fingers bandaged together! haha.

That's all folks!