Addilyn is 1 month old

Warning:  Long post ahead about what is going on with her.

Addilyn is now 1 month old.  It has been an adjustment for sure.  Her first week and a half of life was spent under the bili lights.  We got her out to change her and feed her and had to put her right back.  There wasn't a whole lot of cuddling.  We had to take her daily to get her blood drawn.  It was kind of a pain because we had to go to St. George for most of the week, then we could go to the Hurricane clinic after the Holidays were over.  I was so glad when we got to stop the lights.  She didn't seem to mind it, though.  The bili light was a light she laid on top of.  We didn't have to put a mask on her, which was nice.  There was a bag with sleeves (kind of like a snuggie) that we laid her in.

At her two week appointment, she had gained her birth weight back.  She appeared to be doing well.  She has had issues with going poop.  Only a little bit would come out at a time.  She would scream to pass gas.  I had to get suppositories to help her.  We would give her formula and it would make her constipated.  I would nurse her and she would cry after. 

I decided we need to get her to the Doctor in case she had a twisted bowel or something else serious.  My Brother in law said that if she had a twisted bowel, you would know.  But there can be a twisted bowel that twists and untwists which is harder to detect. 

We went to the Doctor and he gave her Prevacid in case there was acid built up in her body.  I tried the Prevacid for a while and didn't notice much of a difference.  She still screamed, a lot.  We tried giving her just formula for two days to see what happens.  We gave her Nutramigen and Similac (at night).  She woke up with a rash and threw up the Similac.  She was fine again once we gave her Nutramigen.  She seemed to be happier during the day with Nutramigen but it still made her constipated.  I strictly nursed her for two days to see what happened.  She got pretty fussy.

Back to the Doctor again.  We spent two hours (mostly waiting) this time trying to figure out why she can't poop on her own.  He took samples of her BM to see if there was any blood or infections in her stool.  Nothing.  We were given a RX for a suppository because she was inflamed inside her little area and told to come back in a week.  He told me to take out dairy from my diet to see if she is getting milk allergies through me.

The Pharmacist had concerns about the RX.  He thought three times a day was way too much for her because it had hydro cortisone in it.  I called my Brother in law and asked him about it.  He thought two times a day would be ok.  We faithfully used the suppositories because she wasn't showing any signs of being able to poop on her own.  She would push, but nothing would come.

I started using a Q-tip dipped in Vasoline so she could get the "feel" and want to push.  Sometimes I couldn't get the Q-tip in, something was blocking the way.  She would just scream.

Back to the Doctor again.  She in now a month old and weighs 9 lbs and is 23 inches long.  Everything was still the same. She managed to have a poop on her own the night before the appointment, though. Yea!!  The last time she did that was two weeks ago. He examined her again to make sure there were no "surprises".  She seemed healthy everywhere else.  He stuck his pinkie up her anus and couldn't even get it past his fingernail.  He gave it a name (which I cannot remember) and said it needs to be stretched out.  He was able to get in a little further before we left. If we can't get it opened and stay opened, she may have to have surgery to open it.  Hopefully, we can get it opened.  We had one child that had to have surgery at 6 weeks old, we don't want to do that again.  (Dalton had a hernia.)

After that last appointment she was able to poop two more times on her own and she has been happier.  Yea!  It makes me feel so bad when I know she is in pain and can't do a whole lot about it. 

I might not have to watch my dairy for too much longer.  Sometimes I just want a bowl of cereal and some melted cheese!!!  Oh yea! and some ice cream!

She has done better than any of our other children at night.  She goes 4 to 5 hours before she wakes up.  The other kids were every 2 to 3 hours. Can't complain there!