Yes, there is a new baby in the house.
As evidenced by all the yawning everyone is doing around here.
And the burp cloths and receiving blankets everywhere (and yet there is still never one nearby when you need it!).
And the fact that the house desperately needs to be picked up.
Oh, wait, maybe that last one is normal........
You'd think that since this is the fourth one, I'd have it all figured out by now.
But, alas, I do not.
Most days I feel like I'm in a fog and I make it through the day on auto-pilot. It feels like this new baby has been harder to adjust to. It doesn't help that she doesn't seem to want to sleep at night. I think Hubby and I have only managed to get into bed
at the same time 2 or 3 times since we brought her home from the hospital. And I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. It seems like I fall apart at the drop of a pin these days.
Oh, and then there is the vomiting.
Yes I said vomiting.
As in projectile.
As in shooting the entire contents of her stomach clear across the room.
She started this about two weeks after we brought her home from the hospital. At first it was just once every few days. No big deal, she just overate. Then it started to get more frequent, like once a day. And it wasn't always on the floor. As a matter of fact, it was usually all over me. I was running out of clean clothes that fit, fast. I couldn't take her anywhere, what if she spewed while we were out? Can you imagine the embarrassment if your infant puked all over the library? The grocery store? Your friends carpet? Not to mention the fact that you would have to pack a diaper bag for the baby, a diaper bag for the two-year-old, and a bag for yourself!
It got to the point that I was ending up in tears at least once a day, frequently more. At the end of the day, my poor hubby would come home from work and pick up the pieces. I'm not sure what I would have done without him to put me back together each night.
So, a little over a week ago, I called the doctor. They got her right in. At first she thought it was that Bits needed an adjustment. But over the weekend she threw up several times. So back to the doctor. This time we discovered she has a wheat sensitivity.
So I have to eliminate wheat from my diet.
No big deal, I thought, I'll just use spelt instead.
NOT!!!As a friend kindly pointed out, there is wheat in
EVERYTHING.
OK, so maybe that is a small exaggeration, but if you can't eat wheat, it sure seems like everything has wheat in it.
And she can't even have a small amount. As evidenced by Monday night. We spent most of the night up with her because I neglected to recognize that the soy sauce I cooked dinner with had wheat in it. (SIGH!) So from now on I will be reading the labels on everything!
Today I'm still tired and I had trouble getting out of bed, but things seem a little better. She hasn't thrown up (yet). And for the last few days when she has thrown up, it hasn't been projectile or as much quantity. So she seems to be getting better.
It's still hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially since she still isn't sleeping well. Some days it feels like it will always be like this; sleep deprived and nothing to wear.
But there is hope. For the Lord has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5)
And I just keep trying to remind myself that this stage wont last long. I'm sure in a few years I'll wonder how she got so big so fast and long for the days when I could cuddle her as a newborn. And by then I wont remember how hard it was :o)
Blessings,
Glennda
