Stepniowski Family

I finally broke down and took Skye to the doctor yesterday.  Her continuous screaming throughout the day and early evening really had me wondering if there could be some serious health issue at play.  Continuous crying during the day aside, she didn’t seem to be resting peacefully at night.  I would hear her tossing and turning and making noises that seemed to indicate some sort of digestive distress.  And, she would often wake up every 1-2 hours with pretty intense flatulence.

I’m glad that we decided to switch back to our original pediatrician.  I’ve determined he’s worth the forty minute drive simply because of the care and time he takes each time we see him.  After looking Skye over, he determined she was in fact full of air.  And, that would even cause an otherwise healthy adult to want to cry I suppose.  But, the kicker is that the air is likely being caused by my diet.  So, he’s asked me to eliminate dairy, tomatoes, citrus, chocolate and peanuts.  Now, I don’t have any problems with eliminating dairy, citrus and peanuts but I can say that it will be very difficult to quit eating pizza and pasta, not to mention how nearly impossible it is going to be to not eat chocolate.  Also, Dr. Hoyos prescribed some drops (Levsin) that eliminates spasms in the intestines.  He was confident we would see an improvement in 3-5 days if I followed his advice.

I do kind of feel bad that I waited so long to take her to the doctor.  Aidan was also very “colicky”, but it turned out he had reflux.  Once we had him on the right medication, he was a different baby altogether.  But, he also spit up often and Skye doesn’t.  Her symptoms seem very isolated to the abdominal area.

In any case, the past week or so hasn’t been the most stress-free time.  While I understand her need to communicate when she’s not feeling well, a child that’s screaming for that long in your ear will tend to cause some anxiety.  Things tend to be accelerated by a lack of sleep as well.  But, we’re getting through it and I do see some relative improvement already.

Oh, it also turns out she’s eating too much.  I’ve been asked to cut her back to every three hours now, which she hasn’t appreciated thus far.  It’s kind of hard to believe she’s already 10.5 pounds, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re eating all the time.  I think the poor thing was just trying to eat so she would feel better. 

Further investigation into Skye’s symptoms seem to indicate a peak of digestive system distress at six weeks of age.  And, significant improvement is often seen from there up through three-four months.  She’s six weeks old today, so we should be looking at sunny days ahead.

Another positive aspect to this, aside from Skye feeling better of course, is that I should lose my last twenty pounds much quicker with such a restricted diet!

Tummy Time!
The New & Improved Skye
Skye’s Reflux & Aidan’s Cough
Skye's 4 Month Check-Up
Skye says “hi”
Skye's 1st week home