The Pediatrician, The Expert, Right?

I have learned a lot in the last 10 months being a mom, but one lesson I have learned recently it that not everyone knows everything, especially when it comes to my kid. I have taken everything that my pediatrician has told me as off I must follow him because he knows exactly what's right, right? Wrong. Totally wrong. He has some really great ideas and feedback, but what I have realized time and again is that I know more of what is right of for my daughter than anyone else because I have spent more time with her than anyone else and I have my mommy sense. A good example of this is the diaper rash/ yeast infection situation I was dealing with for a couple of months. During maternity leave Gracie might have had diaper rash once, and I think it was because I was overusing wipes and her little skin was so brand new. I also think that I didn't change her enough at night because I didn't know, and yes I feel mom guilt from that! Thank goodness my best friend told me her routine of changing them right when they wake for a night time feeding. That it's worth hearing them scream for a minute and them give them the boob and they go right back to sleep. Once I went to daycare it seemed to be happening all the time. This of course worried me and I have an awesome daycare provider, but you start to wonder what the heck is going on all day long for this to keep happening! I asked my pediatrician for ideas, scoured the internet and quizzed all my mom friends and I really couldn't figure out what was happening. I got shut down by my pediatrician saying that first, it wasn't a yeast rash, and that it must be what I was feeding her. Well, I though about it and there was no way it was her food. I have fed her nothing but breast milk and pure homemade foods since she was born. My daycare provider and I even narrowed her food down to bland foods one at a time to see if there was a reaction. At one point at the end  Nystatin didn't even work to get rid of the yeast rash that I finally got the doctor to look at and give me a prescription. We even tried different types of diapers and I started to analyze the foods that I was eating to see if that might be causing it. Of course it turns out it was the bubble bath and I'm happy to report that a few weeks later we STILL have perfect skin in her sensitive areas! Yahoo! But, it makes me disappointed in my pediatrician that he didn't help me more or provide more support. He has pushed me off like this several times as if I'm a new mom and worry too much. Or, that I am not worthy to spend more than the allotted time. Interestingly enough, when my husband goes with me his tune seems to change a bit. It makes me want to chew his butt and say, "I'm sorry, but I'm a highly educated woman who is not only intelligent, professional and classy, but I'm paying your ass to listen to me right now, so show some respect!" HAHA. He also seems to be annoyed at me that I only allow them to give Gracie one shot at a time. She has such horrible reactions to the shots each time, I would hate to give her several and have a bad allergic reaction on my hands. Does anyone else have these types of situations with their Pediatrician? He hasn't been bad every time, I just painted him to be a super bad guy, but I do realize that when I ask him things or tell him about my daughter, he really doesn't have all the answers. Neither does the internet, family or friends. That's what makes it so hard sometimes to be a parent and the mom. That you have to make some important decisions and sometimes you have to chose even though you have no idea if it's right or not. I'm looking forward to my second pregnancy and child, hopefully by them I can put all this new knowledge to use and not feel so stressed! I have to admit though, it is getting a little easier the older she gets. :)

Holidays!

I can't explain just how excited I was for the holidays for my little family. I know she is too little to know about Santa and gifts and all the excitement that comes with Christmas, but I was really excited. She was wound up during the week of Christmas though, so I think she could feel how pumped we were and see the fun stuff happening like putting up the tree and decorating the house. I mean, who doesn't want to pull the berries and ornaments off the Christmas tree and rip the wrapping off the presents that are right at your level? Seriously though, it's amazing how much the holidays change for you when you become a parent. All I wanted for Christmas was to watch her learn and experience new things. I couldn't wait to see how she reacted on Christmas morning when everyone was tearing into their gifts and playing with their new toys. I could have cared less if I got any gifts as long as my little girl felt special on Christmas! I also love getting together with my immediate family and watch my niece enjoy opening her gifts and watching the two of them interact. We got them both Little Tikes plastic cars and they loved them! Gracie especially, she kept trying to climb in hers and would just sit and smile and wave every time we pushed her around in it. It makes my heart so happy to watch her grow, smile and laugh! What a blessing to have both my parents and my husbands parents apart of our daughter's life. We got to do a second Christmas with the in-laws three days after Christmas and she got spoiled again. What a lucky little girl we have to have truly great people in her life that love her so much. I just sit back sometimes and take it all in and smile knowing that all of these people will bring such love, joy and positive influence in my daughter's life. The best part is that it is only going to get better from here! Seriously, I have already planned out Elf on the Shelf, videos of catching Santa in our house, making 'Ninja Bread Cookies', and putting out cookies and milk for Santa. I hope I never tire of experiencing these special times with my baby girl and that she will look back some day and cherish these special memories we are creating of her.

Bubble Bath, the Enemy

Well, as many of my posts have shown, I have read, researched and obsessed about the cause of my daughter's yeast infections. In a casual conversation last week a friend of mine brought up bubble bath. I vaguely remember reading at the beginning of my journey as a mother that you aren't supposed to use it with girls. Somehow, in the months of be a mom and all the new things that come with it, I completely forgot that you aren't supposed it use it! Now that she is a big girl and uses the big girl bath, I had all this bubble bath from my baby shower so I thought it would be fun. :( I feel terrible but so far so good. It has been 5 days and all is clear! Cross your fingers that this was the cause. There is so much to learn and remember as a new mom, I guess better late than never. :)

Thrush, or yeast diaper rashes.

I'm telling you that I am getting worn out on this same story of yeast diaper rashes with Gracie. She has very sensitive skin, but even my daycare provider tells me that she gets them way more than the normal  baby. On top of this, many times my pediatrician tells me it's not yeast, but it's because it has almost gone away by the time I get to my appointment because I'm not going to let my baby go through pain for several days when I have medicine and the soonest appointment is days away! After talking with one of my good friends, and brainstorming with my daycare provider, I just know there is another answer. We have thought of the food I am feeding her (which I am thinking is no longer the issue, this entire time I have made homemade pure foods as well as breast milk.) The other option is the type of diapers I am using on her, maybe she is sensitive to a certain brand? (I am currently using Kirkland brand but was using Huggies, I may do a test soon to see what comes of the swap.) The third idea that my best friend came up with is the idea that what I am eating is effecting my breast milk which is causing these rashes on Gracie. This a great article I found on yeast diaper rashes. I'm not done doing my research, but I did love the information in this article. I think I will also post my question in a mom forum I am apart of on Facebook to see what other moms have to say. I can't be first to experience this!

Weekend vs. Weekday Mommy

I finally feel like I am in some sort of routine with being back to work (even though I'm still so sad that I can't be home with my girl). But, it's crazy how much my role changes from weekday working mommy to the weekend full time home mommy. During the week I'm flying by the seat of my pants from one task to the next. I feel like I'm literally packing, cleaning, pumping and trying not to forget anything. On top of this I'm working on financial problems all day and trying (key word) to put Gracie and all thoughts related to her to the side enough to focus and get something accomplished at my desk! Weekday me goes back and forth between wanting to clean, work on projects, have some 'me' time, some husband time, cook something since he does all the weekday cooking and I want to give him a break, make baby food for the week for Gracie, all while wanting to spend every minute with her that I can since I feel like I missed out too much during the week. Sounds good, right?! HAHA. Seriously, how do we moms make it all happen? Working or staying at home, it's nearly impossible. I can't find the article now, but somewhere I read about how much the family dynamics have changed and it really has created a role for the parent(s) mother father, sole care giver to be a super parent. Back in the day we used to have a ton of family either in the same home, on the same property or at least very nearby. The idea was that grandmas, aunts, and sisters would all be around to help keep your world going with preparing food, cleaning the home, watching the babe so that you weren't a one man show. Also, a lot of the families back in the day had only one income. These days I really feel like it takes two to raise a family and have a nice home, two cars and everything that goes with it! How sad that society has changed so much that our focus is no longer on family and helping each other out. Spending quality time with our little ones. I have a great daycare for Gracie, but I still get so sad that I am missing so much time with her! Hopefully in the near future we can figure out something to have more time watching her grow, play and learn.

Food, Food, and More FOOD

It seems that I have been obsessed lately with food, particularly what I'm feeding my baby girl. I've been making super yummy homemade foods, starting with the basics of banana and apple puree and then I went on to making over combos that are yummy like carrot, orange juice, leeks and unsalted butter. A friend of mine recommended a great book that I bought and it has helped tremendously with mixing up new recipes for Gracie. It's called Top 100 Baby Purees. I'm in a funky transition period now though where she wants to eat more foods that we are, but she isn't always ready for the texture or we haven't gotten used to making solid foods that she can eat (no seasonings, etc.). She also tries to choke if I have to big of bites on her tray. She only has two bottom teeth at the moment, so I'm hoping it will be easier for her to eat solids when her top ones come in. I also went on a hiatus from reading too many articles regarding rice cereal and the studies they have found that have high levels of arsenic in them. See this article, small amounts but it still worries me! They say the amounts vary, but I just wasn't comfortable with that. So, it's a good time as any to start transitioning into foods prepared by us but I'm finding it difficult to get into the routine. She really does love to feed herself though, and she refuses my purees more and more. Finger foods are key, I'm always trying to mix it up with a starch, a veggie and a fruit. Sometimes I throw in a meat if we have some prepared that isn't too seasoned, etc. What do other mommies out there do? How do you take the step from pureed to full on toddler foods? :) I'm open for suggestions! Maybe I'm over thinking this whole thing... I usually do.