Tag Archives: Formula

Love Letter: Month 3

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12-Aug-2007 09:16
Holy cow! You are three months old today. It seems so hard to believe as the last three months have really flown by for momma.

Let’s see….what all has happened in the last month? You had your very first trip up to State College with Momma and Daddy. We had a fun time at the Lion Shrine taking photos as well as at the JoePa statue. It was also the first time you stayed in a hotel. We learned that you are quite the noisy sleeper from that experience.

You are now sitting in your high chair at the table when we have meals. It’s nice to have you as a part of mealtime. Your high chair came with some fun things to keep you entertained. You spend your time smiling at them while Daddy and Momma eat a meal without having to jump up to see if you need us.

We have recently changed things for you too. You have moved up to eating about 6oz at a time from the big bottles. We just changed your nipples to 3+ month as well. We also just got you new pacifiers that are for 3-6 month olds. You really seem to like them a lot. Last night you wouldn’t take your old Binky for Daddy so he presented you with the new one and you were all over it.

Just this morning I started going through your dresser because a lot of your 0-3 month clothes are getting tight. Not because you have a big belly, but because you are so long! So there is now a nice large pile of clothes on your floor and new stuff in the dresser for you to wear and be adorable in.

This month we also, finally!, got you diagnosed with Reflux. I don’t mean to sound like its a good thing, but it’s great that you have been diagnosed and now have Zantac to help your belly feel lots better. As a result we rarely have fussy feedings anymore and you are back to being Momma’s big eater. And at last weigh in you were a big 13lbs 10oz. I can’t wait to take you to the doctor next month to see how much you’ve grown!

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06-Aug-2007 15:41
We also had a lot of fun during your first trip to Knoebel’s. You got to ride the train and the carousel. Other than that you pretty much slept through the day while Momma and Daddy got to ride roller coasters and flume rides. We’re looking forward to next year when you’ll want to go on the kiddie rides with Maiah, Zoie and Evan. We’ll have to bring the video camera along for that.

This was also the time that Momma has been dreading, returning to work. This past Tuesday Momma dropped you off at daycare and then headed back to the office for the first time since you were born. Momma had a very tough day. When I called to check on you I found out you were also having a tough day but for different reasons. You just weren’t too interested in eating. We later figured out it was because they weren’t warming up your bottles. We have since worked out that problem and you’re eating like a champ for the nice ladies during the day. I was so excited to leave work that day and pick you up. I think I just magically flew to get you. I will admit that when we got home I was a baby hog all night. I did let Daddy have you for a bit, but I think he was being nice because he knew how tough of a day we both had.

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11-Aug-2007 09:58
The next three days weren’t as tough for me, but it still isn’t easy to leave you at daycare and head to work. My friends tell me that it gets easier and I have to believe them, even if only for my sanity. I still think that someday, hopefully soon, I’ll win the lottery and we’ll be able to spend our days together again. Gotta get a ticket for this week!

Until then I will continue to relish my weekend family time. This weekend we’re having fun watching you make bubbles. You just started doing that a few days ago. You are also now giggling when we play peek-a-boo. Sometimes you move your head to get out from under the cloth and you think you’re so smart. You are also holding your head up for much longer these days.

As of now my favorite time with you is when I get you up in the morning. You always give me a big smile to let me know you’re happy to see me. Then after you’re all ready to go I make sure we have at least ten minutes of play time before heading out the door. This way we both start our days with smiles, laughs and lots of love.

Love, Momma

In a state of flux

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This week has been tough for Rylee when it comes to feeding time. Tuesday and Wednesday she was screaming horribly any time we’d try to feed her. She eventually decided that she would rather not eat than eat and have pain. I felt so badly for her because I didn’t know exactly what was wrong and what was causing the pain. However, I did know her symptoms.

This of course led me to the internet and to my book What To Expect The First Year. It was very easy to discover that she most likely was suffering from reflux. So Wednesday evening I called to speak to the pediatrician on call. She was so great and once I gave her all of Rylee’s symptoms and told her that Rylee was a preemie she confirmed that it was reflux. She told me what to do to get her through the night and said that I should take Rylee in Thursday morning. I did and Rylee is now on a very low dose of liquid Zantac and back to eating like a champ. One thing they worry about with infant reflux is loss of weight. I’d like to let you know you need not worry about that with our little one as she is now a whopping 13lbs 10oz! We believe she is on a course to rival her cousin Evan. She owes him a small bop on the nose from the cousins photo session in May so she’s bulking up to make it a good one.

Looking back, I think that the formula situation from June was actually the start of reflux for Rylee. I really wish the doctor would have wanted to see her then rather than have us go the range of formulas. Overall she has done well with the soy formula she has had quite a few “fussy feedings” that were most likely a result of the reflux. I’m just glad that we now have it all figured out and feeding time is once again a happy time for everyone.

In other big news, Rylee went from 10pm to 5am for feedings last night. This is the first time that she’s gone seven hours and I was able to get six hours of straight sleep. I really hope this is the start of a new trend for her!

Love Letter: Month Two

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15-Jun-2007 17:44
I can’t believe that you are two months old already! The time has really flown by. This past month you have done so many new and exciting things. You had your first trip into Momma’s office for the baby shower that didn’t happen in May since you arrived so early. That was a lot of fun, everyone was so excited to see you and they all commented about how you are such a pretty girl.

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18-Jun-2007 18:49
You have started to respond to people and objects. You love the Nittany Lion mobile that hangs over your pack ‘n play. You can lay there and stare at them and giggle for a while. Momma loves it because its perfect when she needs to you
down for a few minutes or to get you to relax and fall asleep. You also laugh at the things that dangle from your playmat. They make neat noises and when we pull on them they play music that you instantly recognize. We love to watch you play with them.

You also laugh when Momma kisses your big cheeks and both your chins. You always open your mouth after I’m done to ‘give me kisses’. It’s a fun game we play many times a day.

Today was also your two month pediatrician visit. You received four! shots and one oral immunization and according to Daddy you took them like a champ. As always, Momma left the room because she cannot stand to see you in pain and watching someone give that pain to her baby is just too much. However, I did hear you scream a few times. We were smart, thanks to Susanna, and gave you some Infant Tylenol before your appointment to hopefully avoid some fussiness and fever. We’ll see how the evening plays out for us.

Another month means another month of falling even more in love with you. I can’t believe that in 31/2 weeks I have to go back to work. I’m not looking forward to dropping you off at daycare that first day. That may be just as painful as having to watch you get shots.

This was also the month of the formula conundrum. You started to get too gassy from the regular stuff so we embarked on a journey to figure out just which one was going to make you feel better. We had some screaming feedings because you knew that what was in the bottle was going to make your belly hurt. I would try to sooth you and tell you that this was the new one and wouldn’t make it hurt. You know things are tough when you are trying to reason with a six week old! But we all made it through and have figured out which one works for you and all is well with the world again.

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28-Jun-2007 18:11
We have also started to get you into a routine. Yes, we’re a bit late, but so far it’s working. Of course we think you are a genius because you have taken so well to it immediately. I think we are going to go one step further and make a bath part of your night time routine as well. That should be interesting because you hate getting a bath. I’m hoping it will somehow sooth you and help you to relax and fall asleep. Let’s see how it goes though.

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27-Jun-2007 20:16
You were introduced to your swing and bouncer this month as well. At first you loved the swing, then went through a phase where you hated it and now you are liking it again. Another thing I’m thankful for because again it allows me to put you down for a bit to some things done.

You also really like to have tummy time. This can easily lead to a nap after you’re done playing. One night this month you even managed to shock Momma. One night I went in to feed you in the middle of the night and there you were laying on your tummy when Daddy had put you down on your back! I know it was a random thing but it really was a midnight surprise.

I know that this next month is going to be even more exciting as you will definitely discover new things and find new ways to make Daddy and I laugh and fall deeper in love with you.

Love,

Momma

I now know the formula!

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Believe it or not we are back to the pink kind.

Yep, last week we tried the orange one and it was not agreeing with Rylee’s little belly. So I decided to give the soy formula another try. Ever since we went back Rylee has been doing wonderfully. Yay!

I really didn’t want to go back to Alimentum because it made Rylee smell bad. Her entire body smelled like the awful formula. Not to mention we had a very large container of the soy that was already opened. It’s nice to know that won’t go to waste since formula is pricey! It makes me even more sad that breastfeeding didn’t work out for us.

So if you get any coupons for Similac, please send them our way!

Will someone please tell me the formula?

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You would think that giving your baby formula was an easy thing. You talk to the doctor and you go to Target and all is well until about a year when its time to introduce milk. Yeah, right!

As is always the case with us, it ain’t that simple. When I had to stop breastfeeding Rylee was on Similac Advance. That was perfect for about three weeks. Then all of sudden she got really gassy. (Some of you are not surprised to hear this, after all she is a Tanner.) I talked to the pediatrician and he recommended we change her formula and give it three days to improve. We did that and changed to Similac Isomil Advanced.

That was last Friday through Monday. Well by Monday she wasn’t any better. In fact by then I could hear the gas moving around in her belly and the tooting had increased. This meant another call to the pediatrician.

This time they said to give Similac Alimentum a try for about 24 hours and we should notice better results. The lovely thing about this formula is that it smells worse and supposedly tastes worse too. Rylee is drinking it down so it must not be too bad. The really lousy part of it is that it is really pricey.

Now after looking around their website I think this is the formula that Rylee should be on based on this…

  • Easy to digest
  • Specially made with a unique blend of carbohydrates for less fussiness and gas*
  • Milk-based
  • All the trusted nutritional benefits of Similac® Advance®, including DHA and ARA to help baby’s developing brain.

This means another call to the pediatrician on Thursday because the Alimentum hasn’t taken care of the gas situation.

Once I figure this out I am going to work on balancing the national budget and world peace.