Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Apple of my Eye

Today we had to take Samantha for her follow up eye doctor appt at the hospital. The day we took her home from the NICU she had to have the same scary eye exam to check for retinopathy. All preemies are checked for it. But the exam is scary! They dilate her eyes and then pry them wide open with these metal clamps and then the doctor checks the blood vessels behind her eyes. And today she had to have the same exam again. I was NOT looking forward to it. The first exam at the NICU I wasn't there for it. On purpose. I just didn't think I could handle seeing it done and watching her scream. But this time I knew I had to put on my big girl mommy pants and be there for my daughter! And boy did she scream and cry through it today:(  There were also clamp marks around her eyes afterwards! Ugh. I don't know how Im going to get through her shots in about two weeks.

Good news is her eyes look good. She doesn't have to go back for six months. Thank goodness.

The nights are still rough in our household. My poor girl for whatever reason pretty much cries from midnight to 5:30 am. Last night was especially hard. We have been working with the doctor changing the formulas and even adding a little bit of rice cereal to her 11pm bottle. She has reflux pretty bad, so we are thinking that's what's making her cry. The next step is to try some zantac on her. It's just so hard at night. Nothing soothes her! Occasionally she'll stop crying for a few minutes but then picks up again. I noticed she quiets a little when I'm walking with her but I'm so exhausted int he middle of the night I just cant walk with her for 5 hours straight! My mom bought us the Happiest Baby on the Block dvd, so I'm gonna check that out. But I've pretty much tried everything on there. The swaddling, the shhhhsh-ing, etc. But I'm going to watch it and hope that it helps somehow! :)

Here are a few more pics of my girl...


21 comments:

ADSchill said...

She is so petite! I'm sorry she has to go through that test. It sounds horrible.

Erica said...

Oh my the eye appointments!!! That is one of the worst things EVER!!!! Orr doc has ME hold them on my lap with their legs on my belly and their backs on my lap and I had to hold their arms to their belly while a nurse held their heads... for BOTH of them!!! I remember them crying so hard and loud that they would fall asleep before even leaving the office.When returning to the waiting room all the other patients would have sad faces and aww at them. Broke my heart EVERY time and we had to go ALOT 4-8 times a month!! I was one happy mommy the day we got discharged from them :).

Sorry to hear that you all are having such a hard time at night. I hope you find something that works soon.

She is just ADORABLE!!!!! Lil Peanut alright :)

Samantha said...

We also had to put Alexa on Zantac for her reflux. And we also put her mattress on a slight incline. I hope you find something that works for Samantha.

Jos said...

I agree with @Samantha - it sounds like reflux, so try to put her bed at an incline. (shove a pillow under the mattress on one end) -- the other option is to hold her upright on your chest while in a rocker/recliner and sleep like that. Not the best sleep, but hopefully a bit of sleep at least. Stella's reflux/spit up was better in the swing as well, so she sleeps in the swing a lot.

Rebecca said...

I've always had reflux and stomach issues. Mom had to have me on rice formula in my milk at 3 weeks of age.

L said...

Oh my goodness, she is so adorable. Glad to hear that her eye appointment went well and that you won't have to go back for a while!

Amber said...

Oh my gosh. She is SOOOOO cute!!! I love the hat in picture 1 and she is precious in picture 2!!! I love her. :)

Chon said...

I love the one of her in the sunnies!! So cute xx

Anonymous said...

Our little girl had reflux also and we did the Zantac, incline on the mattress and switched to sensitive formula which helped a ton! The best thing we did was put her to sleep in her vibrating chair. I know that sets you up for needing the vibration for her to sleep in the future but we just cut it out one night and she never needed it again. It is worth it for you all to get some rest because of course that is very important! I hope you have some success with the sleeping soon.

Carlia said...

poor little samantha...and poor you. i'm so sorry y'all had to go through the exam and are having to deal with the reflux. i hope she gets some relief soon and that you both get some sleep. hugs!

Faith said...

Oh my - that sounds as torturous as the circumcision we watched our poor boy go through. Never again! Anyway, let me say that the shots will be NOTHING compared to that. It is sad, but they get through it well. I have found with Addy that doing one at a time really works - she fusses when she realizes it hurts but because it is over so quickly, she never gets to the frantic crying phase. But Jax...well, he just screams from the moment we step into the dr's office until the moment we leave, no matter what, lol!

As for the reflux - I highly suggest meds if she is in that much pain that she can't sleep. That is the only thing that gave us peace with Jackson. Hang in there, hun - believe it or not, this incredibly difficult phase will fly by.

She is SO adorable:)!

Faith said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kristen said...

Poor baby girl! I noticed people talking about putting her mattress on an incline and sleeping in the swing... I was actually going to tell you that one of my friends sons had reflux pretty bad and he actually slept in his car seat at night because it kept him at a good incline. Just an idea...

Liz said...

Ahhhhhhhh! I can't stand her sweetness! And you don't have to have her get shots now if you don't want to. I do a delayed schedule with my 2 kids. Just a thought. Hope the reflux gets better.

Ali @ Not All Dreams Are Free said...

She's so adorable! I'm nominating you in The Lovely Blog Award! Here are the rules: 1. share who gave you this award to you with a link back to their blog. 2. write down 7 random facts about yourself. 3. give this award to 15 other bloggers.

Jenn and Casey said...

She so so so so so cute. And I'm so sorry the nights are so hard ( I hope you have a solution soon!

Amy said...

My LO had reflux. We changed to Similac Alimentum and added rice cereal (1 tbsp) to give it some weight and Zantac. The other thing was burp her a lot. We would burp after every ounce. We bought a wedge ($10) from BRU for his crib that went under the sheet. He slept on the wedge until he was about 1 year old. But, if she is not in her crib yet, you can get the nap nanny to elevate her in by your bed. I have a lot of friends who like it. We used the Miracle Blanket for swaddling. Reflux stinks and so does formula upsetting their little belly. Hope this helps!

kkasun said...

What a cutie, I hope it gets better!

My baby would scream pretty bad, but now that we let her get in to whatever position she wants at night (we lay her on her back, but she rolls and the dr says that's ok), she sleeps on her side or tummy EVERY night. So that was part of our problem. No sleep sucks, I hope it gets better!

Anonymous said...

She is oh so adorable! That bottom outfit (pants/botties) I want to eat them up!
Have you tried her sleeping on an incline? Hope things get better for her (an you)

Jenny said...

I literally laughed out loud at the sunglasses! So cute and sooo tiny!

Poor thing going through that eye exam :(

Sorry she's still having rough nights...you been given some pretty good suggestions here from what I skimmed. I hope something works

Good Timing said...

Maybe we should text/email in the middle of the night because I'm up then too!! Just getting caught up on your blog and everyone else's. I'm very behind! Love the pics of your baby girl! She gets cuter and cuter. :)