Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Happenings

Hi everyone. Yes, we are still alive. Sorry I've sort of been MIA the last few weeks. To be honest, things are still rough here at our house. Things seem to be getting worse with our little princess. She has been sleeping better at night but screams cries for a good portion of the morning, afternoon and night. We've tried everything and her doctor is working with us to figure it out. Now she is on the formula Neocate. Which costs about $60 a can. Yup, you read that right. We are working with the insurance company to get it a little cheaper because the doctor said she has to have it. So there's some form he can fill out. We are still trying to figure out her stomach issues. But what concerns us most is her cry. It's a pain cry not a regular "baby cry." We just know that she is hurting!  Today she had an ultrasound of her belly at the hospital. They found two hemangiomas on her liver. Which the doctor said shouldn't cause pain and is nothing to worry about. As I mentioned before, our sweet girl has a pretty large hemangioma on her back at the base of her neck. They are common in low birth weight babies, especially girls. And they usually grow and they go away by their first birthday. Samantha's has grown pretty large and it just looks like it hurts. The doctor originally said that it doesn't hurt her, but now it's ulcerating (breaking/scabbing over) and it's definitely causing her pain :( I don't know if there's ever been a time where I have picked her up and she hasn't cried out. It's in a bad spot. So once we get her stomach issues straightened out, the doctor is going to have us see a specialist about the hemangioma. They usually don't treat it on babies this young. But we are so beside ourselves over constantly seeing our girl in pain. For now all we can do is put A&D ointment on. It's been a really hard and stressful time. We love our baby girl so much. There have been a few times this week where we have both broken down and cried because we just want her to feel better. And still no real smiles from her. Which I'm thinking, if she's in pain most of the time, of course she isn't going to smile. But that's another thing I've been worrying about her developmental milestones. We are hoping this new formula works and that the doctors can help her with the hemangioma.  I can't stand to see her hurting anymore....

The last time (last week) when we were at the doctors she was 7lbs 10oz. So she is quickly approaching the  8lb mark! :) Preemie stuff doesn't fit her anymore but some newborn stuff is too big still! Depends on the brand. Lately, she's really been loving laying up on her Daddy's shoulders. It's pretty cute. And something else I love is when I have her over my shoulder (burping or cuddling her) she inches her head down to my chest so we are skin to skin. It's really sweet :) She's really been focusing a lot more lately on things and I go crazy do silly things trying to make her laugh or smile! :) Guess I'm not that funny.

Here is her birth announcement! I took the pictures and my blog buddy Carlia from nest building 101 designed and edited it! Isn't it so cute? :)




Love this pic too!



And last but not least! Something really amazing happened this weekend. Could this be any more awesome?  Nope! 
My lovely friend E and her husband finally got their miracle through adoption! I'm just so happy for them! 



15 comments:

Faith said...

LOVE the announcement:). Oh wow - Jax was on Elecare. And our insurance denied it! So, we bought it on ebay - believe it or not, some people's insurances (or WIC) cover WAY more than they need - so they sell it to poor suckers like me who don't have insurance who will cover it, lol! Anyway, just an idea. I just wanted to say I am so, so sorry that you are having so many issues with Sam right now. It makes it so hard to wait SO long and then have to go through this tough stuff - it should just be easy for you! As for developmental milestones - has anyone told you about your state's early intervention program yet? If not, let me know and I can help you find those services. I always tell people - even if you are not sure if there are any real delays, they can do an evaluation and see if your child qualifies for any special services. And it might help you to have someone coming to your home and encouraging you, giving you ideas, etc. Again, just a thought:). Hang in there, momma! And if there is anything I can do, let me know! My email is faithroof at hotmail dot com
HUGS!!

Samantha said...

I'm so sorry to hear it. I hope the docs can help you figure out something soon!

Liz said...

Again I am so so so sorry about the problems. Hopefully the docs can figure it out soon. It must be so heartbreaking for you and hubby! It really sucks that some insurances don't want to cover speical formulas. You wouldn't be giving it to S if she didn't really need it. Hopefully they will cover it for you. I LOVE the announcemet so much! It is as beautiful as you little girl!

Stephanie said...

I think the birth announcement is perfect, and she looks like a doll in the second picture! I really hope the new formula helps her, I know it's awful to see your baby in pain and not feel like you can do anything for her.

kkasun said...

Wow, what an amazing announcement!

A has one of those too, but it is on her ribs, so it isn't that big of a deal. I think hers stopped growing at 4 or 5 months.

I hope you can take care of little lady and get her comforatable.

Don't feel guilty, you are doing EVERYTHING you can. It's just so hard with babies. You are such a good advocate for her!!!!

Jenn and Casey said...

So sorry you are having such a rough start. Thinking of you often! <3

Emily said...

Grave has a hemangioma too! Except hers is on her butt.

So sorry Sam is having these problems. And it wont help you immediately, but I found Neocate on Amazon for $37 a can. Still spendy, but a little more palatable than $60

Marianne said...

Such a cutie!!!

My baby didn't really smile until about 2.5-3 months so don't worry!

My girl has a hemangioma on her belly button that is gettin bigger - she was a premie also. Hopefully they can remove your baby's?

Hopefully the new formula helps!!!!

Kelly said...

I am so sorry she is in pain. Maggie cried A LOT for the first 3 months and she really turned a corner after that and has been easy since. There were days I just cried or got angry and then felt bad about it. I remember thinking, "Do I just have the worlds most unhappy baby!?!?" It was tough.

I'm not saying it's the same cry as your Samantha, but I can at least sort of relate. Sometimes her cries were pain cries too, but usually only for the 3 or so hours before bed.

The good news?? You forget it pretty fast once things get good and only after reading posts like yours do I remember it.

I hope it gets better ASAP and that insurance helps you out!

ajaeger said...

She is so so cute!! Always remember that. We went through the same thing almost, except our boy was not a premie. Neocate did wonders for him and maybe see if you can add in a bit of cereal? No it's not recommended, but it's something that saved our lives! I had posted before a few websites to check out and please feel free to email me, I would love to help you out, even to just listen as it is so so hard. I always worried about how our boy was developing since he was so unhappy, but he did catch up once we got him to stop crying so much. Neocate's website you can also order the formula cheaper on as well. And Craigslist was great for us because as a different comment said, some moms get WIC and get Neocate for free and then they get too much and turn around and make money on us, but still it cheaper than you can buy! Just always be sure everything is sealed and not dented cans!! We did many of Neocate purchases at the Mall with a mom who had WIC and it was about $20 less a can! Feel free to email me I will gladly give you any support or listen any time!! angie.jaeger at gmail.com

TeeJay said...

I'm so sorry things are tough right now and that baby girl is hurting. I'm sure anyone would be stressed out in that situation. You should feel good about the fact that you are doing everything you can for her. She's absolutely beautiful. And I totally thought that she was a doll in that 2nd picture. :-)

Mrs. H said...

I'm sorry to hear about her hemangiomas. I do hope they are able to figure out what is causing her pain. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to not be able to just fix it and make her all better. LOVE, love, love the birth announcement.

Kristen said...

Awww hun, I can i magine it has got to be the toughest thing to hear her cry like that all the time and feeling like she is in pain :( I have been (and will continue) praying so hard for her.... Hang in there and know that you are doing all you can possibly do to make things better for her, and they WILL get better!! Love you guys... And remember I am always here if you need me. xoxo

Heather said...

BTW, a friend of mine is on Neocate and we had bunches of friends and family call the company and request free samples. That might help off-set the cost of the formula for awhile!

Good Timing said...

Thought I commented on this already but was just checking in again to see how things are going and saw I didn't! Love the birth announcement, it looks so cute, as does the pic! <3 Hope things are improving for everyone! xoxo