It's been a crazy few days for us, that have included blood tests, weddings and Wonder Weeks. It's been one of those patches of time where you feel truly tested in Motherhood!
So first off, I had to take Sticky to the doctors last week as she was very constipated and in a lot of pain. He wasn't too worried about that - told me to give her prunes and pear juice and that will sort her out. However, he was quite concerned about her weight loss. He weighed her and she hasn't put any weight on since October. In baby time, that's a long time.
So, having a 13 month old baby that still weighs what she did when she was 8 months old, is an issue. I knew that, but was having trouble getting someone to take me seriously! A 13 month old baby should not still be wearing size 00 pants!
The doctor wanted to do a range of tests including blood, stool and urine. Well, the stool test was easy - just a quick scoop of the nappy. However, the others proved enormously difficult. For the urine test, you have to stick a little bag over the baby's vagina. Sounds easy, but a with a squirming baby, the pee doesn't go where you want it to. They gave us 5 bags and we've tried twice, still no luck.
The blood test was always going to be difficult. I imagined 3 of us having to hold her down. Well, I wasn't far off the mark. Our first attempt involved me sitting with her on my lap keeping her still, my husband holding her arm, and the nurse drawing the blood. After much screaming and squirming, and no blood, we gave up.
It ripped my heart apart having to hear her scream in such pain but it was one of those be brave Mummy moments. Of course, as soon as the nurse stopped, she was smiling and waving like nothing had happened. The nurse suggested we try a different collection centre the next day where there would be two collectors.
We went the next day and as soon as Sticky saw the same nurse from the previous day she started screaming. She knew what it was all about. Again, I sat with her on my lap, my husband held her arm, one nurse held another part of her arm and the other took the blood. After much screaming and squirming, we managed to get the sample. I was so enormously relieved that was over as I had decided I wasn't going to subject her to it a third time.
So with all of that done, I had a wedding yesterday and my husband and Sticky were invited to come along. It was the first proper wedding both had seen me do so it was lovely to have them there. Sticky was hilarious - smiling and clapping along with everyone else, dancing when everyone started shouting and throwing her hands up to say hooray. She had had a rough few days so it was wonderful to see her so happy, smiling and having a fabulous time.
The last few nights however have been rough. I think we're in a Wonder Week which means sleep goes out the window. Last night I was up with her from 12am to 4am. She fell back asleep once in that time but only for 15 minutes. I tried leaving her in her cot with books where she amused herself for an hour. I tried bringing her into bed but she just rolled about, and finally, I had to give her another bottle to calm her down.
She's been like that the past 3 nights so needless to say we're exhausted! But it's clear she's going through a growth spurt as well as her appetite has increased and of course I'm trying to get her to eat anything I can. Although her initial liking for prunes seems to have waned already!
So, we'll get the test results later this week which might show us something is going on. I'm hoping it's not coeliac disease or some other gluten intolerance because I'm shoveling gluten into her to try and get some weight on her. And, I'm continuing to do that until we get the results. Time will tell!
So first off, I had to take Sticky to the doctors last week as she was very constipated and in a lot of pain. He wasn't too worried about that - told me to give her prunes and pear juice and that will sort her out. However, he was quite concerned about her weight loss. He weighed her and she hasn't put any weight on since October. In baby time, that's a long time.
So, having a 13 month old baby that still weighs what she did when she was 8 months old, is an issue. I knew that, but was having trouble getting someone to take me seriously! A 13 month old baby should not still be wearing size 00 pants!
The doctor wanted to do a range of tests including blood, stool and urine. Well, the stool test was easy - just a quick scoop of the nappy. However, the others proved enormously difficult. For the urine test, you have to stick a little bag over the baby's vagina. Sounds easy, but a with a squirming baby, the pee doesn't go where you want it to. They gave us 5 bags and we've tried twice, still no luck.
The blood test was always going to be difficult. I imagined 3 of us having to hold her down. Well, I wasn't far off the mark. Our first attempt involved me sitting with her on my lap keeping her still, my husband holding her arm, and the nurse drawing the blood. After much screaming and squirming, and no blood, we gave up.
It ripped my heart apart having to hear her scream in such pain but it was one of those be brave Mummy moments. Of course, as soon as the nurse stopped, she was smiling and waving like nothing had happened. The nurse suggested we try a different collection centre the next day where there would be two collectors.
We went the next day and as soon as Sticky saw the same nurse from the previous day she started screaming. She knew what it was all about. Again, I sat with her on my lap, my husband held her arm, one nurse held another part of her arm and the other took the blood. After much screaming and squirming, we managed to get the sample. I was so enormously relieved that was over as I had decided I wasn't going to subject her to it a third time.
So with all of that done, I had a wedding yesterday and my husband and Sticky were invited to come along. It was the first proper wedding both had seen me do so it was lovely to have them there. Sticky was hilarious - smiling and clapping along with everyone else, dancing when everyone started shouting and throwing her hands up to say hooray. She had had a rough few days so it was wonderful to see her so happy, smiling and having a fabulous time.
The last few nights however have been rough. I think we're in a Wonder Week which means sleep goes out the window. Last night I was up with her from 12am to 4am. She fell back asleep once in that time but only for 15 minutes. I tried leaving her in her cot with books where she amused herself for an hour. I tried bringing her into bed but she just rolled about, and finally, I had to give her another bottle to calm her down.
She's been like that the past 3 nights so needless to say we're exhausted! But it's clear she's going through a growth spurt as well as her appetite has increased and of course I'm trying to get her to eat anything I can. Although her initial liking for prunes seems to have waned already!
So, we'll get the test results later this week which might show us something is going on. I'm hoping it's not coeliac disease or some other gluten intolerance because I'm shoveling gluten into her to try and get some weight on her. And, I'm continuing to do that until we get the results. Time will tell!
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