Bailey Update

At her first check-up when she was 8 days old, she weighed 7 lbs., 5 oz. and was 19 inches long. She was still fairly jaundiced at that visit. The whites of her eyes were clearly yellow, and the doctor was somewhat concerned. We were sent to the hospital so that they could draw blood and test her bilirubin levels. Because her bilirubin levels were high, we were sent back to the hospital that day so that they could draw more blood and run a complete analysis on it. The doctor said that things were fine, and her jaundice cleared up in a day or so.

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Today, at 26 days old, she weighs 8 lbs., 13 oz. and is 20 inches long. We returned to the doctor today because Bailey has seemed fairly uncomfortable...gassy, colicky, constipated??

After we had used all of the formula that we received at the hospital, we bought the generic brand of regular formula. We had several bad nights...with long stretches where Bailey would cry, squirm, kick, and fight sleep. After about half a can of the regular formula, we started using the generic version of the gentle formula. I also started using gripe water and gas drops. Things have been somewhat better, but Bailey still seemed uncomfortable and fussy when awake, and we have had several more late night stretches of fighting sleep.

Soooo...the can of gentle formula is almost gone and I called and made an appointment to talk to the doctor. His diagnosis: milk protein sensitivity or Excessive Crying Syndrome (ECS). ECS is the new fancy terminology for colic...and there is no test for either. Everything else (eyes, ears, nose, throat, etc.) looked fine.

The doctor gave us some specialty formula to try. He said if it works...we'll know it and happily pay the money for the little bitty cans of expensive formula. If things don't change...well...hold on...and hopefully this will pass in THREE months.