3 months old

The boys are 3 months old today. They have changed so much over the last month, its crazy. They don’t have a check up this month, we go next at 4 months. So we don’t know what they weigh, but 3 weeks ago Hayden weighed 11 lbs 3 oz and Ian was right at 10 lbs. So if I had to guess, I would say Hayden is somewhere around 12.5 lbs and Ian is about 10.5 maybe 11 lbs. From what I can tell, the boys have two completely different body types, but it could just be because Hayden has consistently been eating a lot more than Ian and he just hasn’t caught up to Hayden yet.

We now have both boy’s reflux under control and it is such a good feeling to have our happy boys back. Hayden is still on his Zantac twice a day and doing great while Ian is on Zantac and Prevacid twice a day. Ian is like a completely different baby. It took a while to get him where he is now but he is finally eating great and without any problems. We have an appointment with a GI doctor at Children’s in about 2 weeks. We would probably be fine not going to see him now since Ian is doing so well, but since he is requiring two different meds to control his reflux, it’s probably a good idea to go.

A month ago when we saw the pediatrician we started the Prevacid and kept the Zantac for the inital 2 or 3 weeks because it takes a good 2 weeks for the prevacid to kick in. After those initial 2 weeks we were to back off the Zantac until he was off it. Well after 2 days he started having some problems again so we are back to twice a day zantac. She also told us to remain on the Elecare formula for now (until we saw the GI doc) because at this point we still weren’t sure if it was a formula issue or just reflux. She did tell us we could take Hayden off the Elecare and put him on a regular sensitive formula. She said we would know within 2 or 3 bottles whether or not he would tolerate it. Since that appointment he has been on the sensitive formula and doing great with it! So we got to take one baby off Elecare but still had one on it.

Fast forward about 3 weeks and Ian is finally doing great on his 2 reflux meds but now he is only eating like 2 or 3 ounces at a time and because of that, wanting to eat every 2 hours. So we asked he pedi if we could add some rice cereal to his bottle to help fill him up some. We started doing that and it did help, but he then started getting some red, dry patches on his neck and chest. I think it was from the cereal but we won’t know for sure, so I wanted to get him off the cereal…he is still a little young for it anyway. This is where mothers intuition takes over. The doctor can only go by what we tell her but we see Ian everyday and see how he responds to things and such. Well since we didn’t see much of an improvement with him when we put him on Elecare I didn’t think his issues were formula related. Since he was doing great on his meds and we didn’t think it was formula related, I took the liberty of switching Ian to the sensitive formula that Hayden was on. I figured if it is a formula/milk issue then we’ll just deal with the consequences and then switch him back to the Elecare, but if it isn’t then we just saved ourselves a bunch of money and frustration with a baby that is hungry all the time. Well, he took the formula great and hasn’t had a problem since. He is now eating 5 full ounces every feeding (6 ounces right before bed) and is a much happier baby because he’s not starving. YEAH- they are both off Elecare!!

It is much better now that we can actually just go to the store and buy their formula, but the only problem is that not too many place have the specific formula they are on. They either run out really fast or just don’t keep it in stock. It is pretty hard to find, so when we do find it, we stock up! Of course, our boys only want the best and like the ready to feed formula…the powder tends to upset their stomach.

So Hayden is now eating 7 ounces consistently, sometimes as much as 8 ounces and Ian is eating 5 ounces and 6 at his last bottle at night. They are now both sleeping through the night!! They do wake up some, usually because their pacifier came out or they just woke up and can’t go back to sleep. So we aren’t completely sleeping ALL night, but they aren’t eating in the middle of the night (except for an occasional night here and there). They get their last bottle about 8:30 PM and then we put them to bed (whether they go to sleep is another story) and then they eat again at 5:00 AM. Eventually we will be able to move the 5 AM feeding to 6 or 7, but for now I’ll take what we can get.

Both boys are smiling and laughing now. Ian was cracking up this morning. Jonathan was tapping his nose and it just cracked Ian up, it was pretty funny! Hayden will laugh in his sleep but he has laughed a few times today in response to something. Even though they have laughed before, today was the first time Hayden and Ian both laughed as a response to something they thought was funny, so today was a big day in the realm of laughter.

They have both successfully been transitioned to their own crib. They had been sleeping in the “bassinets” in their room since they came home and we thought it was time to move them into their cribs since they will soon outgrow the bassinet. They still use the miracle blanket at night which keeps them wrapped up….and when Hayden isn’t wrapped up, he won’t go to sleep.

They like to lay under their play mat and as much as they dislike tummy time, they put up with it. They will usually fall asleep when we put them on their tummy.

We will put them in their bumbo seats for about 5 minutes at a time and thats about all they will tolerate. Their still a little young for those but it helps them learn to sit up.

Ian likes the bumbo seat a lot better than Hayden does, I’m sure its because he has a little better head control and strength in his neck.

They both have pretty good head control and love to sit up and look around. Hayden still has some trouble keeping his neck/head straight up, he tends to tilt it to the right still. It is getting better though. They were evaluated a week ago for DOC bands and we were told they both needed one. Hayden definitely does need one because of the way he was positioned in the womb. Ian could use one, but would probably be fine without it so we are asking our pediatricians opinion next month on whether or not she thinks he really needs one. Their insurance will cover a little bit of the treatment cost but not until they are 4 months old, so we have to wait another month to start treatment.

This has turned into a rather long post, so I guess I’ll wrap it up….overall, the boys are doing extremely well and it is so much fun watching them grow and learn new skills.

Happy 3 month birthday boys – I love you!