I am SO behind on Oscar's updates that I almost gave up with them, but this is my attempt at getting back into the swing of them!
So here we are, Oscar is 7 months old - How that happened I don't know. It's so cliche to say but the time really has flown by. For the most part we are lucky and he is a happy and easy baby. The only issue we have really had has been his feeding. He has never been a brilliant feeder, something that's always been put down to him being premature, but I always had a nagging feeling that there was something more going on. Whenever I took him to be weighed I would mention that he wasn't feeding well, he would take ages, sometimes up to or over an hour for a few ounces. He'd cry, vomit and had nasty nappies. For weeks and weeks this was dismissed and I was told to 'see how he goes.' I think the doctors were getting irritated by us taking him in frequently saying we (I) thought something was wrong with him.
However, lets skip ahead to when he was 4 and a half months, the vomiting was getting worse, he'd scream for what appeared to be no reason and seem generally unhappy particularly around feed times. Finally I was able to see a different doctor who suspected he had reflux, we were given some Gaviscon and sent on our way. We saw an improvement in him virtually straight away but after a few weeks he began to be sick again, I had to take him back to the GP for a review and she prescribed some Ranitidine to use in addition to the Gaviscon. Again, this seemed to work temporarily. I took him back again (I know, fussy Mother or what!) and was told to see how he went for another month as 6 weeks wasn't long enough for the medication to really kick in. A couple of weeks later Oscar seemed unwell, he had awful nappies and was really not himself, Emelia goes to nursery and had been a bit off colour the week prior so we thought he may have picked something up from her. He didn't have a temperature and although he had become a pain to feed again, he was still putting on weight and taking a decent amount for his size.
Then it changed, and it changed quickly, he suddenly became extremely lethargic and was pretty much refusing his bottles, he was drinking 2 - 3 ounces at a time, if I was lucky and I could tell he was losing more through his nappies than he was close to drinking. I phoned the doctor to get an emergency appointment and was told I wasn't able to have any, that it 'didn't sound like an emergency.' Living in Cyprus we aren't able to just turn up at the hospital like you can at home, we have to be referred. Emelia had been complaining of ear ache, so I managed to push for an appointment for her and mentioned Oscar to the doctor who kindly agreed to see him. Within minutes we were being rushed to the hospital because they suspected severe dehydration. I can tell you, even writing the words 'severe dehydration' fill me with the most horrendous amount of guilt, I felt like we had completely failed him, who lets their baby become dehydrated?! The doctors reassured us it was nothing we had done and babies will go and go, then all of a sudden crash. We spent 5 days in hospital with him on IV fluids and antibiotics. The consultant changed the formula he was on to a lactose free one and within days he was like a different baby.
2 weeks on and my little baby who seemed to suffer daily from tummy pain was happy and feeding well. The biggest thing for us was his sudden interest in food, he went from refusing absolutely everything to having 3 meals a day. We have since seen a dietician and we are following a dairy/lactose free diet plan. The health visitors, dieticians and one GP suspect he became so unwell because his allergy wasn't picked up sooner, I couldn't help but feel angry at all the times I'd been turned away knowing in my gut something was wrong. However, he's better and feeding well so moving forward is where my sole focus is.
The poor boy has had such a rough ride from day one but I'm hoping we have turned a corner and everything gets a bit easier for him. My planned weaning posts might actually become a reality now!
In terms of his development he is still slightly behind, but that will be the case until he is around a year old. He rolled over on the day he turned 6 months (2nd July - also Brett's birthday) but isn't quite able to sit up unaided yet. It's amazing to see his personality developing, he's recently found his voice which is so lovely to hear, although unless you're Emelia he's a bugger to make laugh! The bond between them absolutely melts our hearts.
I apologise for such a lengthy update post, it's been a challenging few months and there has been a lot to update on! Monthly updates should resume from September ;-)
xo
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