Victory is Weston's!!!

Well, as you may know, Weston has "eating issues". He had pyloric stenosis when he was about 2 months old and has had reflux and a milk allergy and was on 2 different medications for this up until December. He wouldn't eat ANYTHING that wasn't completly puréed or a bottle. We tried every single thing you could think of and he would just gag and gag until he puked. A few weeks ago, at his 12 month check up, his doctor wanted us to get him Occupational Therapy. A couple days later, completely out of the blue, he started to eat the 3rd foods by gerber that have chunks in them. I was shocked because he has thrown that same stuff up several times from gagging on it. A few days later he started eating crackers and swallowing them!!! So now we are testing out all kinds if different things! He loves macaroni and cheese, spaghetti-os and crackers so far!!! Who knows what we will have for dinner :) pyloric stenosis, reflux, acid reflux, mommy, motherhood, eating

Yucky

Don't you just love when you have gotten up, fed your baby, changed them and set them down to play, all was good with everything. Then all the sudden you get a stinky wiff of poop, look down and see poop EVERWHERE!!! Leaking from the diaper, smushed all over the carpet and all over toys. I know i sure do... NOT! Bath\cleaning\sterilizing time in the Shields home! p]

CAOS!!!

Well today sucked! We filed our tax return and it was denied because my name on my W2 said Shields and I havent changed my social security card from Moore to Shields yet... I know I know, Im a procrastonator. My brother in law got his gal bladder removed wednesday so my mom was watching my nephew for them. We decided that we would go the 4 of us (me, Weston, Marcus and my mom). We got up early to go to Amarillo (a 1 hour drive) and we got just outside of town when Marcus started throwing up out of nowhere! It was just mucus and he said he was fine and wasnt sick and wanted Chiks Olay (Chik Fila) so we assumed he was fine, just had a little mucus in his belly and we went on towards the SS office. He then said "I want mommy", so we turned around then he cried saying he wanted Chiks Olay, so we turned around again. He ended up throwing up again so we decided to take him home and then he started saying he didnt feel good and crying alot... heart breaking! We called his mommy and told her we were bringing him to her and she left to meet us on the road so she could get to him sooner. He threw up a couple more times, only mucus, and we finally met up with his mommy, about 2 hours in the opposite direction from Amarillo. She said he threw up once more on the way home and once they were home he ate some crackers and drank some juice and has been fine ever since! Thank God he is feeling better, im just prayng none of us (especially Weston) get whatever he had! So needless to say, we are going to try to go to Amarillo again tomorrow and get my SS changed! We NEED our money!!!

Teething is for the birds.

Weston is getting 2 teeth at the same time right now and it is really bothering him this time. With his first 3 teeth he was just slightly fussy and a little cranky. With these 2 teeth he has had bad diarrhea causing a bad rash that is really hurting him bad, i used A&D diaper rash cream and he had a bad allergic reaction to it and it got worse. He has been super fussy, had a slight fever and been very very grumpy. I think the worst might be over with these 2, fingers crossed. Any of yalls little ones have a really tough time teething? What did yall do that was the most effective with them?  

Rough day

Weston has been super cranky and fussy all day today. He has diarrhea and a bad rash that hurts him and he feels a bit warm. I hate not knowing what is wrong with my poor baby. I think he might be getting a new tooth but am not for sure. I gave him some Tylenol and ok hoping he will feel better soon. :( 

Mystery Poop

On this super fantastic day of laundry and house cleaning I got a whiff of poop. Thinking the obvious, I went to change Weston's diaper and it was clean and dry. I put him back down to play and the smell got stronger so i began to hunt for it, Weston had somehow gotten poop all over his hands and smeared it all over the coffee table so once again i checked the diaper... still clean. I searched this house high and low looking for a dirty diaper that got shoved somewhere, a turd that that somehow got dropped, anything! i couldn't find a thing. To this day I still have no idea where this "mystery poop" came from. Yipee. 

Weston's issues with food: The Beginning

When weston was first born he was breast fed and we had problems from the start. Weston would eat and then spit up what looked like everything he had just eaten. We called the doctor about it several times and they would say "babies spit up, no worries" or "it looks like way more than it actually is". After 2 months of this and him not gaining any weight, my 5lb 14oz baby was now weighing 6.5lbs at  2 months old.... not good.

On the night before Easter we fed him and went to bed and i got up to check on him and he was COVERED in spit up. We got him up, changed is clothes and everything and he threw up again and again until it was just yellow stomach bile. We called the doctor and decided to take him to the emergency room. They did several tests, drew blood, catheter, iv, and all kinds of things. He was in pain and i felt like they were torturing my poor tiny baby so naturally, i got a bit belligerent and they made me leave the room. It was the worst thing in the world. We were admitted and after 2 days they said he had severe acid reflux, prescribed him a medication for it and sent us home. That night he was still spitting up just as much so i called him doctor again and she said we could either go back to the ER aka Hell, or be at their office first thing in the morning. We went in early the next morning and she admitted him back into the hospital. This time we were there for 2 weeks trying to figure out the problem. They did a test where they starved him for 24 hours and the next day strapped him to a board, fed him barium and did x-rays to see what was causing the projectile vomiting. Turns out he had severe acid reflux and Pyloric Stenosis. The muscles in his stomach didn't work properly so when his tummy was full, it wouldnt empty to his intestines and he would throw it all up. He also had a very bad milk allergy. We tried several different formulas and ended up having to put him on Nutramogen, soy free, dairy free and pre broken down so it was easier for his tummy to digest. After he was on that for a while we tried a few soy formulas and finally found one he could handle. He was on 2 different medications for 9 months and we started to attempt to ween him off to see if he still needed it. Im proud to say that we are no longer on any regular medications :)  He did wonderfully for a while and is still not spitting up bad but we are now facing new issues with his eating.... But thats a whole other story. Well, i smell poop so i better go take care of that ;) Later mommas!!!

About me and Weston

Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Ashley Shields, Ive been married to my amazing husband Seth for almost 2 years now and we have a 1 year old son, Weston. I was working as a teachers aid at the elementary school here planning on finishing my degree to become a kindergarten teacher when we found out we were expecting. My plans were to continue with this path and graduate and let my mom watch Weston while I worked. The second Weston was born those plans flew out the window and I immediately decided to become a stay at home mommy. BEST decision of my life!!! It's been a year now and I couldn't imagine my life any different. W have had our ups and downs but I wouldn't change a thing!