Baby Reflux Sucks

Jaxon, our sweet, chunky angel was puking ALL THE EFFING TIME. 

Puking after feedings. Puking during feedings. Puking two hours after feedings. Puking back to back. Puking in his sleep. Puking during diaper changes. Puking during clothe changes. You get it, he was puking. And let me just say it wasn't "spit up" because although he did that too, the vomit looked different and there was more of it. 

Aaaanyway, he was constantly going through clothes and sheets. His. Ours. And Bella's. Thank the Lord our couch is leather or we'd be getting a new one.

He was on two different medications. Which didn't help. We tried formula to see if he was allergic to my milk.Still no help. I had to mess with my diet. Thankfully, no help. 

Then sometimes he would projectile vomit and the doctor thought it was pyloric stenosis. Thank goodness it wasn't but they didn't know what was wrong so we went to a specialist.

The specialist said, "He's fine. He's gaining weight and developing on track. He'll grow out of it."

"FINE AND GROW OUT OF IT?!"

Yes, it was good news. Nothing was wrong with Jax. 

But at the same time, NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH JAX. 

If nothing was wrong, why are we using hand towels instead of the cute burp cloths from my registry?! Why is he wearing bibs 24/7? Why is my Boppy in the washer for the third time this week? Why was I buying new clothes because I was tired of doing laundry?

I felt defeated because no one could explain this frustrating issue.

A part of me felt that maybe he was over eating. But I didn't want to just stop feeding him and end up starving my newborn. 

I was lost.

By then, I had to start pumping for a return to work stash. It was then that I realized why he was so gassy and throwing up all the time!

My let down was crazy forceful! 

The greedy hungry kid was just trying to keep up. This also explained why he did so well with a bottle. I also realized that he just liked to nurse. It soothed him. So he actually was over eating.

After weeks and weeks of trial and error, I figured it out. I had hungry baby who also found comfort in the boob, which caused him to over eat. The same boob that over flowed causing him to try to keep up resulting in him vomiting.

Finally putting the pieces together, I've come up with a system. I only feed him one side per feeding and I have to stop him during feedings. If he vomits, not spits up, we're done feeding until the next one. 

It's been working. I asked Devon just to make sure it wasn't just me getting used to vomit. He confirmed I wasn't tripping.

Although my laundry load is still sinful and we're all on high alert after he eats, I can say it's improved. He vomits less vomit and does it less often.** I think he's finally starting to outgrow this hot mess. 

Does anyone have tips or know of anything else that might help? If so, let me know. 

SOS. 

**Weird how vomit is both a noun and a verb in this sentence. 

Save Big on Little Clothes

Kids grow through clothes waaaaayy too fast for me to be spending much of my hard earned pennies on them. Here's the other thing. KIDS LIKE TO PLAY! I don't want to restrict my children from their imagination and childhood because they might ruin their clothes. But I also want them to be able to be fashionable.

I'll be honest, envy Bella's closet. It could be that I'm used to wearing scrubs and I can't wear street clothes on the reg. It could be that her clothes are just sofa king adorable. Or it could be that she literally only has quality, name brand clothes. It may sound like I am bragging and I guess I kind of am.. but not for the reason you think I am. Sure the clothes are fashionable but they were also inexpensive.

Before I go on, let me clarify the difference between cheap and inexpensive. At least to me.
A cheap piece means poor quality and an inexpensive piece means good quality that costs less. Exhibit A. I bought Bella a shirt on super sale from GAP that was the same price as one at Wal-Mart or a consignment shop. (Nothing wrong with either just trying to prove a point) But honestly, which shirt would you rather have your child wearing? It could be the Libra in me showing herself but I'd rather have the name brand. *insert emoji monkey covering his eyes*

Also, I'd rather not have Bella in the same clothing as most of her schoolmates. Because let me just tell you how annoying it is for someone else to take home the exact same article of clothing.
Even though they didn't wear it to school that day nor did they acknowledge that her name was in it.
Whatevs, I don't want the issue to happen again.

Let's get started shopping, shall we?

STICK TO A GENERAL PLAN. Know your budget and what your child actually needs. I usually do not spend more than $5 per article of clothing. I'm more lenient on coats and jeans but you get the idea. I also try to think of items I wish they had. In January, we had a nice dinner to go to and I was wishing Bella had a nicer sweater to wear. The next time I spotted a clearance sale, I searched for a fancier sweater.

SHOP OUT OF SEASON. I can't skress this enough! Last Spring, I bought Bella this incredible $65 suede and faux fur coat for only $13! You should have an idea of how your child grows and what size they will be in by the next season. But if you're worried about buying the wrong size, consider stores like Carters. They don't have a time frame on when to return and exchange items. Just hang on to the receipt or you'll get the exchange for the current price of the item. Which can hurt.

 I got these for next fall/winter. Each piece came to about $3 each! That's consignment prices for new clothes!

FILTER SEARCHES. Most sites have the option of narrowing down your options so you don't get your hopes up on items you initially spot. This saves you both time and depression. I usually filter by size and price, then sort low-high.

BE PATIENT. It's easy to buy a piece the minute you spot it but sometimes waiting is the key to getting the most bang for your buck. My mom always said, "I got more time than money". Plus, most stores offer coupon codes on the regular. Just save a piece that you want and go back frequently to check if any codes come up. Remember everything goes on sale eventually.

OPEN A CARD. Now, I get this isn't for everyone. But if you find yourself going back to the same store, you should really consider it. For me, my go to store is Old Navy aka Bootleg Gap. I find that Old Navy usually has the best deals because they have low clearance prices on top of coupon codes. I shop there pretty often so I opened a card and it was totally worth it.

I think that's all I have for now. If you have any shopping tips, PLEASE hit me up and leave a comment!

Wow

So first things first.

My bad.

I kind of lost track of my blog so here's an update...

I'm 25 now.

Devon and I eloped and got married.

 I had a baby.

Bella is the best big sister. Ever.

We're moving to a house soon. That's the plan at least.

I decided I want to be a nurse and enrolled in school.

I'm working SUPER part time and will have free time to keep the blog updated!