I cannot seem to get Annabelle unconstipated. I know this may not be the greatest topic for a blog, but I'm at my wits end with this issue. We are, literally, losing sleep over it.
A few weeks ago I took Annabelle to the doctor because I thought her reflux was coming back. He asked a bunch of questions and pronounced her constipated, handed me a flyer of good foods vs. bad foods and encouraged me to ply her with water. Apparently really bad constipation can affect the tummy after a while and create all sorts of upsets.
When I reviewed the list of "bad" foods I realized they composed the majority of Annabelle's diet: rice, rice cakes, bananas, blueberries, apples, and also (she occasionally eats) corn, potatoes, and carrots. She doesn't eat anything on the "good" side: apricots, figs, grapes, raisins, beets, green beans, wheat, etc. The girl already drinks water like you wouldn't believe.
So one day she pointed at some grapes and I gave her half of one. She loved it, signed for more, and in about five minutes ate fifteen grapes. (Thirty halves.) I was THRILLED. I don't think she's ever eaten that much in a single sitting and finding a food she liked that was actually good for her (constipation wise) was an excellent discovery. But the very next day she snubbed the grapes I offered her. Oh.
So I bought red grapes instead of green. She was back on track with pounding fists of them into her mouth and having a great time munching away. That was about four days ago.
Fast forward to this morning about 3am. Annabelle woke up screaming at 1am and it took me until about 4am to get her back to sleep. Why? WHY??? WWWwwwwwhhhhhhhyyyyYYYY!!! I am f*%&king DONE with long periods of wakefulness in the middle of the night. It's just too much. So as I'm laying there on the floor with her in the middle of the night it occurred to me: we've had four days of wakefulness. She's been eating grapes for four days. Bingo! She's allergic to grapes, along with everything else.
This is, of course, just a theory. So many periods of wakefulness have been determined to be the result of nothing. The stars colliding. Poor biorhythms. Who knows?
Each night this week (so far) has been rough. Why is she screaming? Why is she awake? Was it the 1/2 ounce (No exaggeration of size!) of feta (My first dairy in 14 months!!) I had in my salad? The next night- was it the 1/2 oz (No exaggeration of size!) of vodka (My first in 10 months!) in my orange juice after dinner? The third night- did she react to her few tastes of fish??
If I could talk to God right now, I'd ask, "Dude. Come ON. Can I eat some cheese please? Can she? What about wheat? Can she handle a cookie now and then? Is it REALLY something I've eaten? What can the girl eat??? What is her problem??" But instead of debating with God over Annabelle's allergies and constipation I am mixing her deconstipation cocktails:
The Poop Martini
2 shots prune juice
1 teaspoon cod liver oil
4 ounces water
3-4 ice cubes
Serve in a purple straw cup.
No, she doesn't really like it. I chase her around shoving the straw in her face trying to get her to take little sips. I mean, really, this drink would make ME poop, so why not her? I don't get it. If I don't see some major poop tomorrow I'm going to have to try a suppository I think. Has anyone else tried this? ON THEIR BABY??
She just went down to sleep and I'm hoping our No Grapes day helps her sleep better so that Dave and I can sleep better.
A few weeks ago I took Annabelle to the doctor because I thought her reflux was coming back. He asked a bunch of questions and pronounced her constipated, handed me a flyer of good foods vs. bad foods and encouraged me to ply her with water. Apparently really bad constipation can affect the tummy after a while and create all sorts of upsets.
When I reviewed the list of "bad" foods I realized they composed the majority of Annabelle's diet: rice, rice cakes, bananas, blueberries, apples, and also (she occasionally eats) corn, potatoes, and carrots. She doesn't eat anything on the "good" side: apricots, figs, grapes, raisins, beets, green beans, wheat, etc. The girl already drinks water like you wouldn't believe.
So one day she pointed at some grapes and I gave her half of one. She loved it, signed for more, and in about five minutes ate fifteen grapes. (Thirty halves.) I was THRILLED. I don't think she's ever eaten that much in a single sitting and finding a food she liked that was actually good for her (constipation wise) was an excellent discovery. But the very next day she snubbed the grapes I offered her. Oh.
So I bought red grapes instead of green. She was back on track with pounding fists of them into her mouth and having a great time munching away. That was about four days ago.
Fast forward to this morning about 3am. Annabelle woke up screaming at 1am and it took me until about 4am to get her back to sleep. Why? WHY??? WWWwwwwwhhhhhhhyyyyYYYY!!! I am f*%&king DONE with long periods of wakefulness in the middle of the night. It's just too much. So as I'm laying there on the floor with her in the middle of the night it occurred to me: we've had four days of wakefulness. She's been eating grapes for four days. Bingo! She's allergic to grapes, along with everything else.
This is, of course, just a theory. So many periods of wakefulness have been determined to be the result of nothing. The stars colliding. Poor biorhythms. Who knows?
Each night this week (so far) has been rough. Why is she screaming? Why is she awake? Was it the 1/2 ounce (No exaggeration of size!) of feta (My first dairy in 14 months!!) I had in my salad? The next night- was it the 1/2 oz (No exaggeration of size!) of vodka (My first in 10 months!) in my orange juice after dinner? The third night- did she react to her few tastes of fish??
If I could talk to God right now, I'd ask, "Dude. Come ON. Can I eat some cheese please? Can she? What about wheat? Can she handle a cookie now and then? Is it REALLY something I've eaten? What can the girl eat??? What is her problem??" But instead of debating with God over Annabelle's allergies and constipation I am mixing her deconstipation cocktails:
The Poop Martini
2 shots prune juice
1 teaspoon cod liver oil
4 ounces water
3-4 ice cubes
Serve in a purple straw cup.
No, she doesn't really like it. I chase her around shoving the straw in her face trying to get her to take little sips. I mean, really, this drink would make ME poop, so why not her? I don't get it. If I don't see some major poop tomorrow I'm going to have to try a suppository I think. Has anyone else tried this? ON THEIR BABY??
She just went down to sleep and I'm hoping our No Grapes day helps her sleep better so that Dave and I can sleep better.
More prune-fish oil tomorrow dear little one. Mama needs to see the poop!!!
