1 Month, 32 Weeks Adjusted

 Happy 1 Month, Marco! 

This has been the longest, yet quickest month of my life. Definitely the most challenging, but at the same time, I've been so busy that the days have flown by.


 Health:

Marco continues to do relatively well - he's looking more and more like a full term baby - less red, less wrinkly :). 

No scary health hiccups. Not to say we didn't have hiccups this week! The doctors got a bit concerned on Monday when there was continuous blood in Marco's stool. Thankfully, they ruled out any internal bleeding by doing a couple of x-rays, so their next guess is that he may be allergic to cow's milk/protein - as many preemies are. They pulled him off food, and stuck an IV in - not a great site for Mama (see image above with cast-like arm covering the IV). Then throughout the week they have been weaning him back to a special formula that is gentle on tummies. Today (Sunday) they pulled out the IV, thankfully.

Mama:

What does this mean for me and my pumping adventures? Not quite done yet! Lucky me, I need to now cut out all dairy and soy from my diet so that my milk can be clean and clear for my boy. Two thoughts on this:

Positive: forced diet! I seriously have to lose weight and lacked any motivation to do so - enter Marco telling me I need to cut out my favorite foods - and there is no better motivation than that.

Negative: while dairy is relatively easy to cut out (so many awesome replacements available), I also need to cut out soy. In case you are like me and didn't know... soy is in EVERYTHING. Seriously, everything. Most all packaged foods, bread, rice, mayo, chocolate... even pam cooking spray! There are versions of most foods that do not contain soy, but the safest bet is to eat clean: fruits, veggies, salads, oatmeal, non processed meat, etc.

I'm on a steep learning curve. Started Friday. Failed Friday night by eating hummus, which I thought was good to go, but then realized there was soy in the brand I was eating. Started again Saturday. Failed Saturday night when I ate some rice that was mixed into a delicious dairy-free meal my mama cooked for me. Most rice is fine, but not the microwavable kind that comes in bags. Started again Sunday - so far so good! Every time I fail, it will take 48 hours for my milk to be clean enough to give Marco. Thankfully they have the special formula, so I'll do my best, but I'm not going to cry if I screw up.

I just have SO much milk to give him and SO much frozen for when he gets home - I hope I can use it. P.S. milk production is way up, I think due to Mrs. Patel's cookies. They are delicious and may be responsible for the abundance of milk I've been making. I say "may" because I really don't know - it could also just be the natural course of things - but I doubt it.

Anyway - this week was hell on wheels with other personal stuff going on - I cried more than I ever have - but we made it through, Marco is doing great and we've put an entire month behind us! Only 8 more weeks to go :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Pictures: I was happily surprised and beyond touched when I went to visit Marco this evening. It was late, I was exhausted and sad that I didnt get to be with all my boys on Mama's Day - so when I showed up and saw gifts I, of course, started crying! Sweet little baby feet art is the absolute best. Plus motivational gifts for me - the mug even says "warrior," which is what Marco means! What an amazing community - so thankful.






Comments

  1. EmilyMay 12, 2021 at 11:06 AM

    It's so cool to see a picture of him laying like that - it's amazing how fast he grows! Hooray for milk production being up and I'm so sorry there is soy freakin' EVERYWHERE.

    ReplyDelete

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