Sunshine state

Well, no. We are not going to Florida for a vacation. And this post is not about Florida either. it is about the state my mind is in today - the "sunshine" state. Even though it is cloudy and grey and cold outside, it is warm and sunny in my mind. Ever have that feeling?

For the last 2-3 weeks Baby M has been having "on again, off again" bouts of diarrhea. She first caught a stomach bug when she started daycare. I wrote about that in my Month seven update. Then, as we were settling down in our new routine after my parents left, she got it again. The last time I took her to the doctor's office, she told us to keep her away from dairy or, if that was not entirely possible, to give her diluted formula. We did that - diluted her formula because that was better than completely starving her. She held that well. So we continued for another 4-5 days and when she had gone 2 days without a watery poop (ughhh! Gross! Click on that X fast!!) and without throwing up for more than 2 days, we decided it was time to switch back to regular consistency for formula. The diarrhea came back within a day. We thought she hadn't gotten over the bug in the first place so we went back to Pedialyte (J calls it Pee-Delite - can you believe it? This man can distort the best of names!) and bananas and diluted formula. After doing two more rounds of that I began to think it was a bacterial infection (because viral infection would eventually go away) that was doing the rounds of her daycare. Almost made up my mind to harass the pediatrician at 12 in the morning. Then thought some more and deduced that if it were a bacterial infection, it would have been accompanied by fever and/or vomiting. And she wouldn't have been the happy, active baby that we were seeing each day despite the diarrhea (yep - she is a trooper). She would have been sicker than she seemed at that time. Then I thought maybe the daycare wasn't following proper hygiene in changing diapers etc. but again that pointed to a bacterial infection which I had just ruled out with my "vast" medical knowledge. And her daycare is clean, if not super clean. I don't believe in sterilizing every single thing anyway - but that is material for another post. The only thing that bugs us is that some parents walk all over the rug that the babies play/crawl/lay/sit on with their shoes on, thus tracking mud/debris/dirt from outside. This IS a potential health risk but Baby M isn't crawling yet. OK - more on this later in the post...

M's daycare providers even mentioned Acid Reflux being a possibility but since she wasn't throwing up everything I put it at the end of my lists of possiblities to consider. I noticed one thing - M would throw up formula but she mostly kept the solids down. Or she would have a watery bowel movement after drinking formula but a normal one after eating solids. That made me suspicious that she might have lactose intolerance. Strangely this time I haven't been on the net researching all these possibilities. It is partly due to the fact that I have "grown up" as a parent and don't freak out like I used to and partly due to the fact that I am soooper busy so had no time.

Today I took her to the pediatricians' to discuss this with them and the doctor agreed with me right away that all symptoms point to it being lactose intolerance. When I asked her why she didn't have these symptoms with diluted formula, she said sometimes our body has tolerance for certain levels of lactose and cannot tolerate anything above those levels. Maybe M's body can tolerate the amount that she was ingesting in the diluted formula. The doctor also said that a stomach bug can sometimes trigger temporary lactose intolerance too. That was something I didn't know. I sure am going to research more on this issue. So, now we are going to start her on soy-based formula and see what happens. If that helps, it is definitely lactose intolerance. If not, we go back with a sample of her stool so more tests can be run. I am keeping fingers, toes and eyes crossed for the first possibility.

Strangely, instead of feeling smug about having made a correct guess, or that the doctor thinks I am correct, all I feel is relief. That is where the sunshine is coming from. The warm, soothing sunshine of relief.

There are a LOT of things to mention. I meant to write a post earlier and started it too, but it is still in drafts because of all that has been going on. I wasn't a mess exactly but every Friday for the last 3 weeks I have been making the decision to "quit my job next week". Once I came to the verge of calling up my boss right then and telling him that I won't be coming in on Monday. And anyone who has read my take on the WOHM issue would know that is a BIG decision for me. I didn't believe that it was happening because I am working but I did believe that I am the only one who can make this (stomach upsets) disappear for good with the kind of care ONLY I can provide. J even made fun of me for this last week :(

OK - now on to more cheerful updates. Baby M is getting ready to crawl!!! She balances herself on her hands and knees and stays that way as if trying to decide which direction to go in. She still doesn't sit up by herself though - lazy bum!! She flips over on to her tummy very easily and very non-chalantly now. Reaches for and grabs and pulls things towards her. About a week or so ago J caught her inspecting her toe closely. She had grabbed it and brought it as close to her eyes as possible and was closely inspecting how it wiggled! She wiggled it and looked at it with fascination as if trying to connect the two things - wiggling and the moving. I noticed her doing the same thing yesterday morning again. And now she "silently" creeps up behind me in her walker when I work in the kitchen and tries to grab my trousers or thigh. She also understands "No" - and chooses to ignore it at times :P

She likes to fip over on her tummy and sleep that way now. But sometimes she isn't comfortable and then I have to turn her back to her side and then she goes back to sleep right away. She also has been trying to grab hold of the side railing on her crib to try and get up. She pushes down the bumper and cranes her neck to see if we are awake and paying attention to her. Strangely, if we are asleep, she goes back to playing and cooing by herself. If she catches one of us looking at her she wants to be picked up immediately.

M loves bathtime. That has been confirmed. As soon as I finish her massage and go into the bathroom to prepare for her bath, the look on her face changes to that of anticipation. And now she even likes the shower. Doesn't make a fuss even when water runs over her nose and mouth. Just gasps lightly and thats it!

Just two days back, as soon as I entered the driveway of M's daycare, she got excited and started cooing and "singing". It melted away a big piece of the guilt I sometimes nibble at when I am on one of my guilt trips. She is trying to "speak" now too. Last weekend she discovered that she could touch her tongue to the top of her upper gums and produce the "La" sound. We spent the whole day listening to her go "Lalalalalala" :D

What else? What else?

Oh yes! I have been looking at daycares. When M was going through reapeated bouts of diarrhea, I made up my mind to look for another one. A coworker mentioned that her daughter's daycare has a special drop-off section and if parents want to go in the main area, they are required to take their shoes off. I decided to look at other daycares and see if any in our area implemented that policy. Then later as I began thinking this may be a lactose intolerance issue, I thought maybe I should let her stay and not put her through the trauma of adjusting to new place and new people. But in the end we decided I should at least go take a look so today I visited two daycares. I LOVED BOTH OF THEM!! Not only do they have a "no shoes in infant rooms" policy, they have many other features which make them waaay better than the current one. I do like the care-providers at the current daycare and M obviously loves them because she is happy to see them in the morning. But having seen the other daycares, I have realized what we are missing here. One of them, which has IMMEDIATE OPENING, even has a FULL GYM with thick mattresses for the kids to jump on and balance beams for older kids etc.!! OMG - I am soooo excited :P They have a better, structured program even for infants and their facilities are more bright, airy, clean and spacious. And not to forget secure. One of them has locked doors and parents have to be buzzed in while the other one has a front office that every one has to go through in order to get to the rooms where babies/kids stay. So we have to make a decision on that front, and fast!

Oh, and she now plays Peekaboo! She pulls up her blanket over her eyes and waits for a few seconds then slowly lowers it and looks at us with an impish grin. As soon as I say "Peekaboo!!" her grin turns into a W I D E smile. Sometimes when I say "Ninni, Peekaboo karo", she does this as if she understands what I am saying.

So this was how M's 8th month went. She is 8 months old today. Gosh! I don't know where these 8 months went. Do you?