So Ellie Mae had her two week doctor checkup this past Friday. She weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz and 19 1/2 ” in length. She left the hospital at 6 lbs 5 ounces, so that means in two weeks she gained a total of 14 oz — almost a whole pound! The doctor liked to point out that most babies at two weeks are just back to their birth weight (hers was 6 lbs 10 oz) and he was very surprised to see a breastfed baby gain so much weight already. It was not a shocker to us as Hank had no issues gaining weight and had surpassed his birth weight at his first doctor’s checkup (just a couple days after his hospital release). Ellie Mae from the very start latched on better than Hank did — plus, she really likes to eat! We could just tell from looking at her belly that she had no weight gaining issues whatsoever.
Our biggest issue with Ellie right now is that she is a MAJOR grunter. At first, I was freaked out that she may end up with a milk protein sensitivity like Hank (his didn’t present until about a month or so after his birth). I thought this because I splurged on ice cream the night before her grunting took on a whole new level (as in Bob and I got zero sleep). After this past visit with the doctor, I realized that her symptoms are different from Hank’s milk allergy (phew!): the doctor asked me if her stools had mucus which they do not. Hank’s stools had major mucus, he also projectile vomited, cried uncontrollably and arched his back during feeds, and his reflux was much worse than Ellie’s (he would wheeze/have labored breathing from the reflux). Her only symptoms was painful grunting and infrequent reflux/spit-ups.
So with some research (didn’t really take much… just a quick google search on excessive newborn grunting), we are pretty sure Ellie Mae has GBS (grunting baby syndrome! hahaha). Basically, she still hasn’t figured out how to poop! We really really hope she figures this out soon! Bob has to sleep in the guest bedroom upstairs to get away from the noise. Hank gladly sleeps in his own bed upstairs now that he has experienced a few nights of Ellie’s grunting. I am sleep deprived though!
I have (a few times) been corrected by folks that Hank is lactose intolerant when I say he was allergic to cow’s milk proteins as an infant. Lactose intolerance is very different from cow’s milk protein sensitivity/allergy (it usually presents way later in life… and it is caused by a sugar in milk that we cannot process/digest easily); it takes a lot out of me to not go into a whole lecture with the person I am speaking to. Since I am all about educating oneself, thought I would share these two websites on cow’s milk allergy vs lactose intolerance:
Dairy and other Food Sensitivities in Breastfed Babies
Is my baby lactose intolerant?
