Bottled up

Happy.

She really is a cheery and pleasant girl. She has such a sweet personality, too.

But let's be real you guys...no one can be happy all the time 😄

At least her fussy moments don't last very long. Kiera and I have all of her moods figured out (or so we think!)

She loves to nom on those fingers, and she loves her soother too. The only thing she doesn't love right now is her bottle. Belle's taken a big step back with her oral feeding this week, and it's a real shame. 

Kiera and I are trying all sorts of feeding positions and nipples with various flows, but so far we haven't seen any improvement. Arabella was doing so well at one point, too. What happened?

Lucky we're taking her to a pediatric feeding clinic in the next few weeks. Maybe we'll get to the bottom of this (bottle) eventually. 

Or maybe it just wasn't her week?

She tries her best. She even gets excited for the bottle, but when the milk hits her tongue she doesn't seem to want it anymore. It's the strangest thing.

Something hasn't been right this week, and it's forced Kiera and I to take a second look at everything going on with Arabella. "What else can we do to help her?" we wondered. "What other drugs and things is she taking right now?"

This thinking took us on a path. One thing led to another. 

We started reading more about digestion, the stomach, and overall gut health. We found out just how vital stomach acid is for fighting off illnesses and infections, and we realized that the anti-acid drug she's taking for her reflux, Omeprezole (or Prilosec) is really putting her at risk for all sorts of bad things. 

So imagine, if a drug suppresses acid production, what else is it doing that may not be beneficial? 

Those anti-acid drugs (called PPIs) are nothing but bad news. Google it sometime. Prevacid, Zantac, Prolisec...they're all crap. They effect your nutrient absorption, they completely alter your gut environment, they increase your risk of fractures...should I continue? 

All of this at a very crucial point in Arabella's life, right? And after everything she went through with her fractures. She needs all the nutrients she can get right now!

Why are so many kids on this stuff? Why is it protocol to just prescribe these drugs so freely for reflux? Reading about these things was a real eye-opener...

Overall health and feeling good starts in the gut, and we're on a mission to restore Belle back to normal. So instead of the laxative that the doctors prescribed her daily, we've started giving her probiotics. And instead of an anti-acid drug, we'll try a homeopathic route to help her reflux. There's a ton of information out there for parents just like us.

We need to get back to the roots, and further away from the drugs. I'm glad we realized that this week!