Mr. Handsome

Poor little buddy has had a rough intro to life. The past six weeks have been one thing after another for baby Scotlin. It has been so difficult to get to know this little guy, because he has had so many things to battle with.

• At birth Scotlin had jaundice and the only way to keep him out of the hospital and at home where he belongs was to take him into the hospital day after day to get his blood drawn and tested. While he had jaundice he basically slept all of the time. At the time I knew very little about jaundice, and I did not realize it would make feeding him a real battle. Scotlin would always be too sleepy to eat, or suck, or swallow, or do anything that required any effort on his part, so soon my milk supply dwindled to dangerously low levels. Which led to the next problem; very little weight gain.
• Again we were back and forth to and from the clinic having him weighed every other day and discussing breast feeding issues with his doctor. I was put on a 16 pill a day medication to increase the milk supply and was required to pump after every feeding to also stimulate more milk. The milk increased by about a 1/2 ounce, but Scotlin still would not work hard enough to get a full feeding, or provide any signals for more milk flow. And still very little weight gain. At that point I had tried herbal remedies, pumping until the cows came home, feeding tubes, shields, formula, you name it. Even with all of these efforts my milk supply was extremely low, and getting lower as each day passed. I could not figure out why Scotlin would not latch on correctly, or stay on without pulling away, crying, or acting completely miserable the entire time. I would wonder why after weeks of trying it was so uncomfortable, and awkward for both of us, and not improving. I felt overwhelmed, exhausted, and stressed almost beyond what I could handle. Scotlin was always hungry. I was always half dressed, and struggling to feed him.
• I quickly came to find out Scotlin had Thrush. And it was no wonder why feeding time was such a nightmare for both of us. We quickly got him on a medication to treat the problem.
• In Nova Scotia it is not customary to circumcise baby boys. In fact, there is only ONE DOCTOR in the entire province that preforms the operation, and he is next to impossible to get into. When our Doctor tried scheduling an appointment for Scotlin to have this procedure she was told the ONE DOCTOR was booked until December, and by that time Scotlin would be too old, so we were out of luck. It may not be customary here, and that's fine, but it IS customary where we are from, and this is something that needed to be done before Scotlin got too old or else it becomes too painful for the child and too expensive for the parents. We immediately called our pediatrician back in Utah and asked if he would be able to so it at Christmas time when we were in town. Unfortunately, he could not do it if Scotlin was older than four weeks either. We were so desperate we looked into flying back to the states right away, but couldn't because it would take too long to get Scotlin's passport. What a mess. After calling and begging the ONE DOCTOR in Nova Scotia for the third time, he agreed to come in early on a Saturday morning and preform the procedure just before Scotlin's 4 week old Birthday. We were so lucky, and blessed! Thank goodness!

• After all of that drama, we were still having trouble with feeding him. I talked to the doctor about how he grunts and stains all day and night like he is uncomfortable, and/or working on something (if you know what I mean). She told us he could have a sensitive tummy so we tried switching formulas. (At this point we were still breast feeding, pumping, and supplementing.) She also checked his mouth and could see that he still had thrush, and it was worse than ever, and explained how the infection had spread throughout his tiny body. Our Doctor the prescribed another medication, and one for Miley as well, as the two of them had been passing the infection to one another.
• I filled the prescription right away, brought it home and gave it to Scotlin only to realize I totally (and very accidentally) OVERDOSED him! The mistake sent him to his first visit to the ER.
• After the thrush was treated, and finally went away we thought we would for sure have our perfect, happy, content little mano back again. Instead he has developed colic, and at times is a very grumpy guy!

I would love to get to know Scotlin. None of us are ourselves, or at our best when we are not feeling well. I want to know who Scotlin is without jaundice. I want to know who Scoltin is without thrush. I want to know who Scotlin is without Colic. I would love to feel like he is content and happy. I would love to feel like I am caring for and getting to know the real Scotlin Prince. The past six weeks, and the health issues we have faced with this little guy have put my parenting, and patience to the test. We are hoping his current battle with colic will be short lived. I am learning so much right now, and the more I learn the more I realize I don't know a thing!