The Truth about BURPS

Levi will be 11 weeks old tomorrow. He has grown so much and is really beginning to smile, coo, and desire to learn about this world around him. He loves to hear his Daddy and brothers voices and see what they are doing. He is still struggling with his reflux but we have seen lots of improvement. He went from crying every minute he was awake starting at 2 weeks old to smiling and cooing. Luke took the arrival of baby Levi hard. Noah started school around that time and I was ALWAYS busy holding Levi as he squirmed up my chest while he cried in pain. He would cry for about 1 1/2 hours and then nap only 10 minutes besides sleeping a little longer in the afternoons at times. In that 10 minutes I tried to go to the bathroom and eat something. I was simply surviving. So Luke ultimately felt he lost his brother and his Mom at the same time while having to listen to crying all day and play on his own. I am guessing he felt left out, unloved, and not happy. Then, Levi and I had to deal with thrush on top of that...which means I had to sterilize everything all the time, wash myself after each time he ate, give him medicine every 3 hours, etc. Not fun and it took even more time with even more louder crying since I had to put him down to do those things. Poor Levi. Poor Luke. My heart just broke for Luke but it was all I could do to help him survive while I held a crying baby. Finally after weeks, Levi seemed to get better and better and I was able to spend more time with Luke. Levi still napped only 10 minutes most of the time until a week ago but I tried to be intentional with my time with Luke. He is doing much better now. Praise God this is just a season!

Levi still has a big struggle with his reflux but does not seem to be in pain like he was. His struggle now comes down to burps. Yes, BURPS...and he has a lot of them. He will literally burp 15 times the hour or 1 1/2 hours he is awake. Right after he eats he will burp 3 or so times. Then, over the next hour he is awake I strategically put him down (to work up some burps) and pick him up to burp him. I normally get 1 or 2 out each time I do that. Then, once he is tired I get him to sleep and put him down. Over the next 20 or 30 minutes (cause that is how long it takes me to get him down for a nap), I pick him up several times and normally get 2 or 3 more burps each time. For example, tonight he ate at 5pm and burped a few times. The next hour he burped some more and spit up a few times. He fell asleep on me at 6pm. From 6 to 7pm, I picked him up 7 times after putting him down asleep that first time. He burped a total of 20 times during that hour of putting him down asleep, him squirming cause he needed to burp, me picking him up and burping him, and then putting him down asleep again. After doing that process 6 times he had burped 20 times! SERIOUSLY! How can an 11 week old have that many burps in his tummy! I live and breathe by burps. This sounds crazy but the happiness of Levi depends on it, my time depends on it, and the amount of burps I can get out depends on how many times I wake up at night...my sleep heavily depends on it. BURPS. BURPS. BURPS. This whole week I've been up nearly every hour cause of burps. Which just leaves 30 minutes to an hour to sleep in between. Not good. I remember Noah and Luke burping just a few times. Noah had acid reflux (not silent reflux like Levi) and he would burp a few times and spit up even up to 4 feet away...but then he was done. Happy. Levi is a different story. OK, so tonight was an extreme case of burps but he literally does burp 15 times in an hour where 9 or so of them is me putting him down dead asleep only to pick him up again, burp him a few times, put him to sleep again, and so forth. I have to say that I am pretty skilled after 9 weeks of practice burping Levi but it is still quite the process. There is a fine line between too sleepy to burp and wide awake and too fussy becuase he needs to burp. He has to be right between there in order to get a burp out. Noah and Luke were the same way...I am sure most Mom's know what I am talking about!

During the day he tends to sleep 20 to 30 minutes now and one longer nap each day (praise God the 10 minutes naps seem to be over!). It takes me about as long to get all his burps out and get him to stay asleep then he sleeps! This is not an easy process with a 2 year old and 4 year old in the house! They are loud and seem to always come in just when I got him to sleep. Noah is most often in school but Luke is the hard one to manage! I can see why some people have children 4 years apart (if it was a choice for them). It is so much easier! The four year old understands being quiet, can be a helper, more disciplined, potty trained, and independent. Although that would be much easier, having them 2 years apart is nice because they can be best buds. Sometimes when children are 4 years apart they never really get to know each other or tend to not want to play the same things. I didn't want that...although currently it seems desirable. Luke is totally ready to be potty trained. He uses the restroom when we take him and can push a little pee out upon request if there is candy involved. It is just too hard to potty train while having an infant! Anyone want to take him for a couple days? I would pay...cause in the end I wouldn't be buying diapers for him! Woohoo! I tried potty training with Noah while Luke was only 2 months old! Ahh! Not fun!

At church I just put him in my wrap and he sleeps upright and will even sleep 2 hours in a row. Most people probably think he sleeps all the time because I do this every Sunday. I even get comments that he is such a content baby...Ha! But I cannot put him in the wrap all the time. It is not healthy for Levi, not fair for Luke and Noah, and certainly not something my body can sustain. I already live with constant sharp knife pains in my shoulders from holding Levi so much. The weeks he was in pain constantly I held him upright ALL THE TIME. He would only let ME hold him and he would squirm in pain up my chest. So my arms, back, and shoulder muscles have been flexed since he was 2 weeks old with little break. Hence, the sharp knife pains. My muscles are tired. Thankfully, the last 2 weeks Levi has slowly let me put him down and let others hold him for a short time. Thank goodness for a little break! John also gives me a massage every night. Praise God for that!

Side note: with all things in perspective, we are JUST talking silent reflux...not major surgeries, cancer treatments, or any other major issues other families deal with. Nonetheless, it is still hard.

Although most of the week was pretty hard, I can see the light. Tuesday was a good day and night. He only woke up once Monday night (sleeping a 3 hour stretch and 4 hour stretch), all his naps were more than 10 minutes, he let me put him down for a few minutes each time he was awake, and he not only didn't scream the entire way to pick up Noah and bring him home, feel asleep in his car seat...he just does not do that! I was thankful for a good day. He even had a couple milestones that day...he started clasping his hands together and discovered his tongue. You know the turtle tongue! Hilarious! I remember the other two doing that too.

The older Levi gets the more milestones he hits! Praise God for that. I think once he sits up around 5 or 6 months he will be able to sit up, burp, and be a much better sleeper. Luke didn't sleep through the night until he was 15 months old so I have high hopes we will reach that point sooner with Levi!

Enough un-sugar coated details for this online journal. Despite this hard time, I am SOOOO grateful to be blessed with another boy. I am humbled to be given another boy to point to the Lord and disciple. I pray God would save Noah, Luke, and Levi's souls. Levi is a joy and just loves talking to me and smiles each time I look at him. It just blesses my heart! He is so in love with his Momma! What more could I ask for! Besides making him coo and smile, I love his sweet hugs as I put my face against his. I cannot get enough of that soft, warm baby skin. Love it! Thank you God for such a blessing! I look forward to seeing him heal, grow, and become a man of God!