A Little More About Jessalyn

We are all pretty enamored with Jessalyn. She's so cute, and Kara especially can't keep her hands off of her--she wants to be the best little helper!

We've had a few challenges though, too. When Jessalyn was born, we were told that she was IUGR, or "intra uterine growth restricted." She was smaller than other 36 week babies and had quit growing. She didn't even make it in to the percentile growth chart (now she's in the 3rd percentile for weight). I was told that having a baby born IUGR could present some potential challenges.

Fast forward to today--Jessalyn is doing great, but we have been concerned about a few things, and I'm constantly worried about her. She acts more like a 4 week old baby than an 8 week old baby, but that is to be expected for her gestational age. She has been doing this weird twitch thing though, and I originally thought she'd grow out of it, but it was getting worse, so I finally mentioned it to her pediatrician. The Dr. was worried it might be seizures, so we had an EEG done and were referred to a neurologist at the Children's Hospital down town. Good news is, it doesn't look like it is seizures (though not 100% ruled out, so we have another appointment in 3 months). Her EEG showed immature brain activity, which means her brain is a little immature, so she should *hopefully* grow out of the twitching as her brain matures. It was a little disconcerting to hear that she was "immature," but again, not anything unexpected and not necessarily bad news (most premature babies catch up by 2 years old).

The other thing going on with Jessalyn is her reflux issue. She has been having bad reflux and tummy issues, and will usually have a couple bouts during the day of just straight crying for an hour or more. She cries for the majority of her wakefulness, with the occasional break. She's especially bad at night, and she will only sleep for 30 minutes to an hour at a time before waking up and crying like she's in horrible pain. It is so heartbreaking, and exhausting, and I've cut just about everything out of my diet that I think is causing it, but no dice. We have a two month check up this Thursday, and the pediatrician is probably going to prescribe her some medicine to cut back on the acidity and gas. I bought a Moby wrap too, and that seems to help sometimes.

Don't read this and think we are all doom and gloom at home though! I am so happy to be a mom to both my girls, and Jessalyn is really a very, very sweet baby when she isn't gassy or spitting up. I am hopeful that we can get her reflux and tummy problems under control so she can be happier and we can all love on her without upsetting her tummy!