Enough time has passed, and I feel that it is about time to write about my daughter Olive’s journey. This is part for her and part of therapy for me. I would like her to understand what it was like while all the details are fresh in my mind. Before I talk about Olive, I need to talk about my older daughter, Meadow.
Meadow had severe reflux and slow stomach motility when she was born. Her stomach was slow to digest food, so she never felt hungry enough to want to eat, and she also vomited daily until she was 14 months old. Due to all that trauma, she developed food fears and oral aversions. Fast forward 2 years, and she is a whole different kid thanks to speech and feeding therapy.
When I found out I was pregnant with Olive, my husband and I had some fears that she would go through the same things as Meadow did. During one of my ultrasound appointments, they noticed Olive was not growing as well as she should have been. I had what is called a partial umbilical cord insertion. That meant the umbilical cord grew in the side and not the center. When the cord grows on the side, it cannot spread its roots out enough to nourish the baby well. So she was not getting enough nutrients. There was nothing I could do but pray that she would grow to a decent size.
Olive was born on May 23, 2011. After only 2 hours of labor, she flew out into the world. She was tiny, only weighing 5 lbs 3 oz, and she was 17 inches long. She got checked out by the doctor, and we were told that she was okay to come home with us, just like any other newborn.
family
Shortly after she was born, she developed this horrible butt rash that wouldn’t go away. We had her on a special formula because, just like her sister, she was allergic to everything, including breast milk. Changes in diet were no help. She had a milk/soy protein allergy. When we took her to the doctor for her 1-week checkup, we thought she had been eating okay, but it turned out she had actually lost weight. The doctor seemed a bit concerned and wanted to see her back in a few days. We were charting what she ate, and we thought it was a lot for a teeny baby. We were shocked she wasn’t gaining. When we went back, she still hadn’t grown much. They decided to change her formula again. She also began to vomit after every meal, just like Meadow had. During all of this, I should mention, I was falling apart mentally, between my husband working around the clock, and I was left, sleep-deprived, to take care of two babies. One had the feeding issues, and then we had no clue what Olive’s problems were. We were living in Las Vegas with no family support. We were drowning in medical bills from my older daughter’s many hospital stays. So, we made the tough decision to spend our savings to pack up and move to Texas to be near my husband’s family. We basically moved in with them for the help and to get back on our feet again.
