So we are over our budget in quite a few areas this month. DD is doing well on her transition from breastmilk to formula, but at her 2 month wellness exam, her weight gain was on the low side. The pediatrician does not suspect anything is wrong with what she is eating, but rather how she is eating. She has always seemed to struggle with feedings, first not being able to breastfeed and then lots of dribbling with bottle feedings. Her intake is also on the low side for her age. We still have to feed her 8 times a day to ensure that she is eating at least 20+ ounces each day, while lots of babies her age have dropped down to 5 larger feedings.
The pediatrician referred us to an specialty eating clinic. She had a physical therapy appointment on Friday and they said that her lips and tongue are tight (but no ties). It now makes a lot more sense to me why we had such trouble with breastfeeding. We are supposed to do exercises to loosen up her lips and tongue, which aren't easy because she really hates when you stick your finger in her mouth. She has another PT appointment again tomorrow and then an occupational therapy evaluation on Wednesday. And we have a follow up weight check appointment with the pediatrician Dec. 28, plus more PT appointments too.
This has meant lots of co-pays. We ran out of FSA money some time last month, so everything has been coming out of our medical care fund, which is now running on fumes. And all of these issues around pumping and DDs feedings issues have given me a lot of anxiety. I have been going to a social worker at my OBs office to help with those issues, which means more co-pays.
And we bought several sets of new bottles to try out to see if they help her with feedings. She seems to be doing better with the Dr. Brown's wide neck bottles because she is less gassy, but she still dribbles a ton and doesn't really get a good suction on the nipple. All the bottles wiped out our baby fund. And we have eaten out more too because we have been so busy and stressed. Hoping for less stressful and costly times in the new year.
Hang in there. You're doing all the right things.
It's great to hear your pediatrician is proactive in getting your dd the help she needs. It's good to have a budget but when it comes to parenting there are infinite possibilities for unexpected expenses. Tweak your budget when you find some time to sit down with your dh. Add some funds to baby expenses so you don't add to your own stress that you're blowing all your past progress in your budget. Honestly, I'd go right back in debt if I had to in order for my kids to get the help they need.(medical/dental/mental/social, etc.) And they've needed LOOOOOOOTS of various help over the years, including OT/speech at 18 months.
Ask your pediatrician if your state offers any services. NJ has a service called Early Intervention where an evaluation & services are completely free in home up until age 3. (After 3, they are turned over to the school district which has a different focus than private providers. Not that they don't care, but they focus on issues that would impede a child's learning.)
They were phenomenal! Super professional. They came to his day care to give weekly OT and biweekly speech at our home with dh. I only called them because I felt his speech was delayed compared to his older brother and which was understandable given all the ear infections he had by age 2.5. We had tubes placed in his ears and called for an evaluation. Speech & OT came to evaluate and noted muscle tone issues around his mouth, in his trunk (he would "W sit) I never knew that was a sign of anything; my brother did it too. So many little things they pointed out that I noticed but didn't really know it was something I should be noticing. I was so grateful to have them. They really made his therapy fun for him. EI has nothing to do with proof of low income or anything like that. It's open to any child in NJ under 3 who meets the criteria for needing services.
As I said, once a child reaches 3 our school district takes over services but only if his/her deficit would impede learning. If a child is 7 and still can't ride a bike, they need help but that is not school's responsibility to provide it for that particular deficit.
So he did qualify for speech in preschool too. If he didn't qualify through school, I would have found private speech therapy for him and continued with copays, etc. For all the frivolous things we spend $ on, this is $ well spent and worth every penny.
So, sorry this is so long. Whew, this stirs up a lot of stressful memories.
Stay strong; you're doing a great job Mommy!
my LO was so hard to get fed...I struggled with it, did manage to make it to 11 months (I went back to work at 10 months something s) but it was really hard and really painful...I did so much feeding and pumping- it was so exhausting. Do what’s best for you and your family xx
