Elli had her 9 month appt on Monday. Dr K is very pleased with her development and doesn't have any concerns about her...well, except for her really crappy sleeping habits. The literature that was given at the appt said that "a typical 9 month old should be taking 2 naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, in addition to sleeping 10 to 12 hours at night without waking for feedings." Um, yeah right. We're on an every 2 hour feeding schedule, but we also have to calm her every 20 minutes it seems like. It's seriously that bad.
Of course, now that I've come back to writing this for the 4th time while I'm trying to get Elli to settle in, I'm seriously beginnng to wonder if she has reflux. Why couldn't I have had this thought two days ago when she had her appt?! Elli is sooooo restless at night. She tosses and turns and tosses and turns. And kicks her legs in the air, cries out briefly, kicks her legs in the air again, thrashes her arms, etc. For the past two months or so, I was thinking she was extremely gassy and it was getting trapped in her belly at night. Now I'm having different thoughts.
When I really think about it, it makes sense. She wants to eat c.o.n.s.t.a.n.t.l.y at night. Well constant swallowing would help keep the acid down and milk is a natural acid reducer. It seems quite logical to me. So I don't know. I guess I'll be calling the office in the morning and seeing if maybe Dr K will prescribe something for her on a trial basis just to see if that helps with her sleeping. People keep telling me that I just have to let her cry. But my gut feelng is that something's just not right. I thought it was gas (which I DID address with Dr K at the appt), but now I have other thoughts. I can't let her cry it out. Not when my gut tells me that she's uncomfortable.
Anyway. She's huge. Nothing surprising there! She's 29 1/4 inches long and exactly 21 pounds! She outweighed the girls by 3 1/2 pounds at this age! In fact, they were only 19 pounds at a year old, so she's definitely a lot bigger than they were. I told Nate that Elli is gaining on the girls so quickly in height and weight that eventually people might think we have triplets!!
So she's finally sleeping *well* for now. Within the next 30 minutes I'm sure I'll have to calm her down from her tossing, turning, and thrashing. And then within the next 2 hours I'll have to feed her. So I really should go to bed.
