Mac & Cheese and.. Ick

Timmy has gained weight and, although he loves to be warm and cozy, he no longer has problems regulating his body temperature. I look at the photos of my tiny little baby and I am amazed at how quickly he has grown and filled out. The fragile little waif is gone, leaving a strong, happy and healthy baby boy. The only vestiges of his being a preemie lies with his size (he is short) and his reflux.

I am sure that his reflux is more frustrating for us than it is for him. He seems relatively unaffected by projectile vomiting without notice. While Timmy continues to smile through his regurgitation, I have grown weary of cleaning partially digested baby formula off my floors, furniture and myself. Despite my efforts to clean it up quickly, I'm fairly certain that everything I own now smells like sour milk. 

Some days are worse than others. There are bottles which never make an encore appearance. We've tried to recreate the feeding, hoping for another positive result only to be met with volcanic vomit in my face. Yesterday was a relatively calm reflux day, allowing both Timmy and me to remain relatively dry. Of course, just when I was ready to declare a reflux free victory, I was proven wrong.

I was wearing Timmy, forward facing, in the baby carrier when I was making dinner. The little guy just loves being situated in his snug little carrier, probably because it keeps him both close to me and warm. He was happily cooing and giggling as I was stirring the cheese sauce for the macaroni and cheese I was planning for dinner. True to form, reflux occurs without notice. Just as I turned off the heat, I saw a large stream of what appeared to be milk pouring into my sauce.

I instinctively grabbed the spoon to stir it in, only to realize a few moments later that I had not poured anything. Stymied about the source, I was disgusted when I processed the event. Timmy had vomited the entire contents of his bottle, which he ate 2 hours earlier, into the cheese sauce. So much for my well planned dinner! My lesson for the afternoon- if you are cooking with a baby who suffers from reflux, wear him facing inward or risk the contents of the pot. And no, I didn't serve it anyway!