Moving to Raleigh

Exactly two months ago we moved from Richmond, VA to our new home in Raleigh, NC. Over the course of 48 hours we watched the movers pack up our whole apartment, load up the truck and unload it in our new house in Raleigh. Although the move itself was quick and smooth, it's taken us a while to make the--admittedly bumpy--transition.

It didn't help that the gorgeous weather we had all fall and early winter turned sour just as we arrived in North Carolina and we all got sick. Fighting cabin fever, I had taken Oliver to the children's museum the first or second week we arrived. Ollie had a great time but came home with some bug that turned into an antibiotic-resistant ear infection for him, an antibiotic-resistant sinus infection for Ryan and a sore throat/headache/cough for me. We had a fun time passing that bug around for pretty much the entire month of February.

While Oliver was sick and on multiple rounds of antibiotics he essentially stopped eating. This was a very stressful time for us. We had become concerned about his weight gain (or lack thereof) in early January. His pediatrician had recommended that we take him to the feeding clinic at the Children's Hospital where they determined that he was perfectly healthy but he needed more calories. So we had been trying to feed him as much nutrient/calorie-dense food as possible and he had gained about a pound before we left Richmond.

Then when he got sick he just stopped eating food, period. He was still nursing, so he wasn't literally starving, but he lost all the weight he gained before we left. Oh, it was so frustrating!! It was definitely the hardest time that we have had as parents. It was particularly difficult because I didn't feel like I could trust my instincts (should I "force" him to eat or should I let him starve himself?? should I try to give him many small meals/snacks throughout the day or would he eat more if we stuck to a regular meal schedule?? should I start him on yet another round of antibiotics, which were killing his appetite, or hope that the infection would continue to clear without more antibiotics??)

We were really almost at the end of our rope when we decided to have a family fast about it on Sunday, March 4 (how ironic...we would go without food so that Oliver wouldn't!) It was really a miracle, because our prayers were answered almost right away. Oliver's ears cleared without more antibiotics and he began to show more interest in food. Since the fast he has been eating like a total champ. Mealtimes are fun again!! He eats more (both in terms of variety and volume) than he ever has before. And he's gaining weight again. We are so relieved!

So, this has been a pretty depressing first entry to our new blog. It hasn't been all bad down here, so next time I'll catch you all up on some of the fun things we have done and the cute things Ollie is doing these days.

Love, Anna