Saturday, December 25, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Adventures in Infant Reflux...part deux
After much thinking, Tim and I came to the conclusion that when I dont eat ANYTHING and breastfeed Cooper is when he doesnt have any reflux. And he's a happy baby during those times. Cooing, laughing, playing, smiling, and just being....without tears :)
I noticed that when I was feeding him at night, he wasnt having reflux and was sleeping longer/more soundly. I realized it was because I wasnt eating at night. So the next day, I decided not to eat anything and see if that worked and sure enough, all was fine...happy baby. Then I ate a granola bar and drank a glass of water and bam, next feeding he had reflux. So if I dont eat anything, my kid will be okay. Okay, simple enough...except for the fact that I have to eat to survive. Ugh. So back to formula feeding during the day and me eating more than a granola bar.
I've put in a few calls to the dr (shes not working this week) but I have a feeling she still wont give us the prevacid. I want Cooper to be breastfed for the mere fact that he is more satisfied and sleeps better on the breastmilk, otherwise I would just go to formula altogether and be done with it. So I need him to be on the prevacid so we can do that. Even if I watch very carefully what I'm eating and not eating, he's still having bad reflux. The acid in his body is so bad that his butt is raw from pooing out all the acid!
We dont go back to see the doctor til the 29th and I think I've found a system that is working, for the most part. I breastfeed Cooper at night (since I'm not eating at night, and he does well and sleeps better on the breastmilk) and formula feed him during the day. This has brought his episodes down to 1-3 per day (usually during the formula feeds), which is better than the all-day fits he was having. He's still in pain during those fits, but we work through them. And on the 29th if he's still having problems, I'm demanding she put him on prevacid immediately and I will go back to nursing full time. Until then, let's hope something starts to work.
I noticed that when I was feeding him at night, he wasnt having reflux and was sleeping longer/more soundly. I realized it was because I wasnt eating at night. So the next day, I decided not to eat anything and see if that worked and sure enough, all was fine...happy baby. Then I ate a granola bar and drank a glass of water and bam, next feeding he had reflux. So if I dont eat anything, my kid will be okay. Okay, simple enough...except for the fact that I have to eat to survive. Ugh. So back to formula feeding during the day and me eating more than a granola bar.
I've put in a few calls to the dr (shes not working this week) but I have a feeling she still wont give us the prevacid. I want Cooper to be breastfed for the mere fact that he is more satisfied and sleeps better on the breastmilk, otherwise I would just go to formula altogether and be done with it. So I need him to be on the prevacid so we can do that. Even if I watch very carefully what I'm eating and not eating, he's still having bad reflux. The acid in his body is so bad that his butt is raw from pooing out all the acid!
We dont go back to see the doctor til the 29th and I think I've found a system that is working, for the most part. I breastfeed Cooper at night (since I'm not eating at night, and he does well and sleeps better on the breastmilk) and formula feed him during the day. This has brought his episodes down to 1-3 per day (usually during the formula feeds), which is better than the all-day fits he was having. He's still in pain during those fits, but we work through them. And on the 29th if he's still having problems, I'm demanding she put him on prevacid immediately and I will go back to nursing full time. Until then, let's hope something starts to work.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Adventures in Infant Reflux....
I'm not sure how many moms out there can say they've experienced infant reflux. If you have, you can agree with me when I say my life has been a living hell the past 3 weeks! UGH! Dont worry, before you go all "oh my god, she has PPD" on me, just know that we are still enjoying Cooper, I am not stressed or overwhelmed, but he sure isnt enjoying life too much.
So.....around 3 weeks ago, Cooper started doing this projectile vomiting thing. It was always after he ate and then after he vomitted he would cry for up to an hour sometimes. It would take a lot of late night and mid-night rocking and walking around the house to calm him down, but he'd eventually go back to sleep. This continued for a few days until I decided to call the dr's about it. Projectile vomitting is something they worry about in babies. So, dr visit #1 went a little like this: **baby is healthy, gaining weight, **projectile vomitting is "probably" normal, **not to worry, **try nursing in a more upright position (my boobs only bend so many different ways jerkwad), **quit being worrysome first time parent (um, we've done this before punk).
So, after a few more days, the projectile vomitting subsided (no more laying in bed nursing sessions=sucky) and turned more into spit up (which I can handle, Taylor was a puker for sure). But, along with this came the episodes of crying. And the crying wasnt just "I'm cranky", "I'm hungry", or "I'm tired" crying. It was full-out bloody murder screaming...like "Oh my god, you just broke my arm" crying. But of course, without the breaking of the arms. So, we just rocked him through each episode (some would take up to an hour) and went about normal babyhood. Then came the arching of the back while having these episodes, the kid was so tense, he was like holding a board and was rarely ever NOT arched when we held him. And was rarely ever not crying. Ugh, so tired momma calls the dr again. Only this time, we get a different doctor.
Doctor visit #2 goes like this: **all is normal, **baby is fine, gaining weight, **probably just comfortable arching his back, **go home you paranoid crazy parents.
After a week of this, the episodes are happening about 23 hours of the day and were even interrupting his feedings. I start googling and find that he has acid reflux (um, what doctor doesnt notice with the symptoms I've been presenting), so I do all that it says to do.....start avoid certain foods, more frequent smaller nursing sessions, keep him upright during feedings and for 20-30 min after, elevate his bed, etc. NOTHING. WAS. WORKING. So I call the dr again. (at this point, the nurses knew me by name....they are awesome nurses btw). They get me in to see Dr Brewer (she was seeing me for my bp issues a month ago). She comes in, he's having one of his episodes and she says right away, it's reflux. Yes, I know this, let's fix him. She prescribes Zantac for him and tells me to do everything I've been doing.
After a week of the meds, he was getting worse, at one point, he cried for 5 straight hours (NO SHIT), to the point where he lost his voice and passed out from exhaustion on my chest and slept for 2 hours (the longest since the first few weeks home). Called the dr, begged for prevacid at this point. She said she was going to write the px, but to bring him for a weight check before she did. While we're at the weight check, she calls us in and says she did some talking to her colleagues and they dont want to give him prevacid because he's too young. She says he's gotta be 3 months. I guess it doesnt count he's the size of a 3 month old (12 lbs, 14 oz at this visit). So.....she says to stop breastfeeding and try to put him on Nutramigen formula, which is a milk protein allergy formula. We're hoping that his cause of reflux at this point might have been from this?! So, since nothing else was working, we go home with this and start it. I pump in the meantime so I dont lose my milk supply and give Coop the formula. After about 4 days, it wasnt working at during one of his fits, I give in and nurse him in the middle of the night. He did great, so I nurse him the next few night feedings and he does fine. I then nursed him during the day and he had an episode. Ugh, so back to square one.....back to formula the rest of the day, more fits.
So at this point, I'm ready to lose my mind. Not because of his crying, but because I cant help him. The poor guy is in pain and I cant do anything about it. As a parent that is the worst. You wanna fix your kids, you wanna make sure they arent in pain, you kiss their boo boos all better. And I cant do anything but rock him and cry through his episodes as he screams in pain.
.....to be continued....
So.....around 3 weeks ago, Cooper started doing this projectile vomiting thing. It was always after he ate and then after he vomitted he would cry for up to an hour sometimes. It would take a lot of late night and mid-night rocking and walking around the house to calm him down, but he'd eventually go back to sleep. This continued for a few days until I decided to call the dr's about it. Projectile vomitting is something they worry about in babies. So, dr visit #1 went a little like this: **baby is healthy, gaining weight, **projectile vomitting is "probably" normal, **not to worry, **try nursing in a more upright position (my boobs only bend so many different ways jerkwad), **quit being worrysome first time parent (um, we've done this before punk).
So, after a few more days, the projectile vomitting subsided (no more laying in bed nursing sessions=sucky) and turned more into spit up (which I can handle, Taylor was a puker for sure). But, along with this came the episodes of crying. And the crying wasnt just "I'm cranky", "I'm hungry", or "I'm tired" crying. It was full-out bloody murder screaming...like "Oh my god, you just broke my arm" crying. But of course, without the breaking of the arms. So, we just rocked him through each episode (some would take up to an hour) and went about normal babyhood. Then came the arching of the back while having these episodes, the kid was so tense, he was like holding a board and was rarely ever NOT arched when we held him. And was rarely ever not crying. Ugh, so tired momma calls the dr again. Only this time, we get a different doctor.
Doctor visit #2 goes like this: **all is normal, **baby is fine, gaining weight, **probably just comfortable arching his back, **go home you paranoid crazy parents.
After a week of this, the episodes are happening about 23 hours of the day and were even interrupting his feedings. I start googling and find that he has acid reflux (um, what doctor doesnt notice with the symptoms I've been presenting), so I do all that it says to do.....start avoid certain foods, more frequent smaller nursing sessions, keep him upright during feedings and for 20-30 min after, elevate his bed, etc. NOTHING. WAS. WORKING. So I call the dr again. (at this point, the nurses knew me by name....they are awesome nurses btw). They get me in to see Dr Brewer (she was seeing me for my bp issues a month ago). She comes in, he's having one of his episodes and she says right away, it's reflux. Yes, I know this, let's fix him. She prescribes Zantac for him and tells me to do everything I've been doing.
After a week of the meds, he was getting worse, at one point, he cried for 5 straight hours (NO SHIT), to the point where he lost his voice and passed out from exhaustion on my chest and slept for 2 hours (the longest since the first few weeks home). Called the dr, begged for prevacid at this point. She said she was going to write the px, but to bring him for a weight check before she did. While we're at the weight check, she calls us in and says she did some talking to her colleagues and they dont want to give him prevacid because he's too young. She says he's gotta be 3 months. I guess it doesnt count he's the size of a 3 month old (12 lbs, 14 oz at this visit). So.....she says to stop breastfeeding and try to put him on Nutramigen formula, which is a milk protein allergy formula. We're hoping that his cause of reflux at this point might have been from this?! So, since nothing else was working, we go home with this and start it. I pump in the meantime so I dont lose my milk supply and give Coop the formula. After about 4 days, it wasnt working at during one of his fits, I give in and nurse him in the middle of the night. He did great, so I nurse him the next few night feedings and he does fine. I then nursed him during the day and he had an episode. Ugh, so back to square one.....back to formula the rest of the day, more fits.
So at this point, I'm ready to lose my mind. Not because of his crying, but because I cant help him. The poor guy is in pain and I cant do anything about it. As a parent that is the worst. You wanna fix your kids, you wanna make sure they arent in pain, you kiss their boo boos all better. And I cant do anything but rock him and cry through his episodes as he screams in pain.
.....to be continued....
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Cooper is here! All is well!
As if I had time (or remembered) to blog before, now I am the proud parent of two kids and will, officially, have no time at all to blog. (Does anyone even read this?)
Cooper is here. I'll post pics when I have time (haha...I hope), but for now, the details:
He arrived on November 11, 2010 at 2:26 pm. He weighed a whopping 9 lbs, 4 oz and was 20.5 inches long. I started having high blood pressure issues and after a few days of tests, they determined I have pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and decided to go ahead and induce me for fear that my bp would get too high. I was induced the night of the 10th, starting around 9ish. After a crap night of sleep and being doped up on painkillers all night for mild contractions, I asked for the epidural at 6 am (I was only dialated to a 3, but they were painful and I'm a baby, so what) and called my mom to head up to the hospital. It took the anesthesiologist (sp?) two tries but I was nice and numb. Then came the hard part. Around noon-ish, the nurse realized that they had never turned me from laying on my right side (I had been that way ALL NIGHT and DAY!) and Cooper had lodged himself in my right side and was somehow blocking my epidural from working. They kept calling it a "hot spot", but I could feel everything! Every contraction, movement, etc. So they flipped me and tried to position me to get him to come down the birth canal. After laying there feeling every freaking contraction in that "spot" on my right side for what seemed like days (but was only an hour or so), I thought I felt the "bear down" thing they always talk about. (I had NEVER felt it with Taylor because I was extremely numb and felt nothing LOL) so we called in the docs. Sure enough, it was close but not time. This happened about 2 or 3 more times. I think it was more my impatience, but I swear I kept feeling like he was right there! Time was ticking and with every contraction (worst pain I've ever felt in my life by the way), I was getting more tired and worried I wasnt going to be able to get him out! Around 2pm, I felt it for real and it was time! So the docs came in and we started pushing. And lemme tell you, I felt everything. UGH! And yes, it was the worst pain I'd ever felt. And yes, I can remember it (for now). And yes, we may be done having kids after this one! HA! You think I'm kidding? Try birthing a 9lb, 4oz kid out of your who-ha!
But Cooper arrived safely and he is definitely a keeper! He looks exactly like his big sister did at this age! Funny to say that and even funnier I keep looking at her envisioning him at 2, except with shorter hair and boy clothes of course :)
But we're all doing well. It only took Taylor a few days to understand he wasnt in my stomach anymore and now she loves him and looks after him (She has to kiss him goodnight every night on her way to bed or she freaks out!). We're just all adjusting to life as a family of four :)
Cooper is here. I'll post pics when I have time (haha...I hope), but for now, the details:
He arrived on November 11, 2010 at 2:26 pm. He weighed a whopping 9 lbs, 4 oz and was 20.5 inches long. I started having high blood pressure issues and after a few days of tests, they determined I have pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and decided to go ahead and induce me for fear that my bp would get too high. I was induced the night of the 10th, starting around 9ish. After a crap night of sleep and being doped up on painkillers all night for mild contractions, I asked for the epidural at 6 am (I was only dialated to a 3, but they were painful and I'm a baby, so what) and called my mom to head up to the hospital. It took the anesthesiologist (sp?) two tries but I was nice and numb. Then came the hard part. Around noon-ish, the nurse realized that they had never turned me from laying on my right side (I had been that way ALL NIGHT and DAY!) and Cooper had lodged himself in my right side and was somehow blocking my epidural from working. They kept calling it a "hot spot", but I could feel everything! Every contraction, movement, etc. So they flipped me and tried to position me to get him to come down the birth canal. After laying there feeling every freaking contraction in that "spot" on my right side for what seemed like days (but was only an hour or so), I thought I felt the "bear down" thing they always talk about. (I had NEVER felt it with Taylor because I was extremely numb and felt nothing LOL) so we called in the docs. Sure enough, it was close but not time. This happened about 2 or 3 more times. I think it was more my impatience, but I swear I kept feeling like he was right there! Time was ticking and with every contraction (worst pain I've ever felt in my life by the way), I was getting more tired and worried I wasnt going to be able to get him out! Around 2pm, I felt it for real and it was time! So the docs came in and we started pushing. And lemme tell you, I felt everything. UGH! And yes, it was the worst pain I'd ever felt. And yes, I can remember it (for now). And yes, we may be done having kids after this one! HA! You think I'm kidding? Try birthing a 9lb, 4oz kid out of your who-ha!
But Cooper arrived safely and he is definitely a keeper! He looks exactly like his big sister did at this age! Funny to say that and even funnier I keep looking at her envisioning him at 2, except with shorter hair and boy clothes of course :)
But we're all doing well. It only took Taylor a few days to understand he wasnt in my stomach anymore and now she loves him and looks after him (She has to kiss him goodnight every night on her way to bed or she freaks out!). We're just all adjusting to life as a family of four :)
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