Don't let her chubby cheeks and placid expression fool you: she has not had a happy day. :( After a night of labored-sounding breathing, I called the pediatrician and he said to bring her in. My suspicions of acid reflux were confirmed-- which is at least good in that we have ideas in how to help her. Her crying during eating at times is inconsolable, which is soooooo sad and breaks my mommy-heart. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, acid reflux in an infant is essentially baby heartburn-- food mixed with stomach acid creeps back up the esophagus instead of staying in the stomach where it should. After having experienced heartburn myself in pregnancy, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, much less my tiny new daughter! Babies with acid reflux tend to spit up a lot, crane their necks trying to escape the mounting acid in their throats, prefer being upright or face-down to being prone (on their backs) and worst of all, cry during feeding. To have her wanting to eat, and pulling off and sobbing her little eyes out with me holding her in my arms is so WRONG. She should be happiest eating, right? Especially cuddled in her mother's embrace, right? So sad. We should get some medicine into her this evening, which hopefully will help. We were already keeping her upright, burping her often, and giving her lots of tummy-time, all of which are good for reflux-y babies. Reflux can be problematic not just because it causes pain but because the regurgitated gunk tends to pool in the sinus cavities, causing congestion (why she was having trouble breathing last night) and potentially hosting bacteria-- especially at this time of the year (cold season!).
Those of you who pitched in to get us the Ergo carrier, THANK YOU! I've got her sleeping in it right now; she loves it, and I love it because she loves it. :) My arms would wear out if it weren't for this thing! Anyway, here's to hoping the prevacid does its work and that she outgrows this soon. Poor baby.
P.S. Despite the reflux, our little porker is still packin' on the chub: 9 lbs 14 oz this afternoon!
4 comments:
She is really precious, Christina. What a cutie!
Hey Christina, I am sorry for your girlie! Darsie had reflux issues, too! Have you talked to your lactation consultant, too? With Darsie, the problem was more in the amount of milk she was getting at one time, too much fore milk and not enough hind milk, so she just kept eating and eating and eating and then would have a very unhappy tummy! It took a while to figure it out, because she was definitely gaining weight (eating LOTS!), but she was pretty unhappy! Anyway, just to suggest that some nursing strategies might help, too! Praying for you guys!
I'll call the lactation consultant, but Eowyn was eating every 3 hours and only on one side so i don't think that was the problem...Val said maybe you mean trying block feeding (one side at a time for consecutive feedings), and i've done that when she eats close together, like today...
but i'll try anything! i'd rather not medicate her! thanks for the tip! :)
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