Soren's Tummy Troubles
About 2 weeks ago, well maybe close to a month ago, Soren seemed to start having more reflux/tummy issues, rather than improving. We had just had his 4 month check up and were told that we should look to see his tummy issues improving, that we should consider weaning him off of his meds to see if he could be okay without it and therefore that we should wait until he is a little older to start solids. That all seemed fine, but unfortunately things didn't start to improve. They kind of went backwards.
He has always had issues with burping. And he started spitting up before we even left the hospital. But after he got on Prevacid, it seemed like his symptoms were more manageable for both him and us. And then one night, when our friend from Texas, Scott, was visiting, Soren started this new thing. And it hasn't really let up for the past month. (I'll get to it in a moment.) The classic arching and screaming with burping and spitting up had also started to return, which clued me in that I needed to monitor things more closely.
The 'new' behavior was waking up after he had been asleep for an hour or two and needing to burp or spit up or (most recently) pass gas. He would start to fidget, bob his head, then cry and, if we didn't get there in time, he would spit up in his bed. We were changing his sheets and cleaning him up quite a bit...it was just so pitiful.
For the past few weeks we have spent increasing amounts of time with Soren helping him get through these episodes. Regardless of whether or not he nursed to sleep, nursed before sleep or had a bit of time in between, these episodes have been fairly regular. It seems like we have had hardly any time in the evenings until he gets settled, which isn't until 9:30ish. (And that doesn't leave much time until he wakes up to actually eat again.)
During the day, I have had to spend so much time getting him to sleep and stay asleep. Once he falls asleep, he tends to settle, but then fidget and burp every 10 minutes or so for about a half an hour. Sometimes it is less, and other times it is much more (but that is usually at night time). All of this time with him means that Eisley is left alone. Just yesterday that did not pan out so well, but I'll save that for another post.
After several rough days in a row, I called our pediatrician last week to ask if we should come in or if we should go to a specialist; they recommended the latter. It was Thursday and we were heading out of town the next day. But specialists...can you really expect to get in right away? I was able to get an appointment for the following Tuesday after we returned from our trip...not with the doctor that was recommended, as he was out of town for the rest of the month, but with another doc in his practice.
We returned from our trip with high expectations for our appointment the next day. On the way there, I was so stressed as Soren was hungry and screaming the entire way there, which was about 30 minutes. His poor little face was so puffy and splotchy when we finally got there. I was so worried because we were 30 minutes late (both Stephan and I had a hard time finding the place). But God was so gracious and there was not one issue with being late. The staff was really nice and I was able to relax a bit! After trying to explaining to the doctor what has been going on, the doctor didn't feel that there was anything serious going on. He felt that Soren's current dose of Prevacid was not enough. And incidentally through conversation (at my leading, I think), he suggested that perhaps Soren was sensitive to soy protein, as it is closely related to milk protein. (I think that's what he said, anyway.) While my lactation consultant had suggested this as a possibility several months ago, I was not prepared to eliminate yet another food from my diet at the time. I felt that I took the news surprisingly well yesterday, considering how difficult my diet already is with no dairy and limited veggies.
What the doctor did not tell us is anything that could help with his delayed spitting up, which was frustrating. Because the new prescription had to be compounded, it took a few days to get it filled, and so we have only started it tonight. (Such an ordeal to get the prescription filled!) I have eliminated soy from my diet, but I know that it does take a few weeks to really see the complete effect. (The reason I thought that soy might be an issue is because I had switched to almond milk back in January. Last week, I couldn't get any and bought soy milk instead. It seemed like Soren's issues escalated that week, culminating in my call to the doctor.) We have an appointment to go back to the pediatric GI doctor on the 30th. This time we will be seeing the doctor that our pediatrician specifically recommended, and I am hopeful that he will have some useful information for us. The doctor we saw was younger, but the other has been doing this longer...and perhaps has more experience with babies with more particular issues.
Ultimately, we know that Soren will grow out of this. Eventually, when he is able to sit up on his own and his digestive system matures, these days will be a [hopefully] dim memory. But if we can alleviate some of the stress now, we'd really like to try to get things on a better track.
Oh, the doctor also recommended that we offer Soren some solid foods now to help with the spitting up. He is SO unbelievably eager to eat food. (So opposite of his sister.) We have fed him oatmeal twice, but it has not gone so well. It seems to be causing him some serious gas. Tonight he woke up after an hour or so because he needed to fart, not spit up or burp!! We are going to try a different brand of oatmeal tomorrow (I made the first from scratch). If that doesn't fare better, then we will possibly try the traditional rice cereal to see if that goes better. Or maybe we'll try some avocado...an alternative first food recommended by La Leche League. I feel so bad for Soren because he really wants to eat and has not had any troubles with it...if only his tummy would agree!
I'll be getting pictures up very soon. I know that's what you're hoping for. :-)
He has always had issues with burping. And he started spitting up before we even left the hospital. But after he got on Prevacid, it seemed like his symptoms were more manageable for both him and us. And then one night, when our friend from Texas, Scott, was visiting, Soren started this new thing. And it hasn't really let up for the past month. (I'll get to it in a moment.) The classic arching and screaming with burping and spitting up had also started to return, which clued me in that I needed to monitor things more closely.
The 'new' behavior was waking up after he had been asleep for an hour or two and needing to burp or spit up or (most recently) pass gas. He would start to fidget, bob his head, then cry and, if we didn't get there in time, he would spit up in his bed. We were changing his sheets and cleaning him up quite a bit...it was just so pitiful.
For the past few weeks we have spent increasing amounts of time with Soren helping him get through these episodes. Regardless of whether or not he nursed to sleep, nursed before sleep or had a bit of time in between, these episodes have been fairly regular. It seems like we have had hardly any time in the evenings until he gets settled, which isn't until 9:30ish. (And that doesn't leave much time until he wakes up to actually eat again.)
During the day, I have had to spend so much time getting him to sleep and stay asleep. Once he falls asleep, he tends to settle, but then fidget and burp every 10 minutes or so for about a half an hour. Sometimes it is less, and other times it is much more (but that is usually at night time). All of this time with him means that Eisley is left alone. Just yesterday that did not pan out so well, but I'll save that for another post.
After several rough days in a row, I called our pediatrician last week to ask if we should come in or if we should go to a specialist; they recommended the latter. It was Thursday and we were heading out of town the next day. But specialists...can you really expect to get in right away? I was able to get an appointment for the following Tuesday after we returned from our trip...not with the doctor that was recommended, as he was out of town for the rest of the month, but with another doc in his practice.
We returned from our trip with high expectations for our appointment the next day. On the way there, I was so stressed as Soren was hungry and screaming the entire way there, which was about 30 minutes. His poor little face was so puffy and splotchy when we finally got there. I was so worried because we were 30 minutes late (both Stephan and I had a hard time finding the place). But God was so gracious and there was not one issue with being late. The staff was really nice and I was able to relax a bit! After trying to explaining to the doctor what has been going on, the doctor didn't feel that there was anything serious going on. He felt that Soren's current dose of Prevacid was not enough. And incidentally through conversation (at my leading, I think), he suggested that perhaps Soren was sensitive to soy protein, as it is closely related to milk protein. (I think that's what he said, anyway.) While my lactation consultant had suggested this as a possibility several months ago, I was not prepared to eliminate yet another food from my diet at the time. I felt that I took the news surprisingly well yesterday, considering how difficult my diet already is with no dairy and limited veggies.
What the doctor did not tell us is anything that could help with his delayed spitting up, which was frustrating. Because the new prescription had to be compounded, it took a few days to get it filled, and so we have only started it tonight. (Such an ordeal to get the prescription filled!) I have eliminated soy from my diet, but I know that it does take a few weeks to really see the complete effect. (The reason I thought that soy might be an issue is because I had switched to almond milk back in January. Last week, I couldn't get any and bought soy milk instead. It seemed like Soren's issues escalated that week, culminating in my call to the doctor.) We have an appointment to go back to the pediatric GI doctor on the 30th. This time we will be seeing the doctor that our pediatrician specifically recommended, and I am hopeful that he will have some useful information for us. The doctor we saw was younger, but the other has been doing this longer...and perhaps has more experience with babies with more particular issues.
Ultimately, we know that Soren will grow out of this. Eventually, when he is able to sit up on his own and his digestive system matures, these days will be a [hopefully] dim memory. But if we can alleviate some of the stress now, we'd really like to try to get things on a better track.
Oh, the doctor also recommended that we offer Soren some solid foods now to help with the spitting up. He is SO unbelievably eager to eat food. (So opposite of his sister.) We have fed him oatmeal twice, but it has not gone so well. It seems to be causing him some serious gas. Tonight he woke up after an hour or so because he needed to fart, not spit up or burp!! We are going to try a different brand of oatmeal tomorrow (I made the first from scratch). If that doesn't fare better, then we will possibly try the traditional rice cereal to see if that goes better. Or maybe we'll try some avocado...an alternative first food recommended by La Leche League. I feel so bad for Soren because he really wants to eat and has not had any troubles with it...if only his tummy would agree!
I'll be getting pictures up very soon. I know that's what you're hoping for. :-)
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