Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Now this is just getting ridiculous...

Feeding Elliot has always been a challenge. I suppose I should be happy that he CAN eat now, but seriously? This is getting a little ridiculous. We cannot get through one bottle without him gagging, choking, coughing, spitting up, and having at least two meltdowns. Mind you- this is for one measly 2 ounce bottle! And THEN, once he finally finishes the bottle (or lately... once he has eaten an ounce and refuses more) if I DARE try to have him sit or lay flat after he eats, he screams as if I were trying to kill him. The only positions he can tolerate after eating are either laying on his belly, but he will spit up a lot more, or being dangled by his armpits. How in the WORLD that is comfortable, I have no idea. But he seems to love it.
Since his belly is still incapable of holding any more than two ounces at a time, this is a battle that we fight at least twelve times a day. I counted, and yesterday I made him a grand total of FIFTEEN bottles. FIFTEEN! This makes for a very frustrated mama and baby.
I used to think this was mostly a belly problem, but ever since we made the switch to formula, Elliot has been a whole different baby. He's had SO MUCH less gas and is pooping regularly, once a day! That is no small feat for my little constipation king. During the small windows of time that he is not either starving, eating, or recovering from eating- he is SO HAPPY. No screaming. No straining and grunting. All smiley and babbly and utterly adorable. I wish I could see a whole lot more of that side of him.
I'm thinking what some of our NICU nurses suspected- that he had reflux- is true. The symptoms were easily masked and/or overlapped by all the GI tract symptoms and issues, but now that those seem to have cleared up, it's quite obvious. So, we have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Let's hope we come home with some sort of magical remedy that will make this all much better!

12 comments:

  1. Poor little guy - I hope your doctor has some suggestions to make him feel better soon.

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  2. Rylin has been a healthy baby from day one but is often fussy when eating. I breastfed her until she was 13 weeks and her Dr. discovered she had a milk allergy and put her on Soy since then she has been SO much better but some days she is still fussy and is also a snacker. The only thing i have found that calms her down is the "Baby White Noise" ap on my iphone or the cloud b giraffe up as loud as it will go! It completely relaxes her. Hope that tip helps.

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  3. I was thinking right away what Etosia said above - allergy ... or reflux...
    That has to be hard to deal with ... but the good thing, nothing is forever. I always tell myself that when Julianna is going through a bad thing. :)

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  4. Have you tried a boppy? Chloe (when i give her a bottle) only eats then shes a a slight angle... The boppy lets her sit leaned back as well as relax after she eats...

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  5. I'm Renee and a new follower of your blog! Just thought I'd say hello, rather than be one of those creepy people that lurks around on your page haha

    anyhoot, i love what you've got going here, very cute!

    Feel free to take a look at mine [you know, just so you know who's reading yours :)]

    http://babygeisler.blogspot.com/

    Renee xo

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  6. Sounds a lot like Kaleb, he has both reflux and a milk protein allergy so we had to switch to Alimentum formula (can we say expensive) but finally after several weeks of getting it in his system he is finally a lot happier and we can get through a feeding without thinking we are at war. He does still spit up quite a bit but nothing like he was doing.

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  7. awww poor Elliot :[ it sounds so tough :[

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  8. oh man, i am so sorry this is such a struggle! but hang in there & just know that it DOES get better :) he won't be eating from a bottle his whole life... this will pass!

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  9. I've been reading your blog since before Elliot was born and have really enjoyed seeing him grow!! Congrats...you are doing a GREAT job!!

    My daughter (9 months) was diagnosed with reflux at around 2 months and she's been on Zantac ever since. I has worked like a charm, thankfully. She had similar symptoms to what you have experienced with Elliot. Prior to starting the Zantac, we would always have her propped up in her boppy or in our arms, the goal being to keep her upright as much as possible. In order to have successful feedings, I would actually have to feed her while bouncing on a yoga ball. It was a LOT of work but after a couple of weeks on the Zantac, she was back to her happy self during feedings. I hope you experience the same with Elliot.

    I'm sure you've already been told, but if you aren't seeing any results from the Zantac, Prilosec may be a better option.

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  10. Sarah- thanks :) I try my best!
    I have to bounce with Elliot while he's eating, too. It sometimes can prevent a freak out/spit up for a few more sucks... really just prolonging the inevitable but it helps!
    I hope the Zantac does the trick!

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  11. I am sorry to hear about the acid reflux, it really is no fun. My baby (now 16 months) had severe acid reflux and he behaved just like Elliot in the beginning of his disease before it got really bad. Despite being on Alimentum and Zantac, he kept getting worse. At one point he would not sleep longer than 30 minutes at a time, and he would cry and fuss 24h a day for weeks on end. We could never lay him down, he was only comfortable when he was nearly upright, which made sleeping very very difficult. He was such an unhappy little man. We finally found a doctor who put him on Zantac and Prevacid at the same time, and that did the trick. He soon became a happy baby with no problems with eating or sleeping. At 10 months we started to wean him off the medications and by 12 months he was all better. I hope you find the right formula/medication for Elliot soon!
    - Sarah

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  12. I just found your blog, and it's comforting to read about someone going through something similar. Our little one is 2 months and has spent the last month in the NICU recovering from a liver surgery and horrible reflux. He has a feeding tube in now and is finally growing! We hope to take him home next week, but I feel your pain with the struggles to get him to eat and keep food down. Much luck to the two of you!

    If you'd like to check out our story please visit my blog!

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