Reflux is Back

Warning: This post could get long as I'm so frustrated and sad about this subject. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Well it actually was never gone, but for the last several months Drake's medicine had been doing a great job of keeping him comfortable and his reflux under control. In the last couple of weeks some of the tell tale signs that his reflux was bothering started showing up again. First it was the cough and junky sounding throat, and then the crying started when he took his nighttime bottle, the spitting up increased again, and finally he has even started to cry when he eats his baby food.
He sees a Pediatric GI for this issue and we luckily have had a follow up appointment scheduled for this month since December. After this weekend I was concerned enough to call and see if we could move our appointment up, I had no luck but I'm on a waiting list if an slot does open up. The nurse did talk with the doctor who said that Drake is already on the maximum does of his Prevacid so we can't increase the dosage. So we sit and wait until out appointment in a couple of weeks.

I feel awful for Drake. I feel helpless and frustrated that there is not more I can do to make him feel better. I know how much reflux hurts as I had it while pregnant, and let me tell you it is not pleasant…AT ALL.

You want to know a strange fact related to all of this? I don't know what it is like to have a baby who likes to eat out of a bottle or drink formula. He was diagnosed with reflux at 7 weeks, but started showing symptoms a few weeks prior to the diagnosis. As his reflux got worse he developed a strong aversion to his bottle, so much so that even when his reflux was under control he would scream at the sight of his bottle. Yep, he knew at 4 months old that the bottle had caused him pain in the past and he wanted nothing to do with it. So anyways where I'm going with this is that after he turned 6 months old he totally stopped drinking any bottle except for the one before bed. We of course have made up for this, with our doctors help, by supplementing with DHA cereal(made with formula) 2 times a day, giving him as much baby food with DHA as we can find, and are VERY mindful of everything we feed him.

Now even baby food, which was our saving grace in the past, is hurting him. I never thought I would say this (hey I like convenience) but I'm going to try to make my own baby food. By making my own I can make it thicker and thicker foods don't aggravate his reflux as much. Wish me luck!!!

I know this is something he will most likely grow out of and I know in the grand scheme of things this is just a bump in the road. But I also know that as a mother there is nothing worse than seeing your child in pain and knowing there is nothing you can do to make it better. So for the time being I can be mad, frustrated, and just plain pissed off at reflux for what is has done to my baby.

If you have a baby with reflux how do you deal? Any tips or suggestions are appreciated!!

If you made it all the way through this you are awesome!! In return I promise the next post will be more upbeat!

THIS is what we want to get back to...a baby who enjoys eating!!