Sunday, September 13, 2009
No Longer in Denial...
Thanks to the anonymous commenter who mentioned silent reflux. I was just convinced that Henry didn't have reflux because he wasn't spitting up that much (although he has started spitting up more). I was in denial because I really was hoping it was just a small sleep problem and not a medical problem. I finally decided to google the symptoms of reflux in babies in the middle of the night Friday night when Henry hadn't slept from 9 PM to 3 AM. Yes...you read that correctly...9 to 3! Henry has so many of the symptoms including a cough (thought that was normal for newborns like sneezing...whoops!), very frequent hiccups (also thought that was normal), throwing his head back after feedings (I thought he was just working on his neck strength), frequent waking/can't sleep on back. I feel bad that I didn't figure out sooner what was wrong with him. But I'm not going to beat myself up about it because I had nothing to compare him to...I knew the newborn stage was hard so I figured it was okay. I finally woke Shaun up at 3 AM because I literally couldn't stay awake any longer. Shaun knew I really needed help because it is the first time I've woken him since the first week of Henry's life. I'm so glad it was a Friday night so he could lose sleep without having to go to work in the morning. I called our pediatrician's office on sat morning and spoke with a nurse(they have Saturday hours), and she was confident with the symptoms that I described that Henry has reflux. They prescribed Zantac for him, and I'm just praying that this helps him to feel better. I know there is another stronger medicine that we can try if this one doesn't work. I just hate that he is hurting...it is so sad. He is such a cute, sweet little guy. Shaun and I are both miserable watching him in so much pain. So what is the plan for this week? Survival. I'm just going to do everything I can to make him feel as good as possible and not worry about anything else. He loves the infant carrier (makes sense why he loves it so much now) so I will just carry him around all day if I have to! He also does okay in his bouncy seat so he might sleep in that tonight next to me on the couch. I did start pumping a little on Saturday so that Shaun or someone else can give him a bottle if I need a break. Please pray that Henry starts to feel better soon! I really appreciate all of the very helpful encouragement and advice/ideas the other day. I plan on using a lot of the advice once we get over this little hump! Y'all are the best!
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5 comments:
I hope the zantac helps him feel better! Poor lil guy...
I know that is a relief to finally know the cause of all the crying! I pray the Zantac works quickly for him to feel better so that you and Henry can get some sleep!
Oh girl, I wish I would have seen your post earlier...we were questioning silent reflux for weeks with DD, so I talked to TONS of moms about it!!! I'm so sorry I didn't see your questions post! :( But, I'm so glad that your pediatrician was willing to try meds and see if that's what it is, because honestly, sometimes 2/3 of the battle is convincing the doctor since silent reflux is so much harder to diagnose...so BIG YEAH for that!!! I hope your sweet boy is feelin better very very soon! Fingers crossed!!!
I just wanted to let you know that I have been following your blog for awhile. I found it while doing a search on the Georgia legislature trying to put restrictions on IVF. Anyway, I was due the day you gave birth to your little guy and I had my little one on your due date..crazy? Just wanted to give you some advice on what little Henry is going through. My first born was so similar to what you are describing..the arching, constant crying, no sleep, hated being on his back (he love being held forward facing with my arm across his chest) etc. The pediatrition kept telling me it was my breast milk and kept giving me formula (this wasn't the problem). After going in a number of times I finally got a prescription for zantac. So after 6 weeks of no sleep we started something different. First off I would give him a little bit of maalox liguid in a syringe to coat his esophagus and stomach, then I would feed him (the zantac was given morning and night if I remember correctly). After burping, I would set him up in his bouncy chair for at least 1/2 hour (very upright one)so that the contents of his stomach wouldn't go up. After that I would change his diaper. I then swaddled him up and put him back to bed and didn't feed him again for another 2 hours (3 hour babywise schedule). The doctor said that babies with reflux need a few hours between feedings to allow their esophagus to heal and stomach to calm down. This schedule we continued until bedtime. No more Maylox was given at night, just a bath and off to bed. There will be some crying with this, but it sounds like he is already crying, so this will help him possibly heal. The Maylox was temporary until the zantac could heal the erosion caused by the reflux. If nothing works in the next couple weeks make sure to also have him tested for Thrush. My next 2 (twins) both had that and it was very similar to reflux and they were miserable for months until we found a doctor who would prescribe fluconozole and zantac and they were better within days. I had to be on medicine also cause we were giving it back and forth to each other due to breastfeeding. I am sorry for the novel, but when I checked in on you, I couldn't help but feel your pain and wanted to help.
I am so glad my comment helped and you were able to get some medicine! It was a life-saver for us! We saw an improvement within a few days of being on Zantac, so hopefully you will too. Remember that you'll need to up his dose as his weight increases...you can talk with your doctor about that. Don't hesitate to ask for something else if the Zantac doesn't seem to help soon. We are just weaning our son off of it now, he's 6 months old, but I think some babies start to come off it at around 3 months.
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