It's been a while since our last post, and we have a good excuse. We have a very demanding little one-month-old, with a very unpleasant medical condition: acid reflux.
Olivia was diagnosed with acid reflux around 2-weeks of age, and in the past couple of weeks, it has gotten worse. She is currently taking three medications to try and control it: she takes Zantac twice a day, Prevacid once a day, and usually gets some Mylanta anytime she eats. We brought her to Primary Children's Medical Center where they x-rayed her after she took some barium. She apparently refluxed 5 times in 1 minute, which indicates some pretty severe acid reflux. The pediatrician said that it was unlikely that there was much else we could do for her outside of waiting it out, but he wanted us to go see a pediatric gastroenterologist just in case.
She now has to be fed in a sitting up position, and we have to keep her upright for at least 30 minutes after a feeding. Unfortunately, she still spits up quite a lot, and her acid reflux still bothers her regardless of what we try.
The worst part of it all is the sleeping (or lack thereof). She now can't sleep on her own, because she refluxes so bad. When you lay her down, you can literally hear the acid coming up her throat. It makes her cough, clear her throat, and choke. It is absolutely the worst sound in the world. We have tried to sleep her propped up at an angle, but it seems that we can't get her high enough, without her slipping down. So Jeremy and I now take shifts at night holding her upright so that she can sleep. It makes it difficult for us to sleep, of course, but it is better than a screaming baby in pain.
We have an appointment with a pediatric GI at Primary Children's Medical Center on Tuesday. I spent the past week searching for a pediatric GI that could see her in quickly. The first one I called didn't have an opening until Oct 30. I called another, and could get in on Oct 6. A third one I called had an opening on Sept 21. Luckily, I put her name on the cancellation list at all the clinics, and one called with an opening next week. Hopefully there is something they can do for her (and Jeremy and myself!). We'll keep you updated!
Here's a video of one of her happy moments, right after the bath (she loves her baths!). Jeremy and I love this noise that she makes.
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3 comments:
That is so SAD! Poor Olivia, and poor mommy and daddy. Let us know if there is any thing we can do. I can come up during the day and hold Olivia while Rachelle takes a nap.
holy smokes! i hope there is something the dr can do!!! you guys need some sleep!
PLEASE call me sometime!! I'd be happy to come and hold her while you two either go out for the evening, or take a nap! Keep me posted too on how the appointment goes... she's too young to have that much pain! By the way, I love love love the pictures of her and the video. Super cute!
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