At the pediatrician appointment yesterday we were talking to the beloved Dr. Christensen and he asked, "now what formula do you have him on again?" I answered, "Natures One Baby's Only"... Ross joked, "you know, the one full of arsenic." Dr. C said, "when I got the message that you called about that I thought OH NO! NOT THEM! Of ALL the families for this to happen to, NOT THEM!" He knows how much we have gone through and also knows how ridiculously difficult it was to find this formula that works so well... he assured it was still perfectly safe (as he did before, and as their website proved through results of testing). We love Dr. C... even Asher really likes him, and Asher has quite a bit of stranger anxiety. Asher received a couple of shots and ran a low fever from them, but he was just fine.
We talked with Dr. C about how Asher's reflux has gotten WAY worse (who knew that was possible?!) recently.... I am hoping the reflux is "peaking" and it will begin to get better... reflux can peak in kids anywhere from 7 months ALL the way to 18 months (please God, don't let that be us!). Also, the idea of introducing solid foods to Asher at 4 months (early) was that it would help with the reflux, but recently since trying many veggies and a couple of fruits, it seems that some of the solids make the reflux WAY WAY worse. It's very evident that Asher indeed DOES have reflux (thank you very much, Tomato!)... he has ALL of the classic textbook symptoms. We talked to Dr. C about trying one of the meds again... Dr. C said that maybe it started to work way back when, and we just couldn't notice it because the colic and the behavior (AWFUL eating aversion) was masking it. Good point, Dr. C. Over the last couple of weeks, I actually told Ross I wanted to try the stronger reflux medication again... for a few reasons.
Asher's eating aversion is almost gone, with me at least. He eats from the bottle really really well for me 90% of the time, as I am the one that does the majority of the feeds, and I have perfected the delicate dance of coercing him to eat in a way that makes him think it's his idea :) I let him lead the feeding, and it typically goes very well (with using the pacifier throughout the feeding, of course). I'm able to comfort and calm him quite a bit more than Ross can, so naturally he eats better with me. He still struggles and screams/fights through feedings with Ross sometimes, but sometimes when he does, it's not as escalated or as long as it used to be, so that is good! Since he is doing better with the aversion (don't get me wrong, he still has it, FOR SURE, but we have gotten really good as getting around it most times), he is drinking bigger bottles. He is also more hungry for them since we are now making him wait longer to eat (fewer bottles, but bigger than before, so the volume equals out in the end).
Asher started out the gate with solids in a very positive manner. He was very excited and enthusiastic about eating, and for a while, seemed to liked everything offered to him. Turns out he doesn't seem to care for avocado, prunes, or pears, but will eat all of them if mixed in oatmeal. The problem is, since his little system is so sensitive and not fully matured, we are having a nightmare of a time figuring out what the kid can eat! Almost everything constipates him... somethings constipate him HORRIBLY to the point I will NEVER try them again until he's at least school-aged (it's a pity, because he really likes those things). Some foods make the reflux insanely terrible, like WAY worse than it's ever ever been in his whole life. The prunes have been the worst for reflux so far :( He loved them with the oatmeal (and needed them from some other foods he had previously). Both days that I gave him prunes, he refluxed/ puked ALLLLLL afternoon long. Recently what has been "normal" for his reflux is spitting up a good amount after each bottle, and spitting up here and there throughout the day (usually fairly small amounts, but pretty often). With the prunes, it was just puddle of puke/reflux after puddle, and only minutes apart. Literally as soon as I would change his bib or outfit or clean the puddle of puke from the couch/chair/blanket/floor, he would reflux again. and again. and again. :( Other foods worsened the reflux too, and those that didn't constipated him.
He is starting to associate solids with negative stuff due to this, so we have to be very very careful. We talked at length with Dr. C about this. We are going to try some different approaches with the foods, so we are praying it goes well! He still likes his solids and we desperately want to keep it that way! It's just so so hard due to his severe reflux and due to the fact that he is intolerant of lactose. It's SO essential that I make my own baby food because the additives/starches/fillers/ thickeners/ preservatives can cause horrible reflux flares, and much of the baby food has added (hidden) lactose/milk and/or soy in it :( sheesh. You can't even imagine how much baby laundry I do DAILY :( We have 3 crib sheets and there are many days that we need MORE than that. He has 2 loveys (1 to snuggle with while sleeping and a back up) that are super tiny that I had custom sewn for him, and apparently even having a back up so I can clean the original isn't enough.... I have to wash them daily! I just ordered 2 more to have on hand so they don't have to be washed daily! Thank goodness he has a decent supply of clothes and bibs for now, because we need them. Anyway, we decided with the pediatrician to try Asher on Prevacid again since it's so evident that the reflux is worse than ever. It might do absolutely nothing, again, but we figured if there was any chance that it might work for him now, we needed to try for his benefit. He is not a "happy spitter" and the reflux seems to really bother him, cause him pain, and make him fussy. Poor little thing!
He has been working on crawling for a LONG time and although it's not perfected, his method serves him just fine so far. He can actually move quite fast that way when he wants to, I definitely can't turn my back long or he is in a corner he can't get out of or has his hand on something he shouldn't! He is sleeping alright at night, for a baby with severe reflux. Reflux babies are notoriously horrible sleepers for obvious reasons. He still eats 3 times through the night, but is pretty much only waking for the 3 feedings most of the time (with occasional other night wakings where he either puts himself back to sleep, or goes to sleep right after we re-insert his pacifier), which is a big improvement from being awake every single hour. We are going to try to wean one of the night feedings soon... for a while he really needed it because he could only tolerate very small frequent feeds (large feedings make reflux worse due to more "sloshing" and the stomach not being able to empty fast enough). Now that he can eat bigger bottles, he's waking out of habit more than anything. His naps are terrible. 20-30 minutes max, and then we have to hold him to extend the nap. We are working hard to improve that, but it's tedious and exhausting :( He is as cute as ever, and despite the terrible pain from CONSTANT and excessive reflux (and being horribly uncomfortable from constipation), he is generally pretty happy and busy. He has some really really bad days... but also some happy times. He LOVES to play, and really loves his blocks, stacking cups, balls, anything that he can shake or squeeze to make noise, anything that lights up, or anything he can chew. He is very picky with teethers and has a few that he loves. He loves his bath, and we have been taking daily walks in the stroller with the warm weather. I can't tell if he enjoys these as he is usually very quiet, but I think he has seasonal allergies like mommy because the pollen seems to bother him too after a short while outside :( We are hoping and praying that the medication will do something this time around, that his reflux will peak soon and then GO AWAY, and that we can find the right solids that will not worsen reflux and will not cause constipation.
I hope the medicine makes life easier!! Asher is such a joy and developing a character that is so sweet & special!! Thanks for sharing the pics, love them all :o)
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