Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Gas and Acid Relux

I am not getting any real sleep these days. She (my baby) has been waking up a lot. For a few nights in a row she will sleep 6 hours straight But then their will be days when she wakes up every 3 hours or even 2.5 even now at 4 months.

I like a lot of sleep. In fact I will admit I love bed. I love sheets, down comforters, I like dreaming, I like watching TV, and hanging out all in my bed. I have always loved laying in bed and sleeping, and since my mother has lived with me for the last 5 years I keep to my room more. I just don't want to run into her in the kitchen. She took over my house (that is for another post).

So anyway. Sometimes my baby has problems with gas. First off babies have an immature digestive system when born. It takes quite a while for it to mature. In the meantime they can freak out when they take a crap, or have gas. I am assuming its painful and scary for them. So when my baby is having a bad day with gas it wakes her up out of her sleep.

Then their was a time in the beginning when my baby was screaming so much that I took her to the emergency room on more than one occasion. Pediatricians don't like that (usually). But my pediatrician had told me if she cries more than 3 hours off and on or straight take her. So I did. I guess they may not like it because they want you to call them first and have them make a decision. But I made the decision. Like I always say "are you paying my bills?" I mean she is my baby her life is in my hands she can't tell me what is wrong with her. I am not taking any chances with my first and maybe my only child. If the pediatricians don't like it they can lump it. The other rule is if she refuses to eat or if her temperature reaches 104 take her. So I took a lot of temperatures.

So I was frantic looking up on line what she could be crying for. I thought she was fed sufficiently. So now what? They talked a lot about gas and acid reflux which is called gastroesophageal reflux. So I started to think she had acid reflux. Her symptoms seemed to match. Constant crying, hiccups, and my husband said he smelt acid on her breathe. And since we thought she was fully fed we started to believe more and more it was acid reflux. I have since switched pediatricians mainly because the original doctor did somethings to piss me off. Like first off acting like her head was up her ass or more like in the clouds. Plus I didn't like the attitude of her team. It was a group of doctors and the woman in charge of insurance was a bitch. My new doctor told me she wants me to call her first BEFORE going to the emergency room again, F off Doc! Maybe I will maybe I won't depends!

I sought out a specialist at children's hospital in Boston one the best in the world. The doctor who was a pediatric gastroenterologist asked what symptoms she was having and gave me a prescription for Prilosec. Now Prilosec is a acid blocker. It stops acid production in the stomach. I was not happy with giving my 1.5 month old this medicine. I mean she is just too young. I had been giving this type of medicine myself years ago but stopped taking it when I read the side effects. But I didn't want her in pain either. And since they don't usually just test for acid reflux on newborns only as a last resort its easier to just assume she has it.

In the meantime at home. I had been having a scary time breastfeeding. It was hell honestly. Harder than pregnancy harder than my c-section. So what I didn't realize then was their was a chance that she was not getting enough food because she had not learned how to properly breastfeed she was not efficient at sucking out the milk yet. My pediatician never mentioned that she may not know how to feed properly and I had been told by my lactation consultants who I met at the hospital and was seeing once week at a group meeting on how to breastfeed not to supplement with formula Why? Because it decreases the babies demand for your milk which decreases milk production. First because you need your body to make enough milk for the baby. And second because your trying to get a rhythm going with breastfeeding. Your body over time regulates itself producing enough milk based on your babies demand. Some women have to stop because they don't breastfeed right and don't make enough milk, its a lot of work. I recommend buying a breast-pump a good one. To keep up milk production.

So I sent in the prilosec prescription to get it filled. Then suddenly my baby had a couple of good days with no crying. So my husband and I wondered if it was acid reflux that was making her cry after all. So I waited a few more days and I breastfeed a lot and my baby stopped crying. And to my horror we both realized it wasn't acid reflux MY BABY WAS HUNGRY!!! She had gotten better at feeding and was now getting enough. See I missed it I thought she was fed. I thought she had had enough so I assumed it was something else. Looking back maybe I should have supplemented like my sister and my cousin did but I was following the rules of my lactation consultants. Now I feel guilty. BUT I now exclusively breast feed and we are at 4 months and a lot of women give up and give formula because the baby keeps crying. I feel like I accomplished something. So in the end it might have worked out in my favor. I want to breast feed till she is at least 1 year old. I want to sacrifice for her even though their are times when it gets hard. Especially when I want caffeine or to take a xanax (like right now) LOL.

The moral of this story, feed first! If the baby keeps crying keep feeding even if your tits are ready to fall off! You can't gauge how much the baby has eaten with breastfeeding you don't see the ounces. You don't know. And formula is thicker and satisfies the baby for longer periods of time. Its easier to see results. Breast-milk is thinner and digests faster. So keep feeding then and only then can you look for another problem


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