I just wanted to update everyone on Hope so far. We had her GI test on Thursday morning which showed her upper GI is functioning normally. This does not rule out reflux this was to make sure there are no abnormalities. There are none thank goodness.
Her doctor is pretty confident this is all reflux related and we are working on getting her reflux under control. She is on Zantac right now but I think we may need something stronger. She is still spitting up about once a day and having very minor episodes (2 on average mainly when she is tired). We have never had a day like the first day thank goodness so that means there is progress. If this is reflux triggered by a milk allergy then it could take 2-3 weeks to get the milk protein out of her system.
We are still doing the EEG which is a test to monitor her brain activity and look for seizures. I am extremely confident these are not seizures but as her doctor said we just need to cover all the bases. After the EEG we will probably also meet with a neurologist to show him the video of her movements. I'm not looking forward to these but I am confident all will come back normal.
Hope has been so much happier since starting the Zantac. She is content playing with her toys for longer periods of time and the gulping noise has subsided tremendously. She is also eating far more solids than ever before. About 8 ounces of baby food in a day. This is not a lot for most babies but for a reflux baby its definitely progress.
I will keep everyone updated.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Rough Patch...
This is not blog post I really want to write but I know it will help me feel better. I'm just so confused...
Hope has had some reflux issues from the beginning. Issues that I thought and was told are normal for infants to go through so I never thought much of it. I noticed around 3/4 months Hope was spitting up A LOT. She would projectile and it would just go everywhere. Being that she was so small and not keeping much of her food in it concerned me. It was suggested it could be a milk intolerance to the dairy in my milk which I was consuming a large amount of dairy products in these days. When I took the dairy out of my diet within a few days massive improvement. She would spit up maybe once a day a little bit instead of large amounts after every single feeding.
Infant reflux is supposed to improve especially when they start solids around 6 months. She seemed fine. She has always been a high needs baby and I would assume she just gets bored easily. At 9 months I was told anything except whole milk and honey is good to go. So I introduced yogurt to her and she loved it. Hope is a picky eater so I was ecstatic! Yogurt is full of probiotics, protein, healthy fat and calcium. I figured this is perfect since she doesnt eat much. I started giving it to her sometimes daily if not every other day. About a week after this (last week) I noticed her doing a strange swallowing noise. She would cry and do it but also be happy playing and do it. The best I could describe it as is a gulping noise. I thought maybe she had a sore throat.I called her pediatrician and he said yeah sounds like a little reflux. Nothing to be alarmed about. So I continued doing what we were doing. Giving her lots of new table foods, yogurt anything I can get in this picky monkeys mouth.
Last Thursday after giving Hope a yogurt and fruit meal I put her in her playpen after and visited with JP. She just started crying out of nowhere and I looked at her and she was doing this strange movement. I picked her up and she immediately stopped. I thought that was weird... I nursed her to sleep and she didnt do it anymore. The whole weekend I never fed her yogurt we were actually pretty busy and just doing regular baby food jars or the frozen food ive made her. Then Monday morning I got us back in our routine. I made her a BIG, baby bowl big, breakfast of rice cereal, two dollops of a fresh carton of whole fat yogurt and some fruit puree. She ate the whole thing. In my head I knew she was over eating but again she is picky and tiny I didnt feel right stopping her either. I picked her up and put her in her pack n play. I looked over at her about 20 minutes later and she was in the corner doing that strange movement again. I called her name and she snapped out of it and started crying for me..
I only saw it in the corner of my eye and missed it fully so I thought maybe its a weird thing she has discovered her body does. About three hours later I was feeding her sweet potatoes for lunch and she was fussing and then bent over and I then saw it up front. She did it again and something was not right. I immediately picked her up and I looked at the clock to call her pediatrician and of course it was 10 after noon... They lunch from 12 - 1:30! I took her upstairs to watch her play and I got this video of her doing it. This was the biggest one of them all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pl2g2oPxYU
Due to her increasing reflux issues and the fact that she is so developmentally advanced and is present and can be brought out of these spasms if I interfere I was pointed in the direction of Sandifer Syndrome. This is a syndrome that affects 1% of babies with GERD (acid reflux). Basically its where the acid is so bad that it actually stimulates the vagus nerve. Her doctor thinks its a contender too when I bought that up. I just had to explain to him her symptoms and that she does in fact have reflux issues more than we both may have thought. So we are seeing a GI specialist tomorrow and Hope will have to fast all night and in the morning. They will give her a barium swallow to watch what it does. We will also be doing an EEG to rule out anything neurological for sure.
Please keep Hope in your prayers that this is just reflux because this can be controlled with the proper meds. She has continued having reflux symptoms despite giving her zantac prescribed by her doctor but she does seem a little better and happier. She has not had an episode in about 24 hours which is a good sign... I will keep you all updated.
Hope has had some reflux issues from the beginning. Issues that I thought and was told are normal for infants to go through so I never thought much of it. I noticed around 3/4 months Hope was spitting up A LOT. She would projectile and it would just go everywhere. Being that she was so small and not keeping much of her food in it concerned me. It was suggested it could be a milk intolerance to the dairy in my milk which I was consuming a large amount of dairy products in these days. When I took the dairy out of my diet within a few days massive improvement. She would spit up maybe once a day a little bit instead of large amounts after every single feeding.
Infant reflux is supposed to improve especially when they start solids around 6 months. She seemed fine. She has always been a high needs baby and I would assume she just gets bored easily. At 9 months I was told anything except whole milk and honey is good to go. So I introduced yogurt to her and she loved it. Hope is a picky eater so I was ecstatic! Yogurt is full of probiotics, protein, healthy fat and calcium. I figured this is perfect since she doesnt eat much. I started giving it to her sometimes daily if not every other day. About a week after this (last week) I noticed her doing a strange swallowing noise. She would cry and do it but also be happy playing and do it. The best I could describe it as is a gulping noise. I thought maybe she had a sore throat.I called her pediatrician and he said yeah sounds like a little reflux. Nothing to be alarmed about. So I continued doing what we were doing. Giving her lots of new table foods, yogurt anything I can get in this picky monkeys mouth.
Last Thursday after giving Hope a yogurt and fruit meal I put her in her playpen after and visited with JP. She just started crying out of nowhere and I looked at her and she was doing this strange movement. I picked her up and she immediately stopped. I thought that was weird... I nursed her to sleep and she didnt do it anymore. The whole weekend I never fed her yogurt we were actually pretty busy and just doing regular baby food jars or the frozen food ive made her. Then Monday morning I got us back in our routine. I made her a BIG, baby bowl big, breakfast of rice cereal, two dollops of a fresh carton of whole fat yogurt and some fruit puree. She ate the whole thing. In my head I knew she was over eating but again she is picky and tiny I didnt feel right stopping her either. I picked her up and put her in her pack n play. I looked over at her about 20 minutes later and she was in the corner doing that strange movement again. I called her name and she snapped out of it and started crying for me..
I only saw it in the corner of my eye and missed it fully so I thought maybe its a weird thing she has discovered her body does. About three hours later I was feeding her sweet potatoes for lunch and she was fussing and then bent over and I then saw it up front. She did it again and something was not right. I immediately picked her up and I looked at the clock to call her pediatrician and of course it was 10 after noon... They lunch from 12 - 1:30! I took her upstairs to watch her play and I got this video of her doing it. This was the biggest one of them all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pl2g2oPxYU
Due to her increasing reflux issues and the fact that she is so developmentally advanced and is present and can be brought out of these spasms if I interfere I was pointed in the direction of Sandifer Syndrome. This is a syndrome that affects 1% of babies with GERD (acid reflux). Basically its where the acid is so bad that it actually stimulates the vagus nerve. Her doctor thinks its a contender too when I bought that up. I just had to explain to him her symptoms and that she does in fact have reflux issues more than we both may have thought. So we are seeing a GI specialist tomorrow and Hope will have to fast all night and in the morning. They will give her a barium swallow to watch what it does. We will also be doing an EEG to rule out anything neurological for sure.
Please keep Hope in your prayers that this is just reflux because this can be controlled with the proper meds. She has continued having reflux symptoms despite giving her zantac prescribed by her doctor but she does seem a little better and happier. She has not had an episode in about 24 hours which is a good sign... I will keep you all updated.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Hope is 9 months!!
Our little Hope Leticia is 9 months old! I walked into Carters childrens store today and I was looking at the corner we used to shop in there and those days are long gone... Adorable newborn baby girl clothes.... The cutest little frilly dresses for an 8 pound human being. The teeny tiny onesies...I just cant believe my baby is growing up so fast.
Well even though my munchkin is growing up that doesn't mean she is a big girl... ha! She is far from being a big baby even at 9 months. We went to her well baby check up today and they weighed her in at 14lbs 12ounces. She is now 26.5 inches long. So 5th percentile for weight and 25th for height. She is such a munchkin! Her pediatrician was so amazed at how full of personality and energy she is. He said there is absolutely no sign of developmental delays and she has zero red flags for autism or other neurological issues. She is extremely bright and curious. They had to do a toe prick to check her iron levels and her numbers came back perfect, yay! She didnt even flinch she was fascinated by the process. Future doctor?
Miss Hope decided to start working on those first steps last week. She will stand there for a few seconds and take a step and just plop to the floor. She wants so bad to take off running but shes just working on her balance right now. She cruises all around her room grabbing onto the wall, dressers, her crib and just walks all around. She also said mama! She only says it when she is crying for me though. She just cries mama mama mama! Its adorable.
She is pretty much over purees now and moving onto table food. I wish I could keep her on purees because choking risk scares me but she would rather munch on food herself. Aside from still nursing and cosleeping the rest is a new adventure! Sometimes I have no clue what im doing honestly lol! Soon my baby will be running all over this house and eating big kid food! Next phase is onto the planning of her first birthday party!! Stay tuned!
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