Jan 4, 2010

GI (Gastrointestinal) Issues

At first I was going to include this in the last post title "One Month Old" but it was so long and discusses a topic that has dominated our lives the last two weeks that I thought it needed its own post.
We are still challenged by reflux and colic. Obviously he is gaining weight well so he is not spitting up large volumes, but the reflux is painful (he lets out a sharp cry even in his sleep)and adds to his crabiness along with the colic. Speaking of colic, I hate the term colic. So many people use this term when referring to a baby that is simply hungry, difficult to burp, constipated, or just wanting to be entertained. I strongly resisted using the term colic, but after two weeks of screaming and sleepless nights that is precisely what Noah (and Mom and Dad) are struggling with. The pediatrician said, "tell me what you mean by colic".
"Well, he in completely inconsolable from about 5:30pm to 2 or 3am every night, he draws his legs up, screams in pain, the light is gone from his eyes, and he won't even look at us. This is after we have determined he isn't hungry, dirty, bored, tired, or overstimulated. And he is a completely happy interactive baby during the day."
The pediatrician says, "Yep, this is definitely some bad colic we are dealing with."
After going over my diet with a fine tooth comb we decided he is just going to have to out-grow this, but there may be something better to deal with it than the Mylicon we have been giving him 3 and 4 times a night.
The pediatrician suggested separate trials of Gripe water and chammomile tea. Your grandmother's remedies and something the Native Americans love she said. More like my great-great grandmother's remedies in my case. My grandmother and great-grandmother had never heard of gripe water. She said the main ingredient is sodium bicarbonate and it wouldn't hurt to try either of them. Jeremy says they have people ask him for it at Target all the time and he never knew what it was. Desperate for anything to relieve my son's pain, this Mom headed to CVS right after our appointment.
I picked up Gripe water and erythromycin ointment at CVS. We are still battling a clogged tear duct that began at birth and a subsequent eye infection. We were instructed to try the gripe water for 5 nights and then the chammomile tea for 5 nights and then decide what works the best for Noah. Maybe by then he will have outgrown the colic all together. Wishful thinking I know.
Wish us luck tonight with a feeding from a bottle of milk and gripe water! Hopefully we won't be walking tracks into the carpet, going for a drive at 1am, or turning on the vacuum for hours again!

2 comments:

  1. How are the old school remedies working out for you?? Sometimes those are the ones that really work!! I'll have to keep that little tidbit buried away for our future kids!

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  2. The "old school remedies" are working better than mylicon or any of the modern remedies we have tried. Although I can't decided now whether gripe water or chammomile tea work better. He has good and bad nights on both. Mylicon nights were all bad though so things overall are looking up.

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Edmond, Oklahoma, United States
Jeremy and I met in high school. We were members of the same church youth group. One night before youth group it was raining very hard. My mom suggested that I call Jeremy for a ride. I really didn't want to- being a lowly sophomore it wouldn't be very cool to call a senior for a ride. For some reason (most likely because of God's prodding) I called Jeremy. Within the next week we hung out three more times. Then I came down with Mono, but I still had the strength to ask Jeremy to be my date to a Saddie Hawkins dance. Jeremy of course said yes. A few days before the dance Jeremy asked me to date him at Gumby's Pizza after a friend's baptism and wrecking his car. We have been inseparable ever since. After 6 years of dating, Jeremy and I said "I do". The last year and a half has been a whirlwind. Jeremy moved to KC while I finished my nursing degree. I began my nursing career and now Jeremy will be graduating in May. This May also brings more change as we will be moving and starting new jobs in Edmond, Oklahoma. In addition we found out that we are expecting our first child to arrive in December. Follow our blog as God takes us on the wonderful journey of building our family.