Adelyn Update

I've had lots of people ask how Adelyn has been doing so I thought I'd do a mass update rather than leave you hanging.

We thought Adelyn's thrush was the cause of her crying through eating. We were put on a medicine but it didn't seem to be improving the situation at all. After 4-5 days of no improvement, I called my pediatrician in tears. I think between my shaky voice and Adelyn crying in the background, they were able to get us an appointment within the hour... Whew! Adelyn got a thorough examination, and we answered lots of questions about the past week. We even fed Adelyn there in the office to show how she cries and refuses to eat very much. Of course at that feeding, the little rascal did an ok job and made us look like overreacting first time parents. She looked at the thrush and said it was a very mild case and was likely not causing her any discomfort. Our doctor (who I really do like and respect) didn't really have a clear answer. She mentioned the possibility of her having a type or reflux that doesn't cause her to spit up but gives her a sore throat. We were told to see how the next few days go and consider the possibility that this is a funky stage she is going through. So we left without a solid answer. Which is almost worse than leaving with a diagnosis!

The next two days didn't get any better. Cry cry cry. The more I poked around on the Internet, the more I ran into a condition called "Silent Reflux." Here is an explination of it: (I'm pretty sure this is what my doc was talking about)

Silent reflux in infants is exactly the same as infant reflux minus the spitting up. When an infant refluxes silently the stomach contents travel up the throat but the infant is able to swallow it back down again before it actually comes out. This means the stomach acid burns on the trip up the throat and on the trip back down. Silent reflux in infants is not as obvious because there is no actual spitting up, which makes it much harder to detect.

Symptoms:

Your baby may exhibit only some of these symptoms:

• poor weight gain or rapid weight gain (Adelyn is 50th percentile so not a problem for us)
  


• gulping with a painful look on the face (Yep)
  


• sour breath, wet sounding burps (Sometimes)


• Horseness in voice (Yep. People often comment on her raspy voice)


• persistent or chronic cough (No coughing)
  


• frequent hiccups (Yep)
  


• sudden burst of painful crying (Oh yeah)
  


• painful wakeups from sleep or poor sleeping habits (Yep. Never been a good napper. Recently sleeping worse at night too)
  


• poor feeding habits, possible feeding aversions (Umm, yes.)
  


• neck or back arching during or after feeding (Not too bad but happening more lately)
  


• excessive fussiness, crying or colic (not outside of eating time)
  


• demands to be carried constantly (no, not too much)
  


• red or salmon colored throat (haven't looked)
  


• blood in the stool or spit up (that would scare me to death)

So you can see why my ears perked up when I heard about this.

We actually ran into my pediatrician at church this morning and ran our thoughts past her. She didn't hesitate to call us in a prescription of Zantac which Adelyn is now on. We just started it this afternoon and was told it would take a few days to kick in. So we're hoping this will help our little lady out. Until then, we simply have to soldier through feeding times, comfort her as best we can, and get her to eat as much as she can. We've also angled her bed a little more upright and are giving her lots of naps in the swing where she is angled upright as well.

So that's where we stand. It's not been a fun week. I got pretty worn down emotionally and physically since she isn't sleeping well at night lately. Some days have been better than others but I'm glad we are in the process of getting things figured out.  I really really really hope this is the issue. It's a quick fix that they grow out of after a few months. Time will tell I guess. Until then, we are taking one day at a time, one feeding at a time.

On a happier note, Adelyn really is a fun baby (when she's not eating that is :) She smiling so much at us, very content to just hang out wherever we prop her up. She is cooing and making adorable baby noises all the time. I absolutely LOVE to snuggle her and to just hold her. Her little eyes are amazingly expressive and I feel like we see more and more personality every day. We love our little lady! Hoping to get eating back on track as soon as we can!