Reflux

Poor baby has reflux!

The last few weeks Pipsqueak has been crying while she eats for at least one feeding a day. I thought we were dealing with some nipple confusion - that's why I had switched to mostly bottles. This last week however, she developed a high pitched IN PAIN cry while eating and was grunting all night long even in her sleep.

We took her into urgent care Wednesday night and they diagnosed her with reflux. Since then she has been on zantac twice daily. We are also feeding her while upright (and I'm back to primarily breast feeding so I'm sore from the contortionist moves I'v e been making!), she's sleeping on an incline (we are still mostly co-sleeping so I have raised the head of our bed by placing a rolled up comforter between the mattress and the box spring) and we are also doing gas drops before every feeding.

Yesterday during the day I felt like she was feeling much better. She actually had a long 2 hour stretch of being awake and not fussy in the afternoon (unheard of!). I was able to lay her down for naps (last week she cried whenever she was by herself. Then around 7pm she was crying through her entire meal - she was desperately hungry - rooting around, etc - but cried at breast and bottle. I got about one ounce in her and then soothed her to sleep with a paci and white noise. 2 hours later she took the bottle fine.

I so hope this med helps. It takes up to a week to work. We have her 8 week check up Friday so if it hasn't worked by then I am gonna demand something else. I can't stand seeing her face fall as she realizes that eating makes her hurt. It breaks my heart!!

Anything else I should be doing to help her?? I've also been bicycling her legs to help gas escape.

On a brighter note she weighed 10.02 lbs on Wednesday so she is growing like a weed! Only 1 lb and 8 oz to go to double her birth weight!

7 weeks

 As of 7 weeks she is:

• sleeping 3-4.5 hours at a time at night consistently while in bed with us (less if in her bassinet).  We go upstairs about 10pm, have a bottle and go to sleep.  She then awakens around 2-3am for a bottle and diaper change, and then up again around 6 or 6:30.  We then head downstairs where she naps pretty much until about 10am.
• eating almost exclusively from a bottle (I am pumping, maybe we introduced the bottle too early bc I think we are dealing with nipple confusion. Since I go back to work in 3 weeks it is more important at this point for her to have bottle skills so we may be saying goodbye to the breast completely :( )
• smiling consciously at objects and just starting to laugh!
• still grunting and growling all the time!  Sounds like a piggy :)
• still getting the hiccups a few times a day
• just starting to dislike bath time - she used to love it!
• wearing size 1 diapers (outgrew newborn last week)
• just starting to outgrow her newborn clothes - SO SAD!
• at 5 w 6 d she weighed 8lbs 10 oz which is the 20th percentile but 70th percentile when accounting for her prematurity
• still a redhead :)
• napping in her bassinet by herself ( I so love just letting her nap on my chest that I was afraid she wouldn't ever learn to sleep by herself so this week I have made a conscious effort to give her some solo sleep time.  She is taking 2 naps of approx 45mins-1.5 hrs in her bassinet daily, then several naps in our arms or in her swing.)
• We took our first walks in her stroller this week - it has been in the 60s here!

Hope all is well with everyone.  I read blogs daily but can't always comment because I often have my hands full.  I am rooting for you all.  xoxo