Children's

Last night I made a "quick" trip to Children's Hospital with Will. Drew and I were both fed up with how things were going and how fussy Will has been during all of his feedings. Several times yesterday he was only able to get down an ounce of formula before throwing a fit and refusing the bottle. His wet diapers had significantly decreased and we were both worried about getting through the weekend if he was going to continue to refuse food. We called in advance to talk to one of the nurses and she listened to Will's breathing through the phone for several minutes. She advised us to bring him in, so an hour and a half later I was sitting in the lobby, waiting to be seen by one of the docs. Basically the doctor told us she believed that Will had 2 problems. The laryngomalacia is pretty severe and causing him to gulp way too much air while trying to eat...but she also believes he has some significant reflux. Will can be easily calmed by allowing him to tilt his head back as far as it will go. Most of the time he just sort of "hangs out" in that position because it seems to be comfortable. I thought it might have been helping him to breathe better, but apparently it's a textbook case of acid reflux. Between the air trying to make its way DOWN...and the acid trying to make its way UP...she's pretty sure that's the source of Will's discomfort. She was going to order an upper GI for the little guy, but after finding out that we already had one scheduled for Monday morning, she gave us a few tips to get through the weekend instead.

1. Gas drops need to be mixed with EVERY bottle, to help reduce air bubbles.
2. Zantac to be increased to 1.2 mls 3 x's a day.
3. Saline drops to be applied to nose and then suctioned out before every feeding, to ensure that his nasal passages are clear and are not causing more distress.
4. Steam baths or even just hanging out in a steamy bathroom to loosen up his larynx, allowing him to breathe a little easier.
5. Feed in an upright position and keep him in that position for at least 30 minutes after each feeding.

She also gave us a prescription for Prevacid and said that if doing all of those things doesn't make him comfortable enough to eat a decent amount through the weekend, that we should go ahead and get it filled. The only reason she's hoping that we can hold off is because she wants to see what is really happening in Will's system with the upper GI. If we give him the Prevacid, it's not going to look as bad and they really won't know to what degree he's been having the issues. So...we've been following her advice and so far today Will has consistently taken 3 oz in each feeding. He's still a little fussy, but hasn't been TOO bad. Nothing like what we've seen the last couple of days! All I can say is...I CAN'T WAIT FOR MONDAY!! Yay!