He's Full Of Sh**

I took Will back to the pediatrician today and he thinks he's full of sh**...literally! He did a very thorough check of the little guy...listened to his lungs and stomach for what seemed like forever...checked out his tongue (for thrush) and throat...then had the privilege of seeing what it's like to actually feed him. Based on what he saw, he believes that Will is not having enough bowel movements to completely clean out his system and that it's clogging him up. He also showed me his stomach and apparently he's NOT supposed to look like a Buddha baby and the size of his tummy was due to an enormous amount of trapped gas. An interesting little tidbit that he gave me is that constipation does NOT always mean tiny, hard, nugget balls that roll out of the diaper...sometimes it can mean the peanut butter consistency that Will has been producing, which sticks like super glue to his butt and requires about 20 wipes to remove. The doc believes that constipation is the root cause of Will's problems...accompanied by excessive gas (like his father), which he feels is produced by Will's "squeaking" (immature something or other in the back of his throat). If any of you have witnessed a Will feeding, you know that he breathes so deeply that he squeaks. The squeaking is very high pitched and much stronger during feedings (probably because he's trying to breathe while eating). Will then gets upset because he has too much air in his tummy, which eventually causes him to gulp his formula, creating even MORE gas. So, after a rectal exam, the doctor reassured us that Will's "evacuation point" was "hooked up properly" and he has prescribed lactulose to be taken 3 times a day. This should get Will pooping again in 24-48 hours and as long as it is taken every day, we should hopefully see his bowel movements regulated soon. He wants us to stay on the Nutramigen, as well as the Zantac (another doc prescribed that for acid reflux on Friday) and we are crossing our fingers that all of these things will give us our happy baby back. The new doc doesn't think Will even needs the hypoallergenic formula or the Zantac, but he wants us to get him comfortable again before we try to take away those other things. Since he can't completely rule out acid reflux or colic (yet!), he figures we are addressing all of them so we "should" see an improvement soon. If things aren't any better by mid next week, he said we will move on to some diagnostic testing that will give us an idea of what Will's digestive tract looks like and identify any potential barriers. I am really hoping that lactulose is the missing link and that our little man gets rid of some waste soon. BRING ON THE POOP STORM!