Got Puke?

We do!  Olivia started puking quite frequently a few weeks ago.  Sometimes it's projectile and sometimes it's not.  She can puke up to 4 times after just one feeding!  She pukes each night while sleeping.  It's quite gross.  She soaks her pajamas and her sleep sack/swaddler.  Sometimes we have to wash her hair in the morning because it's caked with puke.  Sounds lovely right?

Along with the puke, she has become quite upset.  This all started on Friday.  She screamed all day long.  Nothing would console her.  Gas drops would work for a short time, but she would be back at it in no time.  Saturday was better, but Sunday she was back at it again.  This week has been much of the same.  We finally got her into the doctor yesterday.

Oddly enough, she had been good all morning long.  We got to the doctor and I took her out of her car seat and the show began.  She screamed... and screamed... and screamed.

The first thing they do is weigh them.  We went out to the scale.  I laid her down and then saw a whopping 10 pounds 8 ounces show up.  As we walked back to the room I asked the nurse if that was a big weight gain (feeling that it was).  She sort of raised her eyebrow, laughed, and said "It is on the high side".  She gained 2 pounds, 2 ounces in 3 weeks!  (All the while, Olivia screamed.)

Finally the nurse practitioner came in.  We had to do most of the exam over screaming.  Fun.  Even though it was rough, I'm sort of glad it happened that way.  That way she could see exactly what was happening.  We gave her gas drops and she finally calmed down.  We still aren't sure if it's the actual need for gas drops that calms her, or the fact that it is strawberry flavored and she likes them. :)

I pretty much had already ruled out colic.  She was having good days and bad days and it wasn't happening at the same time every day.  I figured it was either acid reflux or lactose intolerance.  The nurse practitioner agreed that it was probably acid reflux.  Since we had already tried almost everything already, she recommended we use medication.  Remember, my doctor's office tries to avoid medication when possible.  She even mentioned that.  She said that Olivia was obviously miserable and that is just not normal, so medication really was needed.  She also suggested that we try a chiropractor that specializes in infants.  Apparently with a small adjustment it can really help?

She said I still need to avoid dairy when possible.  If the medication works (and she's hoping Olivia only has to be on it a few months), then I can slowly add in one dairy item at a time and see how it goes.  I tried explaining to her that I'm from Wisconsin and giving up dairy is like asking me to give up a limb.    She was empathetic, but didn't budge on the no dairy. Ugh.  Luckily it's suppose to only be for a small amount of time.  We go back in two weeks to follow up.

I asked her about the weight gain.  I had read that it is common for acid reflux babies to be overfed.  Because their esophagus hurts, it is soothing to them and feels good to eat.  Hence, they want to eat more.  She looked at the chart, made "whoa" type comment about the weight and then laughed and said, "She's in the 80th percentile!"  She didn't seem too worried though.  She said it should slow down here soon since she's around a month.   I have noticed just in the past few days that she is lasting a little longer between feeds.  I was worried I didn't have enough of a milk supply.  Obviously that is not the case. :)  Also, puking after almost every feed didn't seem to deter her weight gain either.

Hopefully things will get better soon... less puke and less screaming.  Fingers crossed!