Wednesday, December 16, 2009

It should be called "Ass-id Reflux"

... because Gastroesophageal Refulx (GER) is an asshole and it makes my babies scream. Two of them, anyway.

About ten days ago, we noticed that Seal and Elephant (Babies A and C) were having a very hard time eating. At first, we thought it was just when they were nursing, but then we realized it was nursing or bottle feeding. It has never shown up in our Lion, baby B, who had NEC in the NICU, who was the "sick" one. He slurps down bottles, nurses like a champ and falls promptly back to sleep.

For the two experiencing the pain of reflux, it goes something like this:

Baby acts HUNGRY and roots around, opening mouth for a nipple of some sort. Is placed at the breast or given a bottle of breast milk, and latches on happily. Then, after a few swallows, Baby's eyes open wide and they begin to cry. Then, they make the saddest face ever and scream at the top of their lungs while arching their backs stiffly. Often, they are inconsolable, and we pace the house, holding them upright while they try to root around on our arm for some food. When we try the bottle or breast again, the whole thing usually starts over, but sometimes they've had enough of a break that they can keep eating. Sometimes, they exhaust themselves crying and fall asleep in our arms, only to wake up hungry again in an hour or so.

I talked with our pediatrician last week and she saw the babies to ensure there was not something else going on and put them on Zantac, the first line of defense of babies with reflux. (I should add that preemies are at a high risk for it, and that it often does not show up until the sixth week of life or so.) She said we'd give it a week and if it was not dramatically improved, talk about other options. Well, it got worse. The poor guys spent at least every other feeding crying so hard, while we did all the things we could to comfort them: feed them upright, give them little bits and breaks in between, hold them up after eating for about 30 minutes or more. Please keep in mind that it is usually two adults trying to manage this along with another baby and a three-year-old who would like some attention, thank you very much.

Our daughter, A, has already had a really hard time since the babies life-altering arrival (sibling post forthcoming), and she does not tolerate their crying well. Honestly, it is LOUD and stressful, and frustrating for adults, so I can only imagine how it makes her feel. When it first started, she used to ignore it, since it was for short periods, but now it can go on for an hour or more, and she often lets out the most highly pitched screams ever heard. Just in case we forgot about her, which we did not. Let's just say she is watching a lot of "Super Why" and "Sesame Street" right about now.

Yesterday, we decided to move on to Prevacid, the "big guns" in baby reflux, and hope it makes a difference. Their first dose was this morning, so we shall see if it helps. The pharmacist said we could see results in as little as a day. Their pain is so obvious, and I know that caring for one baby with reflux is challenging, without any other children or multiples in the house. I have cried with them many times.

Yet another reason why reflux is an asshole is it makes them unable to nurse when they are having a hard feeding. I have held them up in some crazy positions, which can help sometimes, but usually, I end up pacing the house with my breast hanging out, "shooshing" and trying to get them to latch on to me, a bottle, anything. The contrast between the two Reflux-y ones and Lion is that he never cries when he eats, nurses like a professional nurser, and is soothed by food. The other two are made worse by eating, which is the ultimate comfort and nourishment one gives a baby.

It is emotionally tiring to see our sweet boys suffering, and I am hoping with all hope they get some relief soon. All I want for Christmas is Reflux-Free Babies.*

*And three extra hours in each day, and exclusive nursers, and my body back. Just in case anyone has Santa's ear...

21 comments:

  1. my preemie girl has it too...once we started prevacid it got SO much better. hope the same happens for you!!

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  2. Sorry to hear about the reflux, wish I had some advice :(

    If it helps a bit, I totally admire you takig care of your daughter and triplets,as well as breastfeeding. I thought I had a rough time taking care of my 10 month old son and being 16 weeks pregnant with horrible morning sickness. I made it to 5 months BF with my son and you have made me want to try and make it longer with this little one since you are doing it with three!

    Hope the boys get some relief soon!

    Kelley

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  3. Yikes! I hope you get your Christmas wish and the Prevacid works it's magic. My first baby was a GERD baby and I remember how awful an experience that was... and that was just one baby and she was the only child in the house. I can't imagine how stressful it must be at your house right now. As if there wasn't enough else to stress out about... Just remember this too shall pass- and then promptly be replaced by an equally frustrating developmental hurdle to get over. I'll be praying for you.

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  4. I have been following your blog for awhile. We had twins with reflux. I FEEL your pain. My daughter did great with Zantac, but my son was a prevacid boy! As they get a little older, and you can add a tiny bit of cereal to their milk, things improved drastically for us. It tend to make the milk heavier so it stays where it belongs in their tummy! Good luck and know that it will get better!!!

    Michelle from SC

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  5. Q had it and it totally sucks ASSSSSSS. Hope they gets ome relief soon.

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  6. I am so sorry... my Bean had it and it was AWFUL. I can't imagine having it with two munchkins out of three. Fortunately medicine made a *huge* difference for my son, and he grew out of it by 4 months. If Prevacid doesn't work, try Zantac!

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  7. Oh man. I am so sorry, that sounds AWFUL. There is nothing worse than a crying baby that you can not soothe! I am hoping with all of my being that the meds work and things improves for them (and you all!).

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  8. LOL Carrie! It should be Ass-id Reflux. One of my triplets has it. She is in pain and spits up ALOT! Luckily a high dose of Zantac and Enfamil AR has helped. It hasn't cured her spitting up all together but atleast she doesn't seem in severe pain every time she eats. I hope Prevacid helps your little guys. It is tough, I know. The older sibling is the hardest part if you ask me. Hang in there, hopefully in a few weeks things will improve drastically for you.

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  9. I kept care of twins that had reflux really bad. We ended up letting them sleep in their bouncies and it worked wonders. We NEVER laid them down flat. Try this and it should work beautifully!

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  10. I'm really sorry that you have to go through this...Our daughter had it too. We gave in and let her use a pacifier. She still does, but it gave us our sanity back. The swing was key also.
    Good luck!

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  11. So far we have been spared but it is a constant worry for us with Bobby and Maya. I am so sorry you guys are having such a rough time- and with two! Saying a prayer that the Prevacid takes care of it right now!

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  12. That stinks for everyone! I am so sorry. I hope the boys get some relief and mommy gets a break soon!

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  13. I hear you Carrie. I'm going through it too but with only one and it is still stressful. Zantac worked for a while and then we had to up the dose. Then that worked for a while, but I'm afraid we'll have to try prevacid soon. The Zantac is not working as well as it used to. I hate it when she has her bad reflux days now. It is so hard to hear them screaming in pain.

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  14. I'm on baby #2 with reflux. They both went the zantac route which didn't work, then we moved to Prevacid (compound). If you are using the compound, be aware that after 2 weeks, it starts to loose it's potency. Ask the pharmacy or your doctor to give you 15 days at a time. You may pay more in copays, but it's worth it. We found out the hard way about this. With my second, we went straight to the prevacid solu-tabs - Love them! They taste like strawberry. We started him on 1/2 of a 15mg tablet 2x day when he was 10 pounds. Just wanted to give you a heads up though if you were using the compound.

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  15. Hoping everyone is feeling better soon. You are a great mommy.
    Heart, Shell http://romancingthestone.wordpress.com

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  16. I hope the Prevacid is working to help ease Seal & Elephant's pain and that they'll be able to eat better soon. So sorry to read the boys are having such a hard time with reflux. When the girls cry in unison it's hard to think straight. I can relate to the stress level going through the roof, but you have ALL my sympathy given that A. requires love and attention too.

    Two of my girls are showing early signs of reflux too, but they're still able to eat. Midway through their feeding they start writhing and contorting... I'm so glad you posted the details of what to watch out for. I'll be talking to their ped soon.

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  17. Reflux is the absolute worst! I dealt with it with one baby and can't imagine 2 out of the 3 having it. Prevacid was our saving grace but also a diet elimination while nursing helped. Dairy was hugely making the pain and screaming worse. Get a wedge made by a physical therapist too if needed to help them sleep upright. I hope the pain stops soon.

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  18. HI! Remember me?? Sorry I dropped of the face of the earth. Follow my profile to see my new digs.

    The girls both had terrible reflux, but the zantac is working...although the pharmacist didn't want to give them such a high dose, he made me wait while he called the doctor to confirm the dose. Otherwise, maybe I'd be in your shoes. I hope the prevacid works for them... It is heart wrenching to see them in that sort of pain and not be able to do anything about it.

    I also switched their formula (I was not able to breast feed) to a soy formula and it helped tremendously too.

    Merry Christmas!

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  19. I hope they feel better soon! You must be so stressed out.
    My daughter had some reflux, but according to my pedi it wasn't "bad enough" for meds (easy for him to say, he didnt live with her!). What helped her was letting her sleep semi-upright in her swing, all the time, not just right after a feeding. It took me about three weeks of screaming to figure this out, and from then on things were much better. I finally moved her to her crib at 3 months and she transitioned just fine. Good luck to you. I hope something gives them (and you) some relief.

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  20. Like many of the other posters, our trio has acid reflux too. Our girl is on Zantac, but it hasn't helped much yet. She still eats, but then refluxes about 2 hours after eating and shoots formula out her nose. We switched formula, so it comes out easier now and doesn't choke her now! She also has issues with the cartilage not being firm in her upper throat, so that is playing a part. We have her sleep in her bouncy seat and the boys in their swings/bouncy seats.

    Hope you get better results with the new meds. We thought about getting the Nap Nanny seat, but figured it was about the same as using a car seat. I do know some people who had great results with it though. Hope you have a great, acid reflux free Christmas!

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  21. We had two reflux babies too, A & Z. When A was little, we tried meds for a while and then took him to a baby chiropractor. This made a huge difference and we were able to take him back off meds after a few weeks. With Z we tried meds and the chiropractor and it took maybe 2-3 months to wean of the meds. If you want our chiropractors info, let me know. Honestly, it sounds weird, but it is so gentle (sort of like a baby massage) and it made such an incredible difference.

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