Testing 1, 2, 3

Peanut had her Upper GI done today and everything went well. I woke her up at 3:30 to get one last feeding in. Then we were up and out by 7:00. I skipped changing her diaper, in hopes to keep her asleep, but had no luck. She was grunting and rooting from the time her head hit the car seat. We got to the hospital and she was pretty ticked off during the whole registration process. They did an excellent job of getting us right back so that no one else had to listen to her fuss.

I was a little worried about the test since Peanut has never tried to take a bottle and still refuses to take a pacifier. She did great though. She chugged down the Barium with sugar water while laying on the table. We watched as it moved through her system. I don't think she drank very much before they saw what they needed to. The tech warned me that it is pretty uncommon to have reflux show up on the screen. I think part of it is the difference in what they are eating, the amount being so small and the fact they have to fast first. She commented that, "Everything seems to be moving in the right places" and just as she finished talking, you could see the Barium go back up. So she definitely has reflux. After that she was allowed to nurse and went right back to sleep, as if nothing had taken place.

The doctor called a few minutes ago and confirmed that everything looked good structurally, but she does have severe reflux. We are going to keep her on Axid (0.8 ml twice a day) and Carafate (1/4 teaspoon four times a day) and reevaluate at her two month check up.

Her reflux is very different from Sweet Pea's. Sweet Pea screamed all day and night for at least the first few months. She was ALWAYS fussy. There were many times I had to just put her in her crib and walk away for a while. She didn't spit up much, but when she did it was like Old Faithful. She could hit a full size sofa, from one end to the other. Peanut isn't fussy much at all. She is more fussy if she is on her back or in her car seat, but nothing compared to Sweet Pea. Peanut is constantly making squeaky sounds, often sounds like she is wheezing or has something rattling in her chest and chokes often. When she chokes, she will usually hold her breath and will sometimes turn blue. It's very scary to watch.

She, like Sweet Pea, doesn't spit up a whole lot, but when she does it comes out her nose. We are constantly suctioning old milk out of her nose. I know that has got to be uncomfortable, but she still doesn't fuss much. Occasionally she will have a fussier than normal period that lasts about 6 hours. She squirms and wants to nurse to soothe the pain. She doesn't really want to eat, but just get a trickle. These are the times we try to push the pacifier and sometimes she will give in and take it for a few seconds. Overall, Peanut's reflux is much easier to deal with. Some of it may be because she's the second child and so I've experienced it more, but that screaming from Sweet Pea was pretty hard to deal with.