Here's why:
The belly aches Violet was getting wasn't from the Prilosec. It was just reflux. I'm fairly certain at this point that she was just adjusting to the new meds and they hadn't kicked in fully yet - and by starting to wean her virtually immediately after putting her on it, I unknowingly signed myself (and Violet) up for a horrible month/six weeks-ish.
She started doing better during the daytime because she's getting a little older, and spending more time upright, therefore she was feeling less crappy/screaming less.
As I continued to wean her off the meds, however, she started doing really REALLY bad at night. Like...up every 45 minutes screaming kind of bad. Like...want to step in front of a train because I'm so tired bad. Like...spending unhealthy amounts of time staring off into space before realizing my baby was STILL crying in my arms bad. BAD, PEOPLE.
That's when we went to the pediatric gastroenterologist. After a (much too) quick conversation with me asking about her symptoms, he launched into an "EVERY PEDIATRICIAN DIAGNOSES REFLUX MUCH TOO QUICKLY!" tirade and told me he was convinced she actually has a protein intolerance and an extra-EXTRA fancy, ultra broken down, incredibly UNBELIEVABLY expensive ($56 per can?!?!?!? YIKES) formula was the answer. It's called Neocate aka send-your-entire-paycheck-directly-to-this-company-because-depositing-it-is-just-an-unnecessary-step-at-this-point.
I already knew she had a protein intolerance. Hence our struggle finding Gerber Good Start Gentle. What he was saying backed up my suspicions about the evils of reflux medicines and sounded legit (I mean, he's a specialist, right????) so we went with it. I stopped her reflux meds completely. I put her on Neocate. I waited for the miracle of sleep to occur.
Sleep...did...NOT...occur...
Plus she stopped eating. So, that was fantastic.
She was eating 3-4 ounces every 3-4 hours before starting Neocate.
She dropped that down to 1-2 ounces every 3-4 hours after.
THIS IS A SIX MONTH OLD CHILD, PEOPLE. An 18 pounder at that!! Eating 1-2 ounces?!
I called the doctor freaking out after 24 hours.
Apparently he wasn't super concerned because hey! she's a big, fat baby. "Give it another few days."
After a week I told that GI specialist (in my head) to shove it and I threw that expensive can of formula in the freaking trash can and picked up Gerber Good Start Gentle RTF (liquid form).
She still didn't sleep.
I called my pediatrician bawling my eyes out.
"It's reflux," he said,"Give her medicine for it."
"But the specialist told me it ISN'T reflux! And the medicine gives her a belly ache??"
"Nope," he said, "if anything, it will just give her some diarrhea. She has reflux. Trust me."
So I (BEGRUDGINGLY) forced my poor baby to swallow a teaspoon and a half of that sick nasty omeprazole (Prilosec). She literally spit it back in my face. It was disgusting. And a little bit funny. But mostly disgusting.
Guess what.
ASODAIEFSIOGRNSOIGNOAWJFOAMWOPHR EITHNPOENAOPWMRAR
UUUUGGGBHHHHHH Sorry.
Deep breath.
SHE SLEPT.
MY CHILD HAS REFLUX.
AND I STARTED WEANING HER OFF THE MEDICINE BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS GIVING HER A BELLY ACHE WHEN REALLY IT WAS JUST REFLUX AND SHE NEEDED MORE MEDICINE.
I
HATE
REFLUX.
She slept for five hours last night. All you moms with brand new babies who are getting more sleep than I am at night can just KEEP IT TO YOURSELVES!! Haha. But seriously.
She's up from her nap and I need to go get her.
The moral of the story is that I know nothing and I need to just remember that.
2 comments :
Your calling and election has been made sure through your patience during this trial. You are a great mom and I am very proud of you.
It's not your fault when you're getting conflicting advice from different doctors! How are you supposed to know who to trust? You would think the specialist, right?
It won't make you feel better, but my baby doesn't sleep for more than 2 1/2 hours, so I'm waking up a lot too!
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