Another Appt for AJ

I took Andrew back to the dr today because, while he is not throwing up as much and his diapers are wetter (so he is obvoiusly digesting more), he has decided he only wants to eat every 6-8 hours now - even during the day. I have been trying to make him eat more often than this, but he just plays and looks around or falls asleep, but doesn't really eat.

I explained to dr what was going on now. We talked for awhile about it. I explained that I had been trying to get him to take formula, just in case he needed it down the road. He asked my feelings on breastfeeding, whether I wanted to stop and go to formula or continue. I told him I honestly wanted to breastfeed, but was uncomfortable with the fact that he WON'T take the formula, just in case (especially since he is trying to go so long between feedings now). He told me not to give up on it if I WANTED to do it, he supports me breastfeeding because it is best and to wait and see what we can figure out.

We discussed the formula for a while and he decided to have one of his nurses come in and try to feed him a bottle (I took all the bottles I have been trying and some formula with me to show the dr what he does). The nurse was excited to get to do this instead of shots!! She was in the room with me, but she turned him to where he could not see me. He talked to her and played with the bottle nipple in his mouth. The little bit of formula that was coming out he would swallow, but then he spit it all up. She tried for about 20 minutes, with two different bottles, until he got REALLY upset! She went and got the dr and told him he would not take it.

So, the plan for now...

He told me to stop feeding him food. He has only gained 2 ounces in 10 days, so the food is not helping him gain weight. He wants to focus on getting the nutrition he needs from milk. He said to just continue trying to give him formula, if I want to try and get him used to it. Other than that just keep trying to feed him at least every four hours.

He also changed his medicine from the Zantac to Prevacid, just to see if that would do anything to help since he is still spitting up.

They took blood - out of my poor babies arm (like they do adults!). I DID NOT help hold him down for that!! Mama can only handle so much! He just wants to verify all of his organs are working properly - which we have no reason to believe they aren't other than him not gaining weight!

They are making an appointment for next week at Children's hospital for him to have an upper GI done. He is also calling a pediatric Gastroenterologist. He said they normally take about 6-8 weeks to get patients in, but he is personally calling to try and get him in as soon as possible. He wants to rule out any ulcers that he could have gotten in his esophagus from throwing up so much (he has not acted like throwing up is at all painful, this is just precautionary).

I am going to start pumping again - I guess :-( He didn't tell me I had to, or needed to, but he commented several times about not knowing exactly how much he is getting because I am breastfeeding. So, I am going to pump at different times each day to see how much I am producing. I know I am not producing as much as I was because he has cut back how much he is eating, so I want to know for sure how much he is getting.

What makes this so strange and hard to figure out is that Andrew is happy! He doesn't fuss all the time from hunger. He eats, he plays, he sleeps and he fusses when he wants to eat, but it is not very frequently. Dr said that for length he is going between feedings and the number of feedings he is WANTING (three or four in a 24 hour period) a day, he would have to be eating about 7-8 ounces PER FEEDING to get what he is supposed to have. I DOUBT he is getting that much - before throwing up!

Dr isn't really sure what is going on because usually kids that aren't eating well are fussy because they are hungry! That is why we are trying all of these other things to rule stuff out. He is not OVERLY worried about it, YET! He asked if I was and I told him I was pretty concerned because out of four kids - this is one issue WE HAVE NEVER HAD!! And as his sole nutrition provider (at this point), it does make me feel guilty that he is not gaining weight like he should be - even though I know I am doing everything in my power to get him to eat more.

Want to know how to STRESS a mother out? Write failure to thrive as the diagnosis from a drs visit!