Where Have I Been?

I don't think that I have any faithful blog followers, but just in case I'm wrong, I thought I'd post an update as to where I've disappeared to.

My son (who is 8 weeks old now) has been having some digestive issues. Over Memorial Day weekend my mom fed him a bottle of formula and he immediately began projectile vomiting. The vomiting lasted for about 1/2 a day and everything he ate came back up. After that, he was as good as new. We figured it was a bad reaction to the formula and I made a note to mention it to his pediatrician at his next well visit, which would be about 2 weeks later.

Fast forward a few days and the vomiting returned in the afternoon, just before the pediatrician's office closed. This time, he hadn't eaten any formula and nothing was different. Concerned, I called the pediatrician's office literally as they were getting ready to go home and spoke with the nurse. She said to keep an eye on it and if it doesn't improve, bring him in. It didn't improve, so I brought him in the next morning.

They tested his stool and it was positive for blood. That meant he most likely has a dairy and soy allergy. They told me to stop eating dairy and soy, then she gave me a sample of Nutramigen formula in case I need to supplement. On top of that, the pediatrician noticed something strange about his stomach. She sent us that afternoon to the hospital to get him an ultrasound.

The radiologist found what the pediatrician had feared - pyloric stenosis. If you're not familiar (we'd never heard of it before), it's when the muscle between the stomach and the intestines thickens, making it impossible for food to pass through. That's why he was vomiting so much - food could go in, but had no way out except for the same way it went in. On top of the vomiting, he also had sulfur burps and excessive amounts of mucus.

As soon as the ultrasound was over, a call was placed to the pediatrician. I spoke with her on the phone and had to choose a hospital to bring him to. We were told to go immediately. We went home, packed a bag and got grandma to watch the older kids.

When we arrived at the hospital, they started him on IV fluids and took some blood samples to determine his level of hydration. Fortunately, he wasn't very dehydrated - we had caught the problem early. The pediatric surgeon at the hospital looked at the ultrasound results from the afternoon and agreed that pyloric stenosis was the issue. My son was booked for surgery the next morning.

Between the time we checked into the hospital and the following morning he was not allowed to eat. At the time, he was 7 weeks old. Babies that young don't understand why they're not allowed to eat. It broke my heart to not nurse him and provide comfort. Leaving him in an unfamiliar hospital crib, hungry, hooked up to an IV and in pain was hard. We stayed in the room with him and comforted him when he'd wake up. I pumped every 3 hours throughout the night to maintain my supply for him.

Thankfully the night wasn't as bad as we imagined it would be. The IV kept him hydrated and he's a pretty good sleeper, so he would suck on a pacifier and drift off after a few minutes. It was probably harder on me to not feed him than it was on him.

The next morning he went in for his surgery. I was a wreck. The operation took an hour and we were allowed to see him as he was waking up from the anesthesia. We held him, rocked him and thanked God that he was ok. He didn't have any interest in eating, which is good because the surgeon wanted us to wait 4 hours before attempting anything.

Once the 4 hours was up, the nurse tried to get him to take pedialyte. He refused. Through trial and error, we found that he only likes breastmilk and sweeties (sugar water). I was a little smug that even through everything he'd been through, he still wanted my milk.

We spent 4 days in the hospital total. It took 2 days after his surgery for him to completely stop vomiting. The projectile vomiting stopped immediately, but he would still bring up most of the food he ate. The surgeon also prescribed Zantac, but we noticed he vomits after taking it, so it's on an as needed basis. Fortunately, by the time we left the hospital, the vomiting had stopped. We've been home for almost 2 weeks now and he has only spit up minor amounts (like a normal baby) 3 times. I'd say the surgery was a success!

A follow-up visit with the pediatrician showed that there was still blood in his stool, so the dairy and soy allergy is still an issue. Because of this, I'm beginning a dairy and soy elimination diet to try to be able to continue breastfeeding him. It's a struggle to not be able to eat cheese, but I don't mind almond milk and I grew up eating margarine, so that's not a stretch either. Learning to read labels is tough and I find that avoiding soy in processed foods is nearly impossible, so we're having more homemade items than before. Between the surgery and his follow-up appointment, I noticed soy seemed to have more of an impact on his poo and his mood than dairy, so he may just have a problem with soy. Time will tell, but for now I'm avoiding both items to give him some time to be comfortable and happy.