Saturday, December 13, 2008

Follow up

I was going to answer in the comments, but there are enough questions, I think I'll just post again.


A few answers:

-His G-tube was removed 6 weeks after it was put in. You see, he was such a GREAT eater and gaining weight SO well we didn't need it.

I'll pause while you laugh.



Done?

Okay, moving on.

-while I have not tried a cup, I do sometimes get desperate and try dropper feeding. It inevitably chokes him. I don't think he has the association with "stuff in mouth=swallow." I have to give most of his meds in a nipple for the same reason.

-we just started occupational therapy on Tuesday. It's through Early Intervention. At the time of the eval he was eating great but we were hoping to get him to breast feed, so I opted to start therapy. Thank Goodness I did so we got started ASAP.

-yes, we "play" around his mouth all the time. One of his favorite games is where his cheeks, nose, ears, and tummy are my "instruments." Cheeks say "do do do." Ears say "ding dong." Nose says "honk honk." And his favorite- tummy says "toot toot!" Our OT also has us doing some face massage exercises before a meal.


Some girls on a preemie board I'm a member of suggested that he might be teething.

so this is what I did:

An hour before his last meal, he got a dose of carafate (it coats and bonds his esophagus) and a glycerine. It had only been a little more than a day since he'd pooped, but the doctor doesn't want him to go more than a day, thinking that any extra pressure keeps him from wanting to eat.

He pooped A LOT.

A half hour before his last meal, he got a dose of tylenol.

HE ATE THE WHOLE BOTTLE! First time in 2 days. I could have danced a jig.

About 45 minutes after he ate, he pooped the most explosive poop I've ever heard in my life. I couldn't believe he had anything left in there.
When I changed his diaper, it wasn't a lot of poop- must have been a LOT of gas. He's been pretty gassy and I've been giving him mylicon drops but apparently they weren't working that well.

The pooping cause puking (normal around here) and it was so ugly it was out his nose.

After some nose sucking, diaper changing and a lot of crying, he settled down and is currently sleeping in his swing looking like a little cherub.

Now, the question is why he ate. Was it the Tylenol? The empty bowels? Coincidence?

Who knows.

If only they could tell us what is wrong.

--Trish



Thanks to everyone for the support. It was

9 comments:

AwkwardMoments said...

add investigator to one ofyour many hats. Keep up the great job .. It seems alot of this job is about trial/eror

Kelly said...

Hi! I am a mom of 10 month old twin girls and found your blog via the bump...


Oh my goodness I can so feel your pain. One of my girls had severe "silent" reflux. She never spit up thus the Dr.s didn't believe anything was wrong. Her weight gain was "so-so", enough again to not call any attention by the Dr's. I finally video-taped her trying to eat and brought it into the Dr's office. I also had my bags packed ready for her to be admitted to the hospital thinking that she needed a g-tube. That didn't happen but they finally took me serious that something needed to be done. I was the only one who could get her to eat (if you called it eating) as well. It was such a stressful time for me. A change in medicine worked wonders and we avoided OT. She is a great eater now (solids as well as bottle)as she outgrew the reflux.

I hope you have figured out what keeps your little guy from eating but I mostly want to say I know EXACTLY how you are feeling. Feeding issues are so very stressful and so hard to figure out .

You are the best mommy for this little guy as you are trying everything to help him!!!

AngelsAmid said...

I'm glad he was able to eat :( I was going to let ya know that Emma offers some of her chunky monkey-ness to Robbie.

Kim said...

You know I'm here for ya. Hang in there, momma.

chipz95 said...

Oh, I'm so glad he ate. Hopefully he'll keep it up. Crossing my fingers and sending lots of prayers your way!

Kierstin said...

you are always in my prayers. i hope the trend continues. hugs to you!

Nicky said...

We certainly don't have the issues that you have, but my little one does have a lot of gas/farting, which sometimes makes him not want to eat. We started folding his knees up to chest and rolling him side to side after every diaper change, and whenever he plays on the floor. He giggles and toots and always feels better. Good luck!

Maria (MKC101103) said...

My bet is that he ate b/c he pooped. Coming from someone suffering with horrible constipation during this pregnancy...I always want to eat after I finally go #2. I've made some room so it's time to fill up that space. LOL.

Anonymous said...

Hi! I'm a NICU nurse and I've been reading about the baby's feeding troubles. Has anyone suggested trying a Habermann Feeder to you? I believe they are made by Medela, generally used for cleft lip/palate, but can sometimes help with feeding difficulties. Also, is he on any meds before feeding that make him drowsy? If I can help with anything, you can find me on Nest 2nd tri. board-kellio924. Good luck.