Acid Reflux- GERD

When Logan was about two weeks old we noticed that he was spitting up A LOT. Not just a little here and there, but, rather, it was gurgling out of his mouth like a leaky water faucet by the ounce. He was a trooper and it didn't seem to bother him at first. As the next few days came he progressively got more fussy and very uncomfortable. It was as if he was trying to turn his head so far one way or the other to try and escape the burning that was going on in his throat. His formula was continuing to gurgle out of his mouth to the point that after one feeding his burp cloth was soaked in formula from him spitting up and some projectile vomiting was starting to take place. At this point I began to worry and I knew that something more serious was going on. I made an appointment and brought him in to see the pediatrician. After describing what was going on to our pediatrician and an exam she diagnosed him with acid reflux (GERD) and placed him on Zan.tac. The Zan.tac seemed to help for about five days and then he started getting really fussy and upset again. I brought him back to the pediatrician and she placed him on Prev.a.cid. During the first 10 months of his life we tried so many things to help relieve him from the burning in his throat and to try and stop him from spitting up so much. There were times that we would go to feed him his next meal when he was eating baby food and he would spit up a lot of what he had eaten three hours earlier. At this point we were encouraged to get him on solid foods as soon as we could. Needless to say, he was on Prev.a.cid until he began eating solid foods exclusively at 10 months old. The Prev.a.cid did not stop his acid reflux, but did neutralize the acid so that his throat didn't burn as it was coming back up.

I noticed last week that Caden and Colton started showing the same signs of acid reflux that Logan did. When we went for their weight check last week I asked the nurse practitioner if she would note in their chart that we were concerned about acid reflux with them. I explained that if they started to show signs of discomfort that I wanted to be able to call and ask for a prescription and not have to bring both of them back in for another office visit.

The last three days and nights both Caden and Colton have been showing signs of discomfort from their acid reflux by doing the same things that Logan did as a baby. Both of them are really irritable after they are done with their bottles and at night they are having difficulty breathing and settling to go back to bed after the middle of the night feedings. We have also noticed an increase in the amount they are spitting up. For example, this afternoon I fed Caden and then propped him up in the Bop.py seat right next to me. About 30 minutes after he was done eating about an ounce of his formula came gurgling out of his mouth. This happened after I burped him three times while he was eating his three ounce bottle.

This morning I placed a call to the pediatrician to request a prescription for them. When I called this morning the triage nurse explained that their regular pediatrician and the nurse practitioner were not in the office today, but that the nurse practitioner did put a note in each of their charts about the acid reflux. She forwarded their charts to another pediatrician and he was willing to call in a prescription for Zan.tac for Caden and Colton without requiring us to bring them in for another office visit.

I so did not want these boys to have the horrible acid reflux that Logan did. As a parent I felt horrible watching Logan spitting up so much and I hated giving him medication every day. Every time I layed him down for a nap or bed I worried that he would choke and I would go check on him constantly while he was sleeping. There were many times that I would get him up from his nap and he would have vomit all over his face, in his nose, eyes and ears. And when we would leave the house I always had to make sure that I had at least two blankets and three burp cloths with me so that I could keep him clean and so that I could lay him down and not worry about ruining someone else's furniture and carpet.

Here's to hoping we all get a better nights sleep tonight and that my little boys throats are feeling better after we begin the medication.