10/17/2006

Victory for the dinks

P. had an appointment with the GP this morning in an attempt to sort out her possible GERD issues. GERD. GERD. Sorry. Anyway, a little history. P. was born weighing 5lbs 14 1/2 ozs and at her lowest weight went down to 5lbs 9 ozs. She is three months old on Thursday, and as of a week ago today, weighed 8lbs 9 ozs. At first, three pounds in almost three months seemed ok to me, until I realised that a lot of the babies in our mums and babies group have gained much more than that in a lot less time. The youngest baby is 6 weeks old and still weighs more than she does despite a birth weight of about 6 1/2lbs. I was browsing through blogs the other day and came across a 4 month old that weighs 21lbs! Shit. It's really odd to think that my child is just a month younger and yet weighs more than 12lbs less. P. gets weighed every two weeks due to the weight gain issues and her relative prematurity, and she only gained 3 ozs in the last two week period.

As far as the spitting up...well, it could hardly be referred to as such. I think it's more of a massive expulsion of stomach contents at regular intervals. Not only does P. throw up a lot of food right after eating, but she continues to expel liquid until her next feed when the cycle starts all over again. The poor kid has never even slept in her crib, and the Moses Basket has been rendered unusable for at least the past month. I have done all of the recommended things for babies with reflux problems: propped up the flat sleeping surfaces so they are at an angle, burped her during feeds, ensured that she is upright for at least 45 minutes after a feed, and anything else you can think of. None of it has even diminished the problem.

I went to today's appointment preparing for battle - GERD symptoms at the ready, just-fed baby ready to show the GP just how much she throws up, and the temperment of a person who is in no mood to be disregarded. I have told the Health Visitor and midwife multiple times that I suspected a reflux issue, and I have been to see the GP about it three times since P. was born. Last time the Health Visitor said, "I don't see it as much of a problem. It's not like she's losing weight." Uh, so do babies not need to gain weight now? They can stay at the same weight forever? Of course! Up to this stage they told me what I already knew. They brushed me off with the whole "Babies throw up!" piece of wisdom, which can go right along with, "Babies cry!" in the things I like to call, "Trite cliches people say that make you want to eviscerate them". Attempting to convince them that the amount she threw up was certainly not normal was fruitless.

I thought an argument was inevitable today when the GP seemed to imply that nothing was wrong with P. and that some infants just have reflux. Her perception seemed to be that I thought P. would need blood tests and an examination, and come to think of it, I should have shouted, "GERD!" as soon as I walked in the door so she knew what I was getting at from the outset. Since I thought the conversation was going in the direction of yet again no action taken to get rid of this problem, I started rattling off P.'s symptoms again and telling the GP that I was well-versed in GERD thanks to the internet. I'm sure doctors just love that. I imagine they instantly put up a wall when faced with the words, "I've been looking on the internet and..."

The GP eventually said the right things and will live to fill out more prescriptions. She prescribed Gaviscon Infant for P., which will be added to all of her bottles. As P.'s brilliant mama just found out, it obviously thickens the formula and as such the teats she has been using will not work. Heh. I had a very unhappy baby on my hands as I switched bottles and teats three times to find the right one. Teat. Teat. Teat.

In celebration of P.'s three month birthday as well as the hopeful alleviation of GERD symptoms, I present to you a happy Little Ms P.

GERD be gone!

20 comments:

Eggs Akimbo said...

OMG she is so, so cute.

charlie's mom said...

She is so cute!

I hate doctors. I HATE it when they brush off our concerns. Grrr.

Anonymous said...

TEAT!!!

God, I hope this stuff works, for your sanity and her esophogus. Poor P. She and I could have a whole convo on the burning esophogus.

Thalia said...

Thank goodness she gets to smile sometimes, I so hope you can get this problem fixed - for all your sakes.

DeadBug said...

GERD blows. If the Gaviscon is too much of a pain, you might ask for Zantac--it's administered with a dropper and it must be sweet because Olivia sucks it up with relish. Regardless, I hope the medicated P. is a happy, pain-free girl.

--Bugs

Anonymous said...

Our youngest only weighed 9lbs at 3 mos, and, yes, it was a tad scary. He is now 10 mos and weighs 22 lbs.

So yeah, things can change for the fatter very quickly.

Anonymous said...

Good for you for fighting the man.

She is adorable!

Rachel said...

She is so adorable. I love to chew on baby cheeks, and despite her small size, she has perfectly chewable cheekies!

Good for you for not giving up on the GERD when you knew you were probably right. Mama instincts are powerful things and a lot of things and people in the world exist solely to make us doubt them.

Rock on, baby P!

Lut C. said...

You caught her smiling on camera! Wow!

Anonymous said...

Aww :)

Now, how much spitting up is normal? William was a freaking fountain today, but he didn't act like he was in any pain or anything and he's gaining enough weight. Although he is extremely fussy all the time though I attributed that to not sleeping well.

Teat!

rockmama said...

Precious!!

I've had a good deal of trouble with NHS doctors not listening to my concerns- the fact that you have a "ten minutes then get out" deadline doesn't help! Glad that you finally got someone to take you seriously!

Anonymous said...

GERD! NERD! TURD!

Ahh, that was fun.

She's a lovely little lass, m'dear.

Kellie said...

She is adorable! Hope the Gaviscon works for her.

Anonymous said...

You rock, momma. Congrats for kicking ass at the doctor's.

She's (P, not the doctor) is just precious. ;i

tonya said...

What a relief that you are on the road to getting her some relief. I appreciate you sharing your experiences as I will be having a similar battle in another week with our ped. I strongly suspect GERD for my little guy.

P. is a cutie!

tonya said...

(Okay, it's too late; I should have re-read before posting!)

Anonymous said...

Can you believe it, you survived three months! Miss P survived three months, and is a damn cute little squadge to boot.

Huzzah for Gaviscon! Huzzah for P's ever-so-clever mother.

Nico said...

I hope the new meds help! For her to be throwing up that much is totally not normal, and I can't believe that the medical establishment would tell you that it is. Asshats!

She is *adorable*!!!

erinberry said...

Look at her, with that peach fuzz ;)

Anonymous said...

Teat!

You can tell the refluxing babies. They're the ones with mothers who are still in their jammies at 5pm, crying desperately because their babies have bawled for a fortnight... solid. And Just.Can't.Take.Any.More.

Our GP persisted in refusing to believe me. I eventually went back to hospital to see H's consultant, who did the diagnosing and the prescribing. Bless him.