Reflux and colic.

At a loss

Are you at a loss, have a screaming baby and don't know what to do? Your not alone. Colic and reflux for babies is very common and can be frustrating.

Ariyah-Mai has really been struggling and well so have we. In my previous post I spoke about how she has been fussy, vomiting and had problems with her bowels. She is congested and full of cold on top of everything, which does not help. We knew there was something wrong but no one seem to listen. We were getting told to feed her more, then feed her less. That it is colic that she just grow out of it. That she is a good weight so there is nothing to be concerned by. However it took her being so ill and submitted to hospital until they realised enough to take action.

This is so frustrating as no one had listen to us for weeks! But at least something has now been done and we know to trust our instinct and fight for our little girl.

So these were Ariyah-Mai's systomes she displayed which could be reflux or colic or a combination, which we think she has. Therefore look out for these warning signs before it gets as bad for your baby.

• General fussyness
• Hard to settle to sleep or not staying asleep
• Painful crying for hours (worse in the evenings and at night) 
• Going red in the face
• Grimacing or scrunching face up
• Drawing knees up to her stomach
• Arching back and throwing their head backwards 
• Swollen or bloating stomach
• Vomiting - not just spit ups but projectile vomiting across the room
• Very dry skin especially across the forhead
• Very cling
• Eirther refussing milk or wanting to suckling all the time to relieve the acid.
• Sucking hands or rubbing month and nose with their fists
• Conispation or greeny diarrhea. 
• Very gassy and hard to burb

Ariyah-mai displayed all of the Above, She went from a calm happy, never really fussy baby to screaming all day, getting worse late evening and over night. She could not be put down flat and would cry within seconds. Nothing would consule her even milk. She seemed to suckly all the time, but when she did have her milk she was projectile vomiting all of it and having spit up even hours after feeding. She was just very fussy, grimacing and going red in the face, arching her back and pulling her knees up.  Furthermore she was also conipated from birth which turnt to bad diarrhea. 

We were at a loss, exhausted because we were getting no sleep, we were moody and snappy and just heartbroken to hear her scream like she was in pain. It would be distressing for any parent but after everything we have been through too,hear her in this much discomfort was so worrying. It made us feel like awful parents because there is nothing that seemed to settle her. It is hard to not be able to do anything, as everything we tried did not help or realieved it for half hour before all coming back. No one was listening to us, doctors, pediatrician, even in a&e. We felt alone, scared, frustrated, and just at a complete loss. 

Things we tried. 

We had to rock her upright to calm her which still took hours or walking around the house with her up on our chest/ shoulder. We used gripe water and infocol but it was hard to tell if it was helping when she was throwing up it along with her milk. Plus rubbing and patting her back constantly because she would not burb. Singing and talking to her or playing music which normally settled her just no longer worked. We sat her upright for feeds and for about 30-60 minutes after. She did not really like her dummy so would just spit it out to scream however a comforter, her monkey sometimes helped. We were giving her water after feeds to help constipation, as advice by doctor and midwive but other then getting rid of hiccups sometime it made her flemy and bloated.  

We would swaddle her so her knees where tucked up abit to help release the gas. We also used vapor oil on a cloth on the radiators to help with the damp air and because her cold was making her snuffly. We used saline drops to help with her congestion as well as cotton buds and suckon bulb to get the muscus from her nose out. We also got a humidifier which seemed to clear the air a little. When we had a shower we sat in the bathroom with her so the stream would clear her airways. These did help her cold a lot. So at least that was being relieved, but  her screaming in pain and vomiting got worse. 

Things got worse. 

After our last trip to a&e they advices to feed 3oz every 3hr which we did however it did not seem to settle her stomach as she was still vomiting and tensing her knees up. She was still suckling and screaming after feeds. A pediatrician at the hospital which was booked as a follow up from a&e just two days later agreed that she Was feeding too much but did not really explain anything else. He suggest dropping to 2 oz every 2 hr. However Ariyah would not wake up at 2 hr and would then go 3 hrs because it was impossible to wake her and force her to feed earlyer went she isn't ready. We were unsure whether to still give her the 2oz if she was going 3 oz. This was because it was not explained to us why they said to minimise amounts we were feeding. The pediatrician was not worried because Ariyah-mai weight was fine as she was 8lb 2oz. He said she seemed calm at the appointment, which any one with children will know that when your out, at appointment there babies are calm then get back home and it is a different story. Then medical professional do not see or realise and just think oh its normal for babies to cry. This is what the pediatrician told us.

Still frustrated and not knowing what to do. We feed her 2-3 oz every 2-3 hrs depending when she woke and was ready. Our baaby was still really struggling. And after a few days it all came back and the screaming in pain got worse. She not even old enough for pain relief or medication for cold.

On sunday 24th, whilst doing the night feeds, I was rocking her to sleep on my chest we were chatting about how heavy she was getting that after a while of rocking and calming her, our arms got numb. So we had to keep swapping between us to console her. The next day I got in from work the children I work with are all ill too and only 2-5 so I had one of them cuddled to calm him most of the day. Then scoop lifting pupils into chairs.  I had some of the bigger kids on the tamopline that afternoon where I had to hold them. Hence when I arrived home to hold Ariyah-mai I thought she was lighter then she seemed the night before.

Ben had not noticed and he been holding her all day because she just cried and was so unsettled. Meaning we did not think much into it, putting it down to me being at work. She always seemed littler when I got home after lifting and pushing the wheelchairs of children in my class. Also we assumed maybe she has a growth spurt which is why she was wanting more milk and her weight felt lighter as it was more disrupted where she got longer.

However after an unsettled day Ben went to rest, whilst I tried to settled Ariyah. She just screamed for hours, only sleeping for the odd 10 mins because waking up in discomfort. She was vomiting, was not interested in feeding. Ben said she has not really had as many  wet nappies as usual. We called 111 for advice and told a out of hours doctor would call us. Whilst we waited for that call, our baaby girl got worse so we Had to call for an ambulance. She went pale and had very patchy mottle skin. A rash had appeared on her chest, spreading up her neck. She would not drink much milk and just screaming.

The ambulance were worried about the colouring of her skin too, her observations (blood pressure and breathing rate where high,, whist her temperature was normal but on the lower end at 36 degrees. Her heart rate was slightly raised so they took her into hospital. When we got to a&e we were seen very quickly. They took her obs again and they were still high. The real shock was when they weight her she had lost about 2lb. This was from being weight at 8lb 2oz (3.74kg) on Friday now weighing only 6lb 5oz (2.96kg). I explained how I thought she felt light but with my job I did not really think much of it. They said because of the vomiting and lack of wet nappies that she was very dyhrated so need to tube feed her through her nose to build her fluids up. Doctors were trying to put it all down to broctalis because she had a cold and coughed every now and then. Me and ben knew it was more then this and deemarded to see a consultant to investigate more. We spent that night in a&e before being submitted to the ward the next morning.

Ariyah-mai was still being tube feed only 25mls every 2 hours. Despite it being hard to see our baby at 6 weeks old with a tube up her nose, she did seem more herself. She was not vomiting or crying in pain. Her colouring came back however she was still very pale. She slept a lot, whilst this was hard it allowed me and Ben to get a little rest as the nurses where having to do the feeds. I did get to tube feed her, which was weird because although I'm gastro peg feed pupils at work, feeding my own baby via a tube is just heartbeating seeing her so fragile.

That afternoon the consultant came to see her, finally somebody was listening to us. After explaining everything that had been going on and all that Ariyah was displaying  along with the raided weight lose she agreed that it was more going on. She actually got to witness Ariyah-mai screaming and tensing in pain which as much as me and Ben can explain it unless you really needed to see it for yourself and with hearing her crying. It becomes very apparent it is not normal baby fussiness.

The consultant first said it is reflux which then is causing coilic in the evening. This is because there is a build up of acid in the stomach which comes back up into her throat causing the burning pain which is why she is screaming and vomiting. The constant need to Feed and suckling is because when drinking her milk it will relive the burning in her throat which  making her reflux worse because her stomach  can not handle the large values at once. Hence feeding little and often is the key to reliving reflux babies. She said it could be an allegy to formula as well but unlikely as she not been sick whilst tube feed on the same milk. But it could be an intolence as lactose free milk is thicker therefore could help with the reflux.

After 24 hours of being tube feed we reintroduced her bottle at the same amount 25ml every 2 hours before slowly uping it to 60ml by the end of the afternoon. Along with being given anti-reflux medication in the mornings to manage the acid build up. The tablets could take up to 2 weeks to work and we been give a 5 week dose to then be reviewed in 4 weeks. The weighted her that morning on the Wednesday and she had gained all her weight back, plus another 2oz  now weight 8lb 4oz (3.82kg)

Now she gained weigh back and was taking the bottle without being sick we were discharge after two days in hospital. Once home we were told to up her feeds to 2 oz every 3 hr. We had the medication to give her every morning. She was still fussing and crying but much better and taking less time to calm down. She was sleeping more again which is good and her colour was back. We did continue to use gripe water and infocol to relieve the reflux whilst the meds kicked in. She was fine for a while but again did start to get fuzzy and cry again. She was a bit sick but once or twice rather then after every feed. The GP prescriped lactose free alimentum formula which is thick and does not have cow milk in. This really seemed to help but it really smells. It mades her smell but help her gas as well because we were able to burb her easier on this milk.

One other thing that was a real life saver was using a larger teat, because ariyah guzzlers her milk down, she took in so much air and was hard to burb. Even if we stopped that every oz of milk to burb her, she did not also do anything but just  added to the reflux, which trapped wind and being general uncomfortable. It increased her spit ups when she did finally burb. Therefore we first thought to use a small size 0 teat to stop the flow being to fast when actually many other parents of support pages told us to use size 2 because she then should not guzzle as she gets a quick flow of milk which results in taking in less air. We were reluctant to do this because she was premmy and we thought it would then mean she got to much milk at once and would make her vomiting worse.

When speaking to my step mum and sister. She told us to use size two teats. She is a pharmacist and had to do all this last year in her degree. I always trust what my step sister says because most of the time pharmacist actually have a more broader knowledge then gp/ consultant who specialist in one area. Therefore we went and brough some size 2 teats and since using them ariyah-mai has been a completly different baby. She has not been screaming for hours, she burbs easier and does not seem to guzzle all her milk down so quickly, this is helping with the colic. Ariyah still vomits sometimes or has spit up but far less often and it is more flem now where she is getting over this cold.

We have had a complete turn around. She does still fuss but calms much more easier. She is no longer screaming in pain instead it is normal baby crying for attention, milk or change of nappy. She is back to being her happy, calm girl, playing with her toys more. We have our baby back.

The only concern we now have is gaining her weight up. She has only gains an oz in 5 days as she only weights 8.5lb when the health visitor came round on Monday 2nd. We were advice to up her feeds to 3oz every 3 hours or if she wakes early at 2 hours giver her 1noz then give her the rest at 3 hr. Basically feed on demard but not to go too much at once because we will irritate her reflux. We have a clinic appointment next Monday 9th to see how much she has gained after another week. She also has het first immunisation next Wednesday on the 11th.

I can not believe that she is 7 weeks old today, she is growing so fast and despite all that has been going on over the last few week we now have answers, as well as things we can do to treat her. She is feeling better and I am so glad she is on the mend. She has started to really hold her self up, she pushes to stand which she loves to do as well climbing up us. She is beginning to try and roll which is fantastic as she loves laying on her belly so once she can full roll her self over we can lay her down to sleep on her stomach during the day.

When she has tummy time she is reaching for toys, lifting her head as well as pushing off her toes to move herself forward. I think we are going to have a early crawler. We are so proud of our clever girl and loving every moment  we get with her because they grow up to quickly. I miss her when I'm at work but love spending time with her and Ben at the weekend. This weekend we went to winter wonderland in Wimbledon where she met santa for the first time. This Christmas is going to be every special and exciting. With lots to prepare for.

Keep posted for our Christmas plans and about my upcoming surgery.

Milk troubles

Having trouble with her milk. 

If anyone has advise on formula feeding we be grateful for a comment. As we just do not know what to try, being told different things by doctors and pediatricians. So we do not know what to do next. 

We think she sort of has allergy or reflux with her milk, but no one will listen saying it is too early or advoiding the question. Just giving us suggestions about sitting the baby up when we feed her, and dropping down the amount we give her and how often. Without no real investigation or advise we are just not sure what to do. 

She started being feed every 2hr on 2oz on sma formula. However she seemed to still want more after it was finished and only going an hour or so before suckling and crying for more. She was getting very unsettled and would not sleep at night after feeds. Then when we finally did get her to sleep she was also sleeping longer and not waking so we had to wake her for milk. So we spoke to the doctor suggest we up her milk now she is 3 weeks and gaining weight nicley. We then went every 3hr and she was taking in 3oz, which at first was fine, until she was showing the some behaviour. Fussing, crying suckling for more,Sleeping longer and becoming hard to wake, drawing up her knees arching her back and going bright red. She has been conispation  which I have spoke about in previous blogs. Also screaming and becoming hard to settle in the evenings and night. Gp said possible clolic however can not be sure, but she will grow out of it. This was not at all helpful. 

Doctors again said to up the milk to every 4 hr and 4oz. She was sleeping though the night, waking for feeds, this seemed a lot more settled. So we ruled colic out. This also conisides with me going back to work and trying to set a routine so we thought that played a role in this behaviour too. 

However she then became sick, her cold got worse that she was trying hard to breath. All the previous fussyness, crying, arching came back. Despite trying gripe water and tried infacol, nothing smoothed her. She did not like to be put down or laid flat this was making it difficult to get anything done or get any sleep because the only time she was calm,  was being held up and rocked on our chests. Then the projectile vomiting started about an hour after every feed, along with ariyah-mai  tensing in pain. 

We ended up in a&e because of her vomiting, her cold was making it hard for her to breath especially at night when she was laid on her back. They told us that she was gaining weight and seemed fine. But that she was getting to much milk therefore we need to drop back to 3oz every 3 hours. That her bowel movements were normal for a formula feed baby and to keep giving small amount of water after milk to sofen her bowels. 

This time we dropped down her milk, giving her small slips of water after feeds. We kept her up right when feeding, taking breaks to burb in between. Ariyah is a very hard baby to burb therefore it took ages afterwards to burb and rock her to sleep. She liked laying on her tummy but would vomit. So we tried to keep her upright as much as possible. Things seemed to improve for a few days however it was not long before she was vomiting even more, fussing, she was coughing and made sound like she was bring things up when feeding. She seemed hungry all the time, where she was rubbing her month,, suckling on everything, her clothes and us. She brought up flem and was very dribbly. Her skin was really dry and she would just scream in pain again for hours. We just knew something was wrong and at our whits end. 

No one would listen and as a parent that is frustrating. Trust your gut and just do what you feel is best. Get medical advice but also push when you know that there is something wrong. We still doing this and if I have learnt anything in the journey of parenthood is fight and push because otherwise nothing will change. You know best!! 

One good note our little girl is getting so big and strong, she loves tummy time and now holds her head up and tries to push through her arms. She likes to stand and bounce on us. She pulls and copies facial expressions and is just very alert watching us and the cats. She loves laying with them and stroking Hayes (he is the friendly one that will let her grab his fur abit) She has realised she can use her voice to get our attention and have a chat which is amazing.

We have a very clever girl on our hands. 

Resent photos of our beautiful rainbow. 

Going back to work

My first week back.

I went back to work this week after 4 weeks off and I was so hard to leave ben and our baby girl at home. At the same time it was nice to go back, I had missed the kids and everyone had missed me. The kids in my school were very excited and all the staff were asking about Ariyah-mai. It was lovely to be able to talk about her and show everyone photos however it also got frustrating because I was being asked the same thing over and over. 'are you sleeping', 'how is she feeding and sleeping.' which got annoying after answering the same thing several times. Plus making me miss her even more. However everyone is excited to met her.

I also liked that I was able to just get straight back into the routine, I had not missed too much so caught up to some changes quickly. It was like I had never been away. I was leading and planning sessions and able to get a routine at home as well. I would do the morning feed before going to work, give Ben a little more sleep. Then got things ready for him for the day before I left. Then when I got home I did the afternoon feed while Ben made dinner. After dinner we bathed or cleaned Ariyah-mai, and get ready for bed. Then Ben would go to sleep while I did her evening feed before putting her to sleep and going to bed myself. Ben would do the two night feeds so I should sleep enough to go to work.

We did have a few rough nights while our daughter got used to this routine, one night she kept us both up and just would not settle. We then upped her milk and that seemed to help abit. So we think she going through her first proper growth sprit. She is now in newborn clothes for up to 10lb, But can still fit in tiny baby up to 7.5lb clothes. We finding she in between as some tiny baby clothes are alittle small or short on the arms but newborn is still really big. She like to curl her legs in and bend her arms so she end up getting her arms out of the sleeve in her sleeepsuit. Thus ending up tuck in the torso part of the clothing.

She did settle towards the end of the week, and is now sleeping 4 hours over night and taking 4oz of formula. Letting us get some rest too haha. But she is just growing and learning everyday and I hate that I have to go to work worried ill miss her first smile or when she rolls over. She is awake more during the day now and love to study our faces and starting to use her voice to chat to us.

This weekend was lovely to just spend time with her after being at work. She was very awake and just wanted my attention. She was grabbing at my face and fingers. Making faces at me. We played on her play mat but she just want to be held and have that interaction with me which was amazing. She starting to try and smile but not quiet there yet. She does copy facial expressions, poking her tongue out. Then she started really talking by screaming at me and I would make the same notices back, then if I stop to talk to ben she shout til she got my attention back which was very funny.

She really is our little miracle and to hold her and watch her learn and grow is the most amazing and precious gift ever.

1 month old now:

Travelling with a baby.

First trip away--halloween.

Travelling with a baby can be daulting

especially for the first time, but it does not have to be stressful with careful planning.

When it come to packing I always over do it because of my OCD, but this helps when packing for a baby because packing extra is essential. We were away for 4 days so I packed double the amount of Sleepsuits. Just in case she is sick or anything it is always good to have more then needed. I then packed 4 short sleeved and some long sleeve vest incase it got cold, or again she was sick. I packed an outfit for everyday plus one spare and extra tights. I pack trouser bottoms along with the tights taking into account. The time of year and being in whitsable is a lot colder then London. Along with this I made sure we had hats, mittons and socks. I packed two lots of baby shoes, her fox boots for the cold then her glitter silver shoes to go with her dress when we went out for dinner. I also packed around 6 bibs and 8 muslins. These are for sick and burbling we get through many them very easier.

We had to take a big pack of 70 nappies, big pack of wipes and some travel one for our travel changing mat attact to the pram. Then the tin of baby power. We had travel pots with powered in and the flask with hot water for making bottle on the go. We took 6 MAM bottle with us which we brought especially as we knew we be traveling. Not only are the anti colix and reflux bottles, they are small to pack, as well as being able to self sterilize in the microwave. This is important when traveling and staying away from home to ensure bottles are still sterilized without having to take loads of equipment. We have bottle thermus bags that keep the milk bottles warm that attach to the pram which are very useful.

We took 4 blankets, one thick pram one and one for bed then thinner one for during the day and to swaddle her in. Her pram suit to keep her warm when we are out. Her toy money and rattle toy come with us too as can not forget favourite toys. Two dummys in a sterilising pot, a dummy clip. I also took her travel wash bag, which has a thermometer, nail clips, brush, snot sucker, file, wash clothes. I took a towel and travel bodywash, shampoo and moisture that we got as a gift from children's farm. We also took hand sanitizer as well for when we are on buses or trains.

Furthermore it is all about packing extra, planning for what you will need, if out and about on trains, buses or traveling in a car. Preparing bottles on the go and making sure you have things incase the weather is cold, raining or hot, can never be sure in England.

We were only going to our friends house who also have a 2 year old, meaning they had some things they kept like muslins, blankets, toys ect... They have a spare bounser chair we gave them as well as a baby monitor. They could wash things if we needed or ran out of clothes. As well as having a dishwasher and microwave for us to wash bottles. Where as if you are traveling abroad or staying in hotels then other things may need to be taken into accent, like plug in bottle sterilizer or bottle warmer if there is not microwave available.

Ariyah-Mai is still very young that she slept most of the journey and is easy to feed or change on our laps eirther in the back of the car as a pit stop or on the train. She also was able to sleep in the carry cot of her pram because we have a proper carry cot pram with thick matress. Therefore we did not need to take extra travel cot. Our mose basket is a travel one if we do need to take it, which we are most likely to over Christmas for my surgery and staying with family. We knew we be travelling so when we were pregnant we ensure we brought things that would help and be useful when traveling, like a fold up mosess basket, lift weight pram, flasks, powered travel pots, skip hop travel changing mat which clips under the pram. So there are lots of items that can make traveling with a baby less stressful. While they are still young is the best time as the sleep and are easier then when they start walking, eating all the time and are harder to keep still or entertained.

Anyhow we had a lovely time away, it was so lovely to see how excited our niece was, she kept asking for cuddles and was so gentle with her. Gi was a very helpful big cousin bring Ariyah her toys, muslins and things we needed. She got very excited and kept saying nappy change whilst bring us wipes and nappies which was funny. We had a lovely day out for lunch for Ron birthday. It was lucky we packed lots because she definatly went through clothes and muslins. It was very cold and even rained on the Saturday when we were out but lucky she was layered up and warm. We got to see friends that we had not seen for ages and they loved meeting Ariyah-mai. She a very loved and spoil baby getting more cards and gifts.

Ariyah-mai did get a bit unsettled however that was mostly because she got a bit of a cold the second day in, she was snuffly and we had to buy some saline nasal drops. We did also go home early as my dad and step mum came to see us then drove us back to London because she did have a cold and being so young we needed to just be home.

Overall was a lovely trip away, got cute photos and spent time with friends and family. Also to know we can travel and what to ensure we take when we go up to Hull in a few weeks.

Photos from the weekend.