I've mentioned it before, and I'm sure I'll have to say it again. Reflux is a bitch. Since my last
update, Henry has gone back to having a terrible time with his reflux. He has spent most nights waking up screaming. When he does this he is completely inconsolable. Nothing helps him; not rocking, not nursing, not coming into our bed. He just screams and screams. Last week, Henry's pediatrician referred him back to the
pediatric GI doctor that we saw when he was having his pooping problems.
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| Being strapped down. His head was strapped once the doctor came in. |
The GI doctor has changed his medication again, and added some new things for us to do to try to control the reflux. But basically, Henry is already taking the maximum dose of the medication and we just have to wait for him to outgrow the reflux. She said reflux generally peaks during this age, and that 95% of babies will outgrow the reflux by their first birthday.
But just in case something was wrong with Henry internally, which would be causing the reflux, she wanted him to have an upper GI series done. Well that was this morning. Ugh. It was horrible. It was one of the worst mornings of my life.
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| Waiting to be called in. Poor Henry hadn't eaten in over 3 hours. |
During the procedure, Henry was strapped
to a rotating board. They gave him the barium (used to take x-rays) through an NG tube which was placed up his nose. Then they forced 6 oz of barium into his digestive system while rotating the board and taking pictures. It only took about 15 minutes but it was horrible. I have never heard Henry scream the way he did this morning. He was so worked up that his entire body was sweaty and shaking by the time they were done. Morgan and I could do nothing but watch and cry.
The good news is, there is nothing structurally wrong with Henry! It was a relief to know this. But this also means there is pretty much nothing we can do for his reflux, but wait it out...
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| His little arm band. The allergy sticker is for his milk protein intolerance. |
