Sara Beth has always been a fussy baby. Heather and I have worked hard to keep her from crying, but it has always been a battle. At first we thought it might have been something that Heather ate, so Heather scaled her diet back to nothing but oatmeal with lactose free milk. That didn't do anything. We then asked the doctor, and he prescribed some Levson, which did help a bit. SaraB was better, but it still took a lot of work to keep Sara Beth from going into meltdown mode. But we have been holding her and rocking her. Heather called the doctor last week to say that something was still wrong; that the Levson was not the right medicine. SaraB's regular doctor was not in that day, and she was transferred to a different doctor's office. A "helpful" receptionist responded "Well, you know that baby's cry, right?" and that there weren't any nurses or doctors available.
Well, this morning, when Sara Beth spit up, it was bloody. So Heather took her to SaraB's regular doctor. The doctor diagnosed that SaraB has one of the worst cases of acid reflux that he has seen. Apparently the blood was from SaraB's esophagus that has been damaged from all the acid. He also said that might be why she didn't take naps during the day: she hurt. So, Sara Beth is now on Prevacid, and seems to be doing much better. The stuff takes a little while to fully kick in, but there is marked improvement. Sara Beth took a full 5 hours worth of naps today, which is more than she has had since we brought her home from the hospital. She also had her longest feeding on record at a full 30 minutes. And best of all, no more blood in her spit up. So all signs point to this really helping Sara Beth to feel better.
But despite all the problems with the acid, Sara Beth is still growing. While in for the appointment today, she weighed in at a respectable 11 pounds and 14 ounces. Her growth is slowing from a pound a week to "only" a pound every two weeks, but she is a fully healthy baby girl now.
SaraB can now hold on to her rattle. Right after this picture was taken, she bopped herself in the head with it.
Another attempt at capturing a smile on Sara Beth's face ends in failure:
1 comment:
Bless her heart, I will pray for her each day that her acid reflux goes away. Hannah had that when she was a baby and most babies do outgrow it. It finally just goes away. I will pray for that specificaly to happen.
Love you guys and Heather, you look fabulous!!
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