Our
journey with GERD began two weeks after our son, Shane, was born. When he was
born I breastfed him and he seemed to handle it fairly well. But, I was not
adjusting quite as well. So, the day after he was born I decided to bottle feed
him and he spit up everything he ate. The nurses told me it wasn't everything,
that it just looked like it, and that spitting up was normal for new babies. It
didn't feel right to me so I continued to breastfeed until it started making me
bleed badly. We put him on formula and he started spitting up a lot more so our
ped at the time put him on Enfamil AR, it didn't work, so we added 1 tbsp.
cereal per ounce of formula and it helped a little, but he seemed to hurt still,
so we started zantac. On the zantac he started throwing up every time he ate,
and the ped told us throwing up was normal. By now, I'm starting to think they
do have no idea what exactly normal is. So, we changed peds. The new one was
GREAT! The best there is in my opinion. We did tests and started reglan,
she then sent us to Birmingham Children's Hospital in Alabama to see a ped GI,
he upped his amount of reglan and put him on prilosec instead of zantac, and
told us Shane was not a surgical candidate yet. His reasoning being Shane was
not loosing weight and his esophagus wasn't burning......yet!
My
question then was, why wait? But he seemed to think I was being selfish, so we
went back home. The next week we wound up in the ER twice for IVs so Shane
could get the fluids he needed because he had stopped eating. I guess he figured
if he didn't eat, he would not throw up. The second ER visit the ped sent us
back to the Children's Hospital, but this time, we were admitted and they
watched Shane for 4 days before deciding to do a fundo. On November 1st he had
his fundo done and we never saw any signs that he was in pain afterwards.
He has been a great baby ever since and a joy to have.
Our
second child was born a month ago and he too has reflux. We have tried using
isomil, Enfamil lacto free, and regular similac. We are now trying a new brand
we found called Gentle Moments, it is supposed to be easier to digest. They
also put him on zantac and reglan, but like with Shane they made him throw up.
So, we took him off of them. He seems to spit up more lately and has become very uncomfortable.
Now it seems to be a game. Our ped here, since we just moved, seems to think I
want Andrew to have the surgery. And in a sense I do. But only after every other
method is tried and has failed. I would just like for my baby to feel better.
Now it is a day to day thing with load of laundry. But with God watching over us
and giving us strength we will prevail.
Links to GERD Sites
Pediatric Gastroesphageal Reflux
Frequently Asked Questions about GERD
Different Links to Information about GERD
