Charlie is doing well still. The public health nurse came today to check on him and had nothing too notable to report. He gained almost 3 oz - putting him at 1/4 oz short of 12 pounds. Not much, but it evens out with his monster gain last week! His lungs sound clear which is fantastic! He has been kind of congested, which always makes me worry - but it is all in his nose and no one seems alarmed by it. If anyone has any good advice on how to remove boogers from baby noses, I would gladly take it! I use saline drops and the bulb syringe, but all I manage to do is immensely upset him and make his congestion sound even worse! There has to be a better way!
His reflux is still an issue. We are stopping one of his meds (reglan) today to see if he still needs it and if being on it has really made a difference. I would rather not play around with his meds, but the pediatrician prefers this. He is not spitting a lot, he is just truly uncomfortable for periods of time throughout the day. This sometimes interferes with his feedings as it hurts him to eat when he is refluxing. And it makes him choke, which is never fun while simultaneously trying to eat. It can be quite frustrating for us and obviously for him. He is hungry, but just can't eat.
Carter's mom Kellie had a great post on her blog explaining reflux a couple of weeks ago. I asked her if I could "borrow" it because she did such a good job with it. Reflux is something that many people deal with, but due to the defect CDH babies have a somewhat different struggle with it. Hopefully this information will help you understand more about the whys and hows of our reflux situation!
With so much talk about Reflux (GERD), I thought I'd take a post to try to explain (in my non-medical way) why reflux is a complication for many CDH kiddos. You recall that Carter was missing his Left Diaphragm (on the right side in this image)--the diaphragmatic hernia he was born with. The diaphragm on both sides helps control the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES). This LES is what opens/closes allowing food that is swallowed to travel down the esophagus into the stomach. In a person with normal anatomy, the LES tightens to keep food in the stomach moving on to the intestines [the first image]. In Carter, because of the absence of the left diaphragm, the LES does not have the muscle control and therefore, can not tighten/close. This allows food to easily travel back up the esophagus = vomiting [the second image].
3 comments:
I tell you when they get the sniffles, being a DH mom always make you listen carefully that it's not in those lungs! Glad his isn't! Sorry about the reflux! Noah has been off Reglan probably a year, but his Reflux is back pretty bad & they had to put him back on meds... I'm glad Charlies doing well!
Continuous weight gain is always a good thing to report :) I'm glad that Charlie is doing so well. We also stopped the reglan to see if it was making a difference and it wasn't. Carter is currently on Prilosec for the acid and Baclofen (it's an anti-seizure med and is not approved for Reflux in the US). I think the Baclofen makes a huge difference on how much Carter spits up/projectile pukes.
I wish I had a good suggestion on the boogers. If you get one, please share :)
HAPPY FATHERS DAY VINNIE...AND A BELATED HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO PATTY
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