Reflux and Weaning

After several intrusive tests and intravenous antibiotics, Tiddler's "dusky episodes" during the first 8 days of life were put down to Reflux. I remember the first time a Paediatrician said this I was very cynical and I will admit highly irritated. My newborn baby had stopped breathing for God's sake- how can that be Reflux? She had nothing in her tummy the first time it happened, how can that be Reflux? Anyway I was of course thankful it was nothing more sinister. We were "finally"* discharged with a diagnosis of "Silent Reflux" and a very daunting cocktail of medication at a user-unfriendly every 4 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours and 6 times a day.

We have always kept Tiddler's crib tilted (waste of a bloody good John Lewis glider crib, that!) and until very recently always kept her upright for an hour after every feed. I dont jig her about. She misses out on a lot of silly Mummy / Tiddler dancing :( Her medication has been tinkered with over time and she is now on a fairly strong medication once a day. (Omeprazole)

The thing about reflux is that its a condition that varies wildly but does seem to be exacerbated by teething / colds etc. Frustratingly it can seem that you are turning a corner and things are getting better and then you can be brought down to earth with a bang and whole lot of vomit!

Our Paediatrician had said originally we should wean at 4 months but due to Tiddler's low tone and inability to sit, as well as suspected Cows Milk Protein allergy we were then advised against this. Tiddler has had a rough couple of months health wise and so weaning has taken a back seat until now.

She has been doing really well with purees in the last couple of weeks, certainly enjoying an unprecedented hunger and desire to eat. However, she does seem to have a very strong gag reflex. This emerged in the first few days of weaning a while back and she gagged and vomited on a very thin puree of carrot. Since then, she has mainly coped with puree and we never gave her milk just before solids so as to make sure she keeps the milk in her! I am now attempting to introduce lumps and am finding that reflux is rearing its nasty head again :( This evening I gave her 1/4 of a tiny tiny Annabel Karmel pasta shell... she managed three quarters but the 4th made her gag and she threw her entire feed up. Now the saving grace is that Tiddler hardly seems bothered by this- its a silent evacuation rather than lots of tears and retching- just realised this is quite graphic, hope there are no vomit phobics/ people eating while reading this ! It is hard for me though- I spent quite a while preparing her dinner and then feeding it. To then see it all come back up again is dispiriting, feels like Reflux is back. I dont know how much slower we can wean her though as the lumps were tiny. Puzzled. Bloody Reflux.


* we had a lot of "final" discharges...

2am Shenanigans with Tiddler mark 2

Ho ho ho how I laughed to be woken up at 2 am for milk by Tiddler. Hilarious! The bizarre thing is that she has literally only ever done this once or twice when tiny tiny... now I know thats not normal, and indeed due to her size we were having to wake her in the night for feeds untill she was 4 or 5 mths old.

Its so funny, I keep saying it but I swear someone has swapped my baby! She has this voracious hunger (note to self- probably normal hunger) and its just so lovely to see. I don't really mind the 2 am thing, course I don't. Until you have had a baby who refuses milk to the extremes of dangerously low blood sugar or has been tube fed as the only means of getting milk down them, I don't think you can fully appreciate how bloody fantastic it is to have a baby that feeds!

This whole new baby malarkey (you know, the one that has been swapped) is confusing though. Solids are now also going really well, thanks to a special tumbleform chair being delivered by our Local Authority - very very swiftly I might add. Tiddler has Hypotonia (low muscle tone) and some breathing/ swallowing co-ordination problems and we struggled to get her to feed in her normal high chair as she slouched and was just plain not interested. This chair on the other hand has changed everything. She opens her mouth like a little bird and gulps her food down.

I am really enjoying cooking for her and watching her experiment with different flavours. I am trying to get the balance right though between solids and milk as I think at times she is filling up with purees to the detriment of her milk, hence the 2 am wake up call!! I am also anxious that we are behind a little in terms of food types- I am trying to encourage chewing but I will admit this is not going too well and I am terrified she is going to choke! Today I tried a bit of very ripe pear. Didn't go down too well it has to be said.

We are learning, but thats fine and thats normal. Normal is good. I have missed normal.

Time and hamster wheels...

A question for you all: how on earth do you fit things into your day? Especially those of you juggling paid work and more than one child? It is impossible I swear.... I know they say that if you want something done to ask a busy person and I do believe there is truth in this, maybe this is my problem. I am struggling to fit the essentials into my day let alone the luxuries such as blogging/calling family/non-urgent laundry/ eating cake etc

Tiddler has begun a new regime of "sleep is for the weak, sleep is for the weak, sleep is for the weak" and so baby free time where I can rush around the house like a whirling dervish are over, my activities are curtailed and the house looks like a bomb has hit it. Joy.

So, will this change? How do people get all they need done? I NEED TIPS! In particular I am finding the preparation of purees for Tiddler to be particularly time consuming but really do want to home cook her food if at all possible. Now she is eating what must be half her bodyweight she's getting through what I prepare pretty quickly and so its a bit of a neverending  hamster wheel. Oh hang on- is that the deal, maybe I am missing something... is riding the hamster wheel an essential feature of motherhood?