7/22/09

Abe's eyes are now mature. His ROP did not progress beyond stage 2 (good) however his eyes do deviate to the side. This might require surgical intervention down the road. His next appt is in November. He tracks intermittently with his eyes. The eye doctor recommended yellow toys and a light. I am using my otoscope as a light and I got a baby Einstein yellow duck. She did not recommend anything with too much color since the goal is to master fine focus and not be focusing on too much at one time. This is difficult since most baby toys have lots of color. He is 12 pounds 14 oz and 62 cm. He is taking more by breastfeeding or bottle and less by tube feeding. However his reflux is significant. I have cut caffeine out of my diet on some days however Mc Donald's has awesome sweet tea for a dollar that is hard to resist; especially on hot and sunny days. His height measurement tends to be all over the place so I question it. I read that eliminating dairy, caffeine and citrus out of the mother's diet can help a breastfed baby with reflux (GERD). I am starting with caffeine however there are so many foods that are considered "dairy" that I eat. Also calcium and vitamin D are important in prevention of osteoporosis. He was started on Prevacid 15 mg solu-tab a week ago however I have not seen much improvement so now he is also on Zantac in the evening. I would prefer that he does not need medication for GERD. I know when I was pregnant I had acid reflux and it is pretty miserable and would have to take medication for it occasionally. If this means he can stop the tube feeding that I will continue the medication. He has shown some improvement over the last day. I was very concerned about him tolerating the amount of his feeding. He is supposed to get 3 oz plus 2 cc (92 cc) every 3 hours day and night. Does anyone know of any natural ways to help babies with reflux? We have a wedge (up right position for him), I try to hold him upright while feeding and minimize movement after he eats. I am not sure what else to do. Sometimes he is fine until I put him in his wedge, when I need to pump, and he starts coughing then spits up everywhere. His sodium bicarbonate level was 26 yesterday (good). This means that his lungs are worker better and that he is not in a chronic state of respiratory acidosis (lungs not functioning properly enough to have proper exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide). He is having an EGG tomorrow morning as part of the work up for seizure disorders. The exam in scheduled for 8:30AM. It will take 1 hour and he needs to be asleep. This might be difficult since he is use to eating at 9AM however it was the only appointment available. Please pray that he is calm or that the test does not show any evidence of a seizure disorder. Also pray that his CT scan next week does not show increased intracranial pressure or need for a VP shunt. His next appointment with pulmonary doctor is in August; please pray for oxygen wean. It will be so much easier to go places with him without the oxygen and monitor. We did go to a breastfeeding moms meeting today. It was nice to get out of the house. It was also reassuring to know that other moms have had difficulties with breastfeeding. I was concerned that I would be the only one who has to pump and use a bottle. I was the only one who had a baby with a tube feeding though. I learned some information and provided some too. I tried a Moby wrap at the meeting. This is awesome and I would recommend to all mothers especially premature babies. Provides good head support, comfortable for the mother and is recommended for premature babies. I just need to order one now. abe is hungry, gotta go.