Healthy living

Yesterday, I was a little nervous about posting an update. I had to go to work, and in the afternoon I got a call that that Mallorie was running a fever. I called the pediatrician's office, and was told if she seemed like she had any respiratory difficulties, she had to go back in. So I didn't want to post anything, and just waited to see.

She had the best-ever night. She isn't having problems with her breathing, and something else. I've mentioned the problems with the old gagging/reflux/vomiting stuff; she is having none of that, at all! And the secret, I really believe, is the switch to Prevacid.

I'd asked to switch to it months ago, after hearing several parents in about a 2 week period tell me that their children had such reflux/vomiting issues, until they switched to Prevacid. So we got the med, but partly because so many of us get involved in administering Mallorie's meds, we seemed to keep forgetting NOT to give Zantac, and TO give Prevacid. Once the Zantac was given, I felt we couldn't do the Prevacid, so we kept not being consistent with it. OR, maybe her near-continuous gagging was related to her still being so close to the time on the vent. But for whatever reason, we never saw a big improvement.

Then, I did some more home visits where I heard parents talking about good results from changing to Prevacid, so I decided to retry a couple of days before she got sick. And when they asked at the hospital about home meds, I just said her meds included Prevacid, and not Zantac. So the time she was in the hospital (and since), she's had an honest trial. And no. More. Vomiting. At all.

No gagging, either. None of us can stop talking about it. I'm so tuned into little noises, and keep asking, "Is she spitting up? Can someone look?" But nothing, not even the watery eyes telling us she's refluxing.

At this rate, if she keeps taking in her food and doesn't vomit the feedings up, she can't help but gain weight!

And another thing. I think she also sleeps better because her new ultra-cool g-button is so easy on her tummy, and she's so much happier as a tummy sleeper. In fact, she would just as soon stay on her tummy ALL NIGHT, and when we turn her to a side, eventually she's going to let us know she wants back to her tummy. I think much of the frequent repositioning she used to require throughout the night had to do with the discomfort of sleeping on a hard, raised lump, so we did side, side, tummy, and kept the rotation all night. Now that the Mic-Key "lump" isn't there, she wouldn't mind if we NEVER repositioned her. Just change my diaper with me here on my tummy, pour some milk in the syringe, and see you in the morning. Thank you very much.

We had to pick her up and MAKE her join the world this morning at about 11 am!!! We'd already done her meds, morning feeding, breathing treatments, and blood pressure measurements, all with her snoozing on her tummy, and nothing would make her decide to wake up on her own. Oh, yeah, Dr. H is still her hero. Big time.