Every Three Hours...

We had our follow up appointment with the new GI doctor today. The good news is that I really like him and am thankful we get to see him. The bad news is that I wish we didn't have to see him. Anyways, that being said, we have unraveled more of the puzzle of B's health problems.

Beckett had his gastric emptying scan about week and a half ago. It is not easy to watch your baby strapped to a table with adhesive tape for 90 minutes. He was fairly upset for a lot of the test (who wouldn't be?) and I felt pretty helpless to do anything to make him happy. He just kept staring at me like, "pick me up! Don't you hear me screaming at you!" And I couldn't. I think it almost made it harder that he could see me because it is hard to see mommy when there is nothing she can do. You know what I mean? Can you imagine just standing over your baby's bed while he tries to fall asleep? Not easy...All in all, I think it went pretty well once I found a good Baby Einstein DVD to keep him distracted. Apparently, he is one of the few infants that doesn't fall asleep during this test. Big surprise...

Anyways, today we found out that he does have delayed gastric emptying/gastroparesis. This means that his stomach empties food into the small intestine at a slower rate. Unfortunately, his colon also moves at a slow rate because of the abnormality of the nerves. We do not know the exacts about his small intestine, but I think it can be assumed that it must be slow, too. Anyways, this DGE can be the blame for much of his spit up and vomit. If the food doesn't empty into the small intestine, it just comes back up. This can also result in his tummy filling up to quickly because it doesn't empty at a normal rate.

Well, because of this, I am back to feeding the baby every three hours around the clock...the 7 month old baby...No food, just formula every three hours. We are going to feed him smaller amounts every three hours and hope that he puts on some weight. He gained 0 ounces over the last few weeks. The NG tube came back up, as well, because continuous feeds on a pump put smaller amounts in he tummy at a time so it doesn't get so overwhelmed with a bulky feeding all at once. We are going to see how this feeding through the night goes, and hopefully, we can sidestep the tube.

All this being said, there is nothing easy about having a sick baby. I was at the grocery store pharmacy in the big, over populated suburb, and they knew me. I got there with a new prescription, and they asked me how Beckett was doing? (It is very kind and friendly, and one reason why I really like this pharmacy and all...I do recognize that.) But they know ME. They know MY 7 month old baby. Out of all the tons of people in this area, after only living here 2 months, they know us. And I think that is one of those moments where it hits me...my baby is sick. He is on 8 different medicines daily, in addition to his prescription formula and miscellaneous antibiotics for ear infections. We are doing everything we can for him, and limiting his meds as much as possible. But he actually needs this medicine just to poop. Hate to say it, but its true. All the medicine is just to make my child digest food. Yes, it is hard. Wondering what the effect of all the drugs has on him...or will have on him. Wondering which one makes him cranky and crampy? Wondering which one might keep him awake? But without it, his little body cannot process food. And digesting food is a must. I wonder how this will work out in the long term, but again just trying our best to take it a day at a time and give it all to God.

Please keep praying for us as we continue to get more pieces to the puzzle. Please pray that I get some energy for going back to the "newborn stage." Please pray that Beckett's body will handle the feeds and start figuring out what to do with it. Please also pray for sweet, energetic Brant. Thank you so much for listening.