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Had a scare last night!!

Katie87 - 12:20am Jan 30, 2012 EST

Hey Everyone- I have shared before that my 27 weeker struggles with reflux and we have been round and round with formulas to help her with gas but have to be cautious because the thinner formulas she has trouble with. Last night I was feeding her and I had taken the nipple away to try to pace her because she is a piglet and I'm not sure what happened if she choked or refluxed but it poured out of her mouth and nose and she appeared to really be struggling. She is on a monitor and that never alarmed while this happened and her color never really changed that I noticed. I completely panicked and was telling my mom to call 911 as I was over at my parent's. I could tell she was breathing but just really struggling. All of the video and practice I was shown in the NICU of CPR and choking just didn't kick in which was scary! She finally after about two mins calmed down; I suctioned her nose as it was filled with formula. I never knew how scary reflux could be. Today we have really paced her while eating. We let her take a few sips and then give her a break and try to burp her although she never burps for me everytime. Also with this formula that we are on which is similac alimentum it's ready made and after opening it says to refridgerate so she was getting it cold at times. She usually does room temperature bottles. I don't know if the coldness had anything to do with it so we also run hot water over the bottles to take the chill off. I'm scared; I called the pediatrician and they reassured me and told me not to stop this new formula. I will be calling her actual doctor tomorrow as I just spoke with one on call last night. I have noticed at times that she kinda I guess has stuff coming up in her throat and for a second or two it appears she is struggling to get it up and that is equally scary. This formula however does seem to help the gas. She is also on corn oil and he said she could be allergic to that because gas is a symptom of allergies to things which I didn't know. I guess this is somewhat of a vent but also wanting to know if anyone has gone through this problem or not. I hope she outgrows this fast; it's soo scary. I'm scared to lay her down; I'm almost scared to feed her. I feel like I totally failed last night; if she really needed help and I did that we would have been in trouble. My mom says I turned white... My husband was working but was home shortly after it happened which made me feel better; he is good at calming me down. The pediatrician is talking about ditching the monitor in another month as long as the reading looks good. Another thing I'm absolutely terrified about but have tried to tell myself that I just have to trust in the Lord to watch over her and also just know I know what a brady looks like and if she is pale and blue that she is in trouble. I worry about this reflux while she sleeps at night like if she spits up and aspirates??? We have her sleeping in a rock n play sleeper which is good for reflux because it's on an incline. Anyway; advice is welcome and stories if you all have had any issues like this.

Ally_Alex_Alivia's_mom - Jan 30, 2012 4:17 am (#1 Total: 7)

So sorry to hear about your scare. Definitely a scarey thing to go through. I hope you find answers to the reflux soon. I can remember being scared to bring my daughter home because she wouldn't have all the monitors on her like she did in the hospital. You get so used to watching them, but your motherly instinct will kick in if something were to go wrong and you will eventually being to relax. Prayers your way.
Chris

NathansMom13 - Jan 30, 2012 12:58 pm (#2 Total: 7)

Come to ShareUnion 2012: It's the BEST weekend ever!!!

I am so sorry you had such a scare. The good thing is her monitor never alarmed, which means that even though she appeared to be struggling she maintained her oxygen level. I know its scary to watch stuff come out her nose but it doesn't mean anything is seriously wrong. I hope today goes better for both of you.
Laura

liz loschinskey - Jan 30, 2012 3:00 pm (#3 Total: 7)

I love my kids!

Scary indeed.

I too was a nervous mom. After reading this, you know how you reacted, you learn from it.

Your instincts will kick in. Don't forget that. Do not doubt yourself.

Laura's right about stuff coming out of her nose. If I panic'ed every time I saw a noodle or food of some sort come out of Tori's nose I'd be a nervous wreck. I've got a puker. She pukes to watch us react to her puking. Stuff shoots out of her nostrils all the time.(not the same, I know).

No alarms is a bonus!

If it's any concilation, Tori still chugs from her cups to the point where she stops and gasps and takes huge deep breaths after chugging.

I think in your case, if you are confident she won't forget to breath, let her take the bottle as she wants. Tori never burped. Like ever. I'd do about 2oz try and burp her, nothing. To this day, the most she will take is 5 oz's at a time. The nursing staff made sure she remembered how to breath before we left the hospital....as crazy as that sounds.(I was an extremely paranoid NICU mom, still am to an extent)

Love and light to you darlin', you are doing great!
Liz

HOLLYK108 - Jan 31, 2012 9:51 pm (#4 Total: 7)

Thank God everything worked out ok. My son had a bad choking/reflux incident in his "36th Week". We were just days from leaving the NICU. His lungs filled with breast milk and it had to be pulled out by a team of nurses while I stood there frozen. I remember the panic was there, it just wouldn't come up. My nurse put his arm around me when it was done and said it was over. I think you handled everything fine, considering. I hate that we have all had to watch our children struggle to breathe while so many take each and every breath for granted. I think don't really know if I have any advice to give. Just sympathy. And prayers for her reflux to even out soon!!

daynatrosky - Feb 1, 2012 4:38 am (#5 Total: 7)

Hi my name is Dayna,

I am a mother of a now 4 year old 40 pound healthy little boy (born 1lb 12oz at 27 weeks), but went though the exact same problem as you with reflux!! It was a horrible and scary thing. Reading your story brought back lots of memories and reminded me just how much we have gone through. The good news is that it goes away eventually! My son has an absoutly amazing pediatrician who helped me tremendiously along the way. We used a baby formula especially for preemies called Enfamil A+ with way more calories to help put on the weight. For every ounce or two of formula add 1 tablespoon of rice cereal. It helped alot! It didn't make it go away, but because of adding the thickness it helped it stay down much long and he didn't seem to be in as much pain (which helped with less crying

) You'll have to cut a little bit bigger slit in the top of the nipple, just make sure you don't cut it to big, because you want them to eat as slow as possible. I also tried to keep him on as much of a slant as I could after he was done eating. You can buy a little wedge thing that can prop your baby up and give a nice angle to help keep the food down. My pediatrician told me that even holding them upright after feeding might make them throw up, this is because the weight of the baby's upper body is resting on the tummy of the baby and could make things worse... so try the angle thing out it works alot too! Other then that he was on reflux medication as well as everything I just said. My sons reflux starting to get much better when he started eating solid foods all the time, by the time he was about two years old, it wasn't happening all the time but it was still happening. By the time he was just about to turn 3 it was gone! No more medicine, no more nothing

I wish I knew about this site when I was going through this back then, hopefully this helped a bit. The apneas do go away, I know how scary it is!! My son used to throw up a grown man size throw up and then have apneas... i've been pretty much through it all. I'm rambling on now...but if you have any more questions please let me know

Thanks,

Good luck!!

Dayna

Katie87 - Feb 2, 2012 1:46 am (#6 Total: 7)

Thanks All- We are on Similac Alimentum formula with a little added rice cereal and on zantac. She seems to be doing better; not all the way cured of course but doesn't appear to be in so much pain. Thank you Dayna for your story and advice. I too wish I had found out about this site before leaving the NICU as everyone has been a wonderful help and support. We are on the monitor for another month at least and while we are anxious to get rid of it I remain a little nervous about it not being on her at night and during naps... I guess I just have to trust in the Lord. Well better go for now; take care everyone

Belt - Mar 2, 2012 7:41 pm (#7 Total: 7)

My neice was born early....but we are pretty sure they miscalculated her die date...She had really bad reflux and it would come out of her nose also. My sister actually bought different bottles and since then it hasn't been as bad. I think she got Dr. Brown's or something like that.

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