So as I said earlier in the
Uncle Drew's Visit post, Colin has been dealing with reflux issues. It all started (or at least went from silent reflux to painful red-in-the-face, I-don't-even-want-to-look-at-a-bottle reflux) when the twins dropped down to 6 feedings a day on February 28th. After about that date, it wouldn't matter if it was expressed breastmilk or formula in the bottle - he'd only eat a little bit before breaking down.
So we went to the doctor and they prescribed Zantac (Ranitidine) - at that time Colin weighed in at 11lbs5oz. The Zantac helped some days, and then other days he would refuse a bottle and be screaming so much that Michael was worried his little head would explode. Some times at the mere SIGHT of the bottle, his little lip would stick out and start to quiver...
One week on the meds goes by, and I decide to thicken with Gerber's Organic brown rice cereal - also at the suggestion of doctors and nurses. This is something that I didn't want to do, but we were desperate to make our little guy feel better. I was adding 1.5Tbsp to 4oz in our Playtex Drop-in Nurser bottles, and I switched to a fast nipple so it wouldn't clog up. The next day he was even refusing his morning bottle (which had been his least problematic) so back to the doctor for a weigh-in. This time it showed that he had lost 5oz, which isn't significant since some of his poops are heavier than that, I think! Still, the doc said that there's not much more we can do for him at this point other than to check his weight in another week and then revisit our options (think GI specialist). The two most important things are that he's gaining weight (he wasn't) and that he's not in pain (he is).
SO back home I went, feeling like an inadequate mother... did babies even have reflux when I was a baby 28 years ago, oops I mean 35 years ago? Maybe they didn't worry as much? My mother told me that I didn't care too much for the formula and didn't really start gaining weight until I was put on solids. But isn't breastmilk or formula all a baby needs for the first six months?
Colin's worst day by far was this past Saturday morning... he cried so hard that he was hoarse. We're talking high-pitched, convulsive SCREAMING. We stopped the stupid rice cereal which was hurting his tummy and making him constipated. Then it dawned on both of us at the same time... what if the problem lies with the bottle, itself?
I guess it was hard for us to even come to that conclusion since we spent the beginning of their second month on the great bottle hunt, and we thought that we already found the perfect bottle for the twins... one that reduced their gassiness and that had a natural latch nipple so it's more like mommy. Yes, those Playtex Nursers with the Drop-In system won over the more expensive Avents and Born Frees and Dr. Brown's bottles - simply because the twins liked them best. So on Saturday afternoon, we tried the Dr. Brown's 4oz BPA-free bottle with Colin... and what a difference it made. Whether it was really the bottle giving him pain or just an association thing he had developed, we don't care. We only wish it had been suggested to us sooner to try a different bottle in combination with the Zantac.
He's back up to taking 4-5 ounces at a time, eating like a little piggy and very happy. We have another weight check tomorrow, so bring it on Mr. Scale... we're crossing our fingers that we've tackled our first baby nightmare.
