Our first, or second night home ( I can't remember the dates too well) was hell. It seemed like all I did was breastfeed. I was getting absolutely no sleep (really no sleep, no exaggeration, I had 4 hours of sleep in two days) and he just cried an cried, and I cried and cried. Aaron was helpless to do anything to help me because he couldn't feed Baby G and that seemed like all Baby G wanted. After awhile it got so bad that at one point I had Baby G on one breast and Aaron pumping the other breast for me (what guy would do that for their woman?) so I could try to get some sleep and he could feed him. There was almost no milk coming out of my breast. At that point I said screw this and went on a hunt for that sample of baby formula I'd been given. I gave Baby G to Aaron and explained how to prepare a bottle and went to sleep. I don't know how much time had passed, maybe an hour, and Aaron was waking me saying that the nipple on the bottle wasn't working. I was still out of it, obviously, and didn't know that Aaron was handing me a Playtex Vent-Air bottle (whoever came up with those should be shot!) Baby G was screaming, still, and I took the bottle set it down on the bed; woosh...baby formula all over the bed and floor. I took the baby and tried to get him on my breast again...he wouldn't have it. I told Aaron to get an Avent bottle and start over (luckily I had a cupboard full of different bottles.)
That was how we stopped breastfeeding and went to formula. As time passed we noticed that Baby G wasn't sleeping longer than an hour at a time, and was still ferociously hungry all. the. time! Then I started noticing that while he was sleeping he was spitting up into his throat and swallowing it...it would wake him up crying. He occasionally would projectile vomit as well (narrowly missed the computer once.) I started looking up his symptoms, the projectile vomit, the excessive spit-up, the spitting up and swallowing, the back arching screams, the not sleeping, and kept running into articles on reflux. During this time Aaron and I were taking care, and still are taking care, of Baby G in shifts so that we can each get at least some uninterrupted sleep. When your baby won't sleep for more than an hour at a time, and sometimes less, you have to do what you can to survive. It's been a rough month. Some nights Baby G was just too much for Aaron and I would get up to take over and lose more sleep. Aaron has to work, so that leaves me with the baby care for about 18 hours a day, I get about 5 hours of sleep a night, if I am lucky. Because Baby G has been only sleeping an hour at a time, naps have been impossible. This has taken a tremendous toll on my sanity. There have been some days that Baby G was up for 8 to 10 hours straight being fussy and crying, or screaming. These are the days when I feel like I am not gonna make it. After observing Baby G for another couple weeks it was time for his one month check-up, which was last week. I talked to his pediatrician about his symptoms and reflux. She agreed with me and wrote him out a prescription for Zantac. One of the things the pediatrician noted was that Baby G increased his weight, a lot, and that usually babies with reflux don't gain weight. What I have read, and from observing Baby G's eating habits, is that Baby G was using the formula to soothe the pain from the stomach acids coming up in his throat, hence the tremendous weight gain (5 lbs. in one month.)
So, Baby G has been taking Zantac since Monday and we have already noticed a change in the past two days. Last night he slept for 3 hours straight. 3 hours! In a row! Aaron and I got to actually eat dinner together, at the same time. Baby G is sleeping longer than hour more consistently, and wakes up happy fairly often. We've also been able to start him on a feeding schedule. We get to play now, tummy time is easier and he laughs a lot now. I've got the sweet, happy baby I knew was in there.
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