Garrett had a TERRIBLE night.  He screamed or fussed ALL night long.  We couldn't figure out what to do for him.  He struggled with a couple of his bottles during the night as well. 

Finally, this morning, I loosened his diaper and he peed.  He seemed to be much more comfortable at that point and stopped screaming.  I started wondering if maybe he had a urinary problem, as I had done the same thing the night before and it worked.

He was ok during the day.  He spent  a good bit of time in  his infant carrier because we were running errands.

He was fussy during the evening.

Garrett had a fair night.  He was a bit fussy after one of his feedings.

I was able to take a bath this morning while he slept in the bassinette, which I had moved into the bathroom.  But as soon as I got out and started to get ready, he started screaming.  I had noticed yesterday morning that he got quiet and even fell asleep while I dried my hair.  So today I turned on my hairdryer and set it on the counter while I put my makeup on.  He fell asleep and slept!  After a few minutes I turned it off and he immediately started fussing.  So I turned it back on and left it running while I put my makeup on.  You gotta figure out tricks like this to survive!

Garrett stayed with Grandma and Great-Grandma (Granny) today.  He did pretty good but had some fussy times.

Garrett struggled with his evening bottle.  It was like he was hungry but after a few sips, he would stop drinking and act frustrated and uncomfortable.  I finally gave up and gave him his pacifier.

Garrett had a complete meltdown in the evening.  It was so obvious that something was really hurting him.  He was screaming and stiffening his legs and abdomen.  If I had a video camera that played back sound I would have recorded it to show the doctor.  I worked with him to no avail.  Finally, I undid his diaper and put my finger on his tummy between his belly button and his "pee pee" ( sorry - Dad can't handle the anatomically correct term... ).  He then peed.  He was then immediately comfortable.  He stopped screaming and acted like the pain was gone.  It was weird!  I was then convinced that the problem might be urinary.

Then after a short while he started screaming again.  As always, I worked with his legs and tummy.  Nothing was helping him.  I finally broke down and used a suppository.  He pooped about 3 Tablespoons!  And boy was he happy after that!  And he was hungry too, so I offered him the bottle again and he ate happily.  He then went to sleep quite easily.  So now I'm back to thinking that the problem is intestinal.  It might be urinary as well or maybe something enlarges internally and presses against his bladder?  I'm just thinking of all angles at this point because I am desperately trying to figure this out!

Garrett had a really good night.  He was so comfortable.  He went back to sleep right after he ate.   Even my husband remarked at one point during the night that G had slept for quite a while.

Used the hairdryer trick again this morning...

I called the doctor fist thing this morning to get an appointment to check back in with the doctor and tell her that I am convinced that he has an intestinal or urinary problem.  Well, they were all booked today and it was late afternoon before I heard back from the nurse.  We talked and I stressed my theories and she scheduled an appointment for tomorrow morning with the pediatrician.  At this point I am hoping to get a referral to Riley's GI specialist.

Garrett continued to have a great day.  All day long he would eat, have some quality awake time and fall asleep.  He was also passing gas again, which he had not been doing.  He eagerly drank his bottles.  He had two more BM's during the day on his own.

That is the way it should be for a baby!

I'm just interested to see if after another day of feedings if he gets in trouble again, because it almost seems like every other day is a bad one.

He still has reflux regardless of these other problems.  I am still giving him 5mg/cc of Prilosec, two times a day.  The doctor's original plan was for me to drop back to one time a day after tomorrow, but we will see what she wants me to do after we see her tomorrow.  I have not been giving him the Levsin drops.  I don't think they were helping.  I am still using the Dr. Brown's bottles exclusively.

On several occasions I have put Garrett on his tummy during the day.  I have only done this when he has been completely miserable.  And I always sit right beside him constantly and watch him breath.  He sleeps so soundly.  I'm going to mention it to the doctor again tomorrow, as I feel so certain that if he could sleep on his stomach at night on a monitor like his older brother did that we would all get more sleep!  I don't think she' going to budge on it, but I'm going to try.

Today when he was feeling good, he slept for a while on his back and on his side.  He really prefers his tummy though, but it's not worth the risk of SIDS.

I had a mother email me today about choking after a reflux episode.  Garrett does experience this.  The stuff that comes up sometimes can be so thick and like mucous.  He will choke on it and gag.  I just sit him up immediately and help him through it.  He will then sound "snorty" like the gook has gone up into his sinuses.  I told the pediatrician and she didn't seem to be too concerned.  I will speak to her about it again tomorrow.

In yesterday's post I wrote this:  "I'm just interested to see if after another day of feedings if he gets in trouble again, because it almost seems like every other day is a bad one."

Heavens to Mergatroid!!  I had NO idea what I was in store for.  Garrett had, without a doubt, THE worse night he has had, last night.  All was well until after his 1 AM feeding.  He struggled with the bottle and then would NOT go back to sleep.  Or let's say, he apparently COULDN'T go back to sleep.  He moaned and groaned and grunted from ( and I promise this is true ) 1 AM until 7:30 AM when he finally drifted off to sleep (out of exhaustion I think).

As usual, we tried everything.  We even put him on his stomach and it didn't help.  I have never been so exhausted in my life.  I probably got 15 minutes of "napping" total.

I was so thankful that he had an appt. already scheduled for today.  I planned on asking for a referral to a specialist.  It was obvious that he was straining all night. 

When the conversation with the pediatrician first began, it was mentioned that perhaps they would do a urinary analysis and at one point it was discussed that they might obtain a stool sample to check for possible problems.  "Yeah!", I'm thinking, we're going to keep trying to find a solution.

She advised me to drop down to one dose of Prilosec a day to see if he can get by on a smaller amount.  She asked if I was using the Levsin drops, and I told her that I didn't think they did anything.  She said Levsin could help with motility, which is where I was thinking Garrett's problems originated.

She checked him over again and finally came to the conclusion that what I had was a colicky baby with reflux.  She went on to say that colicky babies are super-sensitive to all stimuli.  So whenever he has to poop or pee or has gas - it's all to the 100th degree for his immature system.  I asked her if there could be anything else that a specialist could check for and she said she really didn't think so.

Then we talked about Garrett's enormous growth between visits.  This visit he was 10 lbs.!  So he gained a 1/2 pound in one week.  She asked how much and how often he was eating and I said 3.5 ounces every 2.5 to 3 hours.  She thought this was way too much (even though it was in the acceptable range that she had given me a few visits ago).  She said to drop back down to 2- 2.5 ounces every 2.5 to 3 hours.  She thought maybe he was overeating and this was contributing to his problems.

So at this visit that I was hoping was going to produce further results, I was told that I just had a colicky baby and to stop feeding him so much.  Well, that was obviously not what I was hoping to hear and I just lost it.  I was SO tired and broke down in tears and told her so.  I didn't even know what else to say at that point.

My mom was with me and asked her about Garrett sleeping on his stomach again and once again, she plugged her ears.  She said that even if he slept well that way that it was not the right way to sleep.  Mom then asked her about the store-bought monitors that alarm when the baby doesn't move for so many seconds.  She was not impressed with the idea of this at all. 

Garrett had been laying on his back on the examination table while she was talking and he was fussing.  She sat him up to listen to his back and made a comment on how he had stopped fussing.  I said, "See! Because he's off his back!"

I don't know what made her change her mind, me crying, the thought of us using a store-bought monitor or seeing his disposition change when he was off his back, but the next thing she reluctantly says is that she will have someone check with my insurance company to see if they will pay for an apnea monitor.  I don't think she was very happy about doing this.  At that point I was willing to pay for it out of pocket if she would just order it.  I just felt like we would be in better shape because he would sleep easier and longer on his stomach.

The nurse came back in and said someone from the monitor company would be at my house within 4 hours.  Long story short, the apnea monitor arrived yesterday afternoon and was put to use immediately!

Garrett slept for almost 3 hours on his stomach yesterday afternoon!  And the only reason he woke up was because he was hungry, as I had only given him 2.5 ounces before he took his nap.  He was SO comfortable the whole time.  None of this fitful sleeping like always.

I don't know if this is going to be the answer or not, but it can't hurt.  I'm trying to have hope again since it doesn't sound like there is much else that is going to be done.

The test will be to see how he does tonight.  This evening he had a 2.5 ounce bottle and was not impressed.  He wanted more and I had to keep from giving it to him.  I think this is going to be difficult.  I probably should have gradually dropped back instead of going immediately down to 2.5 ounces.  May have to bump it up to 3 ounces and work down.

I think Garrett had a really good night last night.  He seemed to sleep really well and comfortably on his stomach.  The alarm went off at least once for a loose connection, so it will take some time to get used to that again.  At one point this morning I had moved him to my arms and the Low Heart Rate alarm went off.  I'm not sure why.

He went back to sleep after his feedings except one.  He was just fussing and crying and we couldn't figure out why.  I got him up and changed his diaper again.  I worked with his legs and thought I heard him finally pee.  He also immediately calmed down.  Then I realized he had a BM.  His discomfort was leading up to a BM again.

I put him back down after that and he continued to fuss for a while.  I think after he has a BM that he still experiences some discomfort.  But it wasn't long before he went to sleep, so it wasn't too bad.

It seems like we were up more last night since he was eating more often, but I feel like I got some sleep.  I don't know if this will be the case every night, but at least for the first night, we did get some much needed rest.

This morning he is doing ok.  Our biggest problem is that he is still wanting more at each feeding and we're trying not to give it to him, since the doctor advised us to feed him less.  I gave him a 2.5 ounce bottle and he was NOT happy afterwards.  We tried to put him back down to sleep, but he was having none of it.  We finally broke down and gave him another ounce.  He seemed a little more content after that.  We will definitely have to go from 3.5 ounces to 3 ounces for a little while and then work our way down to 2.5.  I don't think there's any way he will only take 2 ounces.

We are also trying to burp him every half ounce to try and stretch the bottle out so he won't drink it so fast.  But he can suck down a whole ounce before you know it!

 This morning we gave him his dose of Prilosec, but today we will start giving it to him only once a day as the doctor directed and see how he does.

Garrett continued to have a good day.  He had a lot of awake time where he was really comfortable.  We took him outside and he enjoyed the fresh air and sitting in his carrier.  He even fell asleep.

Daylight Savings Time Begins - Did you "spring" your clock forward an hour?  ( BTW - Just what I needed - another way of losing an hour of sleep!! )

Garrett had a GREAT night last night.  He went to sleep at 8:45 PM and did not wake up until 1:45 AM!  That was *5* hours of uninterrupted sleep!  He was on his tummy on the monitor.

We couldn't believe he went that long.  If only he would wake up and eat and go back to sleep for that long. After that good run, he was up every 2 hours.  After his 4 AM feeding he was having a hard time.  You could tell he was trying for a BM.  He continued to be restless for the rest of the morning.  He wasn't too interested in his breakfast bottle, but finally got some of it down.  Then he went back to sleep.

I just feel like if there was *something* we could do for his BM's that we would be on the track to success.  If he would strain for 20-30 minutes and then have a BM, then that I could deal with and would agree that no intervention is necessary.  But when he is straining and seems miserable for HOURS on end, I just feel like there has to be something we can do to help him.

I try and just tell myself that maybe it isn't necessarily hurting him, but maybe like the doctor said, the sensation just *seems* so much worse to him because he is super-sensitive.  But what if we're wrong?  What if he really is in pain for all that time?  It's SOOOO frustrating!!

Garrett has had a really good day.  You could tell every now and then that he was straining.  It was kind of humorous, as this afternoon, I was discussing his "poop problems" with his grandmother when he finally had some luck in that department!  He must have thought, "Ok, if I finally give it up, will you quit talking about it???"  (Boy, will he be mortified one day when he finds out I've chronicled his "problems" on the Internet!! <VBG> )

Garrett had another BM at 5:30 AM this morning.  He slept well during the night.  He was a tiny bit fussy before the BM, but while he was having it, he was just as calm as he could be.

He had a great day.  We spent most of the day over at my grandmother's house.  He slept for quite some time.  My mother even said to my grandmother, "Isn't he a different baby than before??"