Health Update

Reiders - Reido - Reido Mosquito - Feedy Reidy - Mr. Reid - Reido Speedo

These are just a few of the lovely nicknames our son now has. We have no idea why we call him those but we do. Won't he be thrilled? Many of you know that Reid has been a struggle when it comes to the eating department. This past week has proven no different. Just for keeping, here's a quick recap of the past seven weeks:

Weeks 1 and 2 - nursing. I thought he was doing great - proper swallowing, latch, cheek movement. I have spent 2 years of my life nursing kids so I had experience. However, Reid only eats about 1/3 of what he should while at the breast. This was awful for his weight gain as well as for my milk supply. Result: Two Week Check - 6 lb 10 oz

Weeks 2-5 - pumping 8 times a day and providing bottles. Weekly weight checks at the post office. Result: 8 lbs

Week 5 and 6 - Vacation to Minnesota. Still pumping bottles until he suddenly decides to spit up nearly everything that enters his mouth. I attempt to nurse, and Reid appears to be chugging like a champ! Woo hoo! Much better vacation. However, he starts to spit up more. We weigh him when we get home and he is in the low 8 pounds, and should be over 9 since the time he weighed 8 pounds.

I call our doctor to try to get in - seemingly important case to me - 6 week old who isn't gaining weight nor eating. However, none of the five doctors can fit him in until two days from when I call and then suggest I take him to the ER. Not feeling that much of an urgency, and also quite upset at their response, I am mad. I had previously emailed our Edmond pediatrician about this on Monday, and long, long, long story short, he wanted me to bring in Reid so I take Reid to go see him at 5:00 on Tuesday night. Reid weighed in at 8 lb 8 oz in his office. While there, he received a 2 oz bottle and in front of the doctor, continued his lovely vomiting. Doctor felt this warranted an ultrasound of his tummy. By 6:40 that evening, we were out of Mercy Hospital with a normal ultrasound result (all of this quite quicker than our local ER would have been).

Thursday I had an appointment with a lactation consultant and she confirmed what I knew - we have a great latch and he's nursing properly. During this visit, his weight was taken before and after nursing - he only gained around 1.5 oz and they hope for 3 oz. And then he spit up.

So Reid likes to nurse but just is very lazy and apparently doesn't have a hungry mechanism in his brain so he rarely cries to eat - all this has led to extremely slow weight gain. He just turned 7 weeks and has gained just over one pound.

The plan: treating him for reflux. I am now pumping again about 8 times a day. One to two tablespoons of rice cereal are added to the bottles to thicken it up which should help him keep it down. This is the first step our doctor (back to our Edmond one) wants us to take before trying medicine. The past two days have been pretty good with only a few bottles a day getting spit up heavily. I hope to continue to do this until Reid is three months old. Hopefully, in time, he will become more aggressive at the breast and be able to nurse. If by three months, he still won't gain nursing, then we'll look at formula treating reflux.

Reiders - you're a toot! This makes three for three of our kids that has been a poor eater at birth but Reid's is the worst case. If you have a healthy eater, say a prayer of thanksgiving!