Does the spit-up ever end?

I'm guessing the answer is a big fat NO.
Alex's swallow study didn't go too well. He hated the stuff, even though he was absolutely starving. He drank less than 2 ounces of it. So of course, they didn't see any reflux going on. The doctor was a jackass, even after someone told him that GW is their IT guy, and to tone it down a little. The guy completely ignored me as if I was invisible. (I was livid, but was able to wait until we got back to the car a couple of hours later to flip out. That poor man I'm married to doesn't know what to do with me, or our miserable baby.) When the nurse called me, she said that there was nothing to do, Alex was fine, he was just going to be a spitter, it wouldn't hurt him, and there aren't any other medications they can use other than Zantac. All of which I know isn't true.  The poor kid is in fits half the time from silent reflux, and the rest of the time he either spends trying to make up for lost calories, or spitting sour milk all over me (and GW, and the floors, and the cats...).

The same nurse who said there was nothing wrong with him also told me that I should just "put him on formula and stop wasting my time" breastfeeding him. And that "formula is just as good, if not better" than breastmilk. WTF. What era is she from?? Does she not know that formula SUCKS?? And that there's no way it can ever be as good as mom noms? I'm not bashing the people who NEED to use formula, btw. There is a place for it, or it wouldn't exist. One of my cousins was both milk protein and lactose intolerant, so I know. And I know the pain her mother went through finding out that she couldn't breastfeed her daughter. It isn't always a choice of convenience.

On the same note... You may find this gross, but I convinced GW to taste some mom noms (and joked that he'd probably need one of his lactose pills). He said it was good, and it didn't bother him like cow's milk does. Not that he had a lot, just enough for a flavor. He said it was very sweet. We'd been debating about letting Alex have fruit purees, because of the sugar content. Tasting the mom noms & comparing them to the fruit has proved that mom noms are sweeter than fruit, so all is well...

And Alex can now have things with fruit. So far, he's tried pearsauce (like) and applesauce (dislike) in addition to his avocado. We also gave him some green beans (home made from freshly steamed beans), and he was not really impressed at first, but he got used to them. I have a freezer bag full of "green bean squares" now. They didn't really want to stay in circles like the nice, obedient avocado. I sort of put them in a pile, and smoothed them out to a relatively flat surface, and scored the top so that I could break it into smaller portions once it was frozen. It worked out pretty well, I think. I made some of the squares smaller for morning meals, and larger ones for evening.

I don't believe in "breakfast foods". I'm the freak who would get up in the morning and open a can of green beans instead of cereal. And eat them with my fingers, because I'm just that lazy. They were also one of the things I'd give TJ for a snack when I wanted to go back to sleep on the couch. They make great toddler snacks, really. Dump a bunch of them in a dish or on a plate, and let them go to town. Sure, you end up with mashed beans in the carpet, but it was easy and it saved me from having to make anything, or worry about him choking on crackers or other un-nutritious things. (canned baby carrots are also good... if you don't have light colored carpets).

I'm trying to remember all the things I did with TJ, and when. It's really hard, because that was 10 or so years ago. And he was a difficult kid in ways of food. I remember that he really liked plain yogurt with peaches (gross!), but for the life of me, I can't remember how old he was when I let him have that. The feeding guidelines have changed so much, that I really don't know what's "right" or "wrong".

Next Fight: Yeast Vs. Coconut Oil

Nasty-ass-itin failed. Sanitizing my dipes FAILED. Then, this weekend... I gave up. Screw this, I said, and slathered the kiddo from head to toe in EVCO and olive oil, for some severe dry skin patches he was getting. I'd been reading posts that suggested using it to get rid of yeast, but I scoffed. That could never work, right?

I was wrong (again). The rash started clearing up. I kept putting the oil stuff on him everywhere at each diaper change. And it kept improving. Today, the rashyness (yup, I just made up a word) is almost ALL GONE in his diaper area. It looks almost like it did before this whole mess started almost a month ago. It looks beautiful. There are still some spots that aren't covered by his diaper that need some work, namely behind his knees and his belly, but, by and large, it's GONE!!!

I am amazed, and ashamed. I feel horrible that I hadn't done it sooner. How was I to know that the crazy crunchy mamas weren't all that crazy on this one? ;) 


In other news, we saw a different NP for our visit to the doctors yesterday. I hate her. She's an idiot. She didn't listen to a word I said regarding Alex's reflux. She thinks he has pyloric stenosis. I do not, especially since the Zantac was working, but stopped. We did not get a different kind of medication for his reflux. We got nothing, and a date for him to do a barium swallow. I'm not really comfortable with that (radiation IN MY BABY?? WHAT???), but it's the least invasive test they can do. I don't think it's going to help, or show anything I don't know. 


I've been giving him gripe water before he gets really fussy in the evenings, and it seems to help a little with the spitting up and screaming. Last night, he was almost normal. Tonight, he's going to be a monster, though, I already know. He's spent most of the day nursing and sleeping. So he's probably not going to want to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Or maybe he's having a growth spurt, and we will get to bed... And then he'll nurse, nurse, nurse, and drive me batty until I run screaming out of the room.