Wednesday, April 12, 2006

The Dreaded First Shots

We survived the two month appointment and the first round of shots. She screamed and fussed as the nurse gave her the three pokes, but after a little tyenol, she slept the pain off with a three hour nap. Overall, she was great for the doctor, who said we have a very alert, healthy and adorable little girl.

We discussed her acid reflux, and the doctor upped her prescription from .5ml twice a day to 1 ml three times a day. She also suggested that we add a little rice cereal to thicken up her bottles. She believes this will help with the spit-up. I certainly hope so, as she soaks a bib at almost very feeding.

Ella now weighs 11 lbs and 5 oz and is 22 3/4 inches long. She's outgrown most of her 0-3 months clothing. I can't believe how big she is getting. Overall, I feel like we've turned a corner with her. She's sleeping for longer stretches, she's not having as many fussy periods and the duration of those times have decreased. In general, she seems to be a fairly happy baby, who has her moments like any of us do. We captured her smile this past weekend. Hopefully, I can get Mike to post the picture because it's so adorable of her. So look for that soon.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi, guys!

We're so happy everything is going well with little Ella. Her weight and height both put her at about the 60th percentile for her age, so that's great!

Spitting up is a really common problem with kids and is probably the most common complaint I get. If a baby is spitting up and doesn't seem to be bothered by it and is still gaining weight, we call them "happy spitters" and I advise their parents to buy laundry detergent in bulk. That's typically the end of it. Rest assured: she will grow out of this no matter what we do.

The problem I have with using Zantac for this is that it doesn't work. Zantac works by reducing the acidity of the stomach contents, thus making the reflux a less noxious stimulus. If it never bothered the baby anyway, it probably won't do a thing.

If the parent and doctor are serious about actually treating reflux, they need to bite the bullet and start a medication like Prilosec or Prevacid. Those medications work by lowering acidity in addition to increasing the muscle tone of the lower esophageal sphincter.

I do agree with adding some rice cereal. In fact, if you are still supplementing formula, you can buy Enfamil AR (added rice) that comes with a smidgen of rice ceral already added. I have some parents that swear by it.

Just know that this too shall pass.

Yours,

Eric