Thursday, September 11, 2014

GI Appintment

Last week we made a trip to OHSU to visit a GI doctor to address Rylee's reflux.  It really hasn't been too bad lately, other than a lot of spit up, but the appointment was scheduled over a month ago and was mostly just to rule out there being something more going on than normal reflux.  Her brother has been spitting up just as much as Rylee lately it seems.  He just hasn't had the previous eating problems and vomiting issues that Rylee has dealt with in the past.

At the initial visit last week, they weighed and measured Rylee.  She was 15 lbs, 2 oz.  She'd gained only a mere 3 oz in the last month.  I knew she wasn't eating enough because at 8 months old, she was only getting about 19-22 ounces a day in formula.  She also gets cereal and a veggie/fruit every morning, but that was about it.  The problem was that whenever we gave her more than 3.5 ounces at a time, she would spit up so much!  So we tried to feed her less at a time, but more often.  It just wasn't adding up to enough.  The GI doctor confirmed that.  Rylee should be getting 27 ounces of formula per day.  Geesh!  If that's the case, we definitely weren't feeding Ayden enough either!  He had been only getting 24-26 ounces per day.

The doctor explained that even though drinking more will make her spit up more, she would also be taking in more.  She told me about an experiment they had done, having people estimate how much liquid was spilled on a table and that every single person over guessed the amount.  What may seem like an entire bottle either being spit back up or vomited, in actuality isn't that much.

She ordered a test to be done that would allow them to see Rylee's esophagus.  This test would rule out a number of possible issues that Rylee could be dealing with, including whether or not she possibly had a hemangioma growing on her esophagus.  The doc didn't think that it was any more than normal reflux, but wanted to take a look to be sure.

This week we made the trek back up to OHSU for the test.  I had Ayden with us also, but he couldn't be in the room with us while they ran the test.  They were super nice about it and had a tech stay with Ayden in a small room adjacent to us, with the door open.

They had Rylee lay on an x-ray table and drink a few ounces of barium from a bottle.  As she was drinking, they had a monitor that showed the barium moving through her esophagus, into her stomach, and exiting her stomach.  Rylee wasn't a fan of the big box thingy surrounding her.  She was also starving because she couldn't eat or drink anything for three hours prior to the test.  Every time she would cry, I could also hear Ayden start fussing from the other room.  He was starving as well.  I couldn't feed him and not Rylee!  That would NOT have gone over very well.

The test showed that everything looked normal.  It also showed a visual of Rylee's reflux because you could see it trying to come back up.  Basically, now we just wait for her to hopefully outgrow of it!  I'm very glad that nothing more is wrong, but I sure do wish there was a solution to stop the spit up!

When we were all done, they let me stay in the room to change both babies diapers.  I hate using the fold down tables in the public bathrooms!  It just seems so gross, so I try to avoid it as much as possible!  Then we went back out to the lobby, both Ayden and Rylee finally got their bottles, and then we were on our way home again!

Ayden and Rylee in the stroller without their car seats!  They are big kids now!

I love her blue eyes!

His smile melts me!

18 comments:

  1. Aw their faces are so sweet! I'm glad it just seems like normal reflux and I hope she grows out of it soon!!

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  2. Once they are walking things should calm down a bit. It is the same for us as adults it is much better to be moving around on a full tummy than lying down. The more you can get them upright after feeding I am sure it will help although difficult with two little ones.

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    1. We still burp them after every feeding and then they are either propped up on a boppy or on the move. They are not still for very long. They like to be on the move! Rylee is even starting to pull herself up on things, so hopefully the reflux won't last much longer!

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  3. Glad Rylee doesn't have any real issues- I hope that she grows out of spitting up soon!!

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    1. I was so relieved that there were no major issues as well. Thank you!

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  4. I am so glad to hear nothing was wrong but I know at the same time it is frustrating..ugh! On the upside they are just as cute as can be :)

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  5. They are both just so ADORABLE!!!!!!! Between their pics and your humor it just makes me smile! I'm so glad to know that Rylee is healthy and pray that this spit up passes soooooooon!!!!! You may miss the blanket carpet though!!!!! Love, Auntie

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    1. I can say without question that we will not miss the blankets all over the floor!

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  6. So glad it's nothing serious! Both of my babies had reflux and it's no picnic. Both outgrew it by a year and I hope Rylee does too (for her sake and your carpets!)

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  7. Sooooo cute! And I'm so glad that the reflux isn't anything more serious!! Speaking of feeding babies... How do you do it. Or, how did you do it before they held their own bottles?? Together, at the same time, or separately?

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    1. If Tony and I were home at the same time, we fed them at the same time. If we were by ourselves, we fed them one right after the other. The one that was the loudest (crying) got fed first and we tried to find something to keep the other one occupied in the meantime. Once they were strong enough to stay propped up on boppies, I sat down in between them and held their bottles so I could feed them at the same time. It's so much more time efficient to feed them together if possible, but we didn't do that till about the 6th month mark or so. Feeding them at the same time has somewhat helped to also keep their nap schedule the same. At this point, I CAN'T feed one without feeding the other or they get very angry! lol

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    2. I should also add that if someone else was here to help and could hold and feed one baby, they got fed at the same time also, but I am usually here by myself during the week so for the first 6 months or so, they mostly got fed one at a time.

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  8. So glad there isn't anything more serious than reflux. Reflux is bad enough. It's funny, I've had that same conversation with my husband multiple times about the amount of spit up Riley had. I was always telling him he was overestimating how much she was throwing up. It was obviously still a lot, but not nearly as much as he was guessing. I like that your doctor confirmed that for me :)
    My girls hate (!) the changing tables in public restrooms. They cry every time. Yesterday we were at a restaurant and I had no choice but to use it and Paige started crying as soon as we got in the bathroom. Then she cried even harder when she saw the changing table. I hadn't even laid her down yet. She totally knew what it was. Crazy.

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    1. Hah! I'm glad that I could help prove you were right about the amount of spit up. Funny :) What's NOT funny is how Paige knows how gross those changing tables are before she is old enough to even understand that! Erg.

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