A Sick Baby & My Worst Nightmare

The past few days have been rough. Eli has been vomiting and barely eating, which is really unlike him because he is my child and loves to eat. The week before he was diagnosed with reflux, similar to an adult's heartburn, he gets a burning sensation before spitting up. A friend of mine thought he had it at 2 months but I dismissed it thinking it was normal for babies to spit up but then he started crying more often before spitting up and I knew she was probably right. (Sorry Kristin.) We went to the doctor, confirmed it was reflux and went home with new medicine. 3 days later, Eli starts vomiting like crazy and lost his appetite completely. As a new mom or parent period, this is your worst nightmare. Your child is in pain, you don't know what's wrong and there's nothing you can do to help. So after church Sunday, Eli threw up yet again and I lost it. My heart was aching with worry, not knowing what was wrong or what I could do to fix it. To the ER I went looking for answers. After 3 hours, they said he probably had a reaction to his reflux medication and to keep him hydrated until we went to the pediatrician. Then came crisis #2. When we picked our pediatrician, I was in the delivery room and the nurses needed a name. Nick ran next door and found the pediatrician next to my OB (turns out it was the same one he had as a child). After he was born we just stuck with it because we didn't really know another pediatrician to go to. After the reflux incident and my doctor blaming me (!) for not mentioning his symptoms earlier, I knew it was time for a change. I called my friend Kristin, because she had a similar situation and she recommended her pediatrician, Blue Fish Pediatrics. So we broke up with our original pediatrician and tried out Blue Fish. I'm so happy we did because I love our new pediatrician. In our first visit, I learned so much more and felt more confident then I ever did at with our previous pediatrician. She explained reflux to us, told us it was unheard of to have a reaction to Prevacid (his medication), and that he would outgrow it within a few months. Turns out Eli's symptoms was really a stomach bug and explained that when babies are sick instead of pushing the virus out like we would, their stomachs spaz and come up. She put my nightmare to rest and said he would be back to normal in a few days. Praise the lord! As soon as we got home, Eli's appetite had returned and he hasn't thrown up since. I'm sure my uneasiness only made his symptoms worse, so I'm glad I got some peace of mind. The whole experience was a blessing in disguise because we wanted a pediatrician closer to our new home and it's only two exits away! Still, having a sick baby is no fun and I'm happy to have my baby back to normal. But at least we got a fantastic pediatrician out of it!

{My babies}

All is well.