My grandma died and my son is sick again

[Desnik]

Hi everyone.
I haven't been here in awhile. We moved in the beginning of Dec. and things have been pretty hectic.

On X-Mas morning my grandma died. She was 74 and had Alhiemers and suffered a stroke the week before. She was the best grandma and my older sister and I were very close to her. It was heart breaking loosing her and seeing my dad and uncles destroyed loosing their mother. The funeral was very hard for us all, but I know she is now at peace.

The day after we burried her I had to take my 9mo son for his check up. For those who don't remember, he was a premie. At 3mo he was hospitalized 3 times. He was labled failure to thrive because he wasn't gaining weight and was actually loosing weight. He had severe reflux, which he has grown out of. He has had numerous tests and was gaining when his formula was changed and cereal was added to it and his feedings were every 3 hours even through the night. Anyway, he just doesn't look right to me. At his appointment he has only gained 2lbs. in 3 months!!! At birth he was 6lbs. 1ounce. He is 9mo and is 14lbs. He now can only tolerate 4ounce bottles at a time. My Dr. is very worried about him and said this isn't right. She wants me to add more cereal to his bottles, feed him through the night again and add a tbs. of cereal to his baby food. I have to go back on Jan. 9th and if he hasn't gained then he has to be hospitalized again. Last time I was stronge and didn't fall apart. I kept focused and was there for my son. I fell apart after he was ok and home. This time I just lost it in the car ride home. After loosing my grandmother and having gone through this with him before, I just can't take it. My Dr. seems to think he may have a problem absorbing calories. I am at a loss, I just can't imagine what could be wrong. He is such a happy baby and he's always smiling. I just can't see him having to go back in a hospital and this time she said no local hospital will be able to help. He would go to the children's hospital in Columbia Prespiterian.

I guess I just had to "talk" about this with someone. My DH is very upset, I try talking to my mom and she just cries. Please just say a prayer for my son. Thanks.

 

[chelsea&austinsmom]

My thoughts and prayers are with and your family.

 

[doxdogy]

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your grandma and your son's health problems. Hugs to you and prayers for your little one.

 

[chell]

{{{HUGS}}}

Prayers for you and your son!

 

[MerryPoppins]

I'm so sorry. I'll add your son and your family to my prayers. Try to stay calm and think positive. Maybe the doctors at the children's hospital can pinpoint the problem and help your son to thrive.

 

[NHAnn]

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
I'm sorry for all the sorrow and stress in your life right now. I know all the DIS family will offer you support, so you can find the strength within yourself to deal with your son's situation. We all need a time and place to fall apart, you can do that here. Take care, keep us posted!

 

[Buckleybunch]

Sorry to hear about the lost of your grandma.
As for your son, I will keep him and your family in my thoughts and prayers. Have you thought about taking him to a specialist?
Or to Mayo, there has to be something they can do.

Hugs to you
Linda

 

[helenabear]

I am so very sorry to hear aout the loss of your grandmother And I pray that all will be well with your son

 

[Dan Murphy]

Awwww, Desnik. So very sorry to read of grandma's passing, bless her soul, best wishes for you and all her family. And your little boy is surely remembered in my prayers. My very best wishes his difficulty is diagnosed and on his way to improved health real soon.

And, as you said, your need to 'talk', please do drop by as you feel the need, always lots of listening ears here along with lots of shoulders to lean on. Let's see a little smile there, Desnik. Good.

Dan

 

[Lorix2]

I'm so sorry to you're going thru such a difficult time, you've been dealt a double whammy.

I think you should have your Dr refer you to a specialist. The answer to him not thriving cannot be just to feed him more Also, if that doesn't work, just hospitalization will help?? Doesn't sound as though the dr is being as thorough as he/she can be.

There's got to be a reason and maybe someone with first hand knowledge and experience with this kind of thing will be able to finally help your son.

((HUGS)) to you and keep us updated on the little guy.

 

[Disney Ella]

So sorry to hear about your troubles. Losing your grandmother would have certainly been enough. Having an unwell baby is very upsetting and stressful and really makes you feel helpless. As much as you don't want to subject your DS to the hospital again, a visit to Columbia Presbyterian may actually turn out to be the best thing, since doctors there may have more experience with the type of problem that your son has.

 

[huey duey & luey]

Im very sorry for the loss of your grandmother.

How premature was your son? My kids were born at 31 weeks. For the first 8 months 2 were on a hi cal formula (neosure, by similac), Enfamil also has a brand enfa22. My kids were born at
2-14, 3-2 and 3-14. by their 1st bday they were all over 20 pounds. I dont remember off hand what they weight at 9 months but I could check. What formula does your baby use., how many oz does he drink a day? All 3 of mine also had reflux and were on daily zantac for the year. how is his BM, if he has too many a day, maybe he isnt tolerating the formula. Zachary who was biggest at birth didnt tolerate the neosure and was not gaining as much. We switched him to alimentum which his stomache handled much better and he started to gain and quickly surpassed the others. Maybe you can feed your son every 3 hours during the day since he only takes 4 oz and then do a dream feed right before you goes to sleep to try to get the calories in. Sorry this is so long, I hope some of this info maybe useful. I hope your son is doing better very soon
Tara

 

[Desnik]

Thank you all for your well wishes!!! Dan, you did make me smile

Tara
My son was born at 35 weeks. He was a great weight, 6lbs 1ou and was considered a premie because any baby born before 36 weeks is. He had problems with feedings from the beginning. He also stopped breathing at the hospital and had to be ressesatated.(sp?) We have tried different formulas, Allamentum was one, but he couldn't tollerate it. At first they thought he had piloric stenosis. He had numerous sonograms, blood tests, and an upper GI and it was discovered he had reflux. He was also put on Zantac and it worked for awhile. He was put on Enfamil AR(added rice) with rice cereal added to that to give him a higher calorie intake. Up until this week he was only able to tolerate 3.5 ou. at a time. Probably 5 btls. a day along with baby food. We have tried giving him table food, but there is very little he can tolerate. His BM are normal. His length and head/chest circumference are on the charts, at the bottom, but still on the chart. His weight is not on the charts and really low for his age and birth weight. He has always been fed every 3 hours. If he wakes up at night at around 3am, he usually starts fussing then, I give him a bottle.

My son was seen by a nutitionist, a gastroenterologist, a pediatric surgeon at Westchester medical center. My pediatrician is at a loss. She just can't figure out why he is still not at a normal weight. Everything she thought it was has not been it. That is why he went to Westchester medical center, she thoght the Dr.'s there were more experienced and would diagnose the problem. We thought they did(reflux) and he did gain but now he isn't. He was hospitalized once because he got sick and was dehydrated. That's another thing, with so many viruses going around, if he gets the stomach virus he will definately be in the hospital for dehydration. He can't afford to loose any weight. My Dr. wants him to be isolated as much as possible.

I have an appointment with another gastro Dr. I want him to be diagnosed so I know how to make him better.

 

[figment95]

I am so sorry for all you are going through now. You and your family are in my prayers.

 

[Soccer Princess]

I'm so sorry about your grandmother and your son! My thoughts and prayers are with you..

 

[huey duey & luey]

Could he have developped an oral/food aversion due to the reflux? When I was researching rflux, I came across some info, that children who have experienced severe reflux often become adverse to eating, even if the relux is gone. They associate the pain of reflux with eatind and it becomes a learned behavior.
Tara

 

[rdrjj5]

So sorry for the loss of your grandmother.

My children were born at 27 weeks. My DS was 2lbs 11oz and DD was 2lbs 3oz. We spent 3 months in the nicu. They are now 2 1/2. My DD is now 27lbs and has done great all along. My DS on the other hand has been struggling. He is only 24 lbs but is healthy now.

If you are looking for tips as to increasing his calorie intake (only if your doctor has recomened doing so and I would not go switching formula without the doctor telling you to) I've pretty much tried everything. If you son is eating baby food from a jar, look at the calories in that jar of food. There are some foods that have almost double the calories. The ones I found high in calories are bananas, sweet potatoes, peaches and pears (70+ calories). Also the different brands of baby food sometimes do not have the same amount of calories for the same food. One more thing about the baby food. Gerber's "new" plastic jars have 1/2 oz less than the glass jars use to. Beechnut jars still has the 4oz of baby food. I can't remember which company was higher on total calories in a jar(sorry). I know all this talk of the baby food must make me sound nuts ,but for my son the doctors wanted every calorie accounted for. I had to keep a log of everything he ate and drank. Maybe you could do this over the next week before his appt. It might be useful to your doctor to know the calorie count per day.
I hope you see some progress with your son soon.
Donna

 

[Margie J]

 

[Desnik]

Tara
I've heard/read the same thing. I also thought that could be it. But he does eat. He gets hungry, eats, it is just like his body can only tolerate small amounts at a time. For example, if I was to give him a 5ou btl. he would drink it, but 20min. later he will throw up about 2ou. I've tried giving him mashed or baked potatos and he eats it but will throw up 30min. later.

I am now trying to slowly increase the amount of food he gets at a time. He now holds down a 4ou. btl. but I had to add an extra tbs. of rice cereal to it.

Thanks again to all for your thoughts and prayers!

Donna, thanks so much! I will keep a log of what he is eating this week. Also I will look into the higher calories in his jar food.

 

[DisneyObsessed]

I'm so sorry you're going through this. Hugs and prayers to you.