Maybe not colic after all

Thanks to an email from my college room-mate (thank you Gwen!), I was reminded of what she went through with her son nearly 8 years ago. She told me that when her son was put on liquid Zantac, it was night and day in how much better her son felt. What was thought to be colic turned out to be acid reflux. With that in my mind, I went home yesterday, dreading another night of screaming. BJ was screaming, but he was also whimpering, something not usually associated with colic. I called my doctor's office to see if there was a way I could get liquid Zantac. I was placed on hold, after 10 minutes, I loaded my children into the car and drove to the doctor's office (I was still on hold). I gave up trying to get through on the phone as I turned into their parking lot. I went into the doctor's office and asked what I had been trying to ask by phone. I was told that I needed an appointment. My response? "I'm here." Thankfully they worked me in even thought the office was closing in ten minutes.

I related the symptoms: difficulty latching on while nursing, struggling during bottle feedings, terrible gas, going rigid, pulling up his legs, screaming, whimpering, projectile vomiting (through the nose too), not having a bowel movement all day, and exhibiting colic symptoms throughout the day, not just at night. The doctor also noticed that BJ's abdomen was rigid. The doctor wanted to try an anti-spastic medication first, then switch to a soy based formula, and then if they did not work, BJ would go for an upper GI to determine if acid reflux was the culprit after all. I was not happy to hear about the upper GI, but thankful that there was an opportunity to try an medicine that might soothe him. Some more good news: he is gaining weight- he has gained almost 5 pounds in 7 weeks. Buddha Baby!

I went to the pharmacy nearby and was told they would have to order it for tomorrow. I asked them to call their other pharmacies to see if they had it. I was willing to drive to New York City that night if it meant I was going to get some medicine to make him feel better. The tech came back to the window a few minutes later with the news that they had found some (yeah!) but I had to kill 20 minutes. With the battle cry of "french fries mommy, french fries mommy," from the backseat,I went to Burger King to try to avoid stalking the pharmacist.

The medicine was not very expensive but came with some funny warning labels. It is meant for infants, but came with the following labels: avoid operating heavy machinery, avoid breastfeeding while taking the medicine and may cause blurry vision. Well, if my newborn son suddenly develops the ability to operate heavy machinery, I will make sure that he avoids it because he might have blurry vision. All joking aside, last night was fairly peaceful. He fussed a little, but did not scream or whimper. I am hopeful that we have found the solution, and that we will have more peaceful nights ahead.