Open Letter: 2 Months and 6 Days Old
Hey Sweetheart!
You gave me a serious scare this morning, Aves. You had projectile vomiting after your midnight feeding and another less serious episode after your 6:00 am feeding. I would normally not have been scared, but you’ve vomited 4 times in the last 10 days and that kinda freaked me out. I immediately started thinking the worst (pyloric stenosis) so I called your doctor’s office to make an emergency appointment. Thank goodness they had an availability for 11:10 this morning so off we went.
Dr. Dilloway was not in today so Dr. Gallaso saw you. After we talked about the vomiting episodes, she examined you, including a weigh-in. You now weigh 12 lbs., 9 oz.! Yeah boy, you definitely are a biggun! You are in the 75th percentile on the growth chart. So that was clue #1 that you probably do not have pyloric stenosis. Dr. Gallaso said that if you had pyloric stenosis, you’d be having projectile vomiting after every feeding and therefore would not be gaining any weight. Also, she palpated your belly in search of a mass (that would indicate obstruction) and none was found. Phew! Dr. Gallaso thinks that the likely culprit is GERD and her recommendations are that we stick to feeding you only 4 ozs. every 3 hours (I gave you 6 ozs. at midnight because I thought you were ready for the increase), burp you frequently, and keep your head elevated at least 30 degrees for at least 30 minutes after feedings. Easy enough.
I fed you 3 ozs. when we we got home at 1:00 pm and followed the rest of the recommendations and you did not vomit. You are now sleeping peacefully in your swing as I type. I hope this is the end of the vomiting episodes.
Love,
Mommy