My nieces Liz and Madi were here for a week during Easter/Spring Break, so we did a lot of fun stuff! I'm going to post pictures of the zoo and the castle park today. But first... Hospital.
Max has always had reflux. They started him on Prevacid when he was still in the Special Care Nursery in the hospital, and he has always been a spitty baby. Max and I could never go anywhere without an arsenal of burp cloths (the size of blankets), extra clothes for both of us, and extra blankets, because he was always spitting up what he ate. The last few weeks, though, he's been much worse. I finally took him in to the doctor again because he couldn't keep anything down, and he's still such a skinny baby! He's 5 months old (today! Happy birthday MaxMax!) and still only weighs 10 lbs. Not tiny, but there's no fat on him at all.
See? Look at those little legs! Skinny kid.
My mom and I started to wonder if he was getting any of his food at all. The pediatrician sent us to Primary Children's Hospital (right by your house Michelle!) for an Upper GI XRay and some blood work.
Right after his blood work - see his tiny little green bandaid? Broke my heart, but he was clearly fine. lol
Getting ready for his XRay
Max LOVED the waiting room fish! Gotta love Primary's! :)He also sent us home with Similac Allimentum formula to try. He said it was pre-digested (EW) so it's easier for the babies' stomachs.
The next day, Max was vomiting an extreme volume each time and was clearly not keeping any food down at all. I called the dr, who said Max's labs showed a viral infection, so he was probably just dealing with the stomach flu. He recommended Benadryl (which apparently helps with nausea?) and tiny bits of Pedialyte every 10-20 minutes. No nursing, no formula.
That was the LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE. I followed his advice because back in Kansas, another doctor had told me the same thing after Asher ended up in the hospital. (He needed an IV because I'd given him too much fluids while he was sick, and he'd ended up dehydrated.) So for about 6 hours, Steve and I refused to let Max nurse or have a bottle, and gave him only little bits of Pedialyte. My poor baby screamed the entire 6 hours. It broke my heart. The doctor had left us with advice to take Max to Primary Children's for an IV if he started to refuse the Pedialyte and seemed like he was dehydrated.
Around 6 pm, Steve and I decided to take our Max to the hospital. Steve was starting to feel kind of sick to his stomach on the way to the hospital, and he was talking about how he probably had the same stomach virus Max had. We checked into the ER, started to get vitals and explain why we were bringing Max in to be checked out, when things got very weird.
I was talking to the nurse, turned around to look at Steve, and noticed he looked really sweaty.
That's weird.
...kept talking to the nurse.
Turned around again...
Steve is bright red all over.
Weird.
"Steve, are you ok? You don't look so good."
"Yeah... I don't feel so good. I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
When he came back, he looked awful. I mean that in the most loving way possible... he looked terrible. He lifted up his shirt and said something like, "Look at this."
Red hives EVERYWHERE. Completely covering his body.
The nurse checked him into the ER as well. That's right, Max and Steve were both checked in to the Primary Children's Hospital Emergency Room at the same time.
While they were taking his vitals, he needed a wheelchair because he got so dizzy and faint, and he thought he was going to throw up. They got him hooked up to an IV and pushed Benadryl and Zantac. After a few minutes his face and tongue were swollen, and he couldn't talk very well, so the doctor came in and gave him Epinephrine. They also did an EKG in case it was his heart, but that came back normal. After determining that he was probably going to live, they sent him by ambulance to the University hospital. (I know, right? I could have spit that far, but they said he had to go by ambulance in case of Anaphylaxis.) They kept him there over night until they were sure he was alright, and released him at 10 am the next morning.
The best they could tell us was that he had had an allergic reaction. No one knows to what, so we have no idea how to avoid it in the future! It's a major bummer I forgot my camera for that trip, I don't have any documentation of his adventure at all.
RESOLUTION:
Max was sent home with orders to breastfeed whenever he wants, with a diagnosis of GERD. (Basically just really bad reflux.) When I got home from the hospital that night, I quit eating/drinking dairy products, and ever since then my Max is a new baby! He doesn't vomit, he doesn't scream all day, HE IS A HAPPY CHILD! :) I, however, am not a happy mama because I am miserable without my chocolate milk/yogurt/cheese consumption! I'll get over it, though, cause having a happy baby is a WONDERFUL thing! :)
Tons of pictures coming soon!
