Madi's Appointment

FINALLY!!  We have been (not-so) patiently waiting for Madi's appointment with the pediatric GI specialist at LeBonheur, and we are finally going tomorrow!  November 17th can not get here fast enough!  For those of you with sick babies, you know exactly what I mean!  I can not stand for either of my kids to feel bad and want so deperately to help them feel better...no matter what!  Poor little Madi has gotten so much worse every week, and now she SCREAMS and CRIES every time she throws up and just looks up at me, like "why can't you do something?"  Breaks my heart!  Hopefully, we will get some answers tomorrow, but I'm not getting my hopes too high...I have a bad feeling that they aren't going to do anything because she is still gaining weight and not "failure to thrive," but I am looking forward to another opinion!  So, in preparation for tomorrow, I am typing all of this here so I can print it off and take it with me.

Madilyn Lee Carroll
0-4 weeks
- On Enfamil Infant formula (concentrate)
- NO spitting up (besides normal "burp spit-up")
- Regular bowel movements (2/ day, usually about 5 am and 5 pm)
- Very red/ splotchy skin (especially on her bottom)
- Never seemed satisfied, even right after finishing a bottle

4 weeks
- Started having terrible diarrhea (very runny and foul smelling)- 3-4 everyday
- Started spitting up her whole bottles
- Dr. changed to soy- Enfamil ProSobee (concentrate)

4-6 weeks
- Skin cleared up
- ProSobee seemed to satisfy her more
- Became extremely constipated with very hard "balled-up" stools following glycerin suppository administration
- Started "colic cry" every night for 1-2 hours
- Obvious stomach discomfort with pulling legs in and screaming
- Dr. prescribed Miralax- gave a little bit in bottle morning and night- would make her have a BM, but seemed to cramp her stomach

7 weeks
-Started back spitting up a lot worse
-Dr. changed her to Nutramigen
- After 3 bottles had extreme diarrhea (everywhere)
- After 4th bottle, broke out in red splotchy rash from head to toe
- Changed her back to ProSobee
- Still screaming for 1-2 hours every night
- After researching milk protein allergy/ sensitivity, I ordered in several cases of EleCare Infant formula (amino acid based)
- After 3 days, no more "colic cry" and she started pooping unassistedly

8 weeks
- Spitting up worse- Dr. prescribed Prevacid 15mg solutabs daily
- Seemed to "wear off" by the end of the day, so I increased her to Prevacid 15mg twice daily after about 2 weeks
- No improvement on spitting up

10 weeks
- Stopped having regular bowel movements
- Used glycerin suppositories to alleviate fussiness and gas every other night- stool was not formed and was very little
- Spitting up worse
- Started adding tablespoon of rice cereal to 4 oz bottles to thicken

12 weeks
- Prevacid not helping reflux
- Seems to get worse every week
- Seems more like vomit than spi-up (smells acidic like vomit and she cries after she throws up)
- Still only poops when we give her a suppository (strains really hard, but stool is very loose)
- Dr. changed to Zantac twice  daily
- I took her to chiropractor (recommended by several friends to help reflux) 2 times-no change in reflux

13 weeks
- Increase in amount and frequency of vomitting
- After 3 days of no bowel movement, I gave her a suppository and only produced a little bit of watery stool
- Started back on Miralax

14 weeks
- Dr. did a stomach/ intestine X-ray to make sure she did not have a blockage- no impaction
- Upper GI scan on 11/02/11 revealed:
              1. Stomach was still filled with fluid 4 hours after eating
              2. Stomach was distended
              3. LES worked perfectly- not reflux
              4. Pyloric sphincter "hestitated" when supposed to open up to empty stomach.  Radiologist said it
                  was not pyloric stenosis, but possibly pyloric spasm.  Sphincter did not open fully and not at the
                  right time.
- Dr. changed her to Axid 15mg/ml- 1ml twice daily- does not seem to make a difference
- After researching pyloric spasm, I stopped adding rice cereal to her bottles- does not seem to make a difference

16 weeks
- Madi is now 16 weeks old and is gaining weight, but does not seem to get full after a bottle.
- Has not broken out on the EleCare formula- takes 4 oz every 3 hours during the day
- Usually sleeps well at night
- Screams and cries hysterically every time she vomits
- Vomits anywhere from immediately after taking a bottle up to 1 hour after- Smells like stomach acid and most of the time is clear (sometimes looks just like it went down)
- Shows signs of other allergies (environmental/ dust)- red, watery, itchy eyes- Taking Ed Chlor Ped D 0.25ml twice daily for sinus/ allergies
- Takes Axid twice daily
- Takes 0.6ml Mylicon drops with every bottle
- Takes Miralax every morning
- Bowel movements inconsistant.  This week, I have had to give her a supposiroty after no bowel movement for 2 days.  Stool is still very runny and not formed. 

This is a picture of Madi before her Upper GI scan on 11/02/11.

Still looking stylish, even though she has to wear that gown!