Morgan Kate

Yesterday afternoon and last night were pretty rough. Morgan Kate was quite fussy for most of the afternoon and into the night. She didn't end up going to sleep until after her 3am feed. I then got in bed myself and set my alarm for 6:00am so that I could feed her again. At 7:15am I finally woke up to my alarm. I NEVER sleep through my alarm, NEVER. I have only overslept twice in my life (once in college and once while student teaching) and it's because I set my alarm for pm rather than am. Anyway, this morning the alarm had been going off for over an hour and Travis, nor I, had heard it. I guess it didn't bother Morgan Kate much either because she was sleeping like a rock. Unfortunately I had to wake her up to feed her again. I tried my best to be really quiet and not move her around too much. She was doing great until the feed started. The minute I pushed the food through the tube and it had time to reach her tummy she started fussing and squirming. You could tell she was in a lot of pain and it broke me heart. Awful, awful.

If you ever call my house and I am holding Morgan Kate there is no doubt that you will be able to hear her. She makes noises non-stop. The only time she is quiet is when she is in a deep sleep. She grunts, groans, moans, etc. all the time. It's very rare for her to be completely quiet. Yesterday when we were at the eye doctor one of the nurses heard her and said, "Oh, she must be really mad or working on something BIG for you guys to handle later." Nope, not the case. If that were the case then I guess she is mad and "working on something" all of the time. I asked Dr. G about it today and she thinks some of it is caused by the reflux/stomach issues Morgan Kate is having.

Our appointment this morning went okay. Morgan Kate had only gained an ounce since Friday (8lbs 12.5 oz), but Dr. G was not concerned. The best part is - she's gaining. We talked a good bit with Dr. G about Morgan Kate's eating issues and we are going to try some new things. Dr G was great as usual and spent a lot of time with us.  

Some of our issues:

1. MK has to be very still and quiet while we are OG feeding her. If she grunts, groans or cries it pushes the food back into the syringe and we have to stop.

2. The minute we start an OG feed she begins to arch her back, push on things, flail her arms, and fuss. 

3. After OG feeding her she cries and continues to squirm and arch.

4. Her stomach makes horrendous noises, she has lots of gas, and she spits up frequently.

5. Bottles have not been going so well since the ear infection. Not sure if it's because of the infection or the fact that we have added rice cereal to her formula and it's now harder to get through the nipple. Go figure.

6. She will suck on the nipple a few times and then just stop.

7. If she is fast asleep she will not take a bottle at all. 

These were the concerns we brought to Dr. G this morning and this is our current plan. With our luck, it's subject to change at any given time.

1. Stop the rice cereal. We need the formula to be thicker so that it stays down in her tummy, but we will have to use another substance. I can't remember what the substance is called but it has the consistency of formula and the minute it hits the stomach it thickens.

2. We are to give MK Levsin drops every six hours. These drops are given to babies with colic and babies with irritable bowel syndrome. We are hoping this is the trick.

3. Continue with her reflux medication.

4. Dr. G's office is trying to schedule an appointment for MK to have an upper GI done. They would like to get it done this week, but not sure how that will work out with the holidays. The upper GI might give us all a better idea of what exactly is going on.

5. After all of the above we may meet with a gastro doctor to get his/her take.

6. The very LAST resort would be for MK to have a surgical procedure to hopefully correct the reflux. This is the very last option and we are praying that we never get to this point. 

We are trying to be positive and remain upbeat. We are just so tired of seeing our precious girl in so much pain. Feeding an infant is supposed to be a bonding time and a time for mother/father and child to relax and spend time together. There is NOTHING relaxing about feeding Morgan Kate. Every time she is due for another feed I find myself hoping and praying that Travis will just take over and I won't have to do it. It's that bad. 

Her oxygen needs have been about the same, maybe a little less. She averages anywhere from 16ccs - 40ccs. She has a pulse ox attached to her foot and it tell us what her oxygen sats are. As long as they stay between 86 and 100 the alarm will not go off. However, the minute she drops to 85 the alarm begins to ding and it will continue to ding until she is able to pull her sats back up. Ninety-nine percent of the time she can pull her sats right back up. There has only been a few instances, very few, that we have had to turn her oxygen up to help her. The pulse ox is a big reassurance for me. I don't mind carrying it around or hearing the alarm go off. It gives me peace of mind. The only bad part about the pulse ox is there are a lot of false alarms. If Morgan Kate moves a lot or kicks her feet too much the pulse ox can't read and the alarm goes off. As I mentioned before, she moves a lot. Yep, you guessed it! And that means the alarm goes off. So, we spend a lot of time holding her down and trying to keep her foot still so that we can determine whether it's a true or false alarm. 

I gave Morgan Kate her first dose of Levsin drops earlier today. After the drops I fed her and then she and I had "play time". She seemed really, really content and at ease. I put her on her "mat" and she kicked and moved and looked all around. She did an awesome job! She was on her mat for close to forty-five minutes or so and she was completely happy. She then had some tummy time and worked on holding up her head. After all the "work" she got to relax some in her new boppy chair that Kaky and Gdaddy gave her for Christmas. I am hoping that the Levsin drops gave her some relief and if that is the case, then terrific. It was a great afternoon and I am hoping that all the "work" and "play" will make her nice and sleepy for tonight. Wish us luck...