Morgan Kate

After some kicking, screaming and flailing of the arms the results are in and it seems that our baby girl might just have a tiny tummy. No problems with the esphagous, no problems with the throat, no stomach or intestinal problems, matter of fact Morgan Kate's anatomy looks great. What a huge relief and an answered prayer! Several months ago someone told me that, "All premature babies have something wrong with their stomachs, so you can bet your bottom dollar that something will be wrong with hers." Well, I am happy to say that that person was wrong!

We arrived at the hospital a little before nine this morning. Travis went in to finish registering and left the two of us in the car. Once he returned we waited for "the call". Since Morgan Kate is not supposed to be exposed to others we sat in the truck and had them call us when they were ready. Right at 9:30 we got the call.

We began by explaining the things that had been occurring at home and then the upper GI began. We thought she would have to drink barium, but they actually have a clear liquid that infants can drink instead of the barium. Thank goodness! They attempted giving her a bottle and didn't have much luck. They asked us to try and give her the bottle, but unfortunately we didn't have much luck either. Not sure if it was the nasty stuff she was asked to drink or the fact that they had her lying flat on her back. Now who drinks anything while laying flat on their back? Come on. We don't feed her that way and she's not used to it. After several attempts with the bottle we had to put the OG tube in. Of course since she had taken "some" of the bottle she threw it all up. We then secured the tube and they finished injecting the liquid into her stomach. They then took x-rays every 15 minutes to see how the liquid was processed and how it traveled through her body.

Around 11:15ish the radiologist came out and spoke with us. There were no signs of reflux - today. She said that it is quite possible that she has reflux, but that at this particular feed it didn't occur. She said that everything else looked great - everything was where it was supposed to be and there were no obstructions. She said that everything was moving quite quickly and she would probably have a messy diaper any minute. And boy did she!

There were only two things that they noticed:
1. When they tried giving her the bottle she would not take it. She would not suck or swallow. Of course they have never seen her take a bottle before, so they seemed to think that we need to see a speech therapist and get some work done (stimulation around the mouth, work with the nipple, etc.). Often times premature babies develop an oral aversion because of being on the vent or being OG fed for so long. Morgan Kate was never on the vent, but has been OG fed since birth. The tube has been put in, taken out, taped down, tape removed and so she possibly associates things around her mouth with pain. It can sometimes take preemies years to outgrow this. They can work with a speech therapist (because this oral aversion can later cause speech and language delays) and we should also try different things ourselves. We should touch her face gently, kiss her face gently, use the pacifier, have her suck on the bottle nipple with no bottle attached and so forth. All things to promote positive things happening around her mouth. I don't think this is the complete cause of the her feeding problems, but I do think it has something to do with it.

2. The other thing they noticed was that they only gave her 30ccs or so of the liquid and it completely filled her stomach. So, they seem to think that maybe we are feeding her too much or too often. Therefore, the squirms, cries, arching of the back and so forth are because she is trying to tell us she's not hungry.

Today we have been working on touching her cheeks very gently, rubbing around her mouth, having her suck a nipple, having her suck our finger and our pediatrician also reduced her feeds from 66ccs to 58ccs. At 12 this afternoon she took a bottle beautifully, at 4 she would only take about 40ccs and she threw about 15 or so of it up, at 8 she took a good bottle and just now she finished another one. However, as I type this she is screaming and Travis is doing everything he can to console her.

She is continuing to fight her feeds and it is definitely a struggle. At times it really gets the best of me. I just want feeding time to be calm and soothing and a bonding time for us. It ends up being such a battle and just an overall awful time. We just want to find out what works for her so that things can get better.

We are thrilled and so very thankful that nothing is wrong "mechanically". How awesome is that? Thank you for all your prayers!