Round Two with Reflux :(

So I finally broke down and took John Parker to the pediatrician last Friday for what I thought was a simple teething problem (see previous post).  He had gone 10 days without sleeping more than 2 hours straight, and honestly, I was a little worried - I know he IS teething because I can feel the little tooth prongs just below the surface of his gum, but 10 days of practically NO sleep seemed a little extreme for teething pain.

As the doctor was questioning me about his issues and symptoms, it started becoming clear to me what the real problem was - reflux.  He was diagnosed with "airway reflux" at his 4 month visit and we were given a prescription for Zantac with instructions to give it up to 3 times a day but only as much as I felt necessary to control the "choking" he was experiencing.  He had never at that point acted like he was in pain at all from the reflux, just had the airway issues, so I gave him a dose every night in his night bottle and sometimes remembered to give him doses throughout the day - but not always - and the choking issue seemed to subside for the most part.  Well, in the midst of the symptom questioning, I realized YES, he has been spitting up more (I contributed this to teething), YES, he has been worse on days/nights I nurse him exclusively (no bottles, thus no Zantac), and YES, he is worse at night (virtually no fussiness during the day - and we recently started laying him directly  down in his crib at night vs the nap nanny - and reflux is ALWAYS worse in a flat position).  I felt terrible.  All I had to do to make him feel better was give him his three doses of Zantac every day and he wouldn't have suffered. 

I quickly had to forgive myself for not taking him sooner and realize that teething DOES sometimes create some of the same issues he was having, just not usually as extreme.  We decided with the doctor to slightly increase his dose of medication and I committed myself to giving him a dose three times a day.  He has done much better, sleeping all night Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (waking once for paci) and the last couple of nights waking twice (but the teething is much worse lately - he cries when I even rub his gum with my finger - so hopefully we will have a tooth soon!)

I have had to learn that being mother doesn't always mean being perfect.  I hope I can learn to pick up on John Parker's cues more quickly, but thank goodness we have pediatricians! 

At his appointment, he weighed in at 15 pounds, 2 ounces - so he is growing like a little weed!
And this past weekend, he started sitting alone - he's reaching for toys while sitting, lunging forward to grab things, and rolling both ways (he's only rolled from back to front a couple of times, but he's definitely learning to be mobile!)  He's truly precious, and every month gets better and more fun!