New medication

Evan saw a specialist for his reflux last Friday. The doctor seemed rather cold and clinical but was nice, throwing in seemingly serious questions in the middle of his medical analysis: "Does he have blood in his stool? ...How long after eating does the reflux occur? ...Is he cute?...He has long eyelashes...Mom, you have to stop pulling out his eyelashes..." Evan then "baptized" the doctor during the belly-pressing exam, squirting him with a warm spray of pee.

The doctor changed one of Evan's medications; he switched him from Zantac to Prevacid. After strugging with solutabs that don't dissolve evenly in water, JR and I finally found a method using a powder form of the medicine (dissolved in water). Friday was a difficult day--the stress was running high and taking a toll on JR and me. Also, Evan had some reflux on Friday--what I think was more than usual.

JR and I are realizing we have to remain calm, though, and not be too emotional or stressed about his reflux. Yes, it is scary to see him having these spasms, it's difficult to see him in pain, but he is not in any danger. That's what we have to remember. All we can do is hold him upright and try to comfort him when he cries. Part of why it's so hard, at least for me, is because I feel helpless. I cannot take his pain away, as much as I want to. As any mother, I would willingly take 100 times his pain for him if it would mean he wouldn't have any. But I can't do that. I just have to hold him and wait for it to stop. And it's hard waiting. It is hard to be patient. We have to be patient, though, as this new medicine takes a couple of weeks to take full effect.

We have only good news now: he is gaining weight (around 40 grams average a day, 1.5 ounces), he hasn't had any reflux in almost 36 hours, he is sleeping well, and he is getting more alert and beautiful every day. Since JR has almost a week off work, I've been able to catch up on sleep in the mornings while he takes care of Evan. I think both JR and I feel more rested. And we are building a team, working together to care for our sweet little boy.