A scare, progress, another scare, and more progress

Here's a not-so-quick summary of our night last night - which started rough but ended shockingly well. This is a long update - so thanks in advance for reading and sorry for being long winded.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Cooper has been refusing to eat the stinky new formula (Enfamil Nutramigen) . Since I log everything (amount of food, date/time and how long it took to feed him, diaper changes, and notes about whether he was fussy, spit up, etc.), I was able to figure out that yesterday he had only taken about half the amount of food he should be taking. All day yesterday he was fussy and miserable (typically he's just like that at night), with the exception of the one-hour visit with had from our friend, Clare, who held and rocked Cooper and he was just angelic! She even managed to feed him peacefully - something that I wasn't able to do all day long. She said that although he was peaceful in her arms she could tell he was unhappy and not feeling good. It was nice to have her acknowledge this instead of saying things like "but he's so quiet now" which we hear from other people rather often - of course they've only seen him during the day or early evening (his *good* times - it's nights we have hysteria 'round these parts).

At 7 pm, during another unsuccessful feeding, Bob and I were discussing how his refusal to eat is making us really worried and making Cooper angry and inconsolable because he is clearly hungry. Bob suggested I go pick up Similac's version of the hypoallergenic formula (Alimentum) to see if this is a taste issue that we can quickly solve. We agree that yet another change in formula is not ideal in such a short time frame but that we certainly can't allow him to not eat and we can't take many more days and nights of misery (since suddently it's days AND nights rather than just nights).

At 10 pm I proceeded to feed Cooper the Similac Alimentum and he didn't smack the bottle away. Bob and I looked at each other with amazement and watched Cooper take almost 3 oz of it. Burped him along the way and there seemed to be no problem. An hour later, he started to cry the way he does when he is gassy and needs an extra burping. So I go to burp him and before even starting and as I put him into the burping position on my lap he vomited what appeared to be the equivalent of the entire day's feedings. Doesn't seem possible since he should have already digested the previous feedings - BUT he soaked his onesie from top to bottom AND the entire front of my shirt and half of the burp cloth. Suddenly, Cooper was strangely calm - as if that's what needed to happen for him to feel better. Of course, we were very worried about what this might mean.

We got him and me cleaned up and I held him and rocked him for an hour as Bob and I discussed what we should do - should we feed him again or wait til he cries out of hunger?, should we call the doctor or wait til morning to see how he is? We decided to feed him once he starts to act hungry so at midnight he started rooting for food and I gave him a bottle. Gave him just 2 oz - just in case it didn't agree with him - and he drank it calmly (didn't refuse it or fuss at all the way he did with the Enfamil version). I was waiting for the shoe to drop, so to speak, but lo and behold, he fell asleep! We didn't want to wake him up so we let him sleep on me and we moved me toward the center of the bed and put pillows along both sides of me to prevent him from rolling off me and off the bed. I feel asleep, expecting I'd be up in just a few minutes when the baby returns to his night time screaming routine that we've become accustomed to.

Well...he stayed asleep. At different times, Bob and I each woke up to verify that the baby was still breathing because we were shocked he was still asleep. He ended up sleeping for 4.5 hours! Which means, Bob and I finally got some sleep last night too. =)

I woke up before Cooper did and I couldn't believe he wasn't awake and crying for a diaper change or for a bottle. I checked his diaper and it was totally dry! That worried me as it could have been a sign of dehydration from the vomiting episode. I didn't want to wake him up but I worried that if I didn't he'd go too long without eating. As I watched him and had this debate in my mind, the baby decided for me and he opened his eyes and looked at me and smiled. I checked his diaper again and it was wet this time (he smiles when he pees so I had a feeling it'd be wet). Changed his diaper and then tried to feed him. He was super sleepy still and would only take 1 oz - darn!

He fell back asleep and I put him in his car seat carrier on the bed next to me and I laid down and slept another hour until he woke up and made a horrible sound which woke me and I realized he was gagging on stomach acid and was foaming at the mouth! I grabbed him and ran downstairs and gave him his AM dose of Zantac. He cried and clung to me and I rocked him. I tried to feed him after that and he suddenly became super drowsy and lethargic and fell asleep. He was breathing fine but all my attempts to wake him up and continue feeding him failed. We needed him to eat and we were worried about his demeanor and the foaming so we decided we'd take him to the doctor. Our pediatrician has half-day of office hours for walk-ins with issues on Saturday mornings (thank goodness!).

As soon as we got him buckled up in his car seat he opened his eyes, perked up and became alert again. We took him in anyway so we could discuss the vomiting incident the night before, along with the foaming and the lethargy this morning.

Dr. Mike was totally great and understanding. Bob joked with him about how last week we brought him in because of his colic, feeding issues and the fact that he screams all night long and now we're bringing him in because he's not screaming and actually slept most of the night. But once we talked through the events of the evening and the morning, Dr. Mike validated our desire to have him seen just in case. He was glad we switched Cooper to the Alimentum because he agreed that we couldn't keep going with the Nutramigen if he refused to eat it. While there we found that Cooper has not gained any weight since Wednesday which was not great but Dr.Mike was glad he hadn't LOST weight. He examined Cooper and said he looks great now and we talked about our original game plan and decided we'd do 72 hours on the Alimentum and then determine if we need to switch from Zantac to Prevacid. Just in case we do make the switch, he gave us samples of the Prevacid and explained how it is prepared and administered. He said that if we encounter any problems over the weekend to call the office since he's on call all weekend. Then he had a little talk with Cooper to let him know he needs to let his mom and dad sleep and to stop worrying us LOL.

Cooper is eating better today (not back to normal but much better than with the Nutramigen) on the Alimentum and he's been napping between feedings. When I put him down on his infant bed with the slightly inclined positioner he gets antsy and foamy (which by the way the doctor said is a visible sign of the reflux struggle and is to be expected with his condition) so I pick him back up into a more upright position and he settles down. So that I could get some things done while he sleeps I put him in his swing (without turning it on) to keep him slightly upright and he slept there for nearly 2 hours. When he woke up he alerted me with a cry that he needed a new diaper and was hungry. He easily and calmly took 3 oz, burped well, and is comfortably resting on my chest as we watch the Faith Forum with Barack Obama, John McCain and Rick Warren moderating.

So...here's to hoping for continued progress and that tonight he sleeps as well as he did last night but without scares. Fingers, toes, and everything else crossed once again.