Reflux, Colic, Gas...WTFever...I Hate It!!!!!

Little C just turned 6 weeks old yesterday. Happy 6 weeks Little C!  And we've been dealing with IG issues since she was about 10 days old.  Started out with gas and not pooping regularly.  I mean that was a total shocker.  In the hospital and when I first brought her home she wouldn't stop pooping.  I thought something was wrong with her.  The pediatrician thankfully explained that with young babies there is a reflex mechanism that when anything by mouth is stimulated, then the other end gets going too.  So I was relieved to know she was fine.  But within a few days all plumbing action seized up and all she did was fart and scream.  And when I say fart I mean that I had her laying on the bed to change her and it was so loud that it reverberated across the mattress and I felt the vibration on my leg.  It is no wonder she screams like she does.

She was switched over to Enfamil Gentlease and for the first few days it really seemed to do the trick.  That was short lived.  I stuck it out but we were still having the same pooping issue along with the gas.  This poor thing was screaming...like...the kind that seeks out that one area in your spinal column that makes you want to scream along with her kinda screaming.  Face turning so red that it looked like her eyeballs were going to pop out of her head.  Then you would hear it.  These farts were so huge, I know that had to sting her little butt cheeks.  After she'd lay there, panting and glistening with sweat.  You have to realize what this is doing to me as her mother.  It is ripping me apart that I have to watch her suffer like this and there is not a damn thing I can do about it.

At her 4 week appointment we discussed her reflux, which is mild compared to the gas/colic.  He prescribed her some Zantac which works, when I get it in her rather than on her.  It tastes (yes, I tasted it) like unflavored cough medicine.  I even have one of those nifty medicine bottles with a nipple on it and it usually works pretty well.  But sometimes she just fights me.  He also recommended that after 7-10 days if there was no improvement with the colic that we switch her to Enfamil Nutramigen.  Around 6 days later, after a feeding I was holding her and she had fallen asleep.  Three hours passed by and I was getting ready to wake her up and feed her when she spit up.  It wasn't an ungodly amount.  But it was 3 hours after being fed.  Shouldn't that formula have been digested and gone by then?  I called the pediatrician and he told me that yes, it should have been digested in 3 hours and to switch her to Nutramigen and keep her on Zantac.

About 2 weeks have gone by and Little C is still colicky.  I don't think it is quite as bad as when she was on Gentlease.  She still screams and farts like crazy.  If she isn't sleeping, she is screaming.  There are a few times where she is alert and smiling. (Yes, I said smiling!  Her social smile has made its debut!)  My only saving grace seems to be the cradle swing.  I think it might be magical.  She can be screaming and within 45 seconds of putting her in it she is sleeping.  That is how I've been able to write a few posts in the last two days.  And cook, clean, do laundry (well some of it anyway...effin hate laundry) and spend time with the in-laws.  The pooping situation has improved a little.  Softer yes, more frequent...not really.  Still only once a day most of the time. 

I just want my baby back.  She is at the point in her development where she is starting to discover things and show off her personality and I rarely get to see it because she is always screaming.  I'm praying that I can make it through this.  Big C had colic but after seeing what Little C is going through, I wouldn't even classify it as colic.  He screamed...a lot.  But he didn't have all the other issues Little C has.  I guess for now, I'm going to be breaking down the pack 'n play and moving the swing into my bedroom and letting her sleep in that at night.  At least then, we'll both get some sleep.