I can't really believe it's been four months. I never thought we'd be in the NICU this long. But we are still here and there really isn't any end in sight.
The good news is that Dylan has taken two full feeds; 57 on Monday and 62 last night. (He's now at 65 minimum - they increase the amount every couple of days.) In between those FANTASTIC moments he's fluctuated between 10 and 40 but typically eats around 30mls.
On Tuesday we went down to radiology to do an upper GI study. I got to watch as Dylan drank Barium, the swallows going down his esophagus and settling in his stomach. It was a struggle to get him to drink enough and I had to help feed him, but eventually he drank enough for the doctor to look for reflex. We watched for 5 minutes and Dylan had 4 episodes of reflux which the doctor classified as severe. It was pretty cool to watch. You could see the Barium just go right back up his esophagus to his throat and then back down again.
Poor kid. No wonder he doesn't want to eat!
The doctors added another medication to keep his bowels moving more quickly to try and empty his stomach faster to hopefully prevent some of the reflux. I think it might be working, but no obvious miracles yet.
We are beyond tired of all of this. Dylan is 7 1/2 pounds now. We are desperately hoping to get home before 8.
I'll upload some pictures and maybe even a video soon!
Poor guy but now that they did the GI tract test and they know its reflux they can better do things to prevent the reflux and help his feedings get better and better. Bit, by bit, cinch by cinch Dylan is getting there.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of reflux - poor babe! He's getting so BIG. Cheering on his progress, as always. xx
ReplyDeleteHopefully this new information helps fix things for him!
ReplyDeletePoor little guy. I hope the new meds help him keep the food down and he can enjoy eating soon.
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