I thought it was supposed to get easier!

So everyone told me that the first 6 weeks was the hardest, but after that it starts to get easier. My babies are alomst 2 months, and everyday gets harder. Everyday they spit up more, and get more fussy, and Ryan chokes more and more every day. They are on Prevacid for their reflux, and it seemed to be working well, but all of a sudden they both took a turn for the worse. I wanted to try Enfamil A.R. for the spit up, but my doc said they have to stay on EnfaCare because of their low birth weights. Ryan literally chokes about 5 times a day (the spit up gets in his nasal passages) and he isn't breathing. We have to walk around with a bulb syringe and watch him every second of the day. I am so scared that he is going to do it when I am not watching or at night and he won't be able to get cleared and choke to death.

My older girls are really suffering as well. 24 hours a day revolves around the twins. My 5-year-old has started wetting her pants to get attention (she has never had an accident since potty training). I feel so guilty, but I don't have any more time in the day. DH has to work 2 jobs so that I can stay home, and he works really long hours (24 hour shifts at the fire department and 10 hour days doing landscaping).

I don't know what to do. How do I make my twins stop spitting up and choking? I am feeling very overwhelmed, and I really don't have any help, it's just me. I knew it was going to be hard, but I never expected this!

Thank you for letting me vent, I needed to get that off my chest.

 

:hug99: Shelley, I am sorry you are having a rough time. Reflux was so hard to deal with. Can you weigh the formula down with cereal? Have you been back into the ped to tell him what is going on?

 

I was told that adding cereal changed the nutritional value of the formula, so I couldn't do that. My pedi doesn't seem to be much help, she just tries new meds.

 

I am sorry. But I will tell you that my 1st three weeks home were a breeze and THEN it got horrible until about 3-31/2 months. My Ashley choked ALOT too. Hang in there it does get better.

On an interesting side note yesterday my EIGHT YEAR OLD peed her pants and my FIVE YEAR OLD wet the stinking bed!! What is up with that neither has ever happened before!!

 

One of my DDs would spit up and have it up her nose. I carried a bulb syringe everywhere until she was about 4 months old. Both girls were on zantac for reflux and enfacare for low birth weight. Finally the reflux got better, but the spitting up never stopped (still using all those burp cloths!). One thing the doctor said to do which seemed to help Ana not have spit up up her nose was to keep her upright 30-45 minutes after a bottle.. and then before we'd lay her down we would burp her again. It was hard at night, but I'd feed her first, prop her up, then I'd feed Meara.. and then I'd put them both back to bed together. I also had her sleeping in her infant seat for awhile or napping in the swing. Oh and the boppy (once they fit into it!) was great for propping.

One more thing- everything is "supposed" to get easier after 6 weeks adjusted age. For me, things started to get easier and more fun after about 3 1/2 months. They were sleeping more regularly and smiling. Its so much easier to get up at 4am when the baby you are holding is smiling at you!

Good luck, Leighann

 

QUOTE(Leighann @ Oct 7 2007, 03:49 PM) [snapback]439561[/snapback]
One more thing- everything is "supposed" to get easier after 6 weeks adjusted age. For me, things started to get easier and more fun after about 3 1/2 months. They were sleeping more regularly and smiling. Its so much easier to get up at 4am when the baby you are holding is smiling at you!


i have to agree... nothing magical happened for me at 6 weeks though i was really waiting for it. Everyone told me breastfeeding would get easier, babies would get easier, etc etc. Didn't happen. It's diferent for everyone because we are all dealing with different circumstances. For me, it got easier at around 2 months because i had more confidence to care for them alone. But at 4 months, things took a sharp turn for the worse when i foudn out they weren't gaining enough weight and i've struggled since then... You rarely hear that but, like i said, just want to tell you not to listen to the "norm" because it seems nothing follows the norm around here!!

Don't worry, things will get easier but it won't be like an all of a sudden switch... it will happen gradually and one day, you'll realize that things used to be a lot worse even though you didn't realize the day-to-day improvements you were making. Good luck!

 

Hmm... I wonder if you could get instructions on how to mix up the AR to be 22 calories (or 24, or whatever your babies are on). Or maybe you could get instructions on how to make regular AR but add enough Enfacare to boost it up to the desired # of calories.

I'm so sorry you're having a hard time. I hope it gets better soon. :hug99:

 

I asked my pedi about fortifying A.R with the Enfacare, and she said it can't be done. I don't really agree with her, but I need to do something so I am going to try the rice cereal in the bottle. Wish me luck!

 

QUOTE(shelley79 @ Oct 7 2007, 07:52 PM) [snapback]439794[/snapback]
I asked my pedi about fortifying A.R with the Enfacare, and she said it can't be done. I don't really agree with her, but I need to do something so I am going to try the rice cereal in the bottle. Wish me luck!



Shelley, it seems like if you made the normal Enfacare bottle, then added your rice, mixed it, and saw how many oz were in there with the rice, you could add the extra Enfacare powder to make it the same amount of calories. Right? I don't think your ped is being very helpful.

 

I don't know if anyone posted this, but babies reach their fussiest and most difficult stage around 6 weeks FROM THEIR DUE DATE. So, it really makes sense that your little peeps are fussy and spitting up and just being very time consuming and not fun.

I'm the one that always posts, telling people to go into "Survival Mode". You can PM me if you want tips, but I basically just took EVERYTHING down to the bare bones and some things are still that way. Just making life as easy as possible for myself, within the boundaries of my life (e.g. I can't afford to hire help with the babies or older kids).

For me, things got more manageable after the babies hit 4 months. It would've been sooner if I hadn't had any older children.

 

QUOTE(Leighann @ Oct 7 2007, 07:49 PM) [snapback]439561[/snapback]
One thing the doctor said to do which seemed to help Ana not have spit up up her nose was to keep her upright 30-45 minutes after a bottle.. and then before we'd lay her down we would burp her again. I also had her sleeping in her infant seat for awhile or napping in the swing. Oh and the boppy (once they fit into it!) was great for propping.


i agree- k eeping my son upright for awhile after feeding helped. but he did start rolling late, just FYI, and i think it was because he was hardly ever laying flat when he was real little! he actually sat up on his own for weeks before rolling! anyway, you are doin gthe best you can. the first few months for me were just SOOO Hard. i had no idea it would be like that. and i kept hearing it would get easeir around 3-4 months, but i have to say for me it was more like 6 months. i don't know if it was because of them being a little early and reaching that stage at their "adjsuted age" or what, but that's when it was for me. now is SO much better, and they are just so much fun. just do the best you can. sleep whenever they do- even for 10 mins.
maybe you could get a family member or friend to come over and take 1 feeding so you could take your older kids out to lunch or do a little something special with them? is that an option? i'm sure they would like that one on one time. this will be harder if you are BF, but maybe even over a nap time?
good luck, and feel free to vent anytime! we've all been there and can totally relate,a s well as assure you there IS light at the end of the tunnel, faint as it may seem!!!

 

I don't know if this will help or not, but my 2 seemed to be colicy and would spit up as you described. We went through a ton of options and meds only to find out that they are both allergic to milk protein. The formula itself was causing all the issues. It was a simple blood test to find out about the allergy. I kept pushing the issue with their doctors (we go to a multiple Dr. practice) and I was sure it was the formula making them miserable. It was diffcult to convince the doctors something besides reflux was the issue, but I stuck to my guns. There was no way they would have gained well and thrived on milk based formula. This may have nothing at all to do with your babies, but it could and I had to mention it. I pray things get better with your babies and your sanity. Advocate for your babies!!

Kelly