Issues du jour

Issue 1: Ben is finally interested in talking to share ideas, at least in very small settings and with people he knows well.  GREAT!

Did I just say great?  Let's change that to a great big headache.

Liam likes to talk, a lot.  If you let him, he will talk while walking in circles non-stop for hours.  I drove to Atlanta with him this weekend and on the way there, he talked the entire 3 hours with only occasional "hmmms" of agreement from me.

Now, Ben is also trying to talk.  This has resulted in a lot of tears from both boys and accusations that the other isn't letting him talk.  Have you heard about how Asperger's monologue?  Have you ever wondered what happens when you get two together and they both try to monologue?  I can tell you it isn't pretty. By the end of the day, I don't want anyone talking to me.  Today it resulted in a meltdown before school.

Issue 2: Ben is waking at night crying and saying his throat hurts.  It started with his last ear infection.  Does he have strep throat or still infected ears or is his reflux back to waking him up at night?

Issue 3:  The boys have finally watched their first movie all the way through, actually 3 movies. Both of them are into Star Wars.  There have been obsessions before but they have been Liam's alone.  Now they are both obsessed.  They want the Playskool figurines but they are hard to find.  What we have is fought over, hoarded, hiddenw ith the secret place forgotten, and I seem to live and breathe Star Wars between movie quotes, managing fights over figurines, and listening to Liam's ideas for episodes 7 throuh 136.

A future without reflux medication?

Today Ben had a GI appointment to check on how he is doing weaning off reflux medication.  He has grown so much recently, which is an indication that his body might be outgrowing the reflux.  He measured in at 35.5 inches tall and 27.5 pounds (adding 2 inches and 2 pounds since turning 2 years old four months ago).  The appointment with the GI was a bit frustrating as she mentioned that his excema and reflux symptoms are consistent with food allergies but does not think allergy testing is a good idea.  I guess at this point I have to accept that allergy testing is not going to happen.

The plan is for him to be done with reflux medication by October at 30 months old.  She said if he proves to still require reflux medicine than it will probably need it for life.  She also asked about his preference for soft food and said to call immediately if he starts having more difficulty as she could see a need for him to be re-scoped and tested again for EE.

All in all, a good appointment with his growth and ability to handle a lower medication dosage.

Ben--language, reflux, and emotional development

It is hard to believe but Ben is now older than Liam was when Dave deployed (and I am forever grateful that I don't have a 7 month old in addition to him at home).

Ben continues to slowly add words to his vocabulary.  He still frequently speaks in single words but 2 and 3 word phrases are becoming more frequent.  He does not have the echolalia that Liam had at this age.  For the longest time, Ben's words were not very understandable, but some of his sounds are becoming more clear.  He still doesn't say his name (except when playing peek-a-boo) and doesn't respond at all when strangers talk to him.  He still signs and even created his own sign for "swimming."  His Early Intevention nows includes speech therapy, in addition to OT due to his slow language acquisition.  The way his language is developing is so different than Liam.  Liam seldom spoke to communicate (and still like to monolgue to no one in particular) and never really did the baby talk of using the wrong verbs.  Liam seemed to develop language through delayed echolalia so he always spoke grammatically correct.  Ben does alot more of toddler speak and it is so cute!



His language allows me to have insight about his emotional development.  One day when he did something to upset Liam he told me "Meme ryen" (translation is "Liam crying").  Yesterday when he woke from a nap, he stuck his arms out to me and told me "I ryen."  He has even been able to tell me "Meme sad."  It wasn't until Liam was 3.5 and it was written into Liam's IEP that he was able to understand that someone else was sad.  Ben is very tuned in to the emotions I am experiencing or what type of mood Liam is in.

Ben continues to be a little monkey and seeks out all sorts of sensory stimulation.  His tope walking is getting more pronouced and he has taken to walking on his tippy toes (not having the balls of his feet touch at all) and even toe walking in shoes.  Ben climbs everything in the house and spends as much time as he can scaling things, finding ways to turn on water, and throwing things....and creating slides.

Ben has been off Prilosec for about 3 weeks.  He is on Zantac and has been tolerating it.....but it has meant that he has gone back to refusing to swallow food and demanding applesauce and yogurt instead of real food.  He is waking up from naps crying and even waking at night again.  We have also had a huge excema flare-up on his wrists.  

And the crying has stopped

2 years of crying that wouldn't stop.  The first 6 months or so, he cried 6-8 hours a day.  For the next 12 months, he cried 2-3 hours a day.  For the last 6 months, it was 1 hour a day.  It was less than a month ago I posted this about Ben's crying.  Over the last week or so, something happened.  The crying stopped.  I don't mean that Ben doesn't cry any longer.  He is two years old, so he cries when he gets scared, he wants something, or he is frustrated.  But the extended crying for seemingly no reason hasn't happened in over a week.  We have had reprieves before, which made the return of the reflux cry even harder for me to manage, but I wonder if we haven't come through to the other side finally.

I did the math figuring the low end of those crying estimates.  In the last 2 years, I have survived 1990 HOURS of Ben crying.  Of those 2 years, Dave was gone 9 months, so I managed it alone.  That number doesn't count Liam's meltdowns or crying.

Ben is still refluxing; he spit up a tablespoon or so Saturday morning.  I just hope this change in crying means we are through the worst of it.  I hope I get to see his rare smiles more often.

The scoop on poop

(These photos have nothing to do with this post, but trust me, you don't want to see the poop photos referenced in this post)

First, it was butt strep (Liam), which involved anal bleeding.

Then it was the scariest looking diaper (Ben) of rust-colored poop I have ever seen.  We had a referral for a local GI anyway, so I called the office, and was told Ben could come in this morning, which means, we have one GI appointment, two different OT appointments, one speech appointment, and one trip to Costco....and no naps.

I brought in photos of the offensive diaper and it worried the GI, quite a bit actually.  A quick screen showed it wasn't blood, but the doctor ordered a celiac screen to rule that out.  I get to collect 3 stool samples over the next several days.  My job is so glamous; try not to be too jealous.

(photo taken by Liam; ignore the perpetual sleep deprived look)

Ben gets to stay on Prilosec for the time being and we'll re-eavulate in 2 months.  Ben was not a fan of the anal probing and forced stool sample:

(Ben was actually crying here because he didn't want Liam taking his photo)

Liam is in a perfectly happy mood these days; because his anal probe was a few weeks ago (unlike Ben) and because he doesn't have to collect poop (unlike Mommy).

 And that is today's scoop on poop.

Turned down AGAIN for allergy testing...

But came away with an unexpected referral...

I honestly don't remember how often I asked for allergy testing for Ben; I probably should have kept track.  I took Ben in today for a visit with his PCM to discuss the negative endoscopy results and decide how to proceed with weaning him off Prilosec since his GI is in Seattle.  In the end, there were a few other items I wanted to discuss.

My big guy weighed in at 25 pounds and measured 33 and 1/2 inches.  That makes him in the 16th percentile for weight and the 30th percentile for length, which is awesome considering he was only 18 pounds and 29 inches at one year.

(notice skinny boy's ribs?).

I told his doctor that the GI wants him to wean off Prilosec but when we tried it this summer, it was disastrous and that I am not comfortable doing it with his specialist so far away without some sort of plan in place.  She said there is a local GI and offered a referral there.  GREAT....that would have saved the Air Force alot of money if we had gone there initially.  She isn't comfortable discussing how to wean him off Prilosec and suggested we discuss that and any on-going reflux symptoms with the new GI.

I asked for allergy testing.....again.  My reasoning is that if 90% of babies outgrow reflux at 1 year old and Ben STILL has it at 2 years old, wouldn't a simple allergy test make sense to figure out why (as he has already been testing for everything ranging from cystic fibrosis to eosinophilic disorders).   She denied my request saying that if his endoscopy was clear and eosinophilic disorder is not play, there is no reason to test for allergies. SIGH.....

We talked about Ben's involvement in Early Intervention.  His PCM called his name, and there was not only no response, but he didn't even flinch.  I called his name to show he does the same ignoring for me.  I described his sensory issues.  I said that he is very social, but isn't interested in peers.  She recommended a referral to a developmental pediatrician (this is the type of specialist that diagnoses autism spectrum disorders).  I have a roller coaster of emotions about this, but the short answer is that I *know* it is the right thing for him to see a specialist.  My gut tells me that Ben is different than Liam, but my gut also tells me something is going on.  The waiting list is 6 to 12 months, so hopefully by the time we are seen, Ben will be answering to his name and will be making friends.

So, the way forward....Out of pocket testing for gluten and dairy intolerance, waiting list for developmental pediatrician, staying on the Prilosec until we can consult with the new GI, and having a local GI doctor.....and going back in 4-6 weeks for his 2 year well baby visit.

The same old song and dance

This is a video I took a couple of weeks ago.  Before you watch it, turn down your volume as it shows Ben crying pretty hard.  While you watch it, think back to almost 2 years ago when I showed a video of his reflux cry.  That video can be found here: Ben's reflux cry at 7 weeks old  You can also compare how intense Ben's crying is to Liam's crying at almost the same age, as seen in this video showing Ben screaming from reflux and Liam crying from sensory overload: Liam during a sensory meltdown in reaction to Ben's newborn screaming

So, here is Ben crying at about 22 months old:

I wish I knew what causes this.  Ben wakes up from naps like this about 4 times a week.  He'll cry at this intensity for up to an hour.  I try different things to calm him, but nothing seems to work and then he just suddenly snaps out of it.  As you can see, he throws his head back, just like he did when crying from reflux pain at 7 weeks old. So is the screaming due to pain from reflux?  Can it be a night terror?  It has continued even with the chiropractic care, but occurs more often now since he naps more often.  I guess that is my punishment for having him nap.

After almost 43 months of having one child (or two) cry for over an hour a day every day, I am almost used to it.  Sometimes when I see how Dave reacts to this type of crying (he becomes frantic and tries to fix it), I remember that this isn't really normal. 

I'm a believer

 have delayed posting about this for awhile because I am just that skeptical.  Then my laptop died and I am only on-line with Dave's netbook which means I don't have access to my most recently uploaded pictures and I have been busy research new computers....Grrrrrr....Back to the point of this post though.

I decided to try taking Ben to a chiropractor to see if it could help any of his issues: reflux, sleep, fussiness, refusal to swallow food, on-going diarrhea.  The first visit was disastrous.  The initial appointment lasts 60 minutes and Ben started screaming in the waiting room and didn't stop until we left.  The next two appointments were minimally better, especially as they highlighted the fact that Ben does have sensory issues.  The last few appointments have gone well.  Liam loves the chiropractor, even though he doesn't get an adjustment, and Ben has gotten used to the routine.  After 3-4 weeks, his adjustments are holding, except in one spot....his neck.  I noticed he freaks out if I touch his neck (think of trying to button or snap little baby shirts). 

So, the big question is: have I seen improvement?  YES!  She suggested we start giving Ben digestive enzymes and that immediately put a stop to the diarrhea.  For the last week, Ben has been sleeping, and what I mean by that is taking a 2 hour nap almost every day.  At night, he is sleeping about 11 hours.  This is heaven.  I didn't even know that so much free time could exist.

Here, he is sleeping:

We are still dealing with reflux, a refusal to swallow food, and fussiness, but I am loving the extra sleep he is getting. 

Guess it needed to be cleaned anyway

I was in the middle of washing Liam's hair when Ben spit up a good tablespoon or so of chunky food into their shared bath tub.  Now I know what is grosser than cleaning poop out of the tub.

So, part of the battle is getting him to eat and swallow the food (doing those things while sitting in a chair is clearly a lost cause):

Then I need him to keep the food down.  I think I am going to start journaling how often he spits up actual food.  I know he refluxes more often and swallows it.  After that bath, he did that while I was dressing him.  Then there are the time I can just smell the vomit on his breath. :-(

Liam has a cold and is getting worse by the day.....14 more days on my own.....Thankfully, my neighbors have kept my driveway clear so that is one less thing to worry about.

Reflux: The Way Ahead

The fantastic news we got recently is that Ben's biopsies show no inflammation and the ped GI was able to rule out eosinophilic esophagitis.  This is wonderful because the concern was that Ben had an autoimmune condition and worst case scenario was that he might need a feeding tube (thankfully, I know a few people whose kids are thriving with feeding tubes but it is something I'd rather avoid).  There is bad news and that is we are no closer to understanding WHY Ben still spits up at 21 months.  Even with reflux, actual spit up after the age of 1 is uncommon but Ben still does spit up.  Honestly, not having an answer is making me a little crazy.

One possibility is that he has Sensory Processing Dirsoder (SPD), like big brother, Liam and has texture issues to food.  SPD often runs in families and Ben does demonstrate some sensory sensitivity by toe walking.  Another possibility is his dysphagia (medical term for difficulty swallowing) is due to the fact he knows it will likely come back up.  Would you want to swallow chunky food knowing you'd feel it in your throat an hour later?  In either case, the treatment is OT focused on feeding problems.  Since Ben already qualified for Early Intervention, it is one of his goals for therapy.  Last week we tried yogurt covered raisins, cut up grapes, and tortilla chips.  Ben asked for all of them and spit all of them out.  After spitting, he'd happily ask for more.  I think the OT noted one raisin and 1/4th of a grape swallowed.  That is how most meals go.  This week we focus on meats.  The OT also brought some toys that stimulate the mouth and tongue and Ben was happy to play with them but insisted on controlling how much they touched his mouth.

Another possibility is food allergies causing reflux or even celiac disease.  I have asked several times for allergy testing for Ben and keep being told it isn't needed or justified.  I don't know of any other 21 month old that spits up, and I am having a hard time trying to figure out why Ben does.  I can either keep fighting for allergy testing or put Ben on an elmination diet so I can figure out allergies without testing.  I'd much rather get a referral for allergy testing; I just don't trust myself enough to see a difference in reactions during an elimination diet.  I know I saw no difference with eliminating casein, so there is more than just a milk allergy (he might still have a milk allergy but I didn't see a difference b/c he has multiple allergies or maybe he is only allergic to gluten and not milk).  In any case, I'd feel safer with some sort of allergy testing to guide me through an elimination diet.

So, my way ahead for Ben's treatment is

medical: continue with the Prilosec and try to wean him off it every 3 or 4 months and pursue allergy testing,

behavioral: continue OT for feeding issues

alternative: seek out a chiropractor, hopefully one trained in craniosacral therapy to address Ben's reflux

I am really hoping somewhere down the line there are answers.  Liam was a different child once he was diagnosed on the spectrum and started the right therapies.  It was like we turned a key and unlocked Liam's potential, and I want that same thing for Ben.

Ben's endoscopy

Our trip to Seattle was easier this time as I didn't have a stomach bug.  Ben did not like his pack and play and would not sleep in it.  I tried several times, and he screamed everytime I put him in it.  Finally, I laid on the bed in exhaustion, and he snuggled into me and started breathing sleepily, so he stayed in bed with me.  He woke at 12:30am, crying, and we re-started the whole process.  At 1:30am, he was asleep again and I was trying to fall asleep.   Our alarm went off at 5:15am and he woke up with me.  By  the time, we got to Children's Hospital, he was an over-tired, hungry mess and it was only 6:30am.

Ben was jumping and trying to leap off the hospital bed, even with the rail while they took his vitals.  The anestheologist offered the option of a "pre-sedative" and I agreed it was probably in everybody's best interest.  Ben relaxed quickly.  The anestheologist allowed me back while they put Ben to sleep with gas.  It took 3 of us (me and 2 nurses) to hold Ben still enough for the anestheologist to put the mak on Ben's face.  I cannot imagine he could have done it without the pre-sedative.  I guess they normally do just gas, but Ben needed a breathing tube and IV due to his severe reflux.  Once the gas put Ben out, I was escorted from the room, so they could run the tubes.

Ben's GI came out as soon as the surgery was done.  Ben's esophagus, stomach, and lower ntestine all look healthy.  The GI took tissue samples that will be biopsied and there is a possibility that the biopsies will show damage, but the GI doesn't expect it.  I will update after I have the biopsy results.  So for right now, Ben's diagnosis is severe reflux.  However, he is  still spitting up weekly and still won't swallow much food.  The GI wants to wean him off Prilosec, but we just started to see results from the increased dosage and I don't want to go back to not sleeping.  I need to see Ben's PCM and come up with a course of action.  In the meantime, Ben has his first appointment with early Intervention tomorrow.  I will talk to his OT about starting feeding  therapy to work with him on actually swallowing  food.

Third times a charm?

Ben and I travelled 1400 miles each way last week for him to see a pediatric GI specialist at Seattle Children's Hospital.  This makes his 3rd different GI since last August, but who's counting?  The flight down was interesting as I had caught the stomach bug going around our house and spent the trip puking my guts out in the middle of the Anchorage terminal, on the plane in a barf bag, and then again in the terminal in Seattle.  If travelling alone with a toddler, I don't recommend doing it with a stomach bug.  Seattle was beautiful--very warm and the hotel was in a great area.  This is fortunate, as we'll be going back.

I wasn't expecting much from the appointment.  I know my friends keep telling me what a great advocate I am for the boys, but I often feel defeated, as if I keep fighting and keeping failing to get them what they need.  All I wanted out of the appointment was a prescription for more Prilosec and a promise to scope Ben to look into the causes of his reflux.  I have been concerned for months about the possibility of Ben having eosinophilic esophagitis and have asked both of his previous ped GIs about whether we should be looking at food allergies, though I never mentioned the disorder I feared he had.

Ben's new GI specialist is Dr. Burpee which cracks me up.  I shared with him Ben's history, and he noted that he was not at all concerned about his size: 32 inches (30th percentile) and 23 pounds (15th percentile).  Dr. Burpee asked me alot of questions, and focuses his concerns on 3 main areas: Ben's difficulty in swallowing food, his excema, and the fact that Ben STILL spits up while on Prilosec.  He said this constellation of symptoms, especially the fact that the solids Ben struggles with the most to swallow are chicken and pasta are symptomatic of eosinophilic esophagitis.  This website (http://www.apfed.org/ee.htm) has more information about the disorder, but it is a serious autoimmune condition that involves multiple food allergies and mimics reflux.

Our course of action is two fold: tripling Ben's Prilosec dosage to 5 mL twice a day (10mL compounded at 2mG per mL) and having an endoscopy to biopsy lesions in January.  For the scope, Ben will go under general anesthesia.  I am praying he doesn't have eosinophilic esophagitis, but am glad he is being scoped so I never have to wonder if there is something more serious going on.

It is probably nothing.....

but after berating myself for not pursuing Early Intervention with Liam sooner when I first noticed his sensory issues and problems with transitions, I am not taking any chances.  Liam started to be difficult at 14-16 months, but everyone assured me it was "normal"and I ignored my Mommy instinct.  I learned how to control Liam's environment to avoid themeltdowns, and then when Ben was born chaos ensued.  Looking back, both Liaam and I were so unhappy, and now that he is receiving adequate therapy, he is such a different kid that I wished I had called earlier to save us all the months of heartache.

Ben is such a different child from Liam, and definitely has a different developmental path.  Nonetheless, over the last 2 months, he has gone from simply being high needs to being just outright angry.  All Ben wants to do all day is have me hold him and walk circles around the house.  I feel like I have a newborn.

Then there is this....

He walked heel to toe for 6 months and just recently his heels have raised.  I read everything I could find and walking on toes after 18 months is a definite problem.

I e-mailed Early Intervention, and they agreed that Ben qualifies for an evaluation for sensory and motor issues.  I feel sick to my stomach thinking about it, but I don't want the months of misery I had with Liam either.

Ben also heads to Seattle this week to see the pediatric GI specialist at Seattle Chidlren's Hospital.  I am hoping that between both of these upcoming appointments, I can find a happier Ben that is willing to play with his brother instead of cry everytime Liam touches him.

Major cuteness with a side of fussiness

Ben is absolutely adorable these days.

The Prilosec has done the trick.  This video was taken when he was on the Zantac(warning turn volume down):

He was having those crying episode 2-4 times an hour and wanted to just be held and walked around.  Now that he is back on the Prilosec, we only get that type of crankiness from about 3-7pm.  Four hours of that is much better than 16 + hours of it.  I still look forward to a day where he doesn't cry for seemingly no reason.  I know he is crying due to pain, as he has a very different cry when he is tantruming or when he is angry with Liam.

These days Ben is truly a toddler and no longer a baby. He runs and climbs and has even started the dreaded tantrums.  He has Wiggles dances memorized and participates in all the dances at Gymboree.  His hair has otten longer and does this adorable flip by his ears and curls in the back:

He brings toys to you all day and won't leave until you take it from him.  He then says "thank you" giggles and runs to get another toy. He even shares with Murray.

Sleep remains unrelenting awful.  He has taken to staying awake for 2-3 hours a niht about 3-4 days a week.  On a good night, like last night, he wakes twice, but goes right back to sleep.  For naps, he sometimes does not nap at all, sometimes naps 10-20 minutes, and about 2-3 times a week graces us with a 60-90 minute nap.  We have tried everything imainable to get more sleep, but it just isn't happening. Unfortunately, he DOES need more sleep as he often is tired and cranky from lack of sleep.

His saving grace is his big personality and his cuteness.....

Ben's first steps and reflux update

This post is almost 2 months overdue.....poor 2nd born baby boy.

While the deployment was counting down, Ben was learning to walk. 

Here is his "first steps" video taken May 6th on his 13 month birthday:


His progress in learning to walk was slowed by an ear infection treated with amoxicillin.  The ear infection became a double ear infection and was then treated with some awful antibiotic that caused him to have severe GI distress.  At the end of May, he STILL had fluid in his ears, but the infection was gone.  As a 3rd measure, the pediatrician gave a prescription for allergy medicine.

Literally, overnight he went from taking a couple steps to this:


The 2nd video was taken about 5 weeks after the first, but he didn't progress with his walking until just a week before that video was taken.

In other news, Ben's reflux medicine was stopped in early June.  He hasn't slept past 5:30am since and now doesn't fall asleep until 9pm or so at night.  He wakes before 5am about 2 times a week.  By mid-June, he was back to crying 3 to 4  hours a day, so we called his GI specialist who put him on Zantac (the medicine he was on last summer that didn't work).  Two weeks into it and the sleep hasn't improved and his crying is down to 2 to 3 hours a day.....and is spitting up once or twice everyday......sigh.

Edited to add:  Just talked with his ped GI and Ben will go back on Prilosec.  Let's hope it continues to help as much as it did before he stopped.

Someone has to be at the bottom of the weight charts, right?

And really does this kid look undernourished to you?

He certainly looks healthy (and like a healthy dose of trouble) to me.

Today Ben and I went to Children's Hospital in Birmingham (2 hours away) for a 2nd opinion on his reflux.  See, there is only one pediatric GI in Montgomery, and she thinks Ben is cured of his reflux and wants to take him off the Prilosec.  I think she is welcome to do that if she is willing to move in and live with me to carry him hours a day while he screams.  I was hoping that the GI specialists at the Children's Hospital would see things my way.  And they did.....especially when on cue, Ben emptied the contents of his tummy on the exam table....about a 2-3 ounce "spit up" session. Babies that are 1 week from their 10 month birthday should not be spitting up as often or as much as Ben.  We might as well make sure it doesn't burn him while he does it.  The doctor wants to keep him on Prilosec until he is 13 months old and re-evaluate.

What I did not expect is for there to be concern over his weight.  Personally, I was worried about his weight when his percentiles kept dropping, but after he evened out around the 8th percentile, I was no longer worried.  I actually thought he had chunked up lately, and my bathroom scale seemed to agree with me.  The scale today put him at 16 pounds 15 ounces, which is 3rd percentile.  The doctor was concerned about that alone, but couple with the fact, his height hovers around 50th percentile, it means his weight for height isn't even on the charts (unlike Liam who was always way tall but average weight, so weight for height was low but on the charts around 25th percentile).  The doctor did say he was surprised when he saw Ben.....that looking at the numbers, he expected to see an emaciated baby, but Ben looks healthy.  But coupled with his reflux, the doctor said he is tottering on "failure to thrive."

So, they brought in a dietician to lecture me about fat and calories and proper feeding of a 10 month old.  Then we were sent off to the lab where they took FIVE vials of blood....adult size vials.  I am surprised the poor baby has any blood left.  Then I was given two stool collection kits.  I need to gather his stool and drive it the 2 hours to Birmingham, making sure the stool is as fresh as possible and delivering during business hours.  So, now I just need to tell Ben to poop (TWICE) in between 6am and 12pm and drag my two boys in the  car for a 4 hour round trip.....after I collect Ben's poop in sample cups.  Sounds like the perfect making for a day of family fun, though the collection process will be easier due to the fact he is still in diapers.  Then in May, Ben has to have a sweat test, which doesn't sound bad, but will screen him for cystic fibrosis.

Really, all I wanted was a prescription for Prilosec to avoid hours of screaming.

"Happy hour" at our house

The longest time of the day is the time from when Liam wakes from his nap until Dave gets home. Ben will often refuse to nap and be over-tired. Liam is usually cranky. In reality, this means everyone is crying. Here is a video of a typical "happy hour" in the Routhier house:

Ben has been on Zantac for 1 week now. We are seeing some improvement. He used to cry when he burped and spit up, and that crying has stopped. The screeching scream he was doing when he cried has stopped, as well. However, sleep has not improved, which means we are still having lots of crying due to being over-tired. He will not sleep in the car and does not fall asleep nursing. He won't fall asleep with rocking, and often fights falling asleep for hours. He has a well-baby visit next week, and I am hoping for some answers at that visit.

Yesterday we tried to go to a Pirate storytime taught by our neighbor in downtown Montgomery. I made sure that Ben nursed right before he went in and was focused on whether he would fall asleep in the sling during the storytime. I was so focused on Ben that I forgot about Liam's fear of new environments and strangers. Liam took one look at the crowded room and started tantruming. With Ben in a sling, I couldn't hold Liam close enough to calm him, and we had to leave. Lesson learned: arrive at actvities before anyone else or don't bother going.

A brief glimpse into our long, dark days, i.e. Reflux sucks

This picture summarizes Ben's opinion on reflux; actually it summarizes all of the Routhier's opinion of reflux.

Ben's crying started soon after we got home from the hospital. I remember the "witching hour" with Liam and how Liam got the evening fussies, but Ben's crying was something completely different. By 2 weeks old, he was having difficulty sleeping. By 3 weeks old, he started screaming when he scried. He'd arch his back, throw his head back, and let out shrieks at the end of his cries. We went to the doctor, but they dismissed it as colic. It was clear to me it wasn't colic as Ben seemed to be in pain. Finally at 7 weeks, we saw Liam's doctor. The firrst thing she asked is if Ben arches his back, and when I said he did, she said it was reflux. We have a prescription for Zantac and are really hoping it helps as we have all had enough.

If you plan to watch the videos, I recommend turning the sound down on your computer.

In this first one, you can see how Ben arches his back in pain. Dave is supporting his head as he is throwing his neck and head backwards as he arches his back. He'll stay in this position while crying for 1-2 hours.

In this second video, you can hear the shrieks Ben gives as he cries. Don't be fooled by his stopping crying at the end of his video. Ben will take a short break before contuing the screaming. That night he screamed for about 30-40 more minutes before stopping.