Sunday, December 6, 2009

2 steps forward, 2 steps back

Magnus is still doing fine, but when I came in this morning, the nurse said that they'd been a little concerned that he was breathing faster than usual. They think this is due to one of two things: either the oral diuretic he has been taking for the past couple of days is less effective than the IV diuretic he used to be on, or he may be having reflux issues. Personally, I think it is the latter, and I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that until yesterday, he was just getting straight breastmilk, but then yesterday they started giving him breastmilk with human milk fortifier added to it to increase his calories.

I say this because when he was just getting breastmilk, he was steadily increasing his feeds with every meal and not throwing up at all and just spitting up minimally. Then, when they switched him, he started taking in much less milk orally and had a pretty good puke last night (he got his dad's shirt pretty good).

Anyway, for today, the plan is to switch him back to the IV diuretic, to give all his feeds through the NG tube, and to treat him with reflux medications. However, I'm hopeful that once he gets back to normal that we can try him on plain breastmilk again and see if that solves the problem.

It's disappointing, because originally we had talked about trying breastfeeding today, and because this probably also means another day or two in the hospital, but the important thing is that he's still doing fine, and luckily, I think the doctors were inclined to accept my suggestion that the fortified milk might be the problem.

4 comments:

  1. Mom knows best! Today will be a better day! Sending love.

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  2. Rule #1:
    Always have at least one change of clothes - for everyone!
    :-)
    The docs tried to fortify my milk, too, but with powdered formula. Said they couldn't give me the human milk fortifier because there was no way for me to get more of it once I left the hospital, not even through a home health care agency. How do they know the plain breastmilk isn't good enough?
    Being unfamiliar with the feeding tube, I have one last question: What difference does it make if he gets the mix via bottle or tube? It's still going to his tummy and that's where you think the problem is.

    Aside from all that, I'm glad to see that Magnus is still doing well. I hope that you are getting plenty of rest and taking care of yourself while you can. If you think he keeps you busy now, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

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  3. edit:
    How do they know your plain breastmilk isn't good enough?

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  4. We had similar issues with Joshua. He had refux, but it went away soon after his Glenn. I think that as his mom your instinct is probably right, but you'll be home soon & can play around with his feedings without waiting for doctors orders. Anyway, glad to see all is well! Take care

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