Owen Speaks and an Update

Owen is 10 months already! It's hard to believe!

We have seen some improvement recently with his reflux. Who knew when all this started that we would still be dealing with this all these months later!

I'm not sure if I've ever put the complete story on here, so if not, here's a synopsis... Owen started acting funny with feedings at about 6 weeks. He would nurse a little, then start arching his back and crying. He was only happy if I would stop feeding him. It seemed strange, and as it turns out, there really was a problem. He has what is called "silent reflux." This means that he doesn't spit up (much) but he has frequent heartburn symptoms. We have him on medication, which helps, but doesn't completely take the reflux away.

At his worst, Owen has had to be fed mainly while sleeping. We would have to get him to sleep for his naps/bedtime first, and then get him up and feed him. This is apparently not unheard of in babies who have the type of reflux that he does. Their bodies know they need the food, but they have to be sleepy to overcome the pain and actually eat. This stage was not enjoyable for anyone, but you do what you have to do to keep your child alive!

Owen was sick off and on from mid-February to mid-March and fought us on almost every bottle during this time. We have been working with a wonderful feeding specialist that we found through a friend at church, and she suggested seeing a dietician to evaluate Owen's weight and calorie intake. This sounded like a good idea. We had two options: seeing the dietician that our feeding specialist works with (who is very good) through her private practice, or going through Early Childhood Intervention (called ECI - it's a government program) and taking whoever they sent out. While on the phone with the feeding specialist about this, I was texting another friend who works with ECI as an occupational therapist. She had told me about a dietician that she worked with who was really good. Well, the two recommended dieticians were actually the same person! This was great confirmation that the Lord was working things out on our behalf to get us in touch with someone good to help Owen. We decided to set up a visit through her private practice because we would not be able to see her through ECI, and at this point, we'd rather pay to get good advice than risk getting someone who is not so good. Feeding issues are a big deal.

The dietician came to our house in mid-March. She was sooooo helpful. She weighed and measured Owen and found him to be in the 1st percentile for weight (not good), 3rd percentile for head size, and 8th percentile for height. This showed that he is not getting enough calories. She thought that his reflux was not under good control, though, and that there was not much we could do until he was more willing to eat. She suggested trying a new formula to see if he was intolerant of dairy. I was skeptical, as I had tried cutting out dairy while nursing, and it didn't seem to help. (I didn't cut it out completely, though. I mean, who can live without pizza?) She said that we would know in 3 bottles if it was going to work, so we decided to give it a try.

The verdict is... the new formula works! Owen is eating much better. It's so wonderful to not be struggling with him over the bottle, and he is eating solid food better too. The formula is smelly and expensive, but it is worth it! Owen has never had much of an appetite, but he is showing more signs of hunger since being on the new formula. Today, lunch was 30 min. late, and he whined until he was fed! I never thought I would be so happy to see a child whining for food!

On Thursday, I am taking him to a pediatric gastroenterologist just to make sure that we are not overlooking anything else. The dietician suggested this. So stay tuned for another update!

Here is a video of Owen and his new favorite word... "bap." He said it all day long today. I don't think it means anything, but it's pretty funny to hear him say it!