Weight Check and First GI Appointment

I am a week behind on posting this information, but better late than never! We took Caleb to see a GI specialist, Dr. Craig Jensen, at Texas Children's Hospital last Wednesday. Overall, the appointment went well. Caleb weighed 13 lbs 12 oz and was 25.25 inches long. Guess this means that when he was 25.5 inches long at 4 months, they inaccurately measured him at the doctor's office. We had that suspicion all along anyway b/c of the way they do it...stretching him out on a piece of paper and marking his head and feet with a pencil is not exactly the most accurate method. At the GI doctor, they actually had a little device thingy (don't know what to call it) that he layed on...kinda like when you measure your foot for your shoe size and you put your foot on that thing and adjust that marker thingy...yeah, like that thing! LOL! Anyway, this "thing" was much more accurate, trust me!

Part of the paperwork we had to fill out asked us to indicate our occupations. Rhett put down "pharmacist" for me, although we all know that my new occupation is now Stay at Home Mommy to the one and only, Caleb Dotson! So anyway, the first thing Dr. Jensen said to us after "hello" was "So Mommy is a pharmacist and Daddy is an engineer? That means I can use my big words!" I guess they ask this to see if they need to speak in layman's terms or if they can use more technical language. I must admit, it was kinda nice to hear medical talk again...you know, instead of baby talk! Dr. Jensen asked us to give our run-down of Caleb's life thus far (relating to his spitup/weight gain issues). We told him all about how Caleb could win a spitup competition if there ever was such a thing! While we talked to him, I was giving Caleb a bottle...and he decides to show Dr. Jensen just how great of a spitter-upper he is! (is that a word?!) Oh, and he got to wear the CUTEST little hospital gown...I kicked myself for not bringing my camera! Next time!

Moving on...we talked to Dr. Jensen about Caleb's meds and he told us all the interesting study-related things regarding each of the acid-blocking drugs (PPI's versus H2RA's...this was where Rhett's head might have started spinning a little and I started having flashbacks to pharmacy school and my life before motherhood!) I will leave out the details, but after this discussion we decided to switch Caleb back to Zantac instead of Prevacid. Prevacid is actually a "better" acid-blocking drug but I am just not really able to give it in the most appropriate way for Caleb to receive the maximum effect. You need to give it 30 minutes before the first morning meal, but that is just not entirely feasible with a little one who sleeps all night and wakes up hungry. Plus, it has to be refrigerated, is compounded and only stable for 14 days. At least with the Zantac, I can give it without regards to food and it is commercially available...and can be stored at room temp. We also talked about the metoclopramide that Dr. Turner had put him on (the one that made him irritable and drowsy) and Dr. Jensen said they really try to stay away from that one b/c of it's potential side effects AND b/c it makes a lot of babies irritable and drowsy!! Yeah, we found out about that one first hand and will never give that to him again!

We also discussed some possible explanations to why he is spitting up so much. Dr. Jensen said that it is probably one of two things...something with the stomach or with the intestines. It is possible that the stomach is just not emptying fast enough. To determine this, they would have to do a stomach emptying test. It could also be something wrong with the intestines, be that a "kink" or any other number of abnormalities (he listed quite a few). To determine this, they would have to do a GI scan. Both tests involve radiation, but the GI scan involves more than the stomach study. Since Caleb is not spitting up bile (it is always just milky or looks like prunes), then it is most likely NOT a problem with the intestines. Dr. Jensen said that we could do one or both tests that day, but he recommended that we give it another 6 weeks and follow up. As long as Caleb is gaining weight and is not fussy/irritable, then he is comfortable waiting it out...even as long as up to Caleb's first birthday. He said that a lot of babies begin to outgrow this right around 4-6 months of age, so he could be over it soon. Other babies continue reluxing up to a year...and a few outliers will have problems with reflux into their toddler years. There is just no way to tell right now. We decided to wait another 6 weeks and in the meantime, we will continue to have his weight checked.

Whew! This post ended up being way longer than I thought. Hope I didn't bore anyone too much! The good news is that Caleb is still gaining weight and is still a happy boy (except when Mommy is trying to get him to nap in his crib instead of his bouncy seat...but that is another story for another day!). I will continue to keep the blog updated with our little man's appointments and weight checks...and a few cute pictures, too!

Speaking of pictures and spitting up, I hate to have a pictureless post so here ya go! Here's Mommy's Rascal before going to Cousin Luke's birthday party. This is the cutest little shirt and hat we got from Aunt Holly, and Caleb decided to spit up all over it just before we walked out the door!! And I'm not talking about a little spit up either...we're talking saturation here! Needless to say, I had to change him and no one ever got to see him in his precious racoon hat. Isnt' he adorable?!