Post CHOA

We left CHOA and headed towards home to pick up L.J. My dad was on his way to help me out for a few days. If you haven’t figured it out already, my parents are amazing. This is not the easiest  season for me – working full time, two small children and a husband who travels frequently – and I would be absolutely lost without my parent’s help and support. L.J. looks at you like you have four heads if you mention a “guest room.” It’s “Poppa’s Room.”

Sunday afternoon Hannah did pretty well with the Pedialyte. She threw up one feeding pretty grandly, but kept the others (relatively) down.

Monday I called the doctor to update them and discuss next steps. The nurse gave us the following course of action for Hannah:

- Monday – Pedialyte only to let her stomach rest
- Tuesday – Add in formula slowly, more Ped. than formula. Also, switch to
  Enfamil Gentlease, which is supposed to be extra-gentle on stomachs.
- Wednesday – More formula than Pedialyte
- Thursday, et al – Continue as needed until she’s keeping her feeds down

That was great and very helpful, except that Hannah wasn’t on board with that plan. My poor dad. I called him check in around 2:30 and he reported that Hannah was extremely mad, hungry and downright miserable. I scrapped the nurse’s plan and told him to give her a small bottle. It helped – temporarily. When I got home, Hannah was furiously awaiting the new formula I was bringing and inhaled her small feeding.

She gave my dad the stink-eye for a little while, but soon all was forgiven. He was so good with her, and even wrote down her schedule for the day so I could keep track of what/when she was eating. That was so helpful!

Tuesday she went back to school and did pretty well with the formula bookended by Pedialyte.

By Wednesday morning she was done with the salty sadness water. She refused the Pedialyte and promptly threw up her feeding. Awesome. I mixed it into her bottles, but her teachers said by the end of the day she had figured that trick out and was not interested in eating.

Plus, I realized, mixed in would help with hydration but not with “flushing” the back of her throat – which was the main point. (The Pedialyte was supposed to help thin and clear the mucus before and after feeding so that she could drink her milk more easily and keep it down.)

Hmm…what next??? I scrapped the Pedialyte and instead gave her a small amount of very watered-down apple juice after her evening feedings. Success!

That brings us to today…we’ll see how she does with the juice-water. Overall, she seems to be improving and she’s getting back to her normal, cheerful self. We’ve missed her easy smiles and happy demeanor the past week!!