Acid reflux issues

Grace's acid reflux has come back with a vengeance. So much so that on Monday night all three of us got just a few cumulative hours of sleep. Grace has had reflux since she was a newborn but it's been under control for a while now up until the last 10 days, with Monday night being the worst. She had projectile vomit, had multiple episodes of milk coming out her nose, and screamed most of the night out of pain. I feel horrible for not catching this sooner, but when the reflux reared its ugly head initially when she was 3 weeks old, it was mainly characterized by Grace refusing to eat. Let me tell you, that has NOT been a problem this time. Our girl would nurse 24/7 if I let her right now.

Monday night was spent alternately trying to get Grace engaged in a Baby Mozart video, holding her, rocking her, and taking her on walks outside, none of which worked. We finally decided to go for a drive in the car around 3 am. I volunteered, since Derek tends to be able to fall asleep anywhere, including at the wheel. Right before I drove out of our driveway he casually mentioned to be on the lookout, because "this is the time when drunk drivers are on the road." Whaaaa??? So I ended up driving around my brother's road about 245 times since he lives on a circle and that means all right turns and no stopping the car, all while praying that there are no drunks living in his neighborhood.*

Thankfully, our pediatrician upped her reflux meds a bit. (Side note: Have I mentioned how much I love our pediatrician? I love him so much that sometimes I just want to pinch his cheeks, but I refrain because I'm afraid he would put a restraining order out on me.) There are some other things that we can start doing to help her out, one of which being not letting her eat so stinkin' much. Poor darling, food is her life right now. And when food is her life, food is my life. I spend my awake moments plotting ways to eat Chick-fil-A every meal for the rest of my life. Just kidding. Sort of.

Last night was a much better night however with Grace's reflux not keeping her up near as much and she even slept for 3 hours straight one time--the longest stretch in about a month.

- Michelle

*This story by no means implies that Derek was slacking that night. He's burned his share of the midnight oil (and the 2 am and 4 am oil) since Grace has been having a hard time - really, since she was born. He's an amazing husband and daddy and I can't imagine going through this without him.