The hospital

Kaleb has recently been having a lot of feeding problems. It all came to a peak last Friday night (Jan 21st). Kaleb ate a normal 4oz bottle and afterwards projectile vomited all over Dennis. Initially this was very funny because Dennis was soaked in breastmilk and I know how much that stuff grosses him out. But once Kaleb settled down we realized it wasn't funny and something could be really wrong. I had noticed during the week that Kaleb had progressively been spitting up more and more after each feeding. After he projectile vomited we decided to try to feed him formula about 30 minutes later. Again he threw it all up, this time it came out of his nose as well. Whenever Kaleb throws up and it comes out of his nose he has breathing problems for a good 30 minutes at least afterwards. As usual, he began having breathing problems and we almost called 911. Kaleb was having a very hard time catching his breath and calming down, he was screaming in pain. It was terrible. Dennis finally got him calmed down and then about an hour later I was watching him sleep and he just didn't look right. His toungue was hanging out of his mouth and it was almost a bluish color along with his lips. I quickly picked him up and he immediately vomited yellow bile all over me. We spent the entire night on google trying to figure out if we needed to go to the hospital or not. We stayed up for quite a while and decided he was better for that moment and we would call his pediatrician the next morning as soon as they opened to get him in (thank god she is open on Saturdays!). We tried to feed him small amounts during the nighttime and early morning but he spit them all back up. He had only eaten maybe an ounce in well over 12 hours. 

Once at the doctors office the next morning his pediatrician was very concerned for him and brought up the possibly of pyloric stenosis (a gradual closing in one of the tubes to his stomach) which requires surgery. Dennis and I were relieved to hear her mention this because we had read about it the night before and thought it sounded a lot like what he was going through and were hoping she was knowledgeable on that issue, which she clearly was. She told us we needed to take Kaleb to the ER so she called them for us and let them know we were on our way and to have us seen immediately. She also let us know that she did not expect Kaleb to be able to go home that night with us and that he would probably be admitted. It was really nice knowing what the options were, what testing she was wanting, and what to expect (worse case scenario)...I absolutely love our pediatrician! 

We took Kaleb to Arnold Palmer Hospital and were taken to a room within 15 minutes of getting there. Kaleb had an x-ray done, ultrasound, and urine test (they had to use a catheter to get a sample, it was so sad for me to watch them do that to him). All came back completely normal. No concerns and no pyloric stenosis. No one knows what caused Kaleb to be so sick, maybe a virus? Kaleb was able to eat a small amount of food and we were allowed to go home. 

Since being home Kaleb has projectile vomited once or twice but nothing continuously. He still spits up quite a bit after each feeding and can still only handle about 2 oz per feeding (he was previously eating 4oz at each feeding) so I'm hoping he hasn't lost any weight. We are suspecting that he has GERD (reflux) and hoping we can try prescription formulas to see what works best for him. He has been extremely colicky this week and cries for several hours a day. Sometimes he looks so uncomfortable and I have no idea what to do. Hopefully once we get these feeding issues under control some of that will go away, because I am slowly losing my mind during the hours of crying! 

Kaleb in the emergency room, poor baby!