Friday, May 15, 2009

On Elise's Spells

So I realized I definitely need to give a little more information on these spells. The doctors and nurses say they are apnea spells rather than choking spells. Although she coughed at the beginning of this one (and we'll see what the doctor says about it tomorrow), she hasn't been coughing in relation to her spells in general. And she isn't always pooping or having gas when she has them either. They do know that she has reflux, which may play a role in these. And she is aspirating milk (it goes into her lungs sometimes).

Because of her young age, all of these are things they believe she will grow out of. When she goes home, she'll still have reflux (we'll keep her elevated for a while after feedings and her bed will be elevated as well) and may aspirate milk as well.

Her main problem is that she doesn't pace herself when she's eating so she'll keep sucking past the point where she should have taken a breath and then stop sucking but forget to breath. They want to see her grow out of these apnea spells before she comes home.

Not sure if that helps, but I hope it does. If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them in the comments, and I'll try to answer them to the best of my abilities.

5 comments:

The Pelhams said...

I know a lot of people aren't keen on chiropractors. I have 3 children and all of them went to the chiro the day we went home from the hospital. He reflux could be caused by something in her nexk being out of place, which the medical doctor can't fix. The chiro can do it with one adjustment and he reflux could be gone for good. I highly recommend finding a chiro in your area, some great ones are found at www.activator.com and search for one in your area and they should be advanced proficiency. Mine is a christian and has done wonders for my family!

Amanda said...

Hoping you'll get some answers soon. Elise has done so much growing and getting bigger and stronger. A few more things to work on but she is doing incredible! And so are you and Kit. Cadence slept in a Papasan (I think it's by Fisher-Price) for months after she came home. It was a great way to keep her elevated at night after eating.

Anonymous said...

It is very common for preemies (and even full term babies) to have reflux. My 30 week preemie had reflux as well as my 37 weeker. They were both on meds, which helped control it very well. Okay, the chiropractor thing? I don't think so. Elise is a PREEMIE-I would stick with meds. She won't have to take them forever. Hope this helps.

Becca Sue Congdon said...

Hey Em!

Ethan saw a gal named Carol Gray for his reflux after his doctor prescribed meds for him. I didn't want to put him on meds bc he was so young and I was concerned about side effects. Carol is a cranio-sacral therapist, which is sort of like a chiropractor. She does free infant therapy during her teaching clinics, which happen quite often. Her website is www.carolgray.com. Ethan's reflux stopped after one treatment, and she was able to clear up some torticollus in his neck (it was kinked from how he was positioned in the womb) over the course of two treatments. Let me know if you have questions.

Becca Sue Congdon said...

Chiropractors don't do that same sort of big "poppy" sort of adjustments on infants that they do on adults. They do other forms of body work that help alleviate the underlying cause of acid reflux. It's normal for babies to spit up bc their digestive system is still so immature, but if there is an underlying issue that's making it worse than standard AR, a chiro or cranio-sacral therapist can help with that. And I'm sure that those who are trained to work with infants could tell you whether or not being a preemie would have special issues that would make it not a good idea to do bodywork.

Given a choice between meds that could have side effects (and usually aren't tested or approved for infants) and a safe bodywork treatment from a trained professional - I chose bodywork.