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Mysticool Moms ~ parenting stories by real moms you can relate to. Parenting support, encouragement and humor for the most important job you have!

NOVEMBER 2002 - THE PUKER

It started when Carter was a week old. Lying in our bed at night he sounded like he was gargling breastmilk in his throat. He kept waking up sounding like he was gagging. Not a comforting sign when your newborn sounds like this. I had my suspicions and the doctors confirmed it with x-rays. The official diagnosis is called "Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease" or commonly referred to as just Reflux. Basically, Carter's stomach acid backflows up his esophagus and he does a lot of woofing/tossing/spitting up.

He no longer sleeps with us in our bed because we needed to incline his sleeping area and I didn't feel like doing that to my entire bed. His bassinet, which he sleeps in at night is next to our bed and is inclined pretty dramatically to help gravity keep his food down. We did the same with his changing table and his crib in his room, where he sleeps during daytime naps.

For the first couple months, after each feeding I needed to keep him upright for about 45 minutes before I put him down. It made for a LONG night - nurse for 1/2 hour, hold him upright for 45, put him down and maybe he'd sleep another hour if I was lucky. Wooh, I'm tired again just thinking about it.

I don't go anywhere without a ton of bibs, burp cloths and extra clothes. When I hear the hiccups I start getting nervous as those usually lead to tossing up. Dairy food ingested by the mom may worsen Reflux, so I cut out my dairy. Well, most of it. No cheese, no milk. I now consume soy milk and just skip cheese altogether. The sad thing is that even when I think I'm doing all I need to do, the kid still pukes. Some days it can become very discouraging.

In fact, some days I actually think he just wants to be fed again because he has nothing in his stomach to throw-up. Oh mom - such a nice shirt you're wearing today...woof…you wanted to change it anyways didn't you? Mom - you have such clean hair after your shower…wait, it doesn't smell right…woof…now it smells like breastmilk! You're welcome. I really did like my dinosaur romper but…woof…I'd rather have a new outfit…how about the blue teddy bear overalls? Don't get too excited though Mom, I'll woof on those too, maybe twice.

For those of you with "normal" kids (anyone? anyone?) - spit up is very different than the woof of a Reflux kid, especially if he decides to projectile. About a month ago we had a very bad week. He projectiled on me every day for about a week. It looked like the dam broke and a river of milk came screaming out of his mouth. On those occasions, we both end up totally drenched and everyone requires an outfit change, including sometimes the sofa cushion. In those moments I say to myself "please just stop puking on me, mommy doesn't want to be puked on anymore". Clearly he can read my mind because through the chunks of cottage cheese on his mouth, he gives me just what I need - a huge gummy smile and I realize I have the cutest sweetest little muffin and am so lucky to have him, no matter how many times we change our clothes.

I also remind myself that most babies grow out of this by the time they are a year old and we're almost half way there. Every baby is unique and every baby has unique challenges (sleeping, nursing, fussiness) and in our case, puking.

If you'd like more information on GERD, click here.

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Visit Heidi's Handmade Jewelry Site

Teach your children essential tools for life. Heidi's husband Nick is the author of this educational workbook for children.

While eating lunch, Simon remarked, "I made up a song when I was over there" pointing to his play table. I asked him if he could sing it for me and I was informed that he "lost the memory" of the song, but he said " I knew it when I was sitting over there!" (again pointing)

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At one of Carter's doctor's appointments he laid on the table just in his diaper. Simon took stickers, placed them on Carter's nipples, and announced to me and the doctor "Look, Carter has nursing pads!"

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Heidi's husband Nick wrote this workbook about Character Development.
If you want to help instill values, virtues and character in your child then check out this out!

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Visit Heidi's Handmade Jewelry Website

Heidi	Ginny	Marcia	Andrea	Stella	Contact us at

Mysticool Moms ~ parenting stories by real moms you can relate to. Parenting support, encouragement and humor for the most important job you have!