Day 127 - Milky super sleuthing

A lot has been brewing here in the NICU the past few weeks. For over a month now, Brooklyn has been happy and healthy but continues to prefer getting fed through a tube than via bottle. Add to this the fact that she is gassy and completely uncomfortable just laying in her crib after a good meal. This led Kelly, the nurses, doctors, and myself to begin some serious super sleuthing. Why doesn't B like to eat??

We have tried just about everything: different bottles, nipple flow types, breast feeding only, bottles only, acid reflux medicine, Prilosec, etc. Well, it seems that after exhausting most options, in addition to visits from Children's Hospital's feeding specialists and GI consultation team, we may finally be honing in on the culprit. Milk allergy! It appears that mom's milk makes little B gassy and chock full o' reflux, creating a vicious cycle of disliking the bottle. In other words, B is developing an aversive reaction to eating. Not good. She also has developed eczema all over her skin, another sign of an allergy. Oh how the plot hath thickened!

So, yesterday the GI team proposed taking Brooklyn off breast milk and putting her on Neocate - a non-dairy, non-soy formula which seems to be working well so far. B is also scheduled for a swallow study over at Children's to see how bad the reflux is. Once this study is done, Brooklyn will probably be scheduled for G-Tube surgery sometime next week. For those unfamiliar with said tube, it is basically a little gas tank cap or "nubbin" that snakes a tube from Brooklyn's belly to directly outside her skin. Kelly and I would still feed her bottles of Neocate, but any unswallowed milk would get sent down the ole G-Tube. Since Brooklyn has developed an aversion to eating from a bottle, it may take some time for her to start liking the experience of eating again but at least she can FINALLY come home in a few weeks-ish!

Be praying that the Neocate actually works and that B's surgery goes smoothly. I leave you with our chubby, 8-1/2 pound baby (yep, that's right, she's fat) hangin' with mom.

Brooklyn + Apple Bottom Jeans = Awesome from Sean Lorenz on Vimeo.