Being an advocate for Natalia

by Carolina Larios
(Cypress, Tx, USA)

Right after baby Natalia was born, for a few hours I thought that I had a very calm, easy baby on my hands since she went to sleep right away after I fed her... well when she woke up from that peaceful sleep she proved me WRONG!

She woke up crying and spent all of of her waking hours in that hospital either crying or me trying to breastfeed her.

The crying continued on and off at home when we were discharged from the hospital, and I tried everything I could possibly think of: I changed my diet, sang, swayed, bounced, shushed and held my daughter, white noise machine, feeding her, pacifier, etc.

I felt that something was wrong and all of this crying wasn't normal so I kept calling and taking her to the pediatrician office but all she said was that everything seemed fine... probably just a growth spurt combined with colic.

The weeks came and went and she seemed to be getting worse and worse, then one day I was breastfeeding her and she started choking, and gasping for air! I was so confused and scared, how could this be normal?

So I took my baby to a different pediatrician, he told me it seemed like silent reflux and we left with a PPI prescription.. Two days into this new treatment plan Natalia was worse than ever! I could hear her now being very congested, making funny noises and gasping for air while feeding, all of this combined with the worst screaming episodes. One night I was so exhausted that I just cried with her while I tried to calm her down.. I felt terrible and like the worst mom ever, my daughter was suffering and I couldn't help her.

I was worried about her breathing issues too, so I made an appointment with an ENT, he then diagnosed my daughter with Moderate laryngomalacia and severe inflammation in her esophagus due to acid reflux. Now I had two diagnosis on her but still I wanted some answers on how to help my baby.

At this point Natalia was already 8 weeks old and I remember telling myself that I was reaching a breaking point, I was starting to have anxiety just to be left alone with my daughter in public because I knew she was going to either start a screaming episode or I was going to need to feed which was going to make her cry and people were going to think how bad of a "mom" I was.

I searched and searched online for treatments, ideas, alternative options, and then I found infant reflux solutions on Facebook and asked to join.

A mom just posted her sons story: her son had laryngomalacia and acid reflux too. Then I read all the information on the website and everything started to finally make sense!! I asked my husband to order TCMax and just to trust me on this, something needed to change, the doctors that we saw weren't helping and at this point the only way I could make my daughter eat was through dream feeds.

I was a bit worried about mixing the meds by myself but I asked for guidance in the Facebook support group and Kira, Dr. P and all the moms that were using the product were so kind and helpful.

We went straight to Marci dosing and I didn't even notice an acid battle because the dose of PPI she was prescribed by her pediatrician was already keeping her in a constant acid battle.

I saw a very slow gradual improvement (less screaming episodes,hiccups, etc) day after day, I was so happy and hopeful that finally my daughter was happy enough to play and smile.

It was a long road, and I needed to be very patient, since it wasn't until about the end of the third week with TummyCare Max+marci dosing PPI that she started to eat more ounces while awake.

The incredible thing is that once her acid reflux was controlled most of her laryngomalacia symptoms started to disappear, which gives me so much hope.

I learned about the importance of really being an advocate for my baby, I don't even want to think about how we will be now if it wasn't for TCMax and Dr.P.

My beautiful strong willed baby Natalia is 6 months now, she is thriving and people tell me she is such a happy and bright eyed baby.

Hopefully soon Natalia will outgrow the laryngomalacia and then we will start the process to wean her off meds.

I will be forever grateful that I found the infant reflux solutions support group on Facebook and for all the help and guidance Kira and Dr.P gave me.

Thank you!
Carolina