Catherine’s journey

by Jacquelyn Porter
(Alexandria, VA, USA)

I have started to write this many times and then stop, as it feels like there is just too much to write. However, the importance of sharing our journey keeps urging me to, in hopes of helping another family.

Catherine is my first child. The very moment she was born, she “cluster fed” on me. I had her in what is termed as a “baby friendly” hospital. She would scream constantly unless nursing and would not sleep. Literally from hour one of her life. The nurses and doctors said how good it was she wanted to eat so much. I recorded when she ate, how long, what breast, etc. for 8 hours post delivery she fed non stop, one Breast to the next. I had not slept since before labor.

Fast forward, we discharge home. She screams non stop all night and day. I feed her, change her diapers, walked with her, etc etc. Nothing makes her sleep. I had a lactation consultant come to the home. In one feeding at 7 days old, my baby too in 5.5 oz. She said “wow that’s great! She’s feeding so well!”

In 1 week of life Catherine had gained 3 pounds. Yay! That’s so amazing all the health care professionals said. Yet, she always screamed, cried, never slept more than 15 min. I was told she was just colicky , cluster feeding, etc etc. Into her second month of life, and she had never slept for more then 40 min. She averaged about 15 min of sleep, and it took bouncing, shooshing, swaddling, all of it for an hour or so just to get her to sleep for 15 min in my arms.

I knew something was not right.
I saw 5 lactation consultants, 6 doctors. And no one helped.

Through my own research I wondered if I had an over supply of milk. Causing discomfort. I found another lactation consultant, she spent hours with us. She said “your baby has reflux” I said what?? No, she barley spits up, doesn’t have sleep apnea, not failure to thrive. In fact she’s in the 95% for height weight and head circumference! She informed me excessive weight gain and the constant feeding were symptoms. She was comfort feeding, causing me to have an over supply of milk, making her reflux even worse. Plus her poop did not look right, even though it looked fine to the doctors. She also had a Very thick lip tie which all my doctors blew off.

So I started my research on reflux. The doctors refused me meds, finally I got her Pepcid. It worked for a week. I was getting so excited, then, we back slid. Worse than before. Then I fought and fought to get a PPI. That worked for 10 days, then back slid.

I was not going to make it much longer. Everything was miserable. I would for multiple days with out sleeping, showering, etc. I had lost 65 pounds in only three months, and no exercise.

I would read whenever she breast fed (which was all of the time) I came across a research article on dosing. Then I dug deeper, and stumbled into the articles on Infant Acid Reflux Solutions. I consumed and read every bit of the info on that website. Then I would try to prove it wrong, by searching for contradictory research, or looking for the true bad side affects.

What I found was, this was right!
This is what we needed and it was right for my baby.
TC Max with the PPI saved us, saved my family.

Having a baby is suppose to be hard yes, but not 100 percent miserable for months on end. We were miserable. All of us. Everything well, sucked. I didn’t take cute pictures with her dressed up, because we were hanging on by a thread. She had silent reflux, with some food intolerance. I had to do all the work myself to figure out how to help my baby. She gained tons of weight, hit milestones, looked healthy, so no doctor believed me. Well, she now sleeps 10.5 hours a night, takes 2 naps a day, and smiles. Giggles, and only cry’s when the dog takes her toy.

TC Max and the PPI gave my family joy.