TummyCare Max: Our Saving Grace (literally)

by Cecilia
(Land of Surviving Reflux)

All grown up now!

This is long, but please just bear with it and read our story:

Our journey into the realm of reflux hell began 2 weeks after the birth our daughter. She began to display the classic symptoms of silent GERD and we immediately sought out help but all we were offered was an H2 blocker.

The H2 blocker gave her relief for 5 days and then it was back to suck, suck, scream, vomit and swallow, suck, suck scream vomit and swallow and repeat all day long. We were told that we needed to give the H2 blocker time to work so we waited. It was during this waiting period that things got worse and that I realized that waiting was not an option.

Our little one went from having discomfort during eating to not wanting to eat at all. She went from fussing and crying to screaming for 6 hours straight to the point where she would lose her voice. Our newborn would no longer sleep unless it was from sheer exhaustion as a result of her crying bouts. She constantly had the hiccups and would scratch her face from the pain she was in. She would arch, then grow rigid and shake from pain. It was heart wrenching to know that I could do nothing to help her.

I called the pediatrician and we were told to switch her to a hypoallergenic formula. I tried to explain to them that this seemed more severe and I wanted something else to be done but I was made to feel like a paranoid first time parent. The culminating moment occurred when I noticed that she was turning blue and then purple. She was choking and could not breath….to hell was I waiting. We went to the emergency room and were basically told she had colic. I argued with the resident and explained to her that she would turn blue and she told me she was “throwing a tantrum” and I “was holding her wrong.” Really, a newborn throwing a tantrum? The charge nurse came to us and whispered to get a second opinion and to go elsewhere (bless him for doing this). Defeated I began my quest to NOT let my baby suffer anymore.

We ended up taking her to the Children’s Hospital where I did my training and the GI specialist was able to see her that same week. She immediately laid out plan A then plan B and finally plan C. I finally felt heard and understood. Needless to say, we went through plan A, B and C with some improvement but she still would convulse from pain (Sandifers), would stop breathing and turn blue, and was still not sleeping.

After hours of research and consulting with my colleagues and her GI team, we decided that the compounded PPI she was on was not helping her. We were left with the option of opening the capsules and giving her the medication with applesauce or using a medication that I knew could cause cognitive and neurological deficits.

We opted for the bead method but I kept on researching and pouring through journals until I found information that lead me to this product. I hesitated even bringing it up to my husband and our GI because it was not an “approved” method of administering her meds. I read testimonials from parents, but I was still not fully convinced because my baby already had so much going on and I feared giving her something that *might* not be good for her.

Then it happened, the moment I will NEVER ever forget:

My baby began to choke on her own stomach acid, I mean REALLY choke. She could not breath and acid was streaming from her mouth and nose. She turned blue and I tried to manually stimulate her and suction her out. It was not working! She then began to get a grey dusky color and went from rigid to limp. It had never been this bad before; I was usually able to stimulate her with vigorous touching or suctioning or a quick rescue breath. Not this time! I could not scream or dial fast enough and I will never forget the feeling of helplessness and laying my limp baby down to begin CPR.

No parent should ever have to live through that moment.

When she recovered I promised her that I would do anything to never let this happen again. I said to hell with my doubts and immediately emailed the individual in charge of the product. He was so amazing and we got the product sent right away. My daughters GI was onboard with the product and gave us her blessing.

Night and day is the only way I can explain the weeks and months after. My baby was eating, gaining weight, exploring solids, smiling and laughing and thriving! No more crying bouts, no more Sandifers, no more turning blue!

Words cannot express my gratitude to the founder of this product and for making it available to parents everywhere.

For us, waiting was not an option.

She did not have colic.
She did not have heartburn.
She had severe silent GERD with MPSI and it was a matter of life and death.

My 20 month old is now happy and healthy and still on the product. She eats all kinds of food, and is developmentally advanced. We still have our challenges but I now know that there is a team of parents and professionals (support team here) in addition to her GI team that is there to help.

We are not alone and I have never been more secure in my decision to use Tummy Care Max.