Milk Scan

	So Allie has been on Zantac (Ranitidine) for a little over a week now. She's still not drinking the amount of milk that they would like her to drink. I took her back to the doctor today and they told us to give her 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Mylanta every 6 hours as needed along with her Zantac. The doctor also ordered a milk scan test. It's for this coming Friday morning. She can't eat or drink 4 hours before the test. We bring her in along with her milk. The doc told us to expect everything to take 3 hours. He also gave us some prevacid that she can start if the Mylanta isn't helping. Milk Scan: A Milk Scan test determines whether or not your child has reflux (food or liquid coming up from the stomach). It also determines how much reflux your child has and how well the stomach empties. How is the test performed? A technologist will take you and your child into an exam room. You will see a large table and camera connected to a computer. The nuclear medicine technologist will ask for a bottle of your child’s formula or will provide milk for older children. A small amount of radionuclide will be added to the milk (there is no taste or smell), and your child will be asked to drink it. When your child is full, he will lie on his back on the exam table for about 1 hour while diagnostic information is gathered. There are no side effects, and the radionuclide loses radioactivity within a few hours. The technologist will check the pictures to make sure they are complete before you and your child leaves the hospital.

Oh No Reflux!

Over the past few months Allie has been a little difficult when it comes to drinking her milk. I've taken her to the doctor because of this and they all said it was probably just teething. Well it has become increasingly difficult to get her to drink any milk whatsoever. I have come to dread feeding her. It should not be such a difficult challenge to feed my daughter.

I called the doctor again on Monday. We got to see a different doctor this time. When we got there the nurse took her weight and in the past 3 weeks Allie had LOST 9 oz. I knew something wasn't right and just needed someone to listen. Well, after talking to the other doctor she told me that she thinks Allie has reflux which can also be silent reflux. Silent reflux is when she only spits up a little or it goes up but she swallows it and it goes back down. My poor baby has been in pain and not wanting to drink because it hurts. The doc said it was probably due to her prematurity. She told us that the valve that closes her stomach off from her esophagus was probably a little loose and still working on tightening up. She was surprised that no doctor had done any studies on her and caught it before.

Allie was prescribed some medicine to reduce the amount of acid in her tummy. She was given Ranitidine and takes it 2 x a day. It's peppermint flavor and she loves it. I'm so happy that she takes it without a hassle because she hates every other medicine she's ever had. She even spits out Tylenol and Motrin. On Monday Allie only drank 9 oz. and yesterday there was an definite improvement. She drank 16 oz. That's still not as much as she needs but I'll take any improvement.

We go back for a follow up in 2 weeks to make sure she is gaining weight and drinking her milk.

"I feel like Chicken tonight, like chicken tonight!"

Allie had her first taste of meat today. She dined on Chicken and Chicken Gravy. Mmmmm! Here's her reaction.