Emergency Room and Formula Challenges

Its our first Sunday at home, my friend Jason comes over to watch the Vikings game. In India we are always told to cover up the baby so they don’t catch a cold. So Kyra is all bundled up including being in Swaddle, and there is this nice Sun coming through the window. Game is over and its her feeding time. I pick her up and realize she is a bit warm. I have the handy-dandy face thermometer and it shows her temp at 101.4. Panic all stations!!! Call the emergency nurse line and they advise me to take her to ER.

We check-in to ER, in what seemed like eternity, and the nurse checks her vitals including temperature but using a different device. She is all good!! They keep her for a little more to get a second reading and then we are allowed to leave. Especial thanks to her nanny Elizabeth who came over at the drop of a hat and also had to drive back to the house to get Kyra a feed as she was getting hungry

3 Important lessons

Babies don’t have to bundled up as they can’t regulate their body heat that well

The facial thermometer is a highly inaccurate device

Never leave the house with out the babies bag which should have atleast 1 or more bottles of feeds

The Enfamil formula that we had gotten from Mexico was about to finish, after consulting with her Pediatrician we decided to start using Enfamil Neuro Pro as that seemed to the closet one to the one we had in Mexico. The results were a disaster, green poop. More nurses hotline. I am told that this is to be expected and it takes 2 weeks for her to adjust. Well after 10 days we visit the Pediatrician and her situation not getting better we decide to give Dr. Browns Gentle Pro a try, same results and she is getting even more gassier. So much so that when she would fart the whole house for stink. Its probably the mostly helpless feeling you can have a Dad. You don’t know what the right answer is and have to try these different formula’s while your child is suffering.

We are again back at the clinic, no we decide to go with Nutramigen, another Enfamil product, the Doctor also recommends that I order HIPP Dutch formula incase Nutramigen doesn’t work. There is a word of caution that these Dutch formulas are not FDA approved and sometimes availability can be a suspect While the poop seems to have cleared up, but Kyra gas situation is getting worse. This was a perfect child that would sleep for hours and now she is in discomfort all day. Its December 13th and I have not been able to find the right formula for her. At this point I am desperate, without calling the Doctor, I change her to HIPP and bingo we have a winner here.

With just 1 feeding Kyra skin is cleared up and is much much better, still gassy but not violently gassy and definitely not as stinky as she was before. Seems we have a winner here. A week latter I also find a gas drops that work better than Mylicon, these ones are Homeopathic and have a bit of alcohol in them. Who wouldn’t feel better with a little drink right!!!!