Too Late for Much of an Update

It's getting late and I'm getting tired, so this will be short. Alex saw the nurse practitioner today, and I left the appointment well...unsatisfied.

I got lots of "maybe it's this, but probably not," and no real answers. I got some suggestions for things to try, but nothing novel. They asked me to switch his formula, but he absolutely refused to drink the new formula, and based on the smell (a cross between cat urine and sour milk), I don't blame him. My pediatrician said to give him his regular formula -- better that he get some liquids in him.

I didn't expect answers out of this visit, but I did expect to feel like someone else was in this fight with us. I just wanted to know that I had an expert invested in helping us figure it out.

Instead, I left feeling like they have no clue, are shooting in the dark for ideas to try, and really, really just want to scope him.

How does the saying go? "If you only have a hammer everything looks like a nail." Yep. That's it.

Alex did have a better night last night, and we think it might have been the papaya extract that Sarah O. and Jerry sent. I gave it to him a couple of times today, so hopefully we'll have a good night tonight.

We've decided to try some alternative therapies for Alex before we rush to scope him, including cranio-sacral massage. We were referred by our chiropractor, and our appointment is Friday. I'm also working on an appointment with another pediatric GI doctor. Maybe I'll have better luck elsewhere in finding someone who wants to help us figure this out.

We really want to try some other things before we rush to an invasive procedure, and based on my track record with anesthetic, we have very good reasons to worry about any of our children being put under.

When I had a simple procedure requiring 30 minutes of anesthetic, it took 7 hours to wear off. And I found myself counting the doctor's stitches during my C-section with Amelia because I didn't respond well to the epidural. Even the spinal I had with the boys ("Rest assured that this will work," they said.) didn't work. It was supposed to last 8 hours, but wore off in less than 2, leaving me at the mercy of morphine to try to manage the pain. Scary stuff in anyone, but especially when you're dealing with little people.

Sorry to ramble a bit. No time to clean this up. Sleep is of the utmost importance. I'll post more later about the massage and all that, but for now, I'm off to bed and praying for a decent night for Alex.