My boy...sigh

Today is one of the days when I normally think, "Man, I wish I had a blog to write about this and see if anyone can relate to me!" Well, it just so happens that today, I do, and this may be one of those posts that I mentioned you may not care to hear about.

Penn, my precious two year old (almost) is perfect in every area that I can think of. I mean, he definitely is turning that corner from baby to boy and is testing out effectiveness of the discipline department in our house, but that's amazingly normal. I have no complaints about his behavior (today, at least). My issue is with his digestive system, so here's the story...

Penn was a breastfed baby. After a rocky first three weeks (where I was in agony 12-15 times a day), Penn nursed like a champ and grew like one too. We noticed pretty early on that he spit up a lot, but kind of pinned that down to being a gassy baby with mild reflux. He was ahead of the game in the numbers department in height and weight, so the doctor wasn't too concerned about some projectile vomit and heavy spit-up once or twice a week. When I had to go back to work, I pumped until he was six months old. It was then, that I decided to start supplementing with formula. I hated pumping...especially at work...and he was still nursing a lot in the afternoons and at night, so I felt it was pretty natural. I always worried that my pumping wasn't keeping up with his needs because I only had time to pump once during an eight hour day. Anyway, it was about then that reflux started rearing its ugly head...

As Penn began sampling solid foods and adding formula into his diet, the spit-up and throw-up spells became more chronic. It would usually come during a meal and a coughing spell. It was embarrassing to go anywhere, not knowing if he would horrify other guests by this spectacle. After Penn was about a year old, he started to wean himself (although I would have liked to keep it up for about six more months) the doctor finally agreed to let us try him on Baby Zantac, twice a day. After two months, we thought we had witnessed a miracle. Our picky eater, was eating whole meals and weeks would go by without a throw-up episode. It was wonderful and we had hopes that one day, he might be able to be weaned off the medicine!

Unfortunately, now...it's starting up again. We'll notice a cough or sneeze and then see his eyes start watering during a meal or after. Within a minute, he can release the entire contents of his stomach. It's so gross and I apologize for the details again, but I'm losing my brain. Last month, we had to throw out the only piece of carpet we had in our house and today, I'd love to do the same with our couch (except we can't afford that...). My first problem to solve is how to get the vicious smell out of the fabric without making our house spell like the cleaning aisle at Walmart. Next is to make an appointment for Penn at the doctor to see what we should do next. A higher dose of the meds? A totally different med? Do we just have a child with a sensitive gag reflex? I think anyone who's seen these episodes knows how bad they can be, so I do hope this isn't just "his thing."

Any help out there? I really need it because I hate to admit it, but it's looking like we're two for two in weak-stomached children, as Jude seems to be following the same pattern that Penn did. Hopefully, someone can relate and offer some solace or even suggestions for foods or good cleaning products... Let me know!

Ahhh...I actually do feel a little better.