Emergency Room Transformation

Judging from the constant screaming, yesterday was the worst day of Landon's 7-week long life. It was also my worst day as a parent. He woke up at 7:30am and shrieked continually until 6pm when I finally took him to the emergency room. Every time he took a suck on the bottle he would start screaming. He would scream until he exhausted himself, take a 10 minute nap, and then wake up screaming again. His back was constantly arched, his body stiff, and his face red. He didn't take any real naps and only drank about 4 ounces of his formula. He also had diarrhea. It was horrible. I talked to the pediatrician twice and she finally told us to go in and have him checked. I loaded him in the car, called JP and told him to meet us there, and headed to the University of Chicago children's hospital. He screamed the whole car ride there, but the moment we crossed the threshold into the ER he stopped- he looked around, he babbled, he freaking smiled at me. He sat with a contented expression while I signed him in and explained his "condition" to the triage nurse. We were taken to an exam room where Landon happily chugged down a 4 ounce bottle and thoroughly charmed his doctor. He was declared in fine health and I think everyone thought I was crazy. Even JP, who heard Landon screaming through the phone each time he called to check on us, was looking doubtful. We left the ER after about 2 hours and were told to continue with the new formula and medication and that it often takes about 48 hours for the body to mount a reaction and adjust to it. Landon resumed screaming on the car ride home and back at the apartment, but luckily fell asleep exhausted at about 11pm. We still have our appointment with the pediatric GI specialist on Thursday- the reflux continues to cause tears at each feeding.

So first I wrote off all his crying as colic and fussiness and it turned out he had a painful case of GERD. Yesterday I acted on all the screaming and the doctors said he was fine. This kid is making a mockery of my mothering skills.