6 Months

A couple weeks ago our dishwasher broke. I think normally I would have been more frustrated with water pouring out across our hardwood floors that were refinished earlier this year, but it didn’t even seem like much of an issue. I used some towels, wiped up the mess, and called a repairman. When the repairman left, I ran a load of dishes and the same thing happened again…water was everywhere. Even then, it didn’t seem like that big of a deal; I knew that it would soon be fixed. I called the repairman back; he quickly returned and fixed the problem.



Jill turns 6 months old on Thursday. For 6 months, I’ve been meeting with doctors and therapists hoping that Jill’s eating issues would be fixed, but it seems like there are no easy solutions. The thrush (yeast infection) in her esophagus keeps coming back or at least that is one of our guesses to what is causing her so much discomfort while eating. We started the medicine again about a week ago. Apparently, babies with weak immune systems or other health issues are more likely to have reoccurring thrush outbreaks. In an effort to stop the thrush from constantly reoccurring, I’ve been sterilizing Jill’s pacifiers twice a day as well as frequently washing other toys. We also started her on a probiotic called Florajen. Basically, it is suppose to restore good bacteria in her body. If there are enough good bacteria in her digestive systems, there will be less room for yeast to grow.


Another concern is that the gastroenterology specialist is finding blood in Jill’s stool samples that we have submitted. At first there were just trace amounts of blood in two of the samples. I was told that this was probably caused by trying to digest proteins in the other formula that we were using. I guess it can take 6-8 weeks for the digestive system to completely rid itself of this first formula. I was a little worried to find out that all three of Jill’s stool samples that I submitted today were also positive for blood. On Friday, we meet with the specialist again to follow-up on how Jill is doing.


Today we met with the surgeon again. We were explaining some of the feeding issues for the past few months and trying to find out if he had any ideas on what might be going on with her. He decided that it would be best to do an upper GI test. So we scheduled the procedure for this Friday. It is hard to know what to expect. It sounded like the worst case scenario is the possibility that Jill might now have a different type of hernia that will require surgery. Hopefully, that is not the case. We also asked about the possibility of a feeding tube. The thing that is most troubling about that route is that the surgeon would likely have to do another procedure to stop the acid reflux if a feeding tube is inserted in her stomach. Since she is a young baby, the procedure would likely have to be repeated in a few years even though she would probably have the feeding tube taken out in a few months.


I just keep hoping that in two days or two weeks or sometime in the near future, Jill will begin eating better and gaining weight. She is almost 6 months old, and I would like to start her on solid foods, but the slightest thing can throw her completely off. I think we are going to have to introduce new foods very cautiously.


Today when I stopped by the gastroenterology specialist’s office, I noticed a paper hanging on the door. In child’s writing it said, “I have a dream that all sick children will feel better.” That is my dream too.