On our way to church yesterday morning, Daddy and I heard a gagging sound coming from the baby carrier in the back seat. I looked at him. He looked at me. And then I pitched my chocolate breakfast bar against the windshield and threw myself into the backseat in a spastic panic. That's not easy to do as an adult in an Avenger. It's amazing what adrenaline can accomplish.
Why do they even bother to make newborn dress clothes in white? I wondered to myself as I fruitlessly blotted the neon yellow spot on her new sweater with a baby wipe. My poor little pickpuss had given up about a quarter of her last bottle from her stomach onto her adorable Sunday outfit.
(By the way, I DO realize that this is why some moms choose not to dress their infant elaborately.... But I'm too much of a shameless fashion slave to be one of those. And besides, I want my little girl to be used to wearing clothes from the very beginning so she won't be one of those kids who you see running around nearly naked at Wal-Mart because they never learned it feels right to wear clothing in public.)
Mixing contrasting patterns is SO this season!
Ava Leigh goin' cashz back at the homestead.
This spewing forth has been a little bit of a problem lately. While I'm aware that it's perfectly normal for a baby to spit up on a daily basis, our Ava's little episodes have ranged from the typical Exorcist ejections to some terrifying gag/choke events which send Mommy and Daddy sprinting across the room to snatch her from her swing or bassinet. It's heart-stopping to hear your child make such a sound. Especially when they're strapped into a car seat hurtling 60 miles per hour down the interstate.
So now we find ourselves at the starting line of yet another series of hurdles with our little squirrel -- figuring out if such moments are a product of simple reflux so common in babies, or rather a swallowing issue unique to children with Down Syndrome. We'll begin with calling in the professionals, of course. Early next month, we'll be returning to Arkansas Children's Hospital for Ava to undergo a swallow study.
We've been so fortunate that Ava's proven to be such an apt eater from the get-go. She's enthusiastic about it, as are we - after all, this was the baby to whom the surgeons were thisclose to giving a stomach tube two days after her birth because most babies with Down's just aren't expected to eat well. The way we see it, Ava's fought so hard for the privilege of eating and eating well, and for that, she deserves to keep her food securely in her little stomach!
So until then, we'll continue giving her syringes of some prescribed reflux medicine which smells like dead peppermint-stuffed armadillo and hold our collective breath until we have her study done and figure out just what the heck is going on.
Don't make me come down there, Emfamil!!!
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