We are blessed with an amazingly healthy little boy. Having never had so much as a sniffle, I was beginning to get comfortable with the fact that some babies are sick frequently, and some – like mine – are invincible.
The tiny one on the left fit around his ankle. He’s so small I was able to pull it right off without cutting.
I shouldn’t have let my guard down so easily.
A few days ago I fed Griffin as usual, attempting carrots for the first time during the morning. He didn’t like them, and then began choking on them. I quickly unfastened the safety harness, gave him a few firm pats, and everything seemed fine. We had introduced a sippy cup two days prior to this, so I offered him some water. He choked on this a bit as well, but the tears stopped and he soon became his normal, smiling self once again.
Another nap time came and went, so after his 3pm meal of milk I decided to try more solids – egg yolk this time, one of his favorites. I had read that at 6.5 months they need to start being offered food twice a day, so I assumed the literature was correct. Except that he wouldn’t even take two bites. He screamed and pitched a holy fit until I finally got him out of the high chair.
Jeremy took over from there and played with him while I cleaned up the remaining bits of yolk from the chair’s tray. Although a little fussy, it wasn’t until about 30 minutes later that we realized something was wrong. Jeremy picked him up from being on his back and Griffin immediately vomited all over the floor.
This wasn’t the typical bit of dribble he spits up when we’ve accidentally jiggled him too much after a meal. This was a heaving mess. And it was bright yellow. And smelled like scrambled eggs. Needless to say, the poor child had no idea what was going on and was screaming in high pitched shrieks.
A few minutes later the same thing happened. And then again a few minutes later. Each time the amount decreased slightly, as did Griffin’s energy level. By the 4th time, there were bits of undigested carrot all over the floor. Our little baby was cold, pale, and very clammy. He could barely open his eyes. He began heaving what little remained to come up.
I called my mom and she rushed over, at first not really thinking anything of it. He hadn’t pooped in a few days, so perhaps a suppository would help. Babies generally throw up – ours just never had. But after arriving, she took a look at Finn’s palor and heard him catching his breath. It was the same sound he makes after a really good crying spell. That worried her enough to mention the ER, which Jeremy had already been bringing up for 15 minutes. That was all it took to get us out the door at lightning speed.
It turned out not to be anything major, thank God.
The doctor, having 3 kids himself, was very nice and understanding. He said it could have been a negative reaction to a new food. It could have been a bug of some sort. Or it even could have been his tiny system reacting to the fact that he hadn’t gone potty in a few days. All the milk and solids had to go somewhere, after all.
But I couldn’t understand why this child would have been constipated to begin with. We aren’t feeding him anything that would slow his digestive system – on the contrary, everything we’re giving him is supposed to be very gentle on tiny tummies.
I’ve started to give him a daily dose of Infant Probiotics, and have stopped with the sippy cup for the time being. Who knows – it could have been the introduction of all that water.
If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s not having an answer to a mystery. But for the time being, I’m just glad I have my happy baby back, and that he hasn’t been scared off from solid foods because of this incident. One trip to the ER down at almost 7 months. I’m so glad it wasn’t for anything more serious than two overly concerned parents!
