Teething + Oral Aversion = Ugly

Teething is often a miserable phase for babies and their parents. But add to that the issues of oral aversion, heightened gag reflex, and mysterious vomiting and you have an ugly unpleasant mess.

Evan is cutting his first tooth, possibly two teeth but he won't let me get a good look. Since last night's initial teething scream fest he has barely slept and has been heaving and throwing up every two hours. The poor kid is lethargic and generally in a really bad mood. He hasn't cracked a smile all day. Can't blame him but I have done everything in my power to make him happy and comfortable. Nothing seems to work. It turns out that teething babies produce more saliva and naturally swallow it or drool. When the baby has an oral aversion to things in its mouth it gags and tries to heave up the contents of its stomach. All. Day. Long. And all night long too. Four times while Evan was sound asleep last night he began throwing up with no warning. And then he screams in pain when he's awake scaring his brother who's also not feeling his best.

And the farrell bag we have connected to the port in Evan's stomach to vent fluids and the gasses is filling up at an all time rate and volume. Heaving and vomiting many times a day on an empty stomach(we pump food directly into the intestines in the Jejunal port of his feeding tube) is enough to make anyone crabby, but this kid has thrown up mucus and bile 20 times today. He's exhausted and always in discomfort, and he's teething but putting things in his mouth is not his favorite way to sooth himself. He even refuses his beloved pacifier!

The doctors don't now why this happens all the time, usually about 5 times a day per baby, and don't really care and offer no advice or assistance to this vicious cycle aggravating our struggles with reflux and oral aversions. If every time you eat it hurts, and every time you throw up it hurts, and you can't stop the throwing up, wouldn't you just not do anything related to eating, swallowing, etc? So how are these boys supposed to overcome and outgrow the reflux on top of growing teeth?

When I ask this exact question the doctors, for all their education and specializations and fancy better-than-thou / you're not the only one in this boat attitude, literally can not answer it and can only say that somehow they out grow it eventually. Surely one of these smarty pants fancy doctors have SOME ideas that can help.

We're all exhausted and no one is feeling good, least of all Evan and Cameron. And it's only been the first 24 hours. *sigh* My poor babies. This is not the birthday gift to themselves that they had hoped for.

Just to show you how much Evan loves his paci here's a little video of him with it in better days. Cameron can't even do this trick!