The biggest lesson that I have learned as a mom is that there are things that I can’t fix. Sometimes, I can’t “make it better.”  All I can do is comfort my child and hope for the best. I am sure every mom, regardless of their situation, has felt this way. Mommy can’t undo a skinned knee. Mommy can’t make the cold go away. Mommy can’t stop the reflux or throw up. Mommy can’t undo the nasty thing the middle school girl said. All we can is hold our babies and let them know we are there for them.

Last night I had a bit of a break down over this. For almost a month now Lyra has had trouble tolerating her continuous feeds at night. These feeds are CRITICAL because she simply can’t take in enough volume during the rest of the day, and she has to sleep. It is my understanding that almost all tube fed kids have continuous feeds overnight. I have tried many things including:

1. Slowing down the rate of her feeds
2. Doing a faster rate with long breaks
3. Adding medication to help her stomach expand
4. Adjusting her sleeping position (she just rolls back on her back)
5. Venting
6. Asking other tubie moms if they any ideas
7. Calling her doctor

Things will work for a few days and then we will have another bad night where she pukes. Now, if she only pukes once every four or five nights, no big deal. But she has puked the last 5 nights in a row. Last night was a bad one. She puked at 2:20ish AM. The first puke was formula. Mark and I rushed in, one grabbed the baby, the other cleaned and re-prepped the bed (we have this down to an art, but I have no idea who did what last night). I then spent the next 45 min with a screaming baby who is puking, not formula, but mucus. This is when I started crying. I couldn’t make it better. I would happily to throw up 10 times a day for a month rather than have my daughter go through this. It breaks my heart, and I can’t fix it.

5 burp cloths, 1 sleeper, 1 blanket, and a new tee shirt (mine) later, I finally got her to calm down. However, I could hear the deep congestion and her breath rattled like a kid with a really bad cold. I couldn’t lay her down. She was so congested she would just puke again. So, I sat and rocked her until her next feed was due to start (4 AM).  I didn’t sleep much after that. Every little sound sent me to the video monitor to make sure she was okay.

I am working with doctors (being that every squeaky wheel) to try to find a solution, but I can’t fix this on my own. Mommy does not have a magic wand. All I can do is pray tonight will be better, even if I am oh so anxious that it won’t be.

(P.S. Lyra is doing well in general: gaining weight and growing. This is just a small (annoying) piece in a big puzzle)

Lyra and Nico (Cousins)