Upper GI

Ella had an outpatient appointment at the hospital today. She got an Upper GI done. The four of us went to the hospital and Ava and I waited outside of the room because of the x-ray exposure. Marilyn stayed with Ella. Ella had been fasting since 6am and then they finally let her drink a yummy bottle full of barium solution at like 9:30am. Marilyn was worried Ella wouldn't like it, but the nurse said that at this age they don't have tastebuds and that if they are hungry then they will eat it. That's interesting since Ella HATES her Zantac medicine…but what do I know? Luckily, Marilyn said Ella drank the solution the nurse was feeding her. Marilyn said the nurse had Ella on her side feeding her the solution as the doctor snapped pictures or x-rays or whatever. Marilyn said it was fascinating to watch. The doctor was apparently not able to tell whether Ella had reflux or not, but was just making sure that anatomically things were correct. He said everything looked good except that when she swallows the liquid first goes up her nose. He said he was surprised that formula doesn’t come out of her nose during her feedings. When Marilyn told me this I was surprised that he was surprised…wouldn’t liquid come out of any of our noses if we were trying to drink lying down on our sides?? In any case, I guess they were just the technicians doing the procedure…maybe the pediatrician will interpret the results for us at our next visit? In the meantime, we will continue giving Ella her Zantac that she hates in hopes that it is helping her. She just seems to be uncomfortable and/or in pain while she eats. She arches her back and neck way back and sometimes appears to choke/squeal on nothing at all. I guess it could be worse…I’ve heard horror stories of little ones projectile vomiting after every single feeding. I don’t think I could deal with that.