A Mother's Intuition

     First of all I want to let you know that Matthew was different from the minute he was born! After some struggles of having children, we were thrilled in 1999 to be having our first child Matthew. The pregnancy went well but the delivery was 14 hours long with some complications. When Matthew was finally born he had a very healthy set of lungs that would not stop screaming.  The labor and delivery were very hard on me so I was pretty out of it. He would not quit screaming until they wrapped him up really tight, burrito style, and put him in my arms. I will never forget the nurse standing next to me saying, “It’s a good thing he stopped screaming because we were about to call NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit).

     The next day Matthew would spend time in our room so I could work with him on nursing. Despite many efforts, Matthew could not nurse. We tried bottle feeding and he could not digest the milk at all. He started projectile vomiting which was huge! We started a new formula and the vomiting continued. The nurse had us burp him after every couple of ounces so he could keep it down. The vomiting continued when we brought him home. Matthew had to go to the Doctor frequently to make sure he was gaining weight. I was scared and wondering what was wrong with him. They did tell me at the hospital that he did not suck right. Could that be the problem?

    He had sensory issues right from the beginning. I believe the screaming when he was born was the bright lights and he had separation anxiety. You will see in future posts his struggles with separation anxiety. The vomiting that he had was from oral defensive sensitivities in his mouth. Some of the symptoms of oral defensiveness are:

1. Picky eater-avoiding certain textures, temperatures, or flavors of food.

2. Gagging easily or gagging with certain food textures or smells.

3. Chokes easily

4. Avoids/dislikes toothbrushing or facewashing

 The oral defensiveness continued with baby food. If it was chunky, he would gag and throw up the food.

     The journey was only just beginning. My intuition was starting to kick in that something was not right. The Pediatrician never said much in the beginning. He was gaining weight even though he was having feeding issues.