Baby Spitting up Too Much? - it Could be Pyloric Stenosis

Many mothers just ignore when their new baby throws up. Many times, eating too much or acid reflux is to blame. Very rarely though, it is something more serious, called pyloric stenosis. The difference in the diagnosing is the added symptom of projectile vomiting. Projectile meaning far distances. You know projectile when it is happening. There is no questioning that.

My son, Ryder, my third baby and second son was three weeks old when his throwing up started. It was only once or twice the first day, then only once or twice the second day and then the third day he did not throw up at all. I didn't think too much of it but I did take him to the doctor just to make sure. Myself and the doctor both agreed that it was possibly acid reflux, which had an easy fix. The doctor gave me the medicine and told me that if he started to throw up again to take him to the emergency room so they can check him out. The doctor even mentioned that he would suspect pyloric stenosis except for the fact that it usually only affects first born males. Ryder was my second born male. That right there made the doctor lean more towards acid reflux.

We tried the medication and all day long, no throwing up. I felt better about the situation. Then at bedtime, he projectile vomited clear across the room. I told my husband that first thing in the morning, we are going to the ER regardless of if he does it again overnight. He did, do it again overnight, once only. So first thing in the morning we took my daughter to school and headed to our pediatrician's hospital, over an hour away from our home.

When we got to the ER, there were quite a few people waiting to be seen. The triage nurse saw that I had a new baby and took us right in. They checked him out immediately and said the words pyloric stenosis...my worst nightmare!! After taking his medical history and setting up for some blood work, they set him up for an ultrasound of the stomach. They told me that it might take a while but the technician came to get us a few minutes later. We went down the hall for the sonogram with the technician. That would prove to be the last walk that I took without tears in my eyes for the rest of the day.

The ultrasound technician told us that it will probably be a long ultrasound since they have to actually watch the stomach and see the contents of the stomach move from the stomach down into the intestines. Within about five minutes or less, the technician said she was done and left the room to get the radiologist. I knew right then and there that it couldn't be good news. It wasn't. The doctor came in and immediately told me that it is pyloric stenosis and he needed to have emergency surgery. Things were happening so quickly my head was spinning.

So you mean to tell me that you are going to operate on my baby that just turned a month old a few days ago? He was only about ten to eleven pounds. How can you be sure that you will give him the right amount of medication in surgery? How can you promise me that he will be ok? This is my new baby we are talking about. My postpartum hormones are still kicking so crying is an easy thing to do without a reason and now you give me a reason. Oh boy...pass the tissues and quick!!

We were sent to a holding room to get him ready for surgery. Maybe I should say to get me ready for surgery. I had to sign all kinds of consent forms and I was having quick meetings with the anesthesiologists and assistants and nurses and surgeons. Again, things were moving so quickly I was having trouble keeping up. The nurse came in and saw me crying and she started to rub my back and promise me that she will be right next to him the whole time and she will make sure that he is ok. That made me cry even more. I will never forget them putting Ryder on a long stretcher, this little baby. He started to cry when they started to wheel him down the hall. I fell to the floor in anguish.

We then went to the cafeteria to get us some food as well as my 20 month old that was with us. I was breastfeeding and the doctors wanted me to pump every two hours so that he would have food when he came out of surgery. I was like an addict, searching for a private place with an outlet so I could pump. The surgery itself was less than an hour but it seemed to take days. We waited in the surgery waiting area for the doctor to walk in and give us news.

The surgeon came in, finally, about an hour and a half later, and informed us that he did just fine and he is going to recovery now and we could go see him. I was never so relieved!! My poor 20 month old, JD, he was so tired, but he knew that something was going on so he wouldn't take his nap. We walked down to the recovery area to see Ryder and there he was, this little baby lying on this huge stretcher. JD pushed his way through all the nurses and assistants to see his little brother. I picked him up to see Ryder and he smiled a big smile at him. It was heart wrenching. JD then walked a few feet away from that area and layed down on the floor and fell asleep. He was waiting to make sure his little brother was ok. It is a moment I will never forget.

The next day proved to be rough as well. The recovery was a bit difficult. I had to get him to keep down at least two or three bottles in order to be discharged. Halloween was the next day and I wanted so much to be home for my other two kids and have Ryder home with us to celebrate Halloween. He kept down those few bottles and they discharged us on the night of October 30th. What a relief to be taking him home after an unexpected ordeal.

Pyloric stenosis is when the muscle around the valve that takes the food from the stomach to the intestines starts to thicken so much that it closes completely. The food then has nowhere to go but back up and out and it happens with such force that it can go distances up to a few feet away. If it is left untreated, the baby would die. Many babies lose significant amounts of weight before being diagnosed. My son didn't lose an ounce. He did not fit the typical profile for a baby with pyloric stenosis but yet we caught it very early. He has been fine ever since the surgery. Within about two days after the surgery, it was as if it never happened. He was back to what a normal baby should be. He is a strong eater and has always been. He is now two and a half years old and thirty eight pounds. His four year old brother is forty pounds. So you can say he is very healthy!! We are so lucky that it was a treatable problem.

The surgery for pyloric stenosis is a very common one. The surgeon told us that he has done this surgery at least a thousand times, or more. This is actually more common than you would think. It does typically occur more often than not to first born males, but as in my case, it could happen to any baby. It usually happens around three to eight weeks of age. It is almost always mistreated as acid reflux since they have very similar symptoms and acid reflux is a much more common issue among young babies.

If your baby starts to projectile vomit and it lasts more than a day, seek medical treatment. Do not wait until it has gotten so bad that the baby has lost weight and overall health. It is treatable and the outcome of the surgery is more than just wonderful. My son is a normal little boy with no recollection of his surgery. His scar is so small and it is right in his belly button that if you aren't looking for it, you would never have a clue that it was there. The surgery saved my little boy's life and I am so grateful for the wonderful staff at the hospital that helped not only Ryder through this ordeal, but my husband, JD and myself.