Hi I'm wondering if I could plead get some advice.
My DD is 10w & since she turned just about 4w she started having symptoms of acid reflux, as I googled the symptoms she had pretty much most of them including the arch back! She's been BF since birth & still is BFing quite frequently I'd say around 5-9x a day. Since she turned 6-8w, I've had 2 periods & just had my postpartum routine check up & started taking the pill again as I wanted to make sure what pill I was on before was safe to continue BFing & also to prevent pregnancy. I've been taking the pill a week now but just the other day I started having stomach cramps & got brown discharge, atm it's a medium flow of brown discharge/blood on & off, I have the usual symptoms of bellyache & breasts are quite tender plus I'm very emotional so I know that this is prob the pill working it's way into my system again, as the doc said it should take a week for the pill to work again. I have read that when having periods, the taste of breast milk changes, with my DD it's hard to tell what's wrong cos it's just started today where she's been wanting a feed as normal but straight after she doesn't even burp up she just throws a watery/syrup consistency of the milk back up, but it's a lot more than what it has been (I'd say for a good month as we had this episode when she was 4w) straight after she's brought it up, she'll scream, cry, arch her back, kick her legs to stand up & I struggle to settle her down for ages. I've been giving her gripe water since I realised that she could be suffering with acid reflux, which did ease most of the symptoms after a feed. It's hard to tell whether it's acid reflux or whether it's the change in my hormones/taste of my breast milk? I did inform the HV about the acid reflux & she said that it doesn't sound like it but babies at some point do suffer with wind etc & that gripe water isn't for reflux it's for wind? Yet I've read & been told otherwise that actually gripe water helps the extra bubbles in the tummy that don't need to be there & releases them & soothes pain & discomfort for a baby who suffers with reflux. My partner used to have it when he was a baby & he said it worked for him, not only that he used to suffer with silent reflux which he suffered with for 3 months, his mum couldn't lie him down whatsoever he had to be sat upright to sleep... so he had it worse off & now he has a narrow oesophagus so he struggles to swallow things properly & can sometimes spend ages coughing cos of how narrow it is. The other symptoms my DD has which lead me to believe she has reflux is coughing & having hiccups a lot, coughing mostly & regurgitating! Today's just been an awful day to the point where I was worried my DD isn't well but aside the feeds & the sick, she's been laughing, smiling, & trying to talk! So I know she isn't poorly, this just happened this morning. I know BF babies don't usually open their bowels a lot, she usually does after a bath which I believe helps the stomach muscles to relax. But I know my DD is constipated cos her tummy is never hard & it only is after a feed when she has a bit of wind. When she last opened her bowels- she wasn't straining or screaming in pain. She was pushing as normal, when I went to change her it was practically normal consistency for her age & normal colour etc so I know she's not constipated! She does break wind a lot which I'm not sure is normal in all babies or just babies who have reflux/colic/wind!? Can someone please help me, I've even told the doc about this & she said they'd only prescribe a baby something for reflux if they wasn't thriving or gaining weight. My DD has gained weight as she was born 6lbs9oz & last time HV weighed her she was 8lbs15oz. Everyone's telling me she seems well & healthy & is thriving, but that surely doesn't stop a baby from suffering with reflux? I just don't know if it's my hormones being all over the place that when she tastes the milk, she's so hungry she just carry on feeding until she's latched off & it just comes back up or she's just having a bad day of wind/reflux? I've been in tears cos she's been so upset with it. After her last feed, she was in the bouncer quite happy & randomly brought up watery liquid which I've also read is a possible sign of reflux but many other things too which are common in babies!! She's now got tired & has gone to sleep! Help? Xx