Sorry Luke, We're new at this. Love, Mom and Dad

Luke spits up. A lot. Not "wet burp" spitting up, this is silent, projectile, four shirt changes before noon spit-up. Sometimes it was right when he burped. Sometimes it was hours after he ate. We called the area around Luke the "splash zone". For weeks Garrett and I would trade chores to get out of feeding Luke. ("I'll change every diaper today if you feed Luke this one time") He made us so nervous. Garrett and I had no idea what was wrong or how to fix it. We talked to his doctor at every visit about his spit-up. We tried burping after every ounce. This infuriated him, which lead to him getting worked up, which lead to...more spit-up! We tried keeping him completely upright after eating. He fussed, cried, and writhed in our arms. He was clearly in some sort of pain. We had to start planning every outing around when he last ate. Garrett and I were so afraid to feed him in public. If friends came to visit the boys we only let them hold Calvin just in case.

I read every infant medical book in publication to find a solution to his spit-up but the only answer I found was that eventually he would grow out of it. Now, if we didn't have twins I probably would have stopped looking for answers. But since we have one baby who can eat without any of it coming back up we knew something was wrong. There was no way we could just wait and watch him cry after eating. So back to the doctor we went.

During his two month checkup we again asked about his spit-up. (Luke ate two ounces in the waiting room and during his exam he spit-up all of it. Finally proof that it wasn't just a "wet-burp"!) We explained to the doctor that this happens every time he eats. Their doctor said that since Luke is growing and gaining weight normally, he would grow out of it. Garrett and I left the doctor thinking we would just have to wait this out.

That night Garrett was out for the evening and I was alone with the boys. Calvin ate and went down for the night at 8:30. Luke who ate an hour before was still spitting up and crying. It was clear that he was in pain and I had no idea what was wrong or how to fix it. When Garrett got home at 11 he made an emergency call to their doctor. Garrett explained everything going on and after 5 minutes on the phone we finally had a diagnosis! Luke has reflux! The arching his back and crying after eating was because his burps burn. To stop the burning sensation, he kept drinking, which lead to over eating, which lead to spit-up! The doctor recommended we add infant gas drops to his formula at every feeding. Less gas=less burps=less burning after feedings...duh!

Since then Luke has been a different baby. He is finally relaxed after he eats. The spit-up we get now (if any) I would consider to be a normal amount. Garrett and I are so glad we pushed for an answer. Luke is finally eating without pain and we can enjoy feeding time without a poncho.