choking episode :(

[Olivias_mum]

Olivia choked on her milk today (well it looked like she was choking) she was coughing etc and vomited and desated to 39% and went a horrible grey colour. She has desated worst than that before but never in my arms and she has never looked that bad (could see all her veins etc) it was awful, she had to be turned upto 1L oxygen to get her sats back up (she went back down to 0.01L about a minute later) it was just very scary though and felt like a bit of a set back xx

 

[Laura2919]

I think we all had set backs hun, dont beat yourself up though.

Could it be her teat or the bottle she is using??? Maybe she needs to try a slower teat or maybe she needs a different type of bottle..

Sometimes it could just be that she needs time to get used to it but she will get there hun

xx

 

[Anna Barry]

Aw bless her, so scary when they have trouble swallowing.xx

 

[premmiemum123]

Hiya, I keep reading your threads and your story is so like mine was...Emily did this all the time, does Olivia have reflux? Emily choked on her milk all the time because of acid reflux, they also caused her bradies and massive desats. It does get better as they grow and get stronger they stop scaring us...big hug! x

 

[nkbapbt]

Preemies tend to have issues swallowing and the younger they were born the harder it is normally. Their sucks are usually weaker than normal and they have a tough time learning to suck, swallow and breath. It's very normal and really scary!

I would also wonder if she has reflux? This can cause destats and brady's too. If you are really worried ask to see the OT they can show you different ways of bottling to help reduce destats and brady's and how to help improve the suck reflex.

Good luck, it is scary but its also normal.

 

[Olivias_mum]

i dont know if she has reflux i suspect so but i dont really know much about it. What are the signs that they have it?I asked the doctors about reflux about 3 weeks ago and they said it might be but thy wouldnt treat it yet and would see if it got better as she got closer to term.Shes 37 weeks now and it hasnt improved, she has absolutely no problem sucking and always tries to take her bottles, when she starts desating i have to literally yank the bottle out of her mouth as her suck is really hard!The nurses just tell me she will grow out of it but im convinced there is something more to it.She also seems to have a brady jut before she starts desating. We have tried everything, feeding her on her sie, sitting her up, lying her down etc and nothing works xxx

 

[Laura2919]

Oh I hope they sort her soon if it is reflux. Maybe ask them again now she is 37 weeks. x

 

[nkbapbt]

Even if she has a strong suck as you say, she may not be doing the swallowing and breathing part totally correct yet. Her suck reflex would have kicked in at around 35 weeks, and preemies tend to need more practice at sucking (swallowing and breathing all together as well).

Or she could be refluxing. Reflux signs can be coughing, gagging, spitting up or just like the motion of spitting/throwing up with nothing coming out which is called silent reflux.

My son has reflux and had an 'off' suck, it wasn't very strong. But now its perfectly fine.

I would talk to the doctors again. You can ask for an Upper GI which is a barium test which would show if shes refluxing, and how much. They basically give her a bottle with barium and usually sugar water while she's behind or beside an XRAY machine and watching if the liquid comes back up, how much and how far.

Its painless and an easy procedure.

 

[nkbapbt]

Or they may just try her on some anti reflux meds and see if that helps!

Good luck!