Distended tummy?

carlamell

When I called to check on DS this morning his nurse said that his dr. had ordered an x-ray of his tummy. It looked a little swollen to her. They did an x-ray and it came back normal. They also did labwork and she said it was perfect. His bowel sounds were good as well.

Right now he still has the feeding tube and he gets 1oz every 3 hrs, and one bottle feeding a day. He tolerates all of his feeds. He gets half breast milk and half Neosure. They also started adding protein this past Friday. Do you think this has to do with the formula or protein? I talked to his dr. today and she stated that everything looks good so they're going to keep an eye on it. Today he's just getting an IV and they'll resume feedings tomorrow hopefully.

Has anyone ever deal with something like this? Thanks!

Doubtfulone

My LO had a distended belly, too. She had an x-ray to make sure there was not a serious complication. Result was that she was VERY gassy and I can almost bet that is all it is with your LO.

The doctor in the NICU relieved her by using cream and his finger, not to give to much info. She farted loud, pooped a bunch and then continued to do so until her bell went down... which it pretty much did in 24 hours. I would use a childrens suppository - only 1/4 of it. Get that gas out. 

The bottles they use in the nursery are not super so they can give her extra gas. You could bring in a Dr. Brown's, which are great.

 I hope your LO in OK. I am sure it's just gas if everything looks good.

sdtchica13

My LO had this issue in the NICU as well. They ran a ton of tests, did a stomach ultrasound and even collected her pee to check her kidneys. It turned out to be related to a condition called BPD (Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia), which was basically high blood pressure that caused her to breathe faster than normal and also caused her to retain water, which tied all of her symptoms together (distended belly, fast breathing, difficulty taking a full bottle, etc).

They ended up giving her a course of Lasix (a really strong diuretic), and all of the symptoms improved drastically almost immediately. We were told it was very normal for preemies to have BPD and the resulting Lasix course, so if that ends up being the case with your LO, don't worry too much about.

If its not BPD, then like PP suggested, it may likely be gas (have you noticed that everyone always blames every baby issue on gas, lol). I hope you LO is ok!