GIGANTIC spit ups

[izemmom]

Yesterday Emily was particularly fussy. She refused her enzyme/solids - which is not like her, at all. I got a few spoonfuls of the applesauce in her when she started to just scream. She was visibly uncomfortable, arching her back, arms flailing, kicking and squirming. She looked to me like she was underwater, fighting to get to the surface to get a breath. She was crying so hard. She started to kind of blow bubbles - slavia building up in her mouth and coming out wit each cry. I turned her over and gave her a few whacks on the back to see if anything would come out. Nothing did.

I got her settled and had been just holding her, cradle style for about 10 minutes, when without any warning she vomited all over. She had'nt eaten anything except the aplesauce recently, so this wasn't regular spit up or vomit. It was very foamy and thick. Sticky. I am assuming that it was mucus.

Here're my questions.
* was she choking when she seemed to be "drowning"
* do you think it was mucus?
* can mucus build up in the stomach?
* what should I do when this happens?
* should I expect this to happen often?

I will call our cf docs on this, but I wanted to run it past all of you guys, too.

I take most things in stride, I think, and I don't get panicky often, but this had me scared (not to mention the two three year olds who witnessed it - sorry Mary, hope C wasn't scared for life!)

Just when I fool myself into thinking we're doing ok, stuff like this always happens!!! uuugggghhh!

 

[Emily65Roses]

Thick and foamy sounds like mucus. Doesn't mean by default that she was choking. We swallow a lot of it without even knowing, and it can upset the stomach. I imagine it would even more so upset a tiny baby tummy.

That's not to say that's WHAT IT IS NO QUESTIONS ASKED... but it certainly could be. It's not anywhere out of the realm of possibility. I have an adult 22 year old big stretched tummy that's used to all sorts of junk, and it still happens to me.

 

[eli]

Hi Tammi, sorry to hear of your scare and sorry that i really don't know how to answer your questions. Besides yes. it can be mucus, and mucus can build up in the stomach. Although i don't think its something that shoul happen often.
My daughter has done that twice, but only when she was a very little two kilos, as she was born premmie her tubes were too small.
Sorry if i'm not any help, but i would definatley go and see the doc's about this. Anytime you have a seriouse concern, give them a call and go. Don't wait too long.

Take care and let me know how things go.

Eli

 

[Mockingbird]

Not sure if I am reading it right, but if she was crying shile she looked like she was underwater, then she probably wasn't choking. (That is, as long as she is crying loudly her airway is still open). Babies can, however, cry so much that they don't get enough air. I know when my sister was a baby (non cf), she would cry until she almost pased out, then start gulping air; it's really frightening to watch.

 

[anonymous]

My daughter has vomitted mucus before. She is 2 and was complaining of a belly ache and when she vomitted (all over me!) I noticed a greenish yellowish mucus in it. I never took her to the doctor over it though, just figured she had swallowed mucus and it had upset her stomach which she threw up. But if you feel compelled to go to the doctor you should. Mommies know best!

Lynsey- Mom to Avery 2yrs. w/CF and Rhett 1yr. CF carrier

 

[anonymous]

Could you please tell me the outcome of Emily's spit ups? My 6 month old CF daughter, Samantha, started doing the EXACT same thing 2 weeks ago. We've had no problems with enzymes, and all of a sudden she doesn't want to take them at all, and she's spitting up (to the point of vomiting) after every feeding. On Monday, her CF dr increased her zantac, but it has continued to get worse this week. Last night was the first time that it came out of her mouth and nose at the same time. We have her 6 month well visit today, so I'm waiting on that before contacting her CF dr again. I'm very concerned and would love to know what Emily's dr had to say. Thanks,

Alicia Smith

mom to Timothy 2yr no cf
and Samantha born 12/8/05 w/cf

 

[izemmom]

Hi Alicia

Hope things are getting better for your daughter. If I'm remembering this correctly, we had started to suspect that Emily had a virus that was causing the vomiting by the time we actually talked to the cf docs. Others in the house were not feeling too well (I spent Mother's Day sick and in bed!!!). Emily had also developed a cough - a really bad one - that led to even more vomiting! It was a messy week. The docs had us increase her antacid a bit (About a 1/4 ml) and they prescribed a 5-day course of prednisone. The prednisone made the cough disappear, and with in a day of increasing the antacid and starting the steroid, Emily was back to normal. I had been terrified that she'd be admitted, but they said no, not as long as we were more comfortable caring for her at home and she wasn't in any real danger. I'm still not sure if what she was vomitimg up was really mucus. Or if she did have the virus the rest of us eventually got. In any case, she got better and hasbeen doing well ever since. Except now she is refusing bottles. If it's not one thing it's another! I know how concerned you are. Isn't it terrible to have to watch them struggle? Hang in there. Let me know how she's doing.

 

[cfmomma]

my son would do the same when he was a baby. It scared me to death. He did it mainly at night, he would start to cough then cry and the combination would choke him. Every time he gasped for air he would inhale more mucus and he'd turn blue. A few good whacks and a bulb suction were the only thing that helped. It was always followed by frothy white vomit, after he barfed he would calm down and fall back to sleep. He did it a few times while eating but I think that only happened when I fed him too fast or when he didn't feel like eating. His doctor said babies swallow insane amounts of mucus and sometimes their tummys cant take it. It is scary but she will get through it.