Seeking Other First Time Moms in NoVa with Newborns (Less than 3 Months Old)

There is a great group at Loudoun Hospital for moms with new babies it meets on Wednesday mornings at 10:30 at the Birthing Inn. It is led by Susan who is one of the nurses on the maternity ward. The moms share their stories and give help to one another. My daughter who is now 9 1/2 months who diagnosed with acid reflux due protein intolerance. It was through the help of Susan and the moms at the group that I figured all this out. My daughter went from enfamil to soy formula to the hypoallergic formula which worked the best for her. The Zantac did help as well. Eventually she did have to go on Previcid but she is know out growing her intolerance. Most of them due by a year.

Unfortunately I don't know of a support group for this issue, but I can tell you that I was basically in the same situation a few months ago. I gave birth to our second child, a girl, in early January. At about 3 weeks old, she suddenly became very fussy and what I thought was collicky. Plus, since she was spitting up a lot and swallowing it back down, the dr diagnosed acid-reflux and put her on Zantac. I also had started supplementing early on with milk based formula, and it turns out my daughter had a sensitivity (allergy?) to it. Like you, I also felt that the Zantac wasn't making much difference so I stopped giving it to her after a few weeks. Instead I switched her to a soy-based formula. Within a week of the switch, there was a HUGE improvement in her temperament. I am happy to report that she is now a happy, lower maintenance, go with the flow baby, and I am a MUCH happier mommy!!

Hi
I am not a first time mom but I have two little ones both with lots of gastro issues. I just wanted to ask if you have gotten any appointments with a pediatric gastroenterologist?(*PEDI GI) I ask this, because when my first daughter had similar issues, i did not even know there was such a thing as a pedi GI. It usually takes MONTHS to get an appt, so I just wanted to let you know that you should go ahead and make an appt and expect it to take a few months to get in, but it will be really worth it for the happiness and health of your baby. Pediatricians are great but do not specialize in these gastro issues. It will really help you a lot.
and good luck. These type of things are really frustrating. and the guessing game sucks. We ended up finding out our daughter had lots of esophageal ulcers due to under-treated reflux/allergies. It was really painful for her. No wonder she fussed so much!

Reston Hospital has a new moms support group that meets in reston and one that meets in ashburn. I suggest you look on line. Ashburn also has several MOMS Clubs depending on your neighborhood, and will ususally place you in a playgroup with momes whose babies are similarly aged.

New Moms Group: http://www.restonhospital.com/CommCal.asp#newmoms
A registered nurse facilitates the groups and coordinates interesting topics and speakers related to motherhood. There is no charge to attend and registration is NOT required. Call ###-###-#### for more information.

http://www.momsclub.org/

Hi Jeannie,
I am sorry you are struggling so much with feeding your little girl! I would strongly recommend talking with your doctor about your concerns. I also suggest seeing if you can get some assistance increasing your breast milk supply if you suspect your daughter is having difficulty with formula. There are some great lactation specialists out there and la leche league can be very helpful as well. I would never want to guilt anyone into nursing, but it sounds like you may be effectively nursing already with some supplementation. For some people that becomes a slippery slope to limiting milk production and many women who had difficulty initially can go on to produce adequate milk for their babies, providing they get the right stimulation. Good luck to you! Reflux and allergies area common problems, persevere and you will figure it out!

I don't have a group for you.. but my son (who is now turning 1) had the same problems that you are having. He ended up having acid reflux really bad. We switched him to similac advance soy formula AND he was on Prevacid in the morning and Zantac at night. That was after 3 months of sleepless days and nights and trial and error. The Zantac wasn't strong enough for his reflux on it's own but the prevacid worked like a charm in conjunction with the soy formula. He still remains on the medication and seems to be switching over to whole milk from soy formula just fine (we are doing it a little at a time). I wouldn't say just yet that she is allergic to cows milk (unless you have had her tested) but if her reflux is bad it could just be that the cows milk is too hard for her to digest right now like it was for my son.