Reflux

Well, it appears that Fletcher suffers from silent reflux and its pretty painful for him, and thus, for us. My first big lesson in the parental pain you feel when you see your child in obvious pain :( They call it 'silent' reflux when they don't actually spit up, which he doesn't...but it is painfully obvious that he is refluxing and that it hurts. After a feeding he will cough and cry for an hour or more and looks very uncomfortable when he is laid down. When he is eating he is fine, which is normal since the milk soothes his irritated little throat, but once that acid starts backing up it starts to hurt him.
The Doc has prescribed Prevacid for him, which Fletcher really likes the taste of (cherry flavor!), and it has done an amazing job. It just cuts the amount of acid in his stomach down to something a little more manageable...still plenty enough to digest his food properly, but not enough to eat the lining of his esophagus when he reflux's. After a few days on it he stopped coughing and doesn't look like he hurts at all after eating. The actual refluxing should fix itself once his little body reaches about 6-12 months when his little stomach flap is mature and strong and then he can go off the medicine, though its possible it may even be sooner depending on how he does. It is such a HUGE relief to see him feeling and doing so much better. It was very rough on all three of us, so I am really thankful for stuff like this that can help him out.
We also prop up his playpen bassinet, his crib and his changing table a little bit to help what we put in his belly stay in his belly as much as possible.