[aris99]

My dd is almost 8 mos, born at 26 weeks so almost 5 mos adjusted. She was in the NICU for 11 weeks. While she was there they took her off bm 3 times due to abdominal distention and digestive probs....not NEC but they couldn't be sure what was going on.

When I changed her in the NICU she would frequently poop while I was putting on a new dipe. It seemed to me that her bms were too wet and too frequent (like diarrhea)but no one else seemed concerned.

When I brought her home the "diarrhea" continued. She was having up to 25 bms a day and her bottom was raw. They had me put her onto 27 calorie nutramigen because while she was growing...she was a good length...she was at a low weight. The diarrhea continued. Since there were no ped GI's in our area they had me put her onto 24 calorie neocate. W/in 24 hrs the frequency of bms decreased significantly but they were still very wet...not what you'd expect from a formula fed baby.

We recently moved to PA and we were referred to a ped. GI. He said that he was pretty sure that Caidren had a food allergy and she needed to stay on neocate but he also had me submit some stool samples so that he could rule out other things. One of these samples came back positive for a C. diff infection and Caidren now has diarrhea from the infection AND the antibiotics.

I am really confused as to where she got this infection. Apparently it's one of those things you can get from contamination of the water supply....we use only bottled water and I may have a slightly messy home...who hasn't w/3 kids...but I am VERY careful when it comes to hygiene and cleanliness! Could she have picked this up in the NICU and suffered w/it all this time? Wouldn't the NICU staff have picked this up?

Anybody else have a similar experience? Apparently this infection can be difficult to beat and it often recurs....as if Caidren hasn't got enough problems in her little life....

 

[kondonis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aris99 My dd is almost 8 mos, born at 26 weeks so almost 5 mos adjusted. She was in the NICU for 11 weeks. While she was there they took her off bm 3 times due to abdominal distention and digestive probs....not NEC but they couldn't be sure what was going on. When I changed her in the NICU she would frequently poop while I was putting on a new dipe. It seemed to me that her bms were too wet and too frequent (like diarrhea)but no one else seemed concerned. When I brought her home the "diarrhea" continued. She was having up to 25 bms a day and her bottom was raw. They had me put her onto 27 calorie nutramigen because while she was growing...she was a good length...she was at a low weight. The diarrhea continued. Since there were no ped GI's in our area they had me put her onto 24 calorie neocate. W/in 24 hrs the frequency of bms decreased significantly but they were still very wet...not what you'd expect from a formula fed baby. We recently moved to PA and we were referred to a ped. GI. He said that he was pretty sure that Caidren had a food allergy and she needed to stay on neocate but he also had me submit some stool samples so that he could rule out other things. One of these samples came back positive for a C. diff infection and Caidren now has diarrhea from the infection AND the antibiotics. I am really confused as to where she got this infection. Apparently it's one of those things you can get from contamination of the water supply....we use only bottled water and I may have a slightly messy home...who hasn't w/3 kids...but I am VERY careful when it comes to hygiene and cleanliness! Could she have picked this up in the NICU and suffered w/it all this time? Wouldn't the NICU staff have picked this up? Anybody else have a similar experience? Apparently this infection can be difficult to beat and it often recurs....as if Caidren hasn't got enough problems in her little life....

hugs -

what is c. diff?

 

[mamanurse]

Clostridium difficile is a bacterial infection. It's usually part of a person's normal gut flora. It becomes a problem when there is an overgrowth of it in the GI tract. The usual cause of this is antibiotics or immunosuppression. It is not acquired (generally) through food or water.

Was your babe on antibiotics in the NICU? Chances are the antibiotics killed off your dc's "good" bacteria as well as the "bad." The C. diff. came back too strong and is now causing the problems. It IS often a nosocomial infection (acquired in the hospital) and yes, the NICU should have picked up on it.

I recommend taking probiotics to help your babe develop normal healthy gut flora to compete with the C. diff. You could ask your GI ped about what would be appropriate to take. Next time your babe "has" to take antibiotics, make sure to also giver her probiotics at the same time.

Here is an article about C. diff.

 

[mamanurse]

PS- You could also x-post this in the health forum 'cause all people can get C. diff, not just premies.

 

[aris99]

Thanks for the hugs Kordonis

and thanks for the info Jenn. I read about the antibiotic effect...she was given antibiotics at birth because I had prom at 17 weeks and they thought she might have sepsis but would antibiotics given for such a short time so early on have caused this infection? I was wondering if a food allergy may have caused the early bout of diarrhea and maybe upset the "bacterial balance"? Is this akin to a yeast infection? I mean I know the organisms are quite different but is the overgrowth scenario similar? I am spiking her bottle w/probiotics between the doses of antibiotics but it doesn't seem to be having much effect....I'm heading over to the health forum....thanks again for your help!

 

[mamanurse]

It is similar to a yeast overgrowth infection (as far as the mechanism goes). I don't know about short term use of antibiotics, but I would venture to guess that it could cause the overgrowth in a neonate (especially a preterm one) because they have not had a chance to develop strong gut flora.