A Chiropractor Visit

I'm sure I probably sound like a broken record player by now. We've been dealing with Everly having bad reflux since day one. I don't mind washing laundry all the time, or having to buy large receiving blankets so that I have more square footage to use in the battle against projectile spit up moments, but its when my daughter is choking because so much is coming out that I become concerned even more. We've talked to the doctor, gone to the hospital, seen a specialist, and repeat. We've tried gripe water, colic calm (which helped for a bit), and ranitidine. I really did not like the idea of using medicine to try and help her when she is so young, but we gave it a shot. I tried cutting things out of my diet, different formulas. We have always returned back to square one eventually, its been two steps forward and three back it seems.

I will be honest I was becoming extremely upset about it, I was feeling helpless in being able to find something to bring some comfort to my daughter. I was even to the point of being upset and jealous over the fact that it seemed like no other parent around me was going through this. Though I know that was not true because so many friends and family members have been such a support to me and have shared their stories and suggestions with me.

I joined a Facebook group for infant reflux a few weeks back. Right away I noticed a huge trend with the parents on there, many had been down the same path as us, and eventually they tried a chiropractor to see if that would help their little ones. Many stated the same thing, apparently there are certain areas of the spine that if it is misaligned the infant could suffer from reflux.

Taking Everly to a chiropractor was something I felt very unsure about because I had the visual of what is done to adults when they go see a chiropractor running through my mind and hearing the sound of cracking over and over again. I was introduced to a family chiropractor in Port Moody, again through Facebook by fluke through a friend "liking" a vaccine information night. I contacted Dr. Gil at Optimum Family Chiropractic he answered a lot of the questions I had about bringing Everly in but I was still not sure. Jason and I attended the vaccine information night this past week, we learned a lot that night but we also decided that taking Everly to a chiropractor was a route we need to try. We booked her an appointment that night.

(Inside Optimum Family Chiropractic, apparently many people mistake it for a day care centre)

Today she had her assessment appointment done with Dr. Gil. He used a state-of-the-art spinal scanning machine to check her spine. He rolled this instrument along her spine (it looks like one of those hand held lazer guns for scanning large items at the check out) and it sent info to the computer where it was displayed on the screen. To Jason and I it looked like her image on the computer had lit up like a Christmas tree, there was red and green popping up all over. You don't want to see colours you want to see it be clear on the screen. Dr Gil also did a hands on check of her, which also involved flipping her upside down in the air. I really wish I had taken a photo of that but was too focused on making sure she did not spit up every where. It was really clear that she has some spinal misalignment. This could be because of several things... being squashed inside for so long, use of a vacuum to aid in extracting her quickly, etc...

(Everly's scan results)

We were supposed to wait til our next appointment on Thursday next week to get full results, but because we ended up staying there longer so that Everly could have a bottle we got to find out right away. Thanks to the people who cancelled today,we don't know you but we appreciate it! We were taken back again and were shown on paper a visual image of the spine, on it it was circled the places she has misalignment. Beside each section were lists of possible symptoms the patient could be suffering from. Guess what was in each box that she is suffering from, reflux. Dr Gil even did Everly's first adjustment today since there was time to do so. He used very light finger pressure, it looked like she was getting a massage.

We will be continuing this route to see if it will aid Everly, in fact Jason and I are now both considering booking appointments for ourselves. Dr Gil had noted we were travelling a distance to get there and he took it upon himself to set us up with a referral to another chiropractor in Langley who he knows and is friends with so that we wont have to drive so far with Everly. Her first appointment with this doctor is next week. I noticed on the drive home after her appointment that her neck was not tilted one direction for the first time. This was nice to see and I hope that continues for her too. She also slept for a nice long nap after which Dr Gil warned us could happen.

(The tool used to roll along Everly's spine is on the shelf under the key board)

If any of you need a chiropractor and you live on the other side of the bridge near Port Moody I highly recommend looking into Optimum Family Chiropractic. We'll keep everyone informed how our appointments for Everly go with the other doctor. We are hoping and praying that this will be a step in the right direction. We're optimistic, but we also come armed with lots of receiving blankets.