When I became the mother of my beautiful, intelligent baby girl, I never imagined how hard we would have to fight to help her feel better.
Since the day she was born, my husband and I have poured every ounce of our emotional strength into advocating for her. Along the way, we faced challenges I truly believe other parents may be able to avoid if they know what to look for sooner.
These experiences ranged from pushback from medical professionals and delayed diagnoses, to being told “it’s just colic” when there was an underlying cause, or “she’s just behavioral” when she was truly in pain.
There were so many long nights spent Googling thousands of questions:
“Why is my baby crying for six hours straight?”
“Why can’t my baby tolerate lying flat on her back?”
“Why is my baby grunting?”
“Why is her pain back?”
“How do I convince doctors there is something else going on, because this isn’t just colic?”
And there were so many nights with the same thoughts running through my mind:
“This isn’t normal.”
“This cannot be normal.”
“This isn’t fair.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“My poor baby. Why her?”
“I’m breaking.”
“What do I do, and how can I help her?”
If any of this sounds familiar, my heart sincerely goes out to you.
I’m also genuinely glad you’re here.
My hope is that by sharing my personal experience as a new mother navigating silent reflux, cow’s milk protein allergy, laryngomalacia, dysphagia, and the many symptoms that can come with these diagnoses, you’ll be able to find reassurance, validation, and peace of mind.
Does everything get better all at once? No.
Can awareness, persistence, and refusing to settle for “it’s just colic” make a significant difference for your baby? Absolutely.
This may be step one for you, or it may be step one hundred. Either way, the important part is that you are already here. You are already searching. You are already advocating. You are already showing that you refuse to give up.
You are strong, mama. You’ve got this.
Now, let’s help your baby.
The Patient Mama 