Expecting the easy part to be easy

I was expecting certain chores of raising triplets to be easy, while other parts not so much.  Feeding the little tykes was expected to be one of those 'easy' things.

But now I'm finding out just how hard bottle feeding can be.

All three of the rugrats have some reflux, requiring a certain amount of 'sitting up' afterwards (and the challenge of how to get them staying up, along with the unwillingness to be uncomfortable), and not to mention as well, your heart racing and you racing to grab one them of them up after you have to save them from a sound that would make a grown man cry - the choking sound of a baby and helpless feeling that "did I do everything I could to prevent this?".  The other hard thing to watch is the formula coming out of the mouth and nose while they can't breathe for a few seconds.

But one of the triplets has been especially difficult.  On the last Dr. visit, he was the one that was behind in growth from the others and not eating as much.  It hurts him when he swallows and he cries because he wants the bottle and then cries when he sucks down the formula.  It's heart breaking.

I wasn't expecting this part to be hard.

We've tried 3 different formulas, long breaks between a few ounces, putting rice in the bottle to make the formula a little bit heavier, reflux medication, giving him the medication before, during and after feeding, burping after each ounce, sitting him up for up to an hour after feeding (which brings on more crying), and even an expensive hypo-allergenic (stinking up to high heaven) formula.  But so far, it's still a challenge.  The last thing to try, that I know of, is since he will swallow three ounces in the beginning of the feeding before the hour long ordeal, is to feed him every three hours, three ounces.  I'm not sure what else to try.  Right now, breaking up his medicine so he has it before each meal and giving him a rest break during feeding is getting more than three ounces in him, so will keep this method going for now.

I expected an easy routine job but got the unexpected hardship of dealing with a sensitive baby and experimenting with different methods to help my son not feel the pain a newborn should never endure during a routine daily necessity.