This post is much more informational than humorous. Sorry about that...I'll will henceforth after this attempt to be more light-hearted than I am feeling right now.
We visited Riley Hospital for Children for the second time this morning with Teddy. Teddy has always been a squeaky little guy. Even in the hospital when he was born, his little noises were always present and rather endearing. Though I asked every doctor and nurse who saw him both then and in our family doctor's office after, what might be wrong with his breathing, I was told again and again that it was normal. That some babies do that. Some babies sputter and cough and have retractions (the medical word for for what I called dimples) in their bellies when they breathe. I was never quite convinced, but who am I to argue? In the last few weeks, though, he has begun to struggle to breathe. Last Friday night when Jason was in Arizona, he was really having a hard time just getting a breath. By this time, though, I had been told not to worry enough times that I didn't. The next morning, I called my brother in law, who is an ENT, just to check it out with him, to hear if he thought I should pursue it further. According to him, I should have been in the ER with him. Whoops. That was not my finest parenting moment.
Come Monday morning, I was in hot pursuit of help for my son. Tuesday morning, we had an appointment to see a specialist. Praise God. She diagnosed him with Laryngomalasia, a condition where his airway, and specifically his epiglottis, is floppy instead of firm. It's getting in the way of his breathing. And it's making his Mama very nervous.
Today, Teddy donned a cute baby - sized hospital gown covered with...what else? teddy bears...and went in for a procedure in which the doc stuck a camera up his nose and all the way down to his lungs to check it all out visually. He did well with the necessary fasting and anesthesia, but his parents will be happy to never have to do that again! The diagnosis was confirmed, and his case is severe. We return to the good folks at Riley on Tuesday to do one more test - a sleep study. Then, we will receive recommendations about how to help him breathe at night and possibly some sort of monitoring gear. I am rooting for that because that sure sounds like peace of mind for me!
Here's the good news, though. He is going to grow out of this. It's going to take a while, perhaps a year or year and a half, but it will start improving, the doctors say, in about 6 months. I am thankful. There is nothing that quite so effectively inspires thankfulness like walking around Riley seeing all of the kids who spend way more time there than anyone would ever hope to do. I am also thankful that God chose us to be his parents. Who knows but that this might be one of many reasons? Getting this kind of specialized care might have been much more difficult for his birth mom should she have chosen to parent him. Whatever the reason, though, he is already a blessing to our family! Though I will not make this condition the subject of many blog posts because it does not define him or our family, I will strive to provide updates as appropriate. Much love to you all, and here are some cute pictures of our big day!
We visited Riley Hospital for Children for the second time this morning with Teddy. Teddy has always been a squeaky little guy. Even in the hospital when he was born, his little noises were always present and rather endearing. Though I asked every doctor and nurse who saw him both then and in our family doctor's office after, what might be wrong with his breathing, I was told again and again that it was normal. That some babies do that. Some babies sputter and cough and have retractions (the medical word for for what I called dimples) in their bellies when they breathe. I was never quite convinced, but who am I to argue? In the last few weeks, though, he has begun to struggle to breathe. Last Friday night when Jason was in Arizona, he was really having a hard time just getting a breath. By this time, though, I had been told not to worry enough times that I didn't. The next morning, I called my brother in law, who is an ENT, just to check it out with him, to hear if he thought I should pursue it further. According to him, I should have been in the ER with him. Whoops. That was not my finest parenting moment.
Come Monday morning, I was in hot pursuit of help for my son. Tuesday morning, we had an appointment to see a specialist. Praise God. She diagnosed him with Laryngomalasia, a condition where his airway, and specifically his epiglottis, is floppy instead of firm. It's getting in the way of his breathing. And it's making his Mama very nervous.
Today, Teddy donned a cute baby - sized hospital gown covered with...what else? teddy bears...and went in for a procedure in which the doc stuck a camera up his nose and all the way down to his lungs to check it all out visually. He did well with the necessary fasting and anesthesia, but his parents will be happy to never have to do that again! The diagnosis was confirmed, and his case is severe. We return to the good folks at Riley on Tuesday to do one more test - a sleep study. Then, we will receive recommendations about how to help him breathe at night and possibly some sort of monitoring gear. I am rooting for that because that sure sounds like peace of mind for me!
Here's the good news, though. He is going to grow out of this. It's going to take a while, perhaps a year or year and a half, but it will start improving, the doctors say, in about 6 months. I am thankful. There is nothing that quite so effectively inspires thankfulness like walking around Riley seeing all of the kids who spend way more time there than anyone would ever hope to do. I am also thankful that God chose us to be his parents. Who knows but that this might be one of many reasons? Getting this kind of specialized care might have been much more difficult for his birth mom should she have chosen to parent him. Whatever the reason, though, he is already a blessing to our family! Though I will not make this condition the subject of many blog posts because it does not define him or our family, I will strive to provide updates as appropriate. Much love to you all, and here are some cute pictures of our big day!
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| He's getting his blood pressure taken. |
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| Napping on Mommy after his long morning |
Saying prayers for Teddy and you all. Love!
ReplyDeleteSweet buddy! Please DO give lots if pics and details through this process...we want to be there with you!
ReplyDelete