Saturday, March 26, 2011

God is Good!

So, I don't exactly have all the time in the world for blogging these days. Being mommy of three ages three and under is quite the task, to put it lightly. In fact, last night after I'd been out for a few hours, I got home and Chris sweetly said to me, "Each time I am here alone with these kids I have more and more respect for what you do each day. I have no idea how you get it all done!'' That was the sweetest compliment he could have paid me!

Let's see....what is new. At three weeks of age we took Joshua and Grace for a check up. Both had gained weight (Joshua up to 7.11 and Grace up to 6 even). Joshua had developed some "issues" and we discussed those at length. He had started to vomit quite a bit after each feeding. The doctor told us it sounded like reflux and told us to call if it seemed he was bothered by it and we could start him on medication. We didn't think he needed the medicine at the time.

Twenty four hours later, we saw Joshua really struggling with some significant discomfort, so we went ahead and called the doctor and requested the medication. We tried that and the first night it seemed to bring him relief. Then it seemed it wasn't working anymore. We put his mattress on an incline and bought a whole new line of bottles to try to help him. The vomiting seemed to be getting worse and we got to the point that I would bring out three or four rags, a bib, a towel, and an extra outfit for Joshua each time we fed him.

The vomiting continued and I became worried. He seemed lethargic and never cried to be fed anymore, leaving all the night waking up to his sister. Then I noticed a drastic decline in wet and dirty diapers. At this point I was convinced he did not have reflux and called the pediatrician.

We went to the pediatrician bright and early on Tuesday morning. I left Chris home with Grace and Jacob. At the doctor's office I told him all about what was happening and also mentioned Chris' history of having pyloric stenosis as a baby (something that is commonly passed from father to son). Our pediatrician was so compassionate and listened to all I had to say. They weighed Joshua and he was down from 7.11 to 7.7 in just one week's time. The doctor told me reflux babies do not lose weight and that we needed to send him to a specialist. He sent us straight from his office to UK Children's Hospital.

After a couple phone calls, Chris was able to make arrangements for Grace and Jacob to be watched by family members (what a BLESSING) so he could join me at the hospital. Some labs and an ultrasound revealed Joshua had pyloric stenosis and would require surgery.

What is pyloric stenosis? There is a muscle (the pyloris) between the stomach and intestines. In a baby with pyloric stenosis this muscle grows thicker and thicker to the point where nothing in the stomach can empty into the intestines, therefore the only way out is to vomit it out, often forcefully, causing the vomit to be projectile. Thus the reason for the towels, rags, and changes of clothes after each feeding. The condition most often presents itself in the first 3-5 weeks of age and is most common in boys, usually the first born boy. It is even more likely to occur if the parent had the condition.

Joshua was checked out and he was rather dehydrated and not ready for surgery because his electrolytes were out of whack. They needed to get that all taken care of before they could operate, so he spent a day and a half on IV fluids and we were not permitted to feed him (poor baby went about 36 hours without a bottle!). He was pitiful, but really a trooper and rested a lot of the time. He had surgery on Wednesday afternoon and we came home by noon on Thursday. The surgery was laparoscopic and not nearly as invasive as the surgery was when Chris had it as a baby. Our surgeon was awesome and he said they do about two of those surgeries each week. Joshua tolerated his bottles well after surgery and is doing well now that we are home.

Chris and I are so thankful God provided us with family to care for Jacob and Grace, nurses and doctors who were skilled, and a successful surgery. We are so thankful for His protection over Joshua and for a little boy who is on the road to recovery...

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