Mau
August 21st, 2006, 08:07 PM
And about 2 1/2 hours ago my youngest son was born.
7.8 lbs, and the doctor said 'It's a boy!'. My response 'No it isn't.'
He says 'what, you don't want him?', to which I replied- 'well now I have to think about it!'
We already had two boys, this was our last kid. He had managed to evade being 'sexed' in two ultrasounds, and we were convinced it was a girl, which I was hoping for.
We found out about an hour later, after the pediatrician examined him, that he was going to have problems.
He had a cleft palate (a hole in the rear soft part of the roof of his mouth), and as we'd find in time, a host of problems to go through over the next year.
He couldn't drink from normal baby bottles, because the suction necessary wasn't possible. He needed special bottles that I had to squeeze to help him eat properly.
And that was a learning experience. Squeeze too hard, and it goes up the hole and out of his nose, not hard enough and he gets no food and stops trying to eat.
For two months he wasn't gaining weight. He was born 7 1/2 lbs, and at one point was down to 6 lbs 13 oz.
He was eating better, but had chronic ear infections (eustacian tube drains fluid from the ear canal and empties into the throat, the cleft affected his tube and it couldn't drain properly).
More doctors appointments than I care to remember, recording his feedings round the clock for weeks, still not gaining weight.
He was admitted into Children's hospital October 29th with 'Failure to thrive'.
He was tested for CF, genetic disorders and syndromes, and many other things.
They found that he had a heart murmor (ped never found) as well.
With the murmor and his body constantly fighting ear infections, he was using more calories than he was getting, hence the inability to gain weight.
One night, against the on-duty nurse's wishes, I changed his feedings. 1/2 the amount of formula, twice as often. It just made sense, he'd expend less energy during eating that way.
He started gaining weight almost immediately. For the first time he was alert, and not constantly tired and lethargic.
I can still remember when I first realized it. He was laying in his hospital crib and I saw him watching spongebob squarepants on the TV, making noises in response to the colors and sounds! I was so happy I almost cried.
A day or two later, he was almost 8 lbs and ready to go home, a new, happy baby.
He was still very tiny for his age, but gaining steadily.
In december he went in for out-patient surgery to have tubes put in his ears to stop the infections. Another step toward getting better, and he did.
He was scheduled to have the cleft closed in July 2004. In order to heal properly after surgery, he couldn't still be bottle feeding. At 6 months old, he went from the bottle to a sippy cup and spoon exculsively. No problems whatsoever! It took less time to get him off the bottle, that YOUNG, than his older brothers at almost twice his age.
When he went in for his surgery at Children's the nurses couln't believe he had ever been there for failure to thrive. They couldn't believe he ever had a hard time gaining or keeping on weight. He was a big, happy, cuddly, healthy boy.
Seeing him after surgery was so hard, I almost couldn't stay with him though. Blood all through his nose and mouth, a string through his tongue, taped to his cheek to prevent his tongue from settling too far back in his newly designed air-way. And his little arms in braces to keep him from putting anything in his mouth and breaking the stitches. In so much pain, miserable, terrible looking. It broke my heart.
But 2 days later, at home, he was running around the house with his brothers like NOTHING ever happened. His biggest concern was wiggling out of the arm braces!
Today, he's in the 95th percentile for height and weight for his age. He's strong, stubborn, and happy. He hates the doctors, which is understandable...but he's doing great and is healthy as a horse.
This is Domenico and his oldest brother about 2 months before his surgery-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Maryn306/a58ee0de.jpg
And this is him a month after, on his 1st birthday-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Maryn306/002_02.jpg
This is him almost a week ago!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Maryn306/angeandco.jpg
7.8 lbs, and the doctor said 'It's a boy!'. My response 'No it isn't.'
He says 'what, you don't want him?', to which I replied- 'well now I have to think about it!'
We already had two boys, this was our last kid. He had managed to evade being 'sexed' in two ultrasounds, and we were convinced it was a girl, which I was hoping for.
We found out about an hour later, after the pediatrician examined him, that he was going to have problems.
He had a cleft palate (a hole in the rear soft part of the roof of his mouth), and as we'd find in time, a host of problems to go through over the next year.
He couldn't drink from normal baby bottles, because the suction necessary wasn't possible. He needed special bottles that I had to squeeze to help him eat properly.
And that was a learning experience. Squeeze too hard, and it goes up the hole and out of his nose, not hard enough and he gets no food and stops trying to eat.
For two months he wasn't gaining weight. He was born 7 1/2 lbs, and at one point was down to 6 lbs 13 oz.
He was eating better, but had chronic ear infections (eustacian tube drains fluid from the ear canal and empties into the throat, the cleft affected his tube and it couldn't drain properly).
More doctors appointments than I care to remember, recording his feedings round the clock for weeks, still not gaining weight.
He was admitted into Children's hospital October 29th with 'Failure to thrive'.
He was tested for CF, genetic disorders and syndromes, and many other things.
They found that he had a heart murmor (ped never found) as well.
With the murmor and his body constantly fighting ear infections, he was using more calories than he was getting, hence the inability to gain weight.
One night, against the on-duty nurse's wishes, I changed his feedings. 1/2 the amount of formula, twice as often. It just made sense, he'd expend less energy during eating that way.
He started gaining weight almost immediately. For the first time he was alert, and not constantly tired and lethargic.
I can still remember when I first realized it. He was laying in his hospital crib and I saw him watching spongebob squarepants on the TV, making noises in response to the colors and sounds! I was so happy I almost cried.
A day or two later, he was almost 8 lbs and ready to go home, a new, happy baby.
He was still very tiny for his age, but gaining steadily.
In december he went in for out-patient surgery to have tubes put in his ears to stop the infections. Another step toward getting better, and he did.
He was scheduled to have the cleft closed in July 2004. In order to heal properly after surgery, he couldn't still be bottle feeding. At 6 months old, he went from the bottle to a sippy cup and spoon exculsively. No problems whatsoever! It took less time to get him off the bottle, that YOUNG, than his older brothers at almost twice his age.
When he went in for his surgery at Children's the nurses couln't believe he had ever been there for failure to thrive. They couldn't believe he ever had a hard time gaining or keeping on weight. He was a big, happy, cuddly, healthy boy.
Seeing him after surgery was so hard, I almost couldn't stay with him though. Blood all through his nose and mouth, a string through his tongue, taped to his cheek to prevent his tongue from settling too far back in his newly designed air-way. And his little arms in braces to keep him from putting anything in his mouth and breaking the stitches. In so much pain, miserable, terrible looking. It broke my heart.
But 2 days later, at home, he was running around the house with his brothers like NOTHING ever happened. His biggest concern was wiggling out of the arm braces!
Today, he's in the 95th percentile for height and weight for his age. He's strong, stubborn, and happy. He hates the doctors, which is understandable...but he's doing great and is healthy as a horse.
This is Domenico and his oldest brother about 2 months before his surgery-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Maryn306/a58ee0de.jpg
And this is him a month after, on his 1st birthday-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Maryn306/002_02.jpg
This is him almost a week ago!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Maryn306/angeandco.jpg