A Little Blessing: June 2010

Friday, June 18, 2010

Another trip to the hospital...

So...Brandon spiked a fever on a Thursday night a little over a week ago. By Saturday he was at the doctor's office with what looked liked the beginning stages of an ear infection. Antibiotics were started, but by his third dose of the antibiotic, along with alternating Motrin and Tylenol, the following day his fever would not let up and he was refusing to eat all day. We ended up taking him to the ER on Sunday afternoon. All the tests came back normal so the ER doctor sent us home after Brandon had received some IV fluids. His fever continued for a few more days. Extremely worried at this point, I called his primary pediatrician who wanted to see him. Brandon had lost two pounds in two weeks and was still not eating well. He did nothing but moan in my arms the whole time we were at the doctor's office, for those who don't know Brandon well...this is very unusual for him. After his doctor took a look at him it was recommended Brandon be admitted to the hospital. We spent nearly 24 hours at St. V's where he received IV fluids to help his little body fight off this nasty virus. Luckily, no spinal tap was needed this time. Turns out Brandon had enterovirus, which is a common summer virus. The physician said without the help of the IV fluids, Brandon could have endured another 3-4 days in his uncomfortable state.

ER visit

Resting after being admitted to the hospital.

Visiting the aquarium as we pass the time in the hospital.

Thumbs up by Brandon...he is finally starting to feel better.

On our way home to rest...

A little over a week later and he is back to normal...Enjoying the day watching the parade on Father's Day.

Parade Day!

First of ten suckers throughout the parade...each had a few licks only because every time he was thrown a new sucker he wanted to trade his in :)

Such a big boy. So happy he is back to himself!

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Oral-facial clefts are birth defects in which the tissues of the mouth or lip do not form properly during fetal development. In the United States, clefts occur in 1 in 700 to 1,000 births, making it one of the most common major birth defects. Clefts occur more often in kids of Asian, Latino, or Native American descent.
The good news is that both cleft lip and cleft palate are treatable. Most kids born with these can have reconstructive surgery within the first 12-18 months of life to correct the defect and significantly improve facial appearance. http://kidshealth.org/

I remember going in for my 20 week ultrasound. I was so excited to find out if I was having a boy or a girl. My midwives told me that so far all of my labs and vital signs were picture perfect for a pregnancy. Then it happened...I saw the ultrasound tech's face turn serious. She kept taking more and more pictures of my son's face, but wasn't saying anything. With my medical background I knew the possibilities; I finally came out and asked..."What's wrong?","Is there a cleft?". The ultrasound techs aren't allowed to really say anything until it is confirmed by a doctor, but she did say she wasn't sure. Tears began to roll down my face, but I was trying to stay strong. My daughter was with me and I didn't want her to be scared. More and more pictures were taken. I was then asked to wait 4 weeks before I came back to get another ultrasound. This would allow my baby more time to grow and then confirm what they thought...my baby was going to have a cleft lip and palate. I was devastated, but there was nothing I could do. I searched online for any information and pictures I could find to satisfy my desire to learn more. I had no family history of this birth defect. I was referred to a high risk doctor for further evaluation...from there my world began to fall apart. The more and more they checked my baby inside my womb, other concerns began to develop. As it turned out, my little boy was not measuring "normally" and the doctor was worried about a form of skeletal dysplasia, specifically - achondroplasia. For those of you who don't know, this is the most common type of dwarfism. They sent me to a neonatologist to learn more about different types of skeletal dysplasia. Some skelatal dysplasias are lethal, but most have a good prognosis. This was the point when I opted for an amniocentesis to rule out a diagnosis of achondroplasia or chromosomal defect. I felt I needed to do this to prepare myself for what was to come. I had hit my ultimate low...what was wrong with my baby growing inside of me...would I finally have him and lose him all too soon...what did I do wrong...why is this happening to me? Many more weeks of anxiety and anticipation...and then the amnio results came in. Everything was normal!...(Sigh of relief). Still feeling nervous, not sure how my baby will look or what the severity of the cleft will be, but am definitely more hopeful at this point.