So far this year, our little man has had to be admitted to the hospital 3 times. Making it a total of 4 hospitals stays so far in his life. It's been stressful to say the least.
Hospital Stay #1
Beginning of January, little man had bronchiolitis. Which, if you don't already know, is a viral infection of the bronchioles (the small airways in the lungs). We had just gotten back from visiting Reece's family for Christmas. He had to stay in the hospital for about 5 days. He spent 3 days in the PICU (Pediatric Intesive Care Unit) and then the rest of his stay on the regular Peds floor. He had to get scheduled breathing treatments to help break up anything in his lungs and to help him breathe better. Other than that, they were just monitoring him and giving him any support he needed to get over the "hump" of the cold. My maternity leave had just ended and I was starting ALS (Airman Leadership School). I knew being in ALS, I wasn't going to be able to be at the hospital during the day, except on weekends. Thankfully, my mom was in town to stay at the hospital when Reece and I couldn't be there. After being discharged, he spent a week at home with my mom. He was always smiling, eating, and everything seemed to be getting better. Unfortunately, after that week, it was time to say "til next time" to my mom and Joey was going to start day care.
Hospital Stay #2
Now, it's the beginning of February. When he was sick the month before, he had lost a bit of weight. I was told it was normal for little ones to lose weight when they get sick. It seemed that once he got over the bronchiolitis completely, he caught another cold at day care. My first thought was "and now begins the never ending sickness from day care". It was just a cough, so the doctors didn't seem too worried. After a little while, his cough got worse. When he'd eat, he'd cough hard enough to gag and then puke. It started off with 1-2 pukes a day. He was still eating so we weren't too concerned. The day after he got his 4 month shots, little man threw up almost every time I fed him. We ended up going to the ER around dinner time. As we predicted, the doctor had him admitted for observation. He had to get an IV to help with dehydration. This time, he was there for a 9 days.
Once little man started getting a little better, a doctor had talked to us about his weight and their concern. They had told us how he had fallen off his growth curve and that he needs to gain weight. We did start to notice how skinny he looked. As far as we understood, once his cold had gotten better, we were now looking at a "weight" issue. I put weight in quotations because we didn't quite get why they felt concerned about his weight. We didn't think it was an issue because we kept getting told it was normal for babies to lose weight when they're sick. And he had gotten sick twice so far this year. I was thinking that if he didn't get sick and didn't puke as much as he did, he would've gained the weight he should've. They gave him a couple days to eat what he could on his own. Since he wasn't meeting his calorie goal for his size to gain weight, the doctors decided he needed a nasogastric (NG) tube. The NG tube is a feeding tube that is inserted through the nose and goes down into the belly. He was put on a feeding schedule (every 3 hours) and given a "goal" amount for each feeding. To hopefully keep Joey from developing an oral aversion, they would let him eat what he could and then feed him the rest through the tube. Joey was also switched to a hypoallergenic formula. One of the doctors had switched his formula because he was showing signs (eczema and asthma/wheezing) of a milk allergy. She wanted to see if it would help improve his skin and/or breathing. I don't know if any of you has smelled or tasted hypoallergenic formula, but it is not pleasant. Joey would only eat 1-2 oz of it and then start to push the bottle away. After a couple of days of this, I had asked one of the residents if we could switch back to Similac Sensitive. I just told the doctor how we noticed his skin did get better but that it always seems to get better when he's in the hospital. That made us start to think he has an allergy to one or both of the pets at home. Anyways, I was worried they would want to keep him in the hospital until he was eating adequately on his own. He wasn't too fond of the Alimentum so I just wanted to try and see if he'd eat more if he was eating the old stuff. The doctor agreed to try it so we switched back to what he was eating before.
Once we switched, he started eating more on his own. He was slowly gaining weight and getting more talkative. Near the end of his stay, I noticed that he started itching again. A couple of the red patches on his face had come back. I had talked to Reece and my mother-in-law and began to wonder if he really does have a milk allergy. The day after I noticed the patches, I had asked a resident (during this stay, we saw our attending Peds doctor once and the rest of the time we would see 1 of 3 different residents), if he could have a milk allergy. I was just told that it was too early to tell and to keep watching him. To our surprise, when we were getting discharged, we found out that we were going to be taking our baby home, with the NG tube still in place. We had to get a feeding pump, supplies, and training on how to use the NG tube properly. We were nervous but understood that it would be a temporary thing. They just wanted him to keep the tube until he gained enough weight to give him the energy he needed to eat as a normal baby his age would.
We were home this time for about two weeks. We had weight checks with his ENT doctor and with his pediatrician on base. The first weekend home, Joey had puked up his NG tube. We wanted to see how he would do on his own so we waited on getting a new tube. Joey did AMAZING over the weekend. He ate the same, if not just a little less than what he was eating at the hospital/with the tube. We were thinking things were getting better.
Hospital Stay #3
That brings us to our most recent hospital stay. The week we got admitted, I had done quite a bit of reading about milk allergies in infants. I realized that what I thought were symptoms from colds, were most likely from a milk allergy. So I was trying to switch him to a hypoallergenic formula. Dude would NOT eat the hypoallergenic formula. I tried mixing it or just putting the smallest amount (10 mls) in his bottle. Didn't want it. He would shut his mouth and do this whine once he realized what was in the bottle. When he wouldn't eat that, I tried soy. He would eat the soy formula but you could tell he knew it wasn't the same as the Similac Sensitive.
So the day we got admitted, according to the scales at his ENT doctor's office, Joey had only gained 5 oz in 5 days. His doctor felt that he needed extra support than what we could give him. She had explained in more detail why his lack of weight gain was an issue. No one else told us that he had fallen into the 0 percentile for his size. We were just told "he fell off his growth curve for some reason". I think what also made it really click this time for me was that she really seemed concerned. Wherever one of the residents talked to us about his weight during our second hospital stay, they didn't seem too concerned.
When we were admitted and getting settled into our room, I had told the residents who came by to examine Joey my concerns about the milk allergy, the signs I thought pointed to a milk allergy, and how I was trying to switch him over during that week. The attending had put him back on Alimentum and ordered an allergy test from his poop. The allergy test came back negative for both milk and soy allergy. I was told that that particular allergy test was basic compared to the allergy test an allergist does in their office (which they couldn't do in-patient). Even though the test came back negative, we still kept him on the Alimentum. His skin had gotten better in just a couple days and his poops were more normal looking. He also stopped puking and was starting to gain weight. After a day or so on the Alimentum, he had started acting like a different baby. He started to become more active and very social. By the end of our stay, he had gained 1 lb 2 oz.
So far, he's been doing good at home. He's chunking up and is such a happy baby. Thankfully, he hasn't puked or pulled his tube out yet. We're not sure how long he'll have the NG tube. Having a "tubie" baby can get a little stressful at times but we know it is very helpful for him. We still let him try to eat as much as he can on his own and then pumping the rest. Being a parent so far hasn't been what I expected but I wouldn't trade this life for anything(:
That's pretty much what's been happening so far for us. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time!
Hospital Stay #1
Beginning of January, little man had bronchiolitis. Which, if you don't already know, is a viral infection of the bronchioles (the small airways in the lungs). We had just gotten back from visiting Reece's family for Christmas. He had to stay in the hospital for about 5 days. He spent 3 days in the PICU (Pediatric Intesive Care Unit) and then the rest of his stay on the regular Peds floor. He had to get scheduled breathing treatments to help break up anything in his lungs and to help him breathe better. Other than that, they were just monitoring him and giving him any support he needed to get over the "hump" of the cold. My maternity leave had just ended and I was starting ALS (Airman Leadership School). I knew being in ALS, I wasn't going to be able to be at the hospital during the day, except on weekends. Thankfully, my mom was in town to stay at the hospital when Reece and I couldn't be there. After being discharged, he spent a week at home with my mom. He was always smiling, eating, and everything seemed to be getting better. Unfortunately, after that week, it was time to say "til next time" to my mom and Joey was going to start day care.
Hospital Stay #2
Now, it's the beginning of February. When he was sick the month before, he had lost a bit of weight. I was told it was normal for little ones to lose weight when they get sick. It seemed that once he got over the bronchiolitis completely, he caught another cold at day care. My first thought was "and now begins the never ending sickness from day care". It was just a cough, so the doctors didn't seem too worried. After a little while, his cough got worse. When he'd eat, he'd cough hard enough to gag and then puke. It started off with 1-2 pukes a day. He was still eating so we weren't too concerned. The day after he got his 4 month shots, little man threw up almost every time I fed him. We ended up going to the ER around dinner time. As we predicted, the doctor had him admitted for observation. He had to get an IV to help with dehydration. This time, he was there for a 9 days.
Once little man started getting a little better, a doctor had talked to us about his weight and their concern. They had told us how he had fallen off his growth curve and that he needs to gain weight. We did start to notice how skinny he looked. As far as we understood, once his cold had gotten better, we were now looking at a "weight" issue. I put weight in quotations because we didn't quite get why they felt concerned about his weight. We didn't think it was an issue because we kept getting told it was normal for babies to lose weight when they're sick. And he had gotten sick twice so far this year. I was thinking that if he didn't get sick and didn't puke as much as he did, he would've gained the weight he should've. They gave him a couple days to eat what he could on his own. Since he wasn't meeting his calorie goal for his size to gain weight, the doctors decided he needed a nasogastric (NG) tube. The NG tube is a feeding tube that is inserted through the nose and goes down into the belly. He was put on a feeding schedule (every 3 hours) and given a "goal" amount for each feeding. To hopefully keep Joey from developing an oral aversion, they would let him eat what he could and then feed him the rest through the tube. Joey was also switched to a hypoallergenic formula. One of the doctors had switched his formula because he was showing signs (eczema and asthma/wheezing) of a milk allergy. She wanted to see if it would help improve his skin and/or breathing. I don't know if any of you has smelled or tasted hypoallergenic formula, but it is not pleasant. Joey would only eat 1-2 oz of it and then start to push the bottle away. After a couple of days of this, I had asked one of the residents if we could switch back to Similac Sensitive. I just told the doctor how we noticed his skin did get better but that it always seems to get better when he's in the hospital. That made us start to think he has an allergy to one or both of the pets at home. Anyways, I was worried they would want to keep him in the hospital until he was eating adequately on his own. He wasn't too fond of the Alimentum so I just wanted to try and see if he'd eat more if he was eating the old stuff. The doctor agreed to try it so we switched back to what he was eating before.
Once we switched, he started eating more on his own. He was slowly gaining weight and getting more talkative. Near the end of his stay, I noticed that he started itching again. A couple of the red patches on his face had come back. I had talked to Reece and my mother-in-law and began to wonder if he really does have a milk allergy. The day after I noticed the patches, I had asked a resident (during this stay, we saw our attending Peds doctor once and the rest of the time we would see 1 of 3 different residents), if he could have a milk allergy. I was just told that it was too early to tell and to keep watching him. To our surprise, when we were getting discharged, we found out that we were going to be taking our baby home, with the NG tube still in place. We had to get a feeding pump, supplies, and training on how to use the NG tube properly. We were nervous but understood that it would be a temporary thing. They just wanted him to keep the tube until he gained enough weight to give him the energy he needed to eat as a normal baby his age would.
We were home this time for about two weeks. We had weight checks with his ENT doctor and with his pediatrician on base. The first weekend home, Joey had puked up his NG tube. We wanted to see how he would do on his own so we waited on getting a new tube. Joey did AMAZING over the weekend. He ate the same, if not just a little less than what he was eating at the hospital/with the tube. We were thinking things were getting better.
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| Joey and his pump at home! |
Hospital Stay #3
That brings us to our most recent hospital stay. The week we got admitted, I had done quite a bit of reading about milk allergies in infants. I realized that what I thought were symptoms from colds, were most likely from a milk allergy. So I was trying to switch him to a hypoallergenic formula. Dude would NOT eat the hypoallergenic formula. I tried mixing it or just putting the smallest amount (10 mls) in his bottle. Didn't want it. He would shut his mouth and do this whine once he realized what was in the bottle. When he wouldn't eat that, I tried soy. He would eat the soy formula but you could tell he knew it wasn't the same as the Similac Sensitive.
So the day we got admitted, according to the scales at his ENT doctor's office, Joey had only gained 5 oz in 5 days. His doctor felt that he needed extra support than what we could give him. She had explained in more detail why his lack of weight gain was an issue. No one else told us that he had fallen into the 0 percentile for his size. We were just told "he fell off his growth curve for some reason". I think what also made it really click this time for me was that she really seemed concerned. Wherever one of the residents talked to us about his weight during our second hospital stay, they didn't seem too concerned.
When we were admitted and getting settled into our room, I had told the residents who came by to examine Joey my concerns about the milk allergy, the signs I thought pointed to a milk allergy, and how I was trying to switch him over during that week. The attending had put him back on Alimentum and ordered an allergy test from his poop. The allergy test came back negative for both milk and soy allergy. I was told that that particular allergy test was basic compared to the allergy test an allergist does in their office (which they couldn't do in-patient). Even though the test came back negative, we still kept him on the Alimentum. His skin had gotten better in just a couple days and his poops were more normal looking. He also stopped puking and was starting to gain weight. After a day or so on the Alimentum, he had started acting like a different baby. He started to become more active and very social. By the end of our stay, he had gained 1 lb 2 oz.
So far, he's been doing good at home. He's chunking up and is such a happy baby. Thankfully, he hasn't puked or pulled his tube out yet. We're not sure how long he'll have the NG tube. Having a "tubie" baby can get a little stressful at times but we know it is very helpful for him. We still let him try to eat as much as he can on his own and then pumping the rest. Being a parent so far hasn't been what I expected but I wouldn't trade this life for anything(:
That's pretty much what's been happening so far for us. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time!
God Bless You and Your Baby and Hubby. These are just some things as parents that we have to go through. Things do get better and will. Best of everything to you and your family.
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