Monday, March 7, 2011

And the Little Brother Is Not To Be Left Out....

In a development, Jonathan and I could have really done without, Ryan went into the hospital to try to determine the reason for his low weight gain along with his anorexia/not eating.  What the doctors found is that Ryan needs thickened bottles.  Like his sister before him, liquid consistency was going into his lungs.  Both his pediatrician and I suspected this; however, it can take a long time to get the testing so a hospitalization was warranted to speed things along, if you will.
All other tests of his anatomy, etc came out fine.  He has since gained another pound to bring his weight to a little over 10.5  pounds at age 3 months, 1 week.  We are delighted to finally have some answers!!!  He is sooo much happier and content. It is sometimes hard to believe it is the same child we had at a month who screamed nearly all the time. 
This is thought to come along with his reflux so he is receiving medication for that as well.  This seems to offer him some relief as well.  We are thickening his bottles with rice cereal for now as he needs the extra calories to help with weight gain.  He also takes higher calories formula so we can maximize his calories with each amount he takes in.  He is still not a huge eater and we have to track how much he eats each day to ensure he receives enough liquid, but things are much brighter at the Durham house these days.
He does not seem to have any of the same conditions as his sister.  His needing thickened bottles is relatively common (we know a couple of families ourselves who had to do this) and is often the result of severe reflux.  He will undergo another swallow study around one year of age to see how he has progressed.  Most children outgrow this by a year.  We will see what happens at that time....until then we just keep thickening.........

2 comments:

  1. I am THRILLED, THRILLED, THRILLED to hear this! Yes, thickening bottles is common. But the best part is that you say he is MUCH more content! WE ALL NEED THAT! Ryan needs that, his sisters need him happier, and his parents most of all! Hooray for weight gain! Hooray for happier!! Love, love, love!

    ReplyDelete
  2. My dad was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease at 57.his symptoms were shuffling of feet,slurred speech, low volume speech, degradation of hand writing, horrible driving skills, right arm held at 45 degree angle, but now he finally free from the disease with the help of total cure from ULTIMATE LIFE CLINIC, he now walks properly and all symptoms has reversed, he had trouble with balance especially at night, getting into the shower and exiting it is difficult,getting into bed is also another thing he finds impossible.we had to find a better solution for his condition which has really helped him a lot,the biggest helped we had was ultimate life clinic they walked us through the proper steps,am highly recommended this www.ultimatelifeclinic.com to anyone who needs help.

    ReplyDelete