As most of you know by now, we've had a very eventful week. I thought I'd share a little of the background, for those who are curious. About 2 weeks ago now, Landon started vomiting about 1 or 2 times per day and spitting up in large quantities a few more times each day. When he vomited, it was typically about 15-30 minutes after eating and it definitely originated from his belly - you could feel it coming on because of the spasms in his gut. Although I could never say it was definitely projectile, it was definitely different than typical spit-up and the amount was more as well (think bath towel, not burp rag). So after a few days of that, I took him to the pediatrician, who ordered an ultrasound on him to "rule out pyloric stenosis". [Pyloric Stenosis is a thickening of the muscle at the base of the stomach that prevents food from passing into the small intestine]. The doc talked about how rare that was (it affects only 0.24% of Caucasian babies) and how it was probably either just reflux or that he was a "happy spitter" because Landon never seemed bothered by the vomiting at all. Plus he was still gaining weight, did not seem dehydrated, and was having plenty of dirty and wet diapers. That was Wednesday and I couldn't get an ultrasound scheduled until Monday. But I really didn't think it was P/S so I barely paid attention to that possibility or what would happen if it was P/S.
By Monday, Landon had not vomited for 3 days. He had dry-heaved once on Sunday but nothing came out. And he continued to eat well, have dirty and wet diapers, and gain weight. So I
almost cancelled the ultrasound appt. It required a 4-hour fast, so you might imagine how much I was dreading that, given that Landon typically eats every 2 hours during the day and the ultrasound wasn't until 1pm. And he
yells at the top of his lungs when he's ready to eat if you don't give it in a timely manner (we have determined it is not crying, but literally yelling, and we're still trying to figure out whose temper he got!). Nanny Judy decided to go with me to the appointment to help keep him calm until he could eat after the ultrasound. Thank God for that, especially as it all turned out!
Amazingly (prayers answered) Landon did awesome and did not yell much at all before the ultrasound. He was relaxed and slept most of those 4 hours. We had the ultrasound and after a lengthy wait (of Landon still not being able to eat), the radiologist came back from conferring with the doctor and said
"He has pyloric stenosis. You have to go to the ER right now and have surgery." I think this is word-for-word what she said (talk about great bedside manner, huh?). I about fell over from shock. I really did not think it would be P/S and was not even mentally prepared for the possibility. Plus, I hadn't paid attention to what the remedy would be if it was P/S, so when she said "surgery," that hit me hard.
So we went to the ER, checked in, and were comforted by a very nice receptionist who said they do this surgery every day at this hospital so we shouldn't worry (we were at Texas Childrens in the med center in Houston). That made us feel better. After a few hours in a room in the ER (still no eating for Landon and amazingly, still a pretty calm baby), we were transferred to the NICU and waited for lab results. They said he would most likely have surgery that night. Finally at midnight, it was time, and he was taken back for the surgery. It took about 1 hour and they went in through his belly button to correct the condition. He tolerated it well and was out by 1am. He finally ate his first meal after his 17-hour fast at 2:30am. Phillip and I were blessed to get a room at the Ronald McDonald House on that same floor on Monday night...we are so grateful for that place and this is just another example of why (see below for more on that).
We ended up going home on Tuesday evening around 5pm and were very grateful not to have to spend another night in the hospital. Landon seemed relieved too. Today (Thursday) all digestive systems seem to be flowing normally again and he doesn't seem to be in pain for the most part. He's still sleeping quite a bit, but he is also eating more than ever, so that's encouraging. We'll have a follow-up checkup with the surgeons in 2-3 weeks and hopefully we'll have good news then.
Anyway, thanks for all the prayers and well wishes during this. We felt them! Here are some photos from the hospital stay.
Putting in the IV
Waiting to go the NICU
Going back to surgery
He's already smiling!
Landon sleeping very comfortably with his very tired Dad on Tuesday afternoon (after 24 hours of fluids, which explains the puffiness).
Going home at last!
As an interesting side note, the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) has an interesting history in our family. Both my sister and I were ADPi's in college, and the philanthropy for that sorority is the RMH. So we both raised $$ for them during our respective 4-year stints in the sorority. In 2002, our nephew Kaleb had surgery and his family stayed in the RMH in Tulsa for about a week. Then in 2007, our niece Shiloh had a heart transplant and her family stayed in the RMH for about 2 months in Nashville. Since then we have made an effort to provide a dinner for various RMH's in Houston once a year as sort of a payback. On Monday night Phillip and I were personally the recipients of the great service RMH provides. Needless to say, we will be providing dinner for the TX Children's Hospital RMH this year! Let us know if anyone wants to help. :)
Thanks again to everyone for the support the past few days. We'll keep you posted!
