The First Four Weeks

Things were going along pretty status quo for us.  When Reagan was two weeks old, we took her to Ryan's ENT who performed his preauricular cyst surgery on May 28.  He scoped Reagan and verified what I was already thinking-- that she has laryngomalacia.  Her pediatrician determined that her stridor was "moderate to severe," but the ENT classified it more solidly moderate and said that he has heard worse.  Eventually, she will most likely grow out of it although in extreme cases it can take up to 15 months.  Laryngomalacia basically means that she has a floppy airway.  The flap that directs air and food to the appropriate channels (esophagus vs. windpipe) is a bit loose.  Therefore, when she eats there is often a squeaking or honking sound (think geese) and sometimes it causes her to cough and choke on her formula.

Here we were in the waiting room.  Reagan absolutely LOVES her Mei Tai.  I'm so thankful that I took the time to head up to Soft & Cozy Baby in Baltimore to try on all those carriers.... and the $36 parking ticket that I got afterward was worth it :)  Plus, it lets me do more with Ryan, who is really struggling with what I call "RK Envy."  He wants to be a little baby again, too.  He's regressed almost completely with potty training and is back in diapers full time.  I'm doing my best to be very, very patient with him but it's so hard when you have a really needy baby!  He was in camp every day for two weeks per month this summer, and that really helped.  He starts school after Labor Day... Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-3:30.  I think he's really going to love that.

Anyway, the laryngo isn't supposed to cause vomiting but for some reason, Reagan really started vomiting a ton the other night.  She threw up all night long, and eventually it was to the point where she was throwing up more than she had taken in... way more.

We placed a call to the pediatrician around 5 AM and she told us that we should take RK to the ER.  I went with her while Mike stayed home to take Ryan to camp.  Later, Mike brought me food from Panera, which was awesome because I was STARVING!  They gave RK lots of fluids and then did an Upper GI fluoroscopy, which determined that she has very severe reflux.

It was amazing to watch the food settle in her stomach but then to see all of this other formula that was just waving back and forth up and down her esophagus, and wasn't even reaching the stomach.  MASSIVE reflux!!  Luckily, they did an ultrasound which determined that she does not have pyloric stenosis, which would have been a much more serious condition.  They didn't keep us and released us around 3 PM, nine hours after we had gotten there.

At one point, Reagan could only sleep comfortably in her car seat while she received the fluids... she looks so dry here!  

The one thing this ER visit did is that it set into motion lots further testing.  Reagan has an appointment with the pediatric pulmonary specialist on 8/16.  I'm really looking forward to meeting him and seeing where we need to go from there.