Early morning ER visit

Sutton has been more stridulous over the past week or so, but nothing that warranted a doctor visit. The coarse breathing noises he makes are not normal, but they are his baseline. It was his only symptom. In the wee hours of Sunday morning, though, he woke up a mess. Ready for his morning feed, when he tried to latch he would pull off after one or two sucks because he couldn't breathe through his nose. He was very congested and had slight retractions. We got some food in his tummy and paged the on call physician. He sent us to the ER. We were hoping he would just call in a prescription for some steroids, but that was wishful thinking.

Women's & Children's Hospital ER was phenomenal. We spent about two and a half hours there and it was all spent receiving care. After a flu swab (negative - and he can't have his flu shot until tomorrow so we will be getting that after Christmas), a chest x-ray (clear), two breathing treatments, a dose of steroids and one heck of a nasal suctioning he sounded like his version of normal again. We were sent home with an antibiotic and a steroid just like last time. The biggest difference from the last cold is that we got to come home! 

For those of you that may wonder why he is getting an antibiotic to treat something viral - it is because of the hygroma. It seems to support the effects of the steroid in reducing the inflammation and diminishing the amount that the airway is compromised. 

We couldn't ask for a better holiday than to have our entire family together. This holiday season has been a time for us to reflect on how truly blessed we have been this year. There aren't enough thanks in the world for the gratitude we feel for the blessings bestowed upon us. May the new year be just as wonderful. 

December follow up

Thankfully this months ENT follow up was, once again, uneventful. She did note that she felt the hygroma was growing with him (I.e., at a fairly similar rate as he is) and, after tilting his head back and pointing out a few specific areas on his neck, I could clearly see what she was referring to. Disappointing, yes, but it isn't disheartening. As long as the hygroma isn't growing faster than Sutton is there shouldn't be any additional issues with him maintaining his airway. 

The doctor and I had a long discussion about what surgery will look like this spring/summer. She mentioned that a trach is not out of the realm of possibility. "What?! He's been maintaining his own airway, breastfeeding, crying and babbling. What do you mean it's still a possibility????" was my initial reaction. I took it off the table when we brought him home like a "normal" baby. I left it in the NICU. She assured me that it is significantly less likely because his progress has been so positive, but if the swelling after surgery will not recede and he can't be extubated, he will have to have a trach placed. Ideally, surgery will go fine, he'll have a drain or two, get some steroids, be extubated and head home after the drains are removed - about a week after surgery. Ideal. We're praying for ideal. We're praying that we can keep him reasonably healthy through the winter. Illness is inevitable we just want to keep it to a minimum. We're praying that everything will go as we would like. Ultimately it is not within our control, but that's probably a good thing. 

All of the COBRA stuff has finally been processed (that was painstaking!) and Sutton received his first dose of the RSV preventative earlier this month. That relieves a heavy burden of concern knowing that he has that medication on board. He will get another dose after the first of the year. 

It ain't easy being cheesey

Mommy's little sous chef

Baby jail

Morning art projects

Chiefs fans

Sweet boys

November follow up

This month's follow up with ENT was uneventful. I can't tell you how wonderful that is! His doc even remarked that she thought the hygroma felt smaller, but upon measuring it seemed to be the same size. Either way, it's not bigger and that is GREAT news. He came in at a chubby 14 pounds 7 ounces (with clothes and diaper on) so we are well on our way to being big enough for surgery. She would like to see him be at least 20-22 pounds before we schedule anything.

Until next month....

Happy Halloween!

Sweet baby noises

While this was a big deal with Cohen, making sweet baby noises is a HUGE deal with Sutton. The only noises he has really ever made sound like a grown man snoring and sometimes he makes a whistling noise which often stirs concern from onlookers. In the last few weeks he has started making "normal" baby noises. It just melts my heart.

We have a follow up with ENT this week and I'm hoping that these noises point towards positive progress for our little.

Playing together

Cohen is always so sweet to share his toys with Sutton. He will usually find his smallest cars and line them up around the baby so he can "play" too. Sweet boys :)

Silliness

Bike trail

Fischer Farms