Mandy's Minute

Innocent Ejection Heart Murmur, that’s what my son was diagnosed with today by a doctor at Children’s.  Thank goodness.  During his 9 month check his pediatrician said he heard a heart murmur, which of course made my heart sink.  My immediate response to the doc was, “if he has a heart murmur, he’s had it since birth.”  In meaning, “How come no one has heard it before?”    I was told that as children age, their hearts slow down and it’s easier to hear heart murmurs.  It took about a month to see the cardiologist at Children’s but it was well worth the wait.  The appt took about 2 hours but it was a thorough exam.  Two blood pressure and pulse readings; one on leg and other on arm.  One pulse-ox reading, an EKG and echo-cardiogram in addition to the cardiologist exam.  All in all, it went well.  Blowing bubbles was very helpful to keep my little on occupied while attaching leads and taking blood pressures.   Once all the diagnostic measures where taken, the cardiologist stated my son has an innocent ejection heart murmur and that he is a happy healthy child with a healthy heart.  There are no signs of congenital heart conditions (no holes or valve issues).   Apparently it’s the second most innocent heart murmur diagnosed in children.  The doctor said three-fourths of children will likely be diagnosed with a heart murmur sometime in their childhood. She said there is no need to have activity restrictions and that as long as his regular pediatrician does not hear any glaring issues in the future, we will not have to see her again.  So good to hear.

In this day in age, people look at you crossed-eyed when you tell them you feed your child jarred baby food.  When did this become a bad thing?  So since I was feeling guilty and since I want to provide my child with a variety of foods and textures, I was excited about my purchase of the Green Sprouts Baby Food Mill.  Well, my excitement dwindled once I started using it.   The concept is good but it could use some improvements.  My two biggest gripes are that one, you have to push down rather hard to move the food up the cylinder while grinding the food up.  And two, it’s messy; especially if you’re trying to grind foods that have water in them (which is like all fruits and vegetables) as the water runs down and onto the counter top.  It would be nice if the base had a suction cup to provide some stability when grinding.  It’s pretty easy to clean, I’ll give them that and it’s BPA free plastic.  It is NOT a pureer, it is a  grinder.  Therefore the food has far more texture, which is another thing I liked for my older baby.  Needless to say, overall, I am disappointed that the ease of use is not better.

My son is nearly 10 months old now and still suffers from an occasional bout of reflux.  Just when I think he’s  overcome it, today it reared it’s ugly head again.  

From birth I knew something was not quite right.  He hated being laid down flat on his back.  He would cry like he was uncomfortable and had what I called the “guppy” mouth going.  It was like he was constantly trying to swallow something down.  I was very apprehensive in being sent home when I told the doctors something was not quite right.  Well, within the first 24 hours of being home, I put him down to sleep after nursing him and stepped away to go to the bathroom and heard thrashing in the bassinet.  I went running in to find that his mouth was full of refluxed milk and he was having difficulty breathing.  S-C-A-R-Y!  I immediately turned him to his side and cleared out his mouth but his breathing seemed labored and he looked a little blue so I called 911.   The fire department came and checked him out and said he sounded like he had a cold and that we should probably take him to ER.  So we did.  It was finally one of the ER nurses who actually saw what I was talking about with the “guppy” mouth that said he probably had Infant GER or Infant Acid Reflux.   (God bless nurses!)

After the visit to the ER at 3 a.m. we got a call from our pediatrician later that morning for us to bring him in tot he office.  Since he had lost 10% of his weight, he was admitted into the hospital for observation to try to figure out what exactly was going on.  The nurses saw right away what I was talking about and luckily when the doctor was making his evening rounds, he witnessed a reflux episode.   Finally, we had an official diagnosis.   The doctor prescribed a sleeping wedge and medication to help reduce the acidity in his stomach.  I was a little reluctant to put him on medication at 4 days old but it was extremely helpful for him.   The wedge on the other hand was not.  He HATED the wedge.  He would not, I repeat, would not sleep in the wedge.   So for the first 4 months of his life, he slept on me, while I slept sitting up.  You read it right, while I slept sitting up.  I started sleeping sitting up in the bed but after 3 weeks my butt hurt sooo badly I had to move to the couch.  It’s not an easy feat and after 4 months, I decided as a birthday gift to myself, it was time to train him to sleep in his crib.  For him it took some getting used to and he never slept on his back, only on his sides but after 2 weeks, he was sleeping in his crib.  After he turned 6 months old, I weaned him off the medication and he has been able to handle his episodes quite well.  I really hope that once he turns 1 and then starts walking that, that will be the end of his reflux days.

I’ve been wanting to set up my own blog since the birth of my son and asked my husband over Christmas if he could help me as my Valentine’s Day gift.  He came in tonight while I was doing laundry and changing a diaper and said “it’s up!”   Finally a place to call my own…that is, a place to write about my day, my week, my life…the joys and trails of being a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a business owner, a sister-in-law, a daughter-in-law, a woman, a person!  My likes and dislikes of products, politics, people, places and things.  I do not have an endless fountain of money or famous parents.  I would classify myself as an average person trying to manage.  Hopefully my blog will inspire others, help those faced with similar circumstances, assist in decision making for families and to let people know they are not alone in their fight.  I’m looking forward to sharing my everyday life with you.