When I was barely pregnant with Thane, I watched a video at Vanderbilt children’s about this boy born with a deformity that was discovered at their 20 week ultrasound because of too high fluid. It freaked me out to the point that I almost left the room. At my 20 week ultrasound, it was discovered that I too had too much fluid. I spent the next 16 weeks on pins and needles.
A few weeks ago, the child of someone I know was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. I asked if there was any indication that something was wrong before the diagnosis. The response…”Oh, yeah, she was on breathing treatments.”
Fast forward to Monday…
We had Mara’s 4 month checkup on Monday. She is growing like a weed. Her stats are:
Weight: 14 lbs 12 oz, 75th percentile
Height: 24 3/4″, 75th percentile
Jay and I had a few questions to ask her pediatrician. She makes this odd gasping sound. It happens in a frequent infrequent interval. We figured that just like a car at the mechanic, she would not make the sound while she was actually in front of the doctor. She did. He said it was a behavioral sound, she found a sound, likes it and is trying it out.
He listened to her breathe and that was when some more questions arose. She is wheezing. A small wheeze, but still concerning in a 4 month old. He called her a “happy wheezer.” She had two shots and then was given her first breathing treatment. It significantly reduced the wheeze. He assured us this was nothing major, not CF, maybe asthma, maybe allergies, maybe a cold. He sent us home and told us to come back in a month.
Being me, basically a paranoid, chicken little kind of mom, I called my uncle, aka the pediatrician in Florida as we drove away from the doctor’s office. He was not pleased with the diagnosis, concerned that a 4 month old should not be wheezing without finding the root cause. We returned the next day to meet with a different pediatrician (ours had the day off). We had her talk to my uncle on the phone. He knows the right follow up questions to ask, I don’t. She thought it might be reflux and sent us to Vandy for some X Rays. Turns out Mara’s bronchial tubes were inflamed, but there was no pneumonia. Again we were sent home but to return the following day.
It is now Wednesday and we are in the doctor’s office for the third day in a row. We are sensing our pediatrician is significantly peeved. He at one point tells us that if he were to hire an electrician, he would trust his opinion based on his experience. Personally, if I were to hire an electrician and I had an uncle that was an electrician, I’d have them chat before he gives me the final bill. Anyhow… our pediatrician sent us home with the nebulizer and an order to do the breathing treatments 3 times per day.
Mara developed a fever on Thursday and was sent home. On Friday it spiked to 103. We are hoping this is a good thing, that the wheezing just showed itself a few days before the cold.
Mara is not a huge fan of the breathing treatments. Sometimes she is calm, others like in the pics, she screams the entire time. They last about 5 minutes each, which, if you have ever forced a screaming baby to do something for 5 minutes, you know feels like an eternity.
On Friday night, she started shaking after the treatment and her temp went down to 95 degrees. Scary.
She is still a happy little girl, even with a fever, which has gone down now. Keep your fingers crossed that we get to the bottom of this soon.
