Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Mama bear instinct

So first off, I have to share this adorable doodle that I had made by Megan of Megan Mae Daily - she drew a custom doodle of myself with Oliver and it turned out so cute I just had to bring it here for you all.  I believe she has a few spots left for custom doodles right now if you're interested - head on over here for details. Thanks Megan!



Next up, it's story time.  Since birth, Oliver has had this almost congested type sound in his chest.  The pediatrician we were seeing told us it was probably just fluid ingested at birth and that it would eventually clear up and go away. It did start to sound like the fluid was gone, but he was still kind of a noisy breather. Along with that we started noticing some signs that maybe he was suffering from acid reflux or something of that sort.  When we brought it up to our pediatrician at the two month check up he just said some kids are like that and that his noisy breathing wasn't any concern.  So we kind of wrote it off, but it was still kind of concerning to us that he was making these noises.  We were starting to wonder if he not only maybe had reflux, but possibly a milk allergy or some other allergy issues.  My mom was also noticing some things when he was with her during the day too so my dad suggested to me that maybe we bring him to my uncle who is a pediatrician and has actually been in Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine as one of the top doctors for many years running.  I know you're all thinking, well that's a no brainer, take the kid to him!  The day my dad suggested this though I was just not in good head space and didn't take the suggestion all that well, I felt like my parents were implying I was a bad parent (they weren't, I was a bit of a hormonal mess, story for another day.)

Of course over the weekend, clearer heads prevailed and after talking with the Pants Monkey I decided we'd make a follow up appointment with our current pediatrician - he's a nice guy and all, we more or less chose him because he came to do the baby exam when Oliver was born in the hospital.  I will admit the decision was made because at the time it was "easy."  But, when I called the clinic on Monday and talked to the nurse line and the nurse I spoke with was super ditzy sounding, my mama bear instincts kicked in and I started realizing, if something is truly wrong with my baby, I want to be with someone I know and I trust.  I want him to go to my uncle.  So yesterday I called my uncle's clinic and explained who I was and why I wanted to come in. My aunt had given the clinic a heads up it turns out, so they were able to get me in within the same day.

Within the first five minutes of my uncle being in the room with us we had a diagnosis.  It's a scary sounding word that isn't actually all that bad.  It's called laryngomalacia - it basically means he has an immature larynx. What happens is like when you breathe in through a straw and the straw collapses - that is what his larynx is doing and it in turn causes him to sound like a honking goose when he breathes.  In very severe cases it can cause babies to stop breathing or have major feeding issues - but that is not the case for Oliver.  He will likely outgrow it in the next few months.  In my uncle's 35 years of practicing medicine he has only referred two babies to an ENT for surgery to correct it, all of the rest of them outgrow it completely.   We felt so much better hearing this news.  He also noticed a few other minor things that we have noticed but our other pediatrician didn't really even touch on at all.  He gave us some tips on how to help Ollie and said that overall he really is a healthy little guy and we're doing a great job.  Again - I don't want to rag on the first pediatrician, but from here on out we're going with my uncle.  Mama Bear Instinct for the win.  And I'm so thankful my little guy is going to be OK.


10 comments :

  1. good for you!! i have always loved our kids' doctors, and have referred them many times. the thing i have found with doctors is that to them, not much is a big deal because they have seen it all. so to that doctor, maybe he knew the same things as your uncle, but he didn't feel the need to explain is since it wasn't a big deal to him. what (in my opinion) makes a good doctor is knowing that EVERYTHING is a big deal to us, and we want to hear it all, have it all explained, and have you tell us what to do about it. i'm glad you went with your instinct, and more importantly, i'm glad ollie is ok!!

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  2. I'm glad that you went with your instincts! I'm glad that Ollie is okay! He's very lucky to have you as his mommy.

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  3. Awww, instincts are definitely important to follow. I'm glad your wee one is still healthy and will hopefully grow out of it quickly.

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  4. See there again, the right doctors MATTER! RIGHT ON MAMA BEAR!!!! Do others think he looks just like you? I swear that is the case but then again I don't see Pants Monkey on a regular basis like I do you. so.... lol

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  5. Mama is always right! And that is an awesome custom doodle!

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  6. I'm glad you took him to your uncle! Happy to hear that it should clear up on it's own and Oliver is doing well :) PS The doodle is sooo cute!

    -Sharon
    The Tiny Heart

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  7. I'm glad you got better advice and relieved it's a normal developmental issue. (I had one of those growing up and it simply improved without any medical treatment.) Megan nailed you with her drawing. :-)

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  8. <3 I'm glad you were able to get such great help from your uncle!

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  9. Wow, that's kind of scary, but good for you for following your instincts. And that doodle of the two of you is adorable! :)

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