Brandon...

How could a little face this cute cause so much trouble??

It all started 2 weeks ago when I took Brandon in for his 9 month check up. First he was weighed and I thought huh? he hasn't gained any weight. Then I nursed him some more and we weighed him again and he at least gained 6 ounces, but come next the doctor is giving her exam and she decides that she is hearing something in his lungs. She asks if he has been sick lately and I told her he has been getting his top two teeth and he has had a runny nose and a cough. However, she now decides that she is hearing a noise not consistent with a cold and that we need to run and get a chest x-ray and have some blood drawn. I'm told worst case scenario he has an enlarged heart with flood in his lungs and I may be taking him to the emergency room today. Of course what I think I'm going in for is a routine 9 mo check-up and it turns into a whirl wind of emotions for me. I'm calling Tyler, my mother-in-law, my mom, my sister trying to explain what's going on because I'm freaking out just a little bit and of course the only person I can contact for the first 15 minutes is my sister in North Carolina. At least she helps to keep me sane. So, then I'm heading to get his x-ray and I stop for lunch at Sonic (my fave as you know), but I arrive at the place seriously at 12:04 and they tell me the x-ray tech went to lunch and won't return until 1:30 isn't that just great. If only I hadn't stopped to get myself food. I had to have my dad pick Zach up at school and I got to wait til the lady returned which of course equaled more tears for me. I'm showing the order to the lady behind the desk and I'm telling her see... the order says stat...she tells me that only means for us to read it quicker. What a nightmare. So, I'm told to wait to have blood drawn in case I have to go to the hospital they can just do it there. The x-ray results come back negative. They frustratingly call Tyler and not me! Of course he's thrown off guard and doesn't fully catch what the nurse is telling him. Apparently though they decide to test him for cystic fibrosis. This being due to the noise she heard in his lungs and the fact that we are now labeling him as failure to thrive. He hasn't gained weight in three months which is one definition and he has dropped in all three percentiles which is another. Kids with CF have the lung thing and are failure to thrive. We have 0% family history on both sides, but we could be the statistic of a family with a mutation or everyone could've been recessive on both sides up until Brandon. We first go downtown to Texas Children's on Thursday to have blood drawn and return Monday to have the sweat chloride test done for CF. I was told the results would be faxed at 3pm to my Dr. and to call. Of course I call multiple times and finally learn they don't have the results. I think the Doc just wasn't there to read them, but the office had them and could've easily told me it was NEGATIVE. I don't find this out until Wed. morning because my Dr. works part-time. That doesn't bother me because I appreciate the fact that she wants to be a Dr. and spend time with her daughter that just turned 1 in Jan. I find out finally on Wed. afternoon that the blood also came back normal. He does have elevated Liver Enzymes but they are mildly elevated, but this could mean something I guess. I go back to the Dr. last Thurs. She listens to his lungs again and decides that she doesn't hear anything anymore. But he still isn't gaining weight so tomorrow I will return to the pediatrician for a weight check and Friday I get to go downtown again to meet a gastroenterologist. He will be looking at the liver enzyme thing and try to help me to put some weight on my teeny tiny. Now it's totally normal for me to have a small kid...exhibit A, Zach. He's almost 5 and he still fits in his 2T short sleeve t-shirts and has a pair of 24 month shorts he can wear. (Sometimes these things are just made wrong if you ask me.) He generally is in 3T or 4T stuff for length, but he did wear a 2T shirt to school today. Brandon my almost 10 month old is still wearing 3-6 mo, but I will put 6-12 mo stuff on him. Anyways, I think I've filled everyone in on what crazy crazy things have been going on in my life. To add to the story the Friday following the hooplah of x-ray and stuff Zach decides to throw-up at school. Luckily I was there with him, but it was almost laughable because of everything else that had gone on! I've been very stressed however. My eye keeps twitching...not something that happens often, but I know my sisters also twitches when she is stressed. I'm trying to eat as much fattening foods as possible in hopes to put even more calories in Brandon. He now eats solids fine. This occurred briefly before his check-up and he has continued to add new foods in the past 2 weeks. It has been very exciting. He does have to have tons and I mean tons of finger foods on his tray or he will get bored and not let me feed him anymore. I think 9 months was just a magic age for him to eat since he was able to self feed along with me feeding him. (9 months was Zach's magic age for sleep.) And when I say self feed that consists of him putting something in his mouth biting it and spitting it back out. Sometimes he swallows some, but mostly I have goopy stuff to clean up. He does swallow the pureed baby food just fine. I did learn that if it's a new food I have to serve it warm too. Man this whole food thing is not easy! I will try to post on Friday after visiting with both Doc's. I hope everyone else is happy, healthy, and well!!