Too many doctors visits...

At Charlotte's initial check up at the pediatrician after she was born the doctor noticed that she had a dimple on her tailbone which she said can sometimes be a marker for a tethered spine.  She scheduled an appointment at the hospital for an ultrasound on Charlotte's spine just to rule that out so that we didn't have to worry about it.  That appointment was scheduled on the same day is her one month doctor visit a little later.  In the meantime, she had been a little jaundice. She was jaundice the day we left the hospital but they said it wasn't at a level that we had to worry about and that is should just go away on its own.  Well she began to look a little more and more jaundice as time went on at home and I just noticed that it wasn't seeming to go away. Here she is sunbathing in the sun trying to get rid of the jaundice.  I love how her hair was starting to fall out and leave a mohawk:)

 I called the doctor about it and asked how long to expect it to hang around and we took her in just to check her. Her level was higher than when we left the hospital but still not in a dangerous level.  This was a couple of weeks after she was born.  She wanted me to wait a couple of days and then have her tested again so we did.  The results came back exactly the same. So it was good that it wasn't getting worse but it really wasn't good that she wasn't improving at all. Doctor called and said that we had an ABO incompatibility which meant that my blood type wasn't compatible with hers and that somehow our blood had mixed (possibly at birth) or something like that and that it was possible that my blood was attacking her blood causing the blood cells to be destroyed in her which lowers her white cell blood count and hemoglobin and can also cause prolonged jaundice.  She said that we would have to monitor it to make sure that it would resolve on its own and that she didn't become anemic in the meantime if too much of her hemoglobin was being destroyed (disclaimer: it's been a while since this all happened and I'm trying to remember the details but some of the medical terms may not be exactly correct).  Anyways, I felt like we had already been back and forth to the doctor a million times at this point and the poor girl had her foot poked and blood taken way too many times. It was terrible.  Then it came time for the ultrasound appointment to check on her spine.  We went and had the ultrasound.  Here is my sweet little baby actually soothing herself on the table while waiting to get the ultrasound on her back.  I think she may have even fallen asleep in the middle of it. Sweet baby. Exactly one month old.

After the ultrasound was done we headed straight to the pediatrician to have our regular one month check up.  While there and going through the standard questions they ask I mention that she has started to spit up a lot and also that she really seems to struggle a lot when trying to dirty her diaper.  Also she only dirties her diaper about once a week and there is hardly ever anything in the diaper afterwards, just a small amount. Also she seems to be really gassy and gets really fussy throughout the day and draws her legs up to her chest like she is in pain. After further discussion, the doctor sends me straight back over to the hospital to have an abdominal ultrasound.  We head back over and have that ultrasound and an xray. Poor little girl had a long day but was still an angel.  After all is done, we head home and wait for the doc to call.  When she calls she says that her ultrasound showed gas all the way from the top of her abdomen to the bottom of her abdomen, literally filling her entire body.  They had never seen a baby so gassy!! It made me feel so bad because to think of a baby that must be in that much pain she really wasn't that fussy. It made me so sad knowing her sweet disposition was just trying to deal with it and was only mildly fussy. Given the circumstances most babies would probably be screaming their head off!  They also noticed that there was water in the colon so they had to wonder why her colon was retaining water and why she was so gassy.  She said they would have to do a barium enema and do another ultrasound of her colon and lower GI to see what was going on.  So the next day we were back at the hospital getting this done (along with more blood work to check jaundice levels).  I was so exhausted from worry at this point and also from running around to all of these appointments.  Jared was with me this time and I was just so overcome at how sad it was to be worrying about our sweet little girl. I have been so blessed that our first two were perfectly healthy and never had a single problem.  I know this is so minor compared to what a lot of people go through with their children but it was so awful.  My heart just hurt having to watch her get poked and prodded and lay there in a little gown on a table while doctors and nurses worked on her.  Jared and I were allowed to stay in the room for the lower GI ultrasound.  They had us wear protective shields and then stand next to her to put our hands on her and talk to her and comfort her.  I was a basketcase inside but was able to keep myself cool on the outside...at least I think so.  After the ultrasound we had to wait for the doc to review everything and then come talk to us.  When she came back she told us that what they were looking for was an indication of Hirschprung's disease.  She said there wasn't 100% positive evidence of it in the  ultrasound but that there were a few things that were "suspicious" and she wouldn't feel comfortable completely ruling it out and would be suggesting to our doctor that we go to the head of Pediatric Gastroenterology at UL and look into it further.  We went to get some lunch afterwards and I was feeling so devastated.  We were looking all over our smartphones trying to find information about Hirschprung's and I just felt so devastated. I felt so overwhelmed and just wanted everything to be over and her to be better and we were just barely at the beginning of it.  Jared reassured me that everything would be fine and everything happens for a reason and that it would all be according to Heavenly Father's plan and just to have faith.  He is SO much more level headed than I am in these situations.  We went home and waited for the call from our doc who did call and refer us to the specialist and he actually agreed to come in on  his day off the next day just to meet with us.  We woke up super early the next morning and drove to the hospital and met with him.  He went over her entire history and evaluated the situation.  He said that he felt pretty sure that she did not have Hirschprung's but that he still wanted to do the biopsy just to make sure. In the meantime he wanted me to stop eating all dairy and other things that she might be sensitive to (eating no dairy was nearly impossible! I never realized how many things have some sort of dairy in them and good heavens I never knew how much I loved cheese until I couldn't have it!).  As far as her jaundice he said that he suspected that it might be something called "breastmilk jaundice" and said to alternate every feeding between breastmilk and formula.  He said that if it truly was breastmilk jaundice than by drinking the formula it would clear the jaundice up.  This was on a Friday and they scheduled the biopsy for the following Tuesday.  We alternated the formula until we saw him again on Tuesday and it was amazing how much better her jaundice looked in just a few days of having formula. Sure enough they tested her the day of her biopsy and sure enough her levels were drastically down and they were able to conclude it was breastmilk jaundice and after that it pretty much completely went away after a few days.  It was amazing.  As far as the biopsy, I was so sad and scared for her to have to have it done even though they assured us it was an easy, simple procedure.  It was so sad to go the Children's Hospital and be surrounded by so many sick kids who were there for so many different reasons. It might be the most depressing place on earth!  I felt blessed that we weren't there for something much more serious.  When we got called back to the prep room Charlotte was starting to get fussy and I asked if it was okay to feed her and they said she wasn't allowed to eat or drink before the procedure. I asked how long until it would all be done and they said a couple of hours. Are you kidding me? She was 4 weeks old and  you are telling me she has to skip a meal? She would seriously be SCREAMING the whole time.  I thought there was no way that could be right or a good way to start the procedure so I walked back to the nurses station and told them I wanted them to check with the doctor.  Sure enough they called him and he said to feed her.  Whew.  They were just going by protocol that patients not have food or drink before surgery but our situation was different.  So thank heavens I got to feed her.  It was so sad when they came to get her and took her away from us. We just sat in the little area while she was whisked away by the medical staff.  It was so hard.  Anyways, pretty quickly, about 30 minutes later they brought her back and said she did great and they were all done! Hooray!! I was so glad it was done. She wasn't a happy camper but at least she was back with me and the biopsy was done.  This is when they brought her back to me.  Here is one happy (and exhausted) momma and one unhappy baby!!

After we went home the doctor called me that night to let us know that she did not have Hirschprung's and just to go on with life as normal.  We didn't need to do any more testing!  We were so thrilled.  Sure enough, after a couple of months she started becoming more regular with her dirty diapers and the spitting up got better and she became completely normal.  My theory is just that since she was born a month early her poor little digestive system just wasn't developed yet and just had to develop a little more before it was working like normal.  How blessed we are that things turned out okay.  We still have to go get a MRI in a few weeks to check her spine again because that first test came back borderline.  Then you have to wait until they are around 9 months old and their body has grown a little to see what has happened to the spine as it has grown. So we will go get that done in a few weeks but I feel pretty good that it will come back fine.   But it will definitely be a relief when we get good news on that too.  But right now she is a perfect normal happy baby.  So blessed.  Love her:)