Hi mamas, so here is our update. I took Miles to the pediatric pulmonologist yesterday and he ordered a flouroscopy (like a real-time xray to make sure his diaphragm is working right) and an upper GI study (involves drinking barium to check for aspiration/reflux which apparently can cause these breathing issues.) The flouroscopy is because the xray at the ER at Children's showed that one side didn't quite match up with the other side -- but that ER doc had not really expressed concern about it... so I am not sure what to think about that one. The barium test -- ugh. I don't want to do that one. If it is just reflux, then I doubt I would medicate anyway since he will outgrow that and the funny breathing isn't reducing his oxygen levels.... yes, he spits up and sometimes chokes, usually while sleeping, but don't all babies spit-up??
I feel so lost. On one hand I have my nurse MIL and nurse SIL insisting that something is wrong, and on the other hand I have my MW saying it's ridiculous and he is fine. I had this hope that I would take him to the pulmonologist and he would say "oh he's fine! Get out of here!" I don't know enough about the GI and respiratory tract of a newborn to make any sort of educated decisions.
Hugs,
Jenny
P.S. Paisley thanks for the tip to pm Lexbeach -- she has been incredibly helpful
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nak
Miles (who is almost 3 weeks old
) breathes fast. I usually count 70 breaths per minute, even when sleeping. It is almost always between 60 and 80 (over 60 is "too fast") but he hadn't shown any other signs of distress so I didn't worry too much about it.
I don't remember exactly when he developed the grunt on the exhale (another sign of respiratory distress) but he has nursed well, he is gaining weight, he's alert when he is awake, and he has good color -- so after discussing it with my midwife and my MIL (ex-NICU-nurse), we decided he was probably ok but I should keep an eye on it.
Monday morning he started retracting, so I immediately took him to my pediatrician (a naturopath). He suggested going immediately to the ER at phoenix children's hospital for a chest x-ray. His xrays ended up showing that his heart and lungs are ok, (although it took several tries before they were able to get a good set xrays and the first set of nurses were so rough handling him that he cried so hard he couldn't even breathe
).
I'm relieved that it looks like Miles doesn't have some heart defect, but I am frustrated that no one has any ideas why he breathes funny. They tested his oxygen levels 4 times with a pulse-ox and it was between 97% and 100% every time, so he is getting plenty of oxygen. No one has even offered a theory.
He is so laid-back, now I guess it is because he is too tired out from breathing to be fussy.
We have cats -- maybe allergies? Maybe asthma??? I wish someone could figure out what is wrong. So far, my next step is to see if I can get a pulmonologist to take a look at him.
I'm so worried about him
I feel so lost. On one hand I have my nurse MIL and nurse SIL insisting that something is wrong, and on the other hand I have my MW saying it's ridiculous and he is fine. I had this hope that I would take him to the pulmonologist and he would say "oh he's fine! Get out of here!" I don't know enough about the GI and respiratory tract of a newborn to make any sort of educated decisions.
Hugs,
Jenny
P.S. Paisley thanks for the tip to pm Lexbeach -- she has been incredibly helpful
__________________________________________________ __________
nak
Miles (who is almost 3 weeks old
) breathes fast. I usually count 70 breaths per minute, even when sleeping. It is almost always between 60 and 80 (over 60 is "too fast") but he hadn't shown any other signs of distress so I didn't worry too much about it.I don't remember exactly when he developed the grunt on the exhale (another sign of respiratory distress) but he has nursed well, he is gaining weight, he's alert when he is awake, and he has good color -- so after discussing it with my midwife and my MIL (ex-NICU-nurse), we decided he was probably ok but I should keep an eye on it.
Monday morning he started retracting, so I immediately took him to my pediatrician (a naturopath). He suggested going immediately to the ER at phoenix children's hospital for a chest x-ray. His xrays ended up showing that his heart and lungs are ok, (although it took several tries before they were able to get a good set xrays and the first set of nurses were so rough handling him that he cried so hard he couldn't even breathe
).I'm relieved that it looks like Miles doesn't have some heart defect, but I am frustrated that no one has any ideas why he breathes funny. They tested his oxygen levels 4 times with a pulse-ox and it was between 97% and 100% every time, so he is getting plenty of oxygen. No one has even offered a theory.
He is so laid-back, now I guess it is because he is too tired out from breathing to be fussy.
We have cats -- maybe allergies? Maybe asthma??? I wish someone could figure out what is wrong. So far, my next step is to see if I can get a pulmonologist to take a look at him.
I'm so worried about him
My thoughts are with you, Jenny! I wish I could offer some kind of help. I'm so sorry those nasty nurses were so rough with him! I'd smack 'em hard if I were there!
