Pyloric Stenosis

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few weeks. You may have heard about our ordeal, but in case you haven't, I will try to update you as best as I can. It all started Thursday night, May 13. Grant started having some major projectile spit ups all night and wouldn't keep anything down. He hadn't spit up hardly at all the first 11 days we had him home, so we knew something was wrong. We called the doctor first thing Friday morning, they saw him throw up right in the office, and sent us right to Children's Hospital. We spent that whole day with him getting tests, drawing blood, getting dehydrated, throwing up some more, getting a catheter and getting an IV. It was the worst thing to see him scream in pain and that we couldn't feed him or help him. They ruled out many things, and then thought it was a condition called pyloric stenosis. It is a condition in babies where the muscle at the bottom of the stomach closes up, therefore nothing can pass through. And the doctors told us it is common in first born males, and it usually shows up in babies 2-4 weeks after birth. It really had nothing to do with him being premature. It usually happens to full term babies anyway. They did an ultrasound and saw that the muscle was thickening and closing up, but they needed to wait until it was fully closed to do the surgery. He was also given a PICC line, which is like a feeding tube that provided him with nutrition. It took the food right through his veins. His stomach didn't register that he was getting this nutrition, so he still acted hungry, which was so hard for us to see since we couldn't feed him. He did become quite fond of the pacifier, though, which was the only thing that seemed to soothe him.

So we had to wait all those days without him eating, getting more tests, getting poked and prodded, etc., until they finally said on Wednesday that he was ready for surgery. We also called our priest before this to ask about doing a quick baptism before the procedure. They can't do the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick on a child this small, but we thought it may be nice to have him baptized. We couldn't get a priest there in such short notice that morning, but 2 different priests we talked to said we could do it ourselves. They instructed us on what to do and say, and Doug baptized Grant right before leaving the room for surgery. We will still have a ceremonial baptism in the Church later on. We cried so hard when they eventually took him back for the surgery. But it went well, and the surgeons say this is a fairly common and simple procedure. They cut him real small right above the belly button and fixed the muscle. He shouldn't have too big of a scar, hopefully, as he gets bigger.

We were frustrated the next few days after surgery because he kept throwing up, but they said that was normal and it would take him awhile to get used to having food in his belly again after so long without it. But little by little we started to see him keep the food down, and on Saturday afternoon, after 8 days there, they sent us home. He has been doing great since then--eating lots, acting hungry, and keeping most of it down. Now he only spits a little bit every once in awhile--just like a normal baby. We went to the doctor today for a check, and we have to go back Friday (it is his one month appt. anyway that day) to check his weight. He had dropped down to below his birth weight before the surgery, but was back up to 6 pounds, 4 ounces today. We also have to see the surgeon again for a check in 2 weeks. But luckily, this is a one-time fix, and we shouldn't have to worry about it again. Grant has given us quite a scare, and we are all really tired of hospitals. We are now happy to be getting back into our daily routines. Hopefully I will be better at updating as well too! Thank you to everyone who showed prayer and support during this difficult time. We are so appreciative!