…make your mother sigh…
Everything seemed to have gone really well on Tuesday. He was so good for his casting, barely made a peep, and once again they were very impressed with the progress his foot is making. So impressed that technically speaking, the Dr thinks its going to tech a fewer amount of rotations to totally fix the foot. That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news. It’s been timed, the entire process, so that when we finish casting he’ll be 3 months old so they can put him under to cut the tendon. Since he’s already such an over achiever, they will need to keep some of the casts on for 2 weeks instead of one to keep the timing lined up. It’s nothing anyone could have predicted and I’ve been assured its better to have this problem, then to have to go with a greater number of positions to get it back in place.
After the casting it was back to orthotics and since I’ve been getting so good at breast feeding him while we are in there I fed him while they fitted him with new hand splints. He then, as a reward, spit up down my shirt, which I thought was so hilarious I had to share it with everyone. I seriously thought he was cuddling up into me when out it came, rushing down my cleavage. Way too funny.
We were out by 10am and I ran some errands, I felt almost human and as close to normally functioning as I’ve felt in weeks (about 7 weeks to be exact). Came home just when I wanted to be home, threw some food down my throat and went to feed him.
While I was feeding him I ran my fingers against the tips of his toes that stick out in the cast and they felt ice cold to me. I looked at them, and it was hard to see since they were mostly hidden by the cast, but they looked white. We learned during the first casting that if the toes are cold and white the cast is cutting off the circulation and can be dangerous for him. So I decided to try to contact the doctors right away, but this proved to be a challenge as well. They don’t have a direct line at Children’s, so do I call their office? But shouldn’t I call Children’s since that’s where we were? I tried all options and the practice was able to track down Dr. Dias and his nurse who were still at the hospital so we ran over there as fast as we could. Thank goodness from my place to there is only about 15 minutes.
When we walked in they took us right away. Dr. Dias had a tech cut down the cast so we could examine the toes more carefully, and whew, watched their color return. Everything was fine, I had panicked. But I’m learning, this kind of panicking is AOK. Professionally I’m so used to being the cool headed center of a chaotic photo shoot (especially when I’m producing), so my natural instinct is to assure everyone, even myself, that everything is going to be fine and there is nothing to worry about. As a new mom I’m learning, let a professional tell you that everything is fine, after you run back to the same hospital twice in a day. With everything Aleck has going on, the last thing I need to do is make matters worse, better to be safe than sorry.
One of the reasons I checked his toes is because I noticed he seemed fussier and was crying a lot more. Lately the crying had gone down a lot, we were changing diapers without sounding like we were changing organs anymore. My pediatrician had me cut out milk products so he wasn’t screaming during feeds anymore, things were starting to look up. Then everything went south. He was sleeping OK for 3 hours after his first feed, and then waking up as usual. I went to feed him, burp him, put him down, and 15 minutes later he was screaming again. Picked him up and he farted and pooped, changed his diaper, put him down, and less than an hour later he was screaming again. This cycle has basically gone on since Tuesday night until this evening. Needless to say I haven’t gotten any sleep and hardly any work done. Trying everything I can to make him happy, I got him into the baby carrier (The Moby) and we went for a walk yesterday, I’ve been bouncing on the edge of my bed, singing, rocking, swaying, and constantly feeding to try to get him to stop crying. We were only getting very brief moments of quiet, and last night when I was exhausted Craig had to deal with the inconsolable little dude and was barely able to get him settled. For those who don’t know, Craig’s been known as the “Baby Whisperer” for how good he usually is with crying babies.
I spent all morning trying to figure out what was bothering him. Constant diaper changes, switching out of the sleep sack and into these snap down outifts because maybe the sleep sack was too snug now that his cast was in a different position. Is it his cast? But the doctors already checked that. Maybe its his tummy, when we wakes up screaming its usually followed by farting or pooping. And when I’ve been burping him he’s been screaming during that too. So I chased down a gastro recommendation from an old friend, and turns out I know the guy, he’s married to an old college friend of mine and we’ve gone to Michigan vs. Illini games together, plus he went to medical school with another good friend of mine. Of course, the only way to get into see him before January (Yikes), was to have my pediatrician call and make it sound urget, which he did. We have an appointment on Wednesday, but how can I possibly hold out that long? Early Intervention is coming tomorrow, how can they evaluate him if he’s exhausted and screaming the entire time? Plus I’m nervous about the evaluation as well, he’s not “cooing” like the baby books said he’s supposed to be doing, and I can’t get him calm enough to play with him to even see if he’s tracking, etc., are they going to find all these other things wrong with him that I haven’t even thought of? So I basically threw myself into a tizzy and decided to retire to the couch to watch TV and cry.
Thank god for friends. While sitting on the couch today, on my third feed during the first half of the day, having been awake since 3AM and at my wits end, my girlfriend Julie texted me and bribed me with bringing me Five Guys to come and give me some relief. We ate, we talked, he was sleeping on my shoulder, and then she sent me to bed. Twenty minutes later he was screaming again, I heard her trying to calm him but felt bad so I got up. Changed diaper, he took a small feed, and fell right asleep again, so I went back to sleep. I heard him wake up again but had promised her I’d let her handle it, and it sounded like she was making progress so I really fell asleep.
When I awoke he was sleeping in his swing and it was time for her to head home. I kept him there, thanked her, and got a few things done before he woke up screaming again. I fed him, he screamed, the only time he was quiet was when I changed his diaper. At least, the only time in days he was awake and quiet. So I went back to feeding him, but it wasn’t what he wanted, something was really bothering him. For days I’ve noticed that these cries seem to be cries of pain, and I’ve been chalking it up to tummy issues. But he didn’t cry while I was changing his diaper, which usually makes him wail, and the same thing happened earlier even when I used cold water to wipe his tush.
Then it occurred to me, the hip splint. I have to take it off when I change his diaper. So I took it off, and he calmed down, and started to feed like his regular self. When we were in orthotics they had made a comment of not knowing how much longer he’d last in this splint, and it fits him from the outside observer perspective, but I bet when he gets bloated, needs to fart and poop, it gets even tighter and then he screams in pain. I’ve had it off for a few hours now, and he’s been much calmer. Even when we cries its not with the level of intensity it has been at for days. Now, don’t get me wrong, he’s still fussing when he’s got gas, and who knows how well he’s going to sleep without the splint on tonight, but we are going to try. I’m going to try to call Children’s tomorrow and see if we can’t go there after our evaluation to have them widen the splint so he can go back to wearing it but without all the screaming and crying.
Wish us luck!!!