In his short little life Sam has had 4 chest x-rays. At his four month check-up appointment the pediatrician noticed his breathing was really fast. (Normal breathing is between 40-50 breaths a minute, Sam's was 80) . Not only was his breathing fast, but he had retraction right above the jugular notch and in the inter-costal area. The Dr. sent Emily and Sam straight to the ER just to make sure that his lungs and heart were OK. The doctor didn't think it was a medical emergency; he just knew that the ER would be the fastest and most effective way to get Sam the x-ray and tests that he needed. It was a relief that his heart and lungs were OK, but his breathing was still high.
It took over a month to get an appointment with a pulmonary specialist. Through out that time Emily and I had been worried and I'm not going to lie it has been in the back of my mind constantly. I did some research online and of course you can find anything from mild cases like asthma up to some pretty complicated cases involving the heart. It was worrisome.
When we got to see the specialist, Sam spit up as soon as she walked into the room, which is a common thing for the little guy. She asked a few questions and her diagnosis was REFLUX! As simple as that! I always just thought there were some babies that just spit up all the time and some that didn't. Luke never spit up. I think Sam was spitting up probably between 6-8 oz a day. All the acid from his stomach had irritated his esophagus and trachea and reduced the diameter of the airways making him breath faster. This had been going on for about 3 months! Poor little guy. The appointment with the specialist took 5 hours! Can you believe that? We did 2 more x-rays, and blood work to check for anemia. (The doc thought he looked paler than he should be. I think she was bias :) ), Sam is just very fair. Anyway I just think it is ridiculous that the pediatrician never asked about him spitting up. Live and learn.
Sam is taking Prevacid to help him lower the acidity of his stomach and he is using an inhaler (with albuterol) once a day when needed to help his bronchioles dilate. Now the retraction is mostly gone and his breathing is improving. He rarely spits up his meals anymore. It also helps that he started to eat rice cereal. He loves it!
We are happy that he's doing better. We love our little guy.
Here are some pictures taken today. He will be 6 months next week! I don't know what to put for the captions except "He is so cute" ; ) So I'll spare the repetition for now.
And of course Luke was worried as well ;)