Thursday, January 27, 2011

Answers & Blessings

Lately we've been trying to get answers about our little man's sleeping habits and breathing.

On Tuesday we took him in to see the doctor. I was really nervous that i'd get walked all over, "oh, you silly first-time mother" etc. I'm not very good at standing up for myself or being confrontational. Especially when people assume i'm some high-maintenance, overbearing helicopter mom.

It turned out that Tuesday was the day that the BYU-Idaho nursing students come to practice being nurses and learning the routines of different doctor's offices. This little 18 year-old with NO children was told me that she could tell I was just a paranoid first-time mom. She told me that, to my face! Of course I just laughed and said, "haha, yeah, probably"...like I said, I suck at standing up for myself!

Once the doctor came in and I explained everything (snoring, gasping, sleep apnea in the family) he completely understood my concerns. He referred us to an ear, nose, and throat doctor in town and we had an appointment set up for Thursday: today.

We finally got answers!

And I got permission to stop worrying!

When we went today we started all over, explaining everything. He said it might be tracheomalacia (tray-key-oh-Malaysia), a harmless condition where the cartilage in the trachea and throat is soft instead of hard, which causes noise when he breaths in and out. He said if the snoring and gasping that wakes him up every once in awhile becomes more frequent we'll test for sleep apnea. So, hopefully all of these weird breathing episodes won't become more frequent and we'll be fine to continue normal life!

His advice was to turn up the baby monitor, check on him at night or during naps if he seems congested that day, take a bulb syringe to his nose as often as necessary, and just keep tabs on him. We are so grateful that our little boy is healthy and happy. He's growing like a weed and I feel like I take more pictures than I ever imagined I could take! Oh well, all to keep extended family happy, right? :o)

Speaking of sleeping, I was blogging and playing on Facebook last night when Nathan started fussing a bit. He's very much a "computer baby", so I grabbed his binky and tried to finish the comment I was leaving. When I looked down next, he was fast asleep! I love this kid. :o)





















Here's another picture Mitch took yesterday...we think it looks like he just saw a monster!
His faces just crack me up!

8 comments:

  1. I'll be honest...I kinda want to scratch out that silly girl's eyes out for you. But I'm mean like that :P

    Anyway, so glad you got some answers! phew! for that! Let us know how things go with the little man!

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  2. I'm with Whitney. I would have had some choice words for that pretend nurse. That kind of thing brings out the "mama bear" in me-- watch out! :) I'm so glad you have some answers, and you can relax a little.

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  3. So glad to hear that you got answers. We will continue to pray for your little man. As you get older and get more kids it will get easier for you to stick up for yourself. I am proof of that.

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  4. i am SOOO glad things are okay for now and that you got some real answers. we were praying for you guys.
    oh and ps... that top picture, the one where he's wearing the onsie with stars... yeah we totally have that onsie haha

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  5. I'm the same way about sticking up for myself. When Ava had her first cold I called the doctor's office to see if they thought we should come in because I didn't want to look like a paranoid first time Mom. I would have done the same thing as you did while inside I'm thinking I wish I could just be mean and tell her what I really thought. It doesn't help that half the time I get asked if I'm Ava's babysitter or older sister. I'm glad the appointment went well and hope things continue to go well.

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  6. Sounds like Dr. Brad was right about the cartilage being soft in the throat, but getting into an ENT is a great step because if Nathan does not grow out of this, then you have a doctor to turn to for more help!

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  7. Glad to hear he's doing okay!! We haven't had any sicknesses yet with Blake, but I'm not excited for when that happens. And I agree with Stephanie, it's good that you got to see an ENT so you can go there in the future if needed. Nathan is sure a cutie!

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  8. Glad you got answers. I'm ready to go take on that "nurse" with the rest of the group. GRRRR. Just keep trusting your mother's instinct. You know your baby and what is normal for him better than anyone else.

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I'd love to hear from you! :o)