Baby fever
I mentioned to jaymen the other day that I have baby fever again. It’s pretty scary since I had such a hard time after Jude was born. Aside from the serious healing I had to do (it was a very rough delivery), for six months Jude nursed every two hours for at least an hour per feeding and when he wasn’t nursing he was screaming. He had terrible reflux and wasn’t holding much down. Adding to the problem, he also had ankyloglossia that didn’t go away like his pediatrician thought, so he had to have a lingual frenulectomy.
Jude also had dacryostenosis in one eye. Because his tears weren’t draining properly, his eye kept getting infected and required two surgeries to correct it. Initially, the pediatric ophthalmologist (one that I absolutely did not like) thought it was just the membrane that needed to be perforated, so he performed a lacrimal probe that didn’t work. I found another pediatric ophthalmologist, and while he was performing another lacrimal probe, he noticed an unusual resistance in the tear duct. He inserted a small camera and found that a very small bone in Jude’s nose had grown improperly and was almost completely blocking off the duct that drained the tears. He had to fracture the bone and push it in place. He used a balloon catheter to insert a silicone tube. The tube helped keep the tear duct open and made the bone heal in the proper place.
He also has an umbilical hernia. Luckily, it hasn't caused him problems. In fact, it has brought him comfort. When he goes to bed at night, we have to make sure he has access to his tummy because he likes to play with his belly button. It's like a security blanket for him. His pediatrician said there is nothing to worry about right now, but if it hasn't healed itself by the time he is four, or if he has problems with it before then, we should look into having it surgically repaired.
I know it’s unlikely that our other children will have all these problems. I’m just worried that the first six months will be as rough as they were with Jude. I think what I want right now is to have the kids and get it over with so that the hard newborn times are over and done with. Maybe if we start working on it next year . . .
Jude, March 2004
Jude also had dacryostenosis in one eye. Because his tears weren’t draining properly, his eye kept getting infected and required two surgeries to correct it. Initially, the pediatric ophthalmologist (one that I absolutely did not like) thought it was just the membrane that needed to be perforated, so he performed a lacrimal probe that didn’t work. I found another pediatric ophthalmologist, and while he was performing another lacrimal probe, he noticed an unusual resistance in the tear duct. He inserted a small camera and found that a very small bone in Jude’s nose had grown improperly and was almost completely blocking off the duct that drained the tears. He had to fracture the bone and push it in place. He used a balloon catheter to insert a silicone tube. The tube helped keep the tear duct open and made the bone heal in the proper place.
He also has an umbilical hernia. Luckily, it hasn't caused him problems. In fact, it has brought him comfort. When he goes to bed at night, we have to make sure he has access to his tummy because he likes to play with his belly button. It's like a security blanket for him. His pediatrician said there is nothing to worry about right now, but if it hasn't healed itself by the time he is four, or if he has problems with it before then, we should look into having it surgically repaired.
I know it’s unlikely that our other children will have all these problems. I’m just worried that the first six months will be as rough as they were with Jude. I think what I want right now is to have the kids and get it over with so that the hard newborn times are over and done with. Maybe if we start working on it next year . . .
Jude, March 2004
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