Yes, you heard me right. This should be my last blog about the cursed apnea monitor. Let me update everyone on how that happened.
If you remember back a little over a week ago, Patrick had been sentenced to the monitor for at least another month because of a few bradycardia attacks (low heart rate). I thought it was hogwash and was trying to get his pulmonologist to take a look at the data from the monitor to verify the problem. Then in the last five days, his monitor went off for bradycardia attacks four of those days. It's highly unusual to go off for a false alarm, so I started worrying and called the pulmonologist again and got an appointment for this afternoon.
After a very long and eventful drive (a story for another day), we finally arrived fifteen minutes late. He got his vital stats taken again (11 lbs 4 oz, and 22 1/4 in--I doubt the length at least) and waited for the doctor. When the doctor finally got to the examining room, he only took a quick look at Patrick and spent most of his time explaining the report from the other people who had analyzed his monitor data. Apparently the doctor who had analyzed it is "a total quack," in the words of the pulmonologist. If the bradycardia attacks were real, which he doubts, six minor attacks in a month is completely normal for any baby. Patrick has been deemed a normal baby now. He is at no more risk for a "serious episode" of apnea or bradycardia than any normal full-term baby. Hence, the monitor is gone. We need to contact the people in charge of the monitor to get them to pick it up, but until then it can sit quietly by the door. Our days of being woken up by a shrill, piercing alarm in the middle of the night are over! If you can't tell, I couldn't be happier.
I am somewhat worried that Patrick's weight seems to have tapered off some. He hasn't even gained a full pound from last month and actually lost height according to the stats we got today. Granted, the measurements were taken by different people on a different scale with different methods, which doesn't exactly improve my confidence in the numbers. But I still expected him to weigh more than that and to definitely be taller than that. I can tell he's grown a lot taller. We have an appointment with his pediatrician (one more immunization) on Friday, so I will hopefully have more accurate measurements then. There the measurements will be taken the same way as usual and most likely by the same nurse. If he hasn't gained much, though, I will probably ask to speak to the doctor to find out what we can do to help the problem. He already eats a lot, but maybe I need to be feeding him more (if he'll eat more, that is). It would be worth asking the doctor his opinion anyway.
And while we were at the pulmonologist's office today, Patrick made a point to flirt with all the nurses. He should have been screaming from hunger or discomfort most of the time we were there, but he was happy and smiley instead. He just ate up all the compliments. It was cute to watch him be so content and social. What are the odds he keeps that up when he gets older?
If you remember back a little over a week ago, Patrick had been sentenced to the monitor for at least another month because of a few bradycardia attacks (low heart rate). I thought it was hogwash and was trying to get his pulmonologist to take a look at the data from the monitor to verify the problem. Then in the last five days, his monitor went off for bradycardia attacks four of those days. It's highly unusual to go off for a false alarm, so I started worrying and called the pulmonologist again and got an appointment for this afternoon.
After a very long and eventful drive (a story for another day), we finally arrived fifteen minutes late. He got his vital stats taken again (11 lbs 4 oz, and 22 1/4 in--I doubt the length at least) and waited for the doctor. When the doctor finally got to the examining room, he only took a quick look at Patrick and spent most of his time explaining the report from the other people who had analyzed his monitor data. Apparently the doctor who had analyzed it is "a total quack," in the words of the pulmonologist. If the bradycardia attacks were real, which he doubts, six minor attacks in a month is completely normal for any baby. Patrick has been deemed a normal baby now. He is at no more risk for a "serious episode" of apnea or bradycardia than any normal full-term baby. Hence, the monitor is gone. We need to contact the people in charge of the monitor to get them to pick it up, but until then it can sit quietly by the door. Our days of being woken up by a shrill, piercing alarm in the middle of the night are over! If you can't tell, I couldn't be happier.
I am somewhat worried that Patrick's weight seems to have tapered off some. He hasn't even gained a full pound from last month and actually lost height according to the stats we got today. Granted, the measurements were taken by different people on a different scale with different methods, which doesn't exactly improve my confidence in the numbers. But I still expected him to weigh more than that and to definitely be taller than that. I can tell he's grown a lot taller. We have an appointment with his pediatrician (one more immunization) on Friday, so I will hopefully have more accurate measurements then. There the measurements will be taken the same way as usual and most likely by the same nurse. If he hasn't gained much, though, I will probably ask to speak to the doctor to find out what we can do to help the problem. He already eats a lot, but maybe I need to be feeding him more (if he'll eat more, that is). It would be worth asking the doctor his opinion anyway.
And while we were at the pulmonologist's office today, Patrick made a point to flirt with all the nurses. He should have been screaming from hunger or discomfort most of the time we were there, but he was happy and smiley instead. He just ate up all the compliments. It was cute to watch him be so content and social. What are the odds he keeps that up when he gets older?
Labels: Feelings, Fun Stories
1 Comments:
YEAH!!! No more "bionic baby!" He sure does seem like a normal baby, and I'm glad people recognize that now. By the way, I think it's pretty normal for babies to have some periods of slower growth and then make up for it in growth spurts. At least you did that as a baby. It's a good thing to check with the doctor, though.
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