Kyle during his Swallow Study - not happy they madehim wear a purple hospital gown! :)
Poor little Kyle has been under the weather. He came down with a slight cold last week and by Saturday it had turned into Bronchitis. When we put Kyle to bed on Friday, he was a little stuffed up, but when he woke up Saturday morning he was wheezing and his chest was retracting as if he was struggling a little with breathing. Infants airways are small to begin with but Kyle's is further complicated by his chronic lung disease, so any type of swelling in his airway makes it difficult for him to breathe. When we took him to the doctors they immediately began administering Albuterol (steroids) through a nebulizer. The pediatrician warned us that this type of treatment typically is not effective until at least 6 months of age, and with Kyle turning 6 months (adjusted) on Friday, she was unsure if it would help. If treatment did not work, they were going to admit Kyle to the hospital for oxygen support. I am so pleased to report that the treatments worked and began helping his breathing right away! So, the doctor sent us home with prescriptions for Albuterol and Pulmicort Respules and nebulizer, which is an electric machine that that turns liquid medicine into a mist that Kyle can breath into his lungs through a face mask. Kyle is doing so much better now! With his complicated stay in the NICU (pneumonia 3 times, CMV, infections, etc.) we really are so blessed that this is the first time Kyle has been sick since he was discharged from the hospital five months ago. God is great!
Kyle had another swallow study done on Thursday. If you remember, Kyle had two of these done in June, one while he was still in the hospital and another the week after he was discharged. We were hopeful that his swallowing may have matured to the point that Kyle could come off of having his formula thickened, but unfortunately, this was not the case. For the swallow test, Kyle is hooked up to an XRAY machine and fed a bottle containing barium. We are able to watch the liquid travel through Kyle. The first suck they gave him was of a bottle that was not thickened at all, which went into Kyle's airway right away. The second bottle was thickened to the consistency that Kyle is currently receiving, which is called a nectar consistency. We were stunned that this to went in Kyle's airway as well! They then moved onto an even thicker consistency (honey), and Kyle did fine with all of the bottle going into Kyle's stomach as it should. So, Kyle now receives his bottles thickened to the consistency of honey. Since this occurred on Thursday, we have noticed a decrease in Kyle's eating, but we're not sure yet how much of this is due to him having a cold and how much is because of the increased difficulty of eating. Poor thing, think how hard it would be to suck honey out of a baby bottle compared to milk! They are not going to repeat the test again for 6 months, so for the time being we'll just have to manage.
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Matthew 1:23 (KJV)
Poor little Kyle has been under the weather. He came down with a slight cold last week and by Saturday it had turned into Bronchitis. When we put Kyle to bed on Friday, he was a little stuffed up, but when he woke up Saturday morning he was wheezing and his chest was retracting as if he was struggling a little with breathing. Infants airways are small to begin with but Kyle's is further complicated by his chronic lung disease, so any type of swelling in his airway makes it difficult for him to breathe. When we took him to the doctors they immediately began administering Albuterol (steroids) through a nebulizer. The pediatrician warned us that this type of treatment typically is not effective until at least 6 months of age, and with Kyle turning 6 months (adjusted) on Friday, she was unsure if it would help. If treatment did not work, they were going to admit Kyle to the hospital for oxygen support. I am so pleased to report that the treatments worked and began helping his breathing right away! So, the doctor sent us home with prescriptions for Albuterol and Pulmicort Respules and nebulizer, which is an electric machine that that turns liquid medicine into a mist that Kyle can breath into his lungs through a face mask. Kyle is doing so much better now! With his complicated stay in the NICU (pneumonia 3 times, CMV, infections, etc.) we really are so blessed that this is the first time Kyle has been sick since he was discharged from the hospital five months ago. God is great!
Kyle had another swallow study done on Thursday. If you remember, Kyle had two of these done in June, one while he was still in the hospital and another the week after he was discharged. We were hopeful that his swallowing may have matured to the point that Kyle could come off of having his formula thickened, but unfortunately, this was not the case. For the swallow test, Kyle is hooked up to an XRAY machine and fed a bottle containing barium. We are able to watch the liquid travel through Kyle. The first suck they gave him was of a bottle that was not thickened at all, which went into Kyle's airway right away. The second bottle was thickened to the consistency that Kyle is currently receiving, which is called a nectar consistency. We were stunned that this to went in Kyle's airway as well! They then moved onto an even thicker consistency (honey), and Kyle did fine with all of the bottle going into Kyle's stomach as it should. So, Kyle now receives his bottles thickened to the consistency of honey. Since this occurred on Thursday, we have noticed a decrease in Kyle's eating, but we're not sure yet how much of this is due to him having a cold and how much is because of the increased difficulty of eating. Poor thing, think how hard it would be to suck honey out of a baby bottle compared to milk! They are not going to repeat the test again for 6 months, so for the time being we'll just have to manage.
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We also met with an eating specialist and I am happy to report that Kyle is handling his "solid" foods just fine. In fact, during his swallow study they tested him eating Stage 2 baby foods and he did great. I was a little worried because Kyle still does not have much interest in food, but I am relieved that he can physically do everything correctly, we just have to wait for him to develop the desire to want to eat his baby food. Although, the way that mashed fruits and vegetables look, I can't say I blame him much!
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Where ever you are, thanks as always for your support.
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God Bless,
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Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle
1 comments:
Kyle,
My mommy had read your page a few days ago, but just told me that you were not feeling really well. I hope that you are better now. I really don't like it when you are sick. That makes me sad. You are getting so big. Can you believe that we are almost 10 months old already? Where has the year gone? Our mommys are going to have to start planning our birthday party soon. I wish I could come up to see you sometime, but I have to wait a little bit. Well that is what my mommy says. I love looking at all of your new pictures so tell your mommy thanks for putting them up all the time.
You will still be my number 1 boyfriend Kyle. I was told today in NICU that there is another boyfriend/girlfriend team in there, but that they are not as cute as we were. We are still the KING and QUEEN of NICU.
Love,
Rylee
Dr. Lugo and Dr. Rawlings said to tell you all hello today when we saw them.
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